back from Bluemine Island

G'Day,

It feels like the last four days went by in a flash. This wasn't the most exciting week, but it had its high points. Lets see...where should i start.

Well, Wellington was a lot of fun. There was a hige street party the last night we were there and we went out and enjoyed that. We met a lot of interesting people, who were dressed up because of the huge rugby tourny going on in the city. It was like halloween, which was cool. Sadly we weren't prepared so we didn't have anything to dress up in. oh well.

On Sunday morning we left the hostel to catch a three hour ferry trip. The ferry was more like a curise ship, which had a movie theather in it, reclining lounges, a food court, an atrium, a bar, and so much more. it was really really cool, but i really liked being outside on the top of the ship watching the beautiful views go by. Oh and this ferry was taking us from the North Island to the South Island, which so far is so much more beautiful. (Oh btw...for those who are interested, Wellington is where Peter Jackson's studio is and a lot of those movies were filmed).

Once we got to Picton (on the South Island) we grabbed some food real quick and then met up with DOC or Josh, the guy who was going to take us out to Bluemine Island and show us what to do for the week. We had to bring our stuff into quarentine because they didn't want any forgien seeds or mice to get on the island since its predator free. After we made it through the blazing hot quarentine, we walked to the water to catch our water taxi. We had to load up all our boxes of clothing, food, and supplies onto a barge, which was tiring. We were maybe about 1/3 of the way to the Island when the skipper decided to turn back because the barge wasn;t doing so well on the choppy water. We had to unload and load another boat up and then make the trip again. We finally got to the island 30-45 minutes later and unloaded everything once again. We got there aroun 4pm and Josh was thinking of going on a hike, but we were all so exhausted, we decided against it. We set up our tents and campsite and made dinner and most of us went straight to bed.

The next day, we went on an island hike. We saw some cool gun installments from WWII and where the men who were stationed there lived. However, they all got drunk instead on fighting because the Japanese never came and attacked NZ. Oh well. We were then instructed on finding the smallest bird on the island and i like in NZ...the Tom Tit or Rifleman. DOC is trying to relocate them to another island because that island only has one male. We found one, who was curious, but he didn't stick around for too long. After the hike (and more bush bashing...ugh), we went from a swim and thought we might be done, but that was a trick. We then had to weed around the campsite. Some of the other group members chopped down cherry trees and other unwanted trees. After that we thought we might be done, but NO...we had to go survey fish at night in a stream and hour away. That was scary because it was night and it was really uneven ground. We were all exhasted too and by the time we reached a beach on the other side of the island we were all willing to walk in the ocean with our boots on to get to our campsite vs. going back in the bush. Walking through the ocean was really cool but kinda scary. We saw some really cool birds that we woke up by accident and Bennett thought he saw a seal, but he was wrong.

Once we got back to the campsite i was out like a light. Before I forget I must tell you about the little birds...or chicken sized birds, that look like kiwis, but are Wika's. They wander our campsite looking for things to steal for their nests. They ended up stealing camdy from me which i wasn't too happy about and they almost stole some of my cookies. They must have a sweet tooth. They were cute until the starting stealing from everyone. Sigh.

Well the next day slept in because we stayed up so late and then went off to survey snails. haha. for real. We went up a trail and then found places 10 meters off the track to find both dead and living snails. we took their measements and documented whether they died of natural cases of a wika. We did three of those snail plots and then had the rest of the day for chill out and have fun. That night we all hung out by the ocean, while Dom played his guitar and we watched something REALLY cool. We found out that there are little tiny alge-like creatures in the ocean that glow green/blue when splashed. It has to be dark to see it, but its sooo cool. its called phosfluorescent. It was super cool to watch and be a part of. Some of the group went swimming. NUTS because the water was ice cold. That was a really fun night.

The next day we were instructed to clear a path we recently went up of any brush in the way. That doesnt sound so bad, but there was HOOK GRASS and thorns we had to clear out. OUCH, but we made it through four hours of chopping and clipping with a lunch break and then had the rest of the DAY off, but we didn't have the night off. We ended up doing more fish surveying that night but it was at a closer stream. However, I had a horrible night's sleep the night before so it was super had for me not to fall alseep. but this time it was a lot more fun because last time...when we got to the steam...the stream was dried up! so lame. but the second time the stream was filled with fish and eels!! eek!! haha. but that was cooool. But once we came upon a huge cliff we had to climb up most of us turned back to get some shut eye. I was happy because i was ready to pass out and i did. it was glorious.

The next day was our last day and we didnt do anything except pack up. however, it was raining!! noo!! it was raining on our last day when we had to pack up our tents...gross. a lot of peoples clothing got soaked because they left them out thinking it wasn't going to rain. Oh well. I guess it did. We got everything packed up and got on the barge, while it was still raining and ruched back to the mainland. We saw Hector's Dolphins on the way back, which was awesome because there are only 1000 of them left in the world. We got really really lucky. It was a fun ride. we got soaked, but we went over really cool waves. YAY.

Once we got back to the mainland we packed back up said our goodbyes to Josh, who was really cool, and then made our way to Nelson (scott's hometown). We had a little tour of the town in the car and then settled into our hostel, which is really nice. its a really big house with lots of niches. ANd they have free breakfast...awesome!! After an hour at the hostel we went to Scotts house to meet his family (Rachel and Kahu--his 3 yr old son). There house is soo cute and quaint, Rachel is so nice and full of energy and their son is sooo cute. We all went out to dinner and for a drink together, which was fun and Kahu came along. so cute. After dinner Scott and his family went home, while the rest of us went on the search for dessert. We found some ice cream and then came back to get some interneting/laundry done. I won't be getting laundry done today...booo, but tomorrow i will be on that!! haha.

well thats all i got for now. I will keep you updated more later. miss you all and ill be sure to get pics up before i leave for the next trip on Monday morning. Cheers.