Spring Break!

SoPac: 

Hello faithful readers! Sorry for the brief hiatus, but we're back in Kaikoura and things are in full swing.  We're currently in God and Nature 2 with Cal DeWitt from U.W. Madison, but here is a glimpse of last week, our spring break.  Everyone split ways for 9 days and explored the South Island and even Australia. Here's one student's story, Gretchen from Messiah College.

(written by Gretch)

One of the things I did over spring break was the Milford Track with Bethany and Jess. It is a four-day hike starting at Lake Te Anau and ends at the Milford Sound. It was one of the best backpacking trips of my life! Each day the trail just got better and better. We saw so many waterfalls, probably more than I have seen in my whole life! We even got to see the tallest waterfall in New Zealand called the Sutherland Falls. It is the 5^th tallest in the world! Most of the trail went through the Clinton and Arthur Rainforest Valley’s. The rainforest was so cool! There was moss growing on everything! Another great thing about this trail is we got to see so much wild life, especially native birds. We saw Weka, Tui, Fantails, and Kea. A Robin even landed on Jess’s pack!  I had so much fun and was glad to see another part of New Zealand.

The lush Arthur's Valley rainforest

Myself in the foreground and Clinton Valley in the background

Jess giving a friend a ride