Saturday, July 21, 2012

A fun-filled weekend

This last weekend began with a trip to Willowbank Wildlife Reserve on Friday afternoon. It's a small wildlife park filled with mostly native NZ wildlife. Although they do have some lemurs and monkeys and things that you would not normally find. First stop was to see the eels. You could buy food to feed the eels and we did just that. They were so gross, yet so cool. You fed them with a metal spoon and they gobbled it right up. At one point we touched them on their head and they were surprisingly smooth and squishy. 


Then it was time to feed the lemurs, which we paid extra to do. It was so fun. The lemurs were super cute and gentle. Their favorite food was dates, but they also ate carrots, potatoes, and grapes, among other things. Some of the lemurs sat on your lap and one would sit on your shoulders. The funniest part is when the sun would come out. The lemurs were drawn to the sun like they were in a trance and would sit and "meditate."


The next day we went to Sumner beach. Sumner has a lot of houses on cliffs and was greatly effected by the earthquake. This is a picture of a line of shipping containers down the road that are used to protect against the cliff slipping. 




Some of the boys set up a slackline at the beach. Zach (pictured) was really good. The line was pretty loose, so when the tide came in his feet would be completely submerged in the water. Overall a great weekend! Next plans, cross-country skiing in Wanaka!


Thursday, July 5, 2012

Flying in the West Coast

I had an incredible weekend in the West Coast at a class friend's house. The country was beautiful. They had views of the alps and were right by Lake Brunner which was also spectacular. Between my friend and her parents, there were 5 dogs and a cat, so naturally I enjoyed myself. 

Her dad learned to fly last Christmas and took us up in his private plane. This was the first time I had ever done this, but it was so fun! They even flew me back to Christchurch when the weekend came to an end. 






Looking out the front of her house at the plane hanger and air strip. 


Lake Brunner.


Her 4-month-old puppy, Enzo. So cute!




The views from the plane were incredible. It was impossible to take a bad picture!

The day I got back from my weekend trip, Nicole and I left for 3 more nights in Nelson, on the upper most part of the South Island. We had a great time staying with her Aunt, Uncle, and adorable 5-year-old cousin. I've had a great time this break spending time in new places and meeting great people. Thank you New Zealand!