Meanwhile, on the other side of the world...

As many of you know, I've switched places with Josh and am spending my Spring semester studying geology in New Zealand.

First off, I just wanted to say congrats to everyone on an awesome season! It's been strange to not be skiing at Prospect and putting on the cow print with you all every weekend, but I'm having the time of my life here and it's been great keeping tabs from afar.  Internet has been sparse, but on the occasion that I did have access, it was fun to check out BartTiming and the blog to see everybody rockin' the cow, as per usual. (Also, you guys make those cow suits look GOOD). And of course, big congrats to HC, Eli, and Will for that NCAA qualification- give 'em hell this weekend!

Anyhow, it's summer here, so to say that my January and February have differed from what I'm used to would be one giant understatement. I arrived here January 6th to shake off the jet-lag, figure out what day it was (turns out January 5th disappeared into the International Date Line), and start the first part of our program: a 6-week geology field camp, which is essentially 6 week-long field trips back-to-back. Our directors wasted no time getting us on the road to our first field location as we all adjusted to normal aspects of life in New Zealand: driving on the left side of the road, crossing one-lane bridges, seeing sheep everywhere, and generally feeling like you're in a life-size version of Settlers of Catan.  For the next few weeks we traveled around this jam-packed pair of islands in the south Pacific, learning how to do field geology.  It was a whirlwind of an experience, with cool rocks galore, entertaining encounters with seals, jumping off bridges, plenty of bushwhacking through some less-than-pleasant flora, way too much sunshine, and knock-your-socks-off views every step of the way.  This country is wildly photogenic, so I'll quit boring you with words and let a sampling of my 1000+ photos do the talking...

Our first week, on Kaikoura Peninsula, realizing that we need to wear A LOT of sunscreen in January.

This one's for the rock nerds: dolomitic concretions!

Our mapping area for Week 2, in Castle Hill Basin. Fun fact: this is near where the final battle scene in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe was filmed.

Around when this was taken, I started getting reports of how epic the New England winter was this year...

New Zealand does sunsets right.

Week 3, in Westport. At this point, this Wyoming girl had spent more time by an ocean in the past 3 weeks than the rest of her life combined.

This is what rest stops look like here. It's the kind of scenery makes it easy to pretend you're a really good photographer.

Week 4 took us to the North Island, where we stayed in the middle of an active volcanic zone (the most recent eruption was in 2012).  This is the volcano we stayed on, Ruapehu, which is a big ski area come winter!

For the Lord of the Rings fans, this is Mount Doom. Unfortunately we were essentially inside a cloud all week, so although we mapped its lava flows and hiked around it, this was really the only good view we got of it.  Still awesome!

Speaking of New Zealand sunsets....

The view from where I've been doing field work for the research project I'll be working on throughout the semester.

 In mid-February, we (sadly) wrapped up the end of Field Camp and re-entered the real world.  We moved into our apartments in Christchurch where we'll be staying for the semester while attending the University of Canterbury.  Although we do have this weird thing called 'class' now, the epic landscapes here are still beckoning us back for more adventure.  My friends and I bought an awesome old minivan, so we've taken to road-tripping around on our own, and doing more than just looking at rocks (although honestly, we still do plenty of that).  This past weekend was my birthday, and we headed south to the Queenstown area to hike and visit a winery that one of my friends has a small-world connection to. Not a bad way to spend a birthday:

Another breathtaking rest stop...

My first hike as a 21-year-old!

Driving home, we got our first glimpse of Mount Cook, the tallest mountain in New Zealand.

I'm definitely counting my blessings here, and doing what I can to get the most out of the experience. It's hard to believe I've already been here for two months, but equally exciting to know that I have 4 more!
Keep up the good work back in Billsville, and say hi to the Purple Valley for me. Can't wait to see (almost) all of you in the Fall!