As was mentioned in the conclusion to my previous post, the entirety of the month of May (and the last week of April, but who's counting?) was spent in the wonderful little town of Oamaru, population about 11,000, located an hour and a bit north up the coast from Dunedin. The reason I was temporarily located here was due to my first Teacher's College practicum, at Waitaki Boys High School. As I doubt very heavily that you're reading this blog to hear about my time teaching (if anyone's even reading about this blog at all, which is perhaps even more doubtful), I'll simply say that my time at WBHS was incredible, I learned an absolute ton (tonne?) and the staff and students there were great to me.
In terms of what I actually DID while I was in Oamaru, honestly, it wasn't much. It's a pretty small community with not a whole lot going on, and as such, I mostly focused on my work. One thing I should have done, but didn't, was go visit the Blue Penguin colony. Yes, once again, I do not have any penguin pictures or penguin-related experiences to share with you. Sorry, I'll have penguins up on here someday. I will, however, recount the two major events of my time in Oamaru (both of which, coincidentally, took place entirely outside of that fair city), firstly THE LONGEST DAY EVER and second Road Trip to Rohan. After the jump kiddos!
First up is a look back at THE LONGEST DAY EVER, which, when examining what I actually accomplished on that fine Saturday morning/afternoon/night, isn't delving to far into hyperbole. Here's what the day's itinerary looked like (in military time because it's hardcore):
0700: Wake up
0730: Begin bicycle ride to the Moeraki Boulders, 40km south of Oamaru
1130: Arrive at Boulders
1200: Begin 40km ride back to Oamaru
1600: Arrive back in Oamaru
1700: Depart Oamaru for Dunedin
1930: Highlanders v Hurricanes SuperXV match at Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin
2100: Begin drinking
????: Sleep
So yeah, it was a heavy day.
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| Sunrise over the Pacific. Inspired me to continue. |
I kicked off on the bike ride right on schedule, and I must say, riding a bike is HARD. I almost gave up after about 20 minutes. WILL POWER. What ended up happening was I just kept saying to myself "Oh, just bike to the next turn/little town and see how you feel", and in doing so, I got through the entirety of the Pacific Coast road section (a beautiful ride as the sun was coming up), about 29km total, by about 930am. With just 11km to go, I put on my big boy pants and rode it out, arriving at the boulders at 1030, well ahead of schedule. I spent about a half hour wandering along the beach, looking at the boulders (big, circular things, just look at the pictures) and generally feeling tired. Honestly, they were cool and all, but were they worth an 80km round trip bike ride? Probably not.
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| Arrival at the beach |
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| The boulders, naturally spherical in shape |
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| Some guy ruining the picture |
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| Lunch break at All Day Bay on the way back |
But anyway, I hopped back on the bike for the trip home, and aside from a minor wipeout/brush with death, I made it back home safely. And, I might add, nearly 2 and half hours ahead of schedule. After having a nap and quick shower, it was off to Dunedin for the rugby/drinking.
I should mention at this point that I was heading into Dunedin with some Welsh/English lads that were playing rugby for a club in Oamaru and also working at the school, and that the trip to Dunedin had a theme, namely "Charity Shop Challenge." Basically, we all had to head to the local Salvation Army store and purchase some type of ridiculous outfit to wear to the game and out to town that night. This is why we headed out looking like this:
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| I didn't get the high socks memo (photo courtesy J. George) |
Anyway, the night was a great success (even though the Highlanders lost), as we had a blast hitting the bars around the Octagon after the game.
After that, I needed something to spice up my next weekend, and after doing some brief internet research, I discovered that a major LOTR filming location was not too far away. What film location you ask? Oh, only the COOLEST GODDAMN ONE OF ALL, Mt. Sunday, the location for Edoras, capital city of the Rohirrim (fellow nerds will know what I'm talking about; for everyone else: the castle on the hill surrounded by mountains where the horse vikings lived). With the knowledge that I would be seeing perhaps my favorite location from the films, I rented a car and set off, once again, bright and early Saturday morning.
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| View of the Southern Alps from the start of the access road |
After about 3 hours of driving, including about 50 minutes on a remote gravel access road, I arrived at my destination: Mt. Sunday. The walk to the top of the hill (the actual location of the Edoras set) took about half an hour, and I'll just let the pictures tell the story from there.
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| First look at Mt. Sunday (the little bump right in the middle) |
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| Looking south-east from the top of Mt. Sunday (and another beacon) |
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| SELFY! (not pictured: Aragorn) |
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| One last look on the way out |
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| Panorama from the top (click to make it bigger. Do it.) |
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| Lake Tekapo, en route to Mt. Cook |
Mt. Sunday was definitely one of, if not the coolest moment of my trip thus far. Anyway, after hiking back down the hill and slowly heading back towards civilization, I decided that I would also like to see Aoraki/Mt. Cook, because why the hell not? Aoraki/Mt. Cook (Aoraki being the Maori name, meaning "Cloud Piercer") is NZ's highest peak at 3754m, and only about a 3 hour drive from where I was. The drive there took me through some really remote and beautiful sections of Canterbury region, and I was the only car on the road for 15 minutes or more at a time. The road into Mt. Cook Village from Twizel was especially beautiful, with Lake Pukaki on the right and the Aoraki itself looming increasingly large in the front window.
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| LOOMING, LOOMING, LOOMING |
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| The Hermitage |
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| Closer look at Mt. Cook |
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| Sir Ed, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed |
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| Sir Ed and Sherpa Tenzing on Everest (photo in the Hillary Alpine Museum) |
The weather in the Village was beautiful, affording me great looks at Mt. Cook, and I also took a look around the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Museum, located in the world-famous Hermitage Hotel, from which many summit attempts (including Hillary's own) have started. Unfortunately, I didn't have a lot of time to explore, and really would like to go back and have a good hike around before I leave NZ.
From there, it was back to Oamaru, and besides nearly running out of gas (a good half hour with the fuel light on!), the trip back went smoothly. All in all, another wonderful day.
That concludes the monthly recap section of this blog, as from here on out I'll try to provide more frequent updates on what I'be been up to. June has been a busy month, so I'll start by putting up a few posts on my most recent escapades. Also, another Beer Friday! is fast approaching, and I'll also attempt to put up some type of commemorative "Halfway There" post in the near future.
Dave
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