Summer July in Winter July - Abel Tasman National Park

Hello again, and sorry for the long-ish layoff. If you've been holding your breath for a new post, I'm sorry on at least two levels. Then again, you've managed to hold your breath for like, 4 whole days, so good on you for that. A real accomplishment if you ask me.

There are, however, a few reasons why the posts have been a little thin on the ground lately. Firstly, I'm back in school, so I don't have a lot of exciting things to write about. Oh for the halcyon days when I was wandering the New Zealand countryside, seeing the sights, eating the food and drinking the beer. Now, I'm just in regular ole Dunedin, toiling away on a seemingly never-ending pile of work. Which brings me to my second reason: I'm back in school, and thus have assignments, unit plans, personal reflections and resource files due almost non-stop until I go out on my second placement in mid-August. And as doubtlessly exciting as my writing can be, I don't have much faith in my ability to thrill you, the reader, with how I stayed shut in my room all weekend writing "Learning Objectives" and "Success Criteria".

Nevertheless, there is a point to this post, and as I'm sure you've inferred from the title, it concerns my trip to the Abel Tasman National Park to walk the Coastal Track, one of NZ's ten (and my second) "Great Walks". I have alluded to this adventure before, and here I will attempt to expand, ever so slightly, on the sheer adventure of it all. There's more blather, if you'd care to continue, after the jump.

Ice Axes and NZ Snow - Mt. Armstrong

June 16 was certainly a momentous occasion for me. For it was on that day two weekends ago, that I climbed my first mountain. None of this "Roy's Peak" business from earlier, a piddly 1600m at the summit. No, this one was a proper mountain snow-capped and everything, and at a height of 2174m (7132.5ft), made for both an extremely challenging and incredibly exciting weekend adventure. Read on after the jump for a blow-by-blow account of my battle Mt. Armstrong.

BONUS COVERAGE - More April Adventures

As I've said, the first few posts will attempt to provide you, the intrepid reader, with a summary of what's been going on in the first few months of my New Zealand adventure. Next up, BONUS COVERAGE of one last set of April shenanigans.

Upon my return from "the SIRT," I had the opportunity to go along to Wanaka on a four-day field trip with Columba College, a school I'm placed at once a week for Classics lectures (for teaching practice). The basics of the trip were as follows: spend four days at Glendhu Bay Campground, just outside of Wanaka, and do a selection of day walks in the area. The Wanaka area, located at the base of the Southern Alps and Mt. Aspiring National Park, was a part of the country I only briefly passed through on the road trip, so I of course was very excited about the opportunity. Read on after the jump for a summary of each day's events.