The student becomes the teacher, who becomes the student again.

I finished off the week with some solid sub work. My first job through the temp company was at a school for children with behavioral issues, and it was an interesting change of pace from mainstream schools. They seemed pretty pleased with my work and said if they need someone again they will call back the temp company and ask specifically for me. There's nothing like having your work validated after the unnecessarily difficult and long struggle of getting accepted in a foreign school system. 

We kicked off the weekend having a birthday drink with one of our frisbee friends. Then, Michael got up ridiculously early Saturday morning to ride to Canberra for a frisbee tournament. About two hours later I found his cleats, still at the apartment. Luckily, he needed new cleats anyway and was able to make a run to the store and get some. I would have gone to cheer on the team, but I had a training I had to stay back for. 

And now... time to relax. 

Unbreakable

So I just started watching The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and it's pretty great. It's produced by Tina Fey and the humor is very similar to 30 Rock. Perhaps it can fill the hole in my heart left by Parks and Recreation ending. 

Life of a Sub

All of a sudden my substitute teaching work is picking up. I'm not sure if it's the time of school year/term, that more schools just have my info now, or just the time of year that all the teachers are starting to get sick, but I've gotten more calls and texts recently. I've also signed up with a temp company that will send me potential jobs as well. 

What does this mean for me? I actually have to start getting up more days around 6:15AM even if I don't know if I'll have work, so that I'll be ready to take a call or text and get out the door. 

In other news, our trivia friends had their first baby. I got to visit yesterday and he's pretty adorable. This means their trivia attendance has waned, but I suppose it's a good reason.  

Time to start my day!

March Mellowness

(As opposed to March Madness) 

At the end of the week I received a lovely care package in the mail from one of my good friends back in Virginia, complete with tea and other little goodies. I also received my Yelp elite welcome package, which was nicer than I expected - sunglasses, playing cards, lip balm, fingerless gloves, etc. Friday, I also got paid to teach a corporate group the basics of ultimate frisbee, so that's always good. Little happy surprises were a great way to end a week that was a little rockier at the beginning.

Saturday we went to a delicious brunch at our friends' new apartment. We caught up with some frisbee friends, some we hadn't seen in weeks or months. Since the hosts were Canadian, there were authentic crepes and maple syrup, for the win! Afterwards we walked over to Bronte Beach where the boys swam and the girls sat and chatted because it was too cold to swim. We also got to see some strangers get married. 

In the evening we saw a free Angus and Julia Stone concert in the Domain, as part of the Spectrum Now Festival. We had never heard of this festival until the last night, where we discovered that it is essentially a random festival with no common theme. It was nice enough for free entertainment and we all crashed relatively early after a long day that was not particularly taxing. 

Speaking of Being Off the Grid

For those of you that aren't familiar with New Zealand's Great Walks, I thought I'd go into a little more detail about what Michael and I did. 

In order to conserve the beauty and experience of these 9 amazing trails, the Dept. of Conservation restricts/regulates the use during the warmer months of the year, and you have to reserve spots at the huts along the trails. The huts have bunk rooms, flush toilets, only cold running untreated water (no showers), basic gas stoves, and the only electricity is lights are solar/timer operated in the kitchen area. Every hut has its own ranger with a very different personality, our favorite being Ross at the Clinton Hut. His is an older man living his second/dream career, and he appears in lots of photographs in books people have made of the trail (we found him in at least three different publications). He carries an oldschool exterior frame pack and will talk your ear off about wildlife and plants. 

Michael and I were both amazed at how well the huts and trails are maintained. Every toilet and latrine was stocked with toilet paper. Almost every part of the trail was clearly marked. There were beautiful suspension bridges as well as smaller log ones, and well-maintained drainage ditches on the side of many parts of the trail. The money we paid to use the huts and trail is clearly put to good use. Even spots where there had clearly been an avalanche or flood in recent months had been fixed up sufficiently.

Speaking of avalanches, we heard one when we were at McKinnon Pass - the first time I've ever heard one. We were in the one of the best spots one can be when you hear snow and earth rumbling, up just about as high as we could get (so we knew it wasn't coming down to us), but it was a little unnerving we couldn't see where the avalanche had happened through the clouds. We didn't know if at some point we would come upon a part of the trail that simply vanished, but we didn't. Apparently a group of three staying in the huts with us had been close to where the avalanche had hit, and was very lucky to not be affected. Even in summer when there's barely any snow, you never know what will happen on the trail. 

Speaking of people we met at the huts, I was so impressed how well everyone looked after each other. From us and a few other Americans, to some Aussies and Kiwis, Germans, Israelis, Koreans, and probably people from other countries that we didn't get to talk to, it was quite a diverse crowd. Everyone was happy to share the common spaces and items - happy to share a lighter to light the stove. When a party of three took a very long time to make it to the third hut, other individuals took notice right away, alerted the ranger, and went out in search of them. They ended up being fine, but it was nice to see how everyone rallied for people they barely knew.

We saw that every group or pair has a range of speeds and abilities along the trail. Every group or pair has times where their patience is tested, when they're exhausted. Some people make decisions that are baffling, like carrying larger or heavier gear than necessary, or glass bottles or jars that they are only going to have to keep carrying once they are empty and no longer useful. Even though are relatively young and in decent physical shape, I was still very sore an tired by the end of it. Other people were less physically prepared or had many years on us, but completed the trail all the same. 

Michael really loved being off the grid and unable to check his email. Waking up in the morning with three priorities simplifies your day. 1 - Cook and eat a lot of calories. 2 - Get from point A to point B with all your stuff. 3- Enjoy nature. Carrying all your food and garbage makes you much more mindful of your own consuming habits. 

I love that Sutherland Falls, New Zealand's highest waterfall, has not at all been commercialized, or even made remotely easy to get to. From the trail after already walking for five hours or so, it's another hour and a half side trip walk. I got to look at it with a total of three other people, and not buses full of tourists. Michael swam in the pool below it with two friendly endangered blue ducks. 

Speaking of waterfalls, we got incredibly lucky with our weather. That sounds like a strange sentence, but it's true. This is an area that gets 200 days of rain a year, and our first three days were dry. This makes for easier and more comfortable backpacking. However, our last day the skies let loose. Even though we finished soaked, we were able to see the mountains change. A mountain might have one or two little waterfalls when it's not raining, but during and after rain there are literally 10, one after another. We were lucky to see the great contrast, and possibly during the best part of the hike for it. 

Sandflies. There are not mosquitoes, there are sandflies. If you are walking, they are not an issue. If you stop, they gradually build up. If you are in a spot where people tend to stop, especially just outside the huts, they build up and swarm and never go away. They suck your blood and make you itch. You just kind of have to deal with them. They like to give a grand finale at the aptly named Sandfly Point where the trail ends.

Then you crowd onto a little boat with all the other smelly hikers and take in the world-famous Milford Sound. Now, which Great Walk is next, and when?

Kia Ora

Michael and I are back from our big New Zealand trip. We had to take several Air New Zealand flights, which have the best flight safety video I've ever seen, even if it does lose its novelty after six views.

We have mounds of pictures and GoPro footage to go through, especially since we're not even really done going through the GoPro footage from our Asia trip. Here are just a few of my favorite phone pics...

Me at Lake Wakatipu

Michael at the top of the gondola in Queenstown

Lake Te Anau, on the way to the glowworm caves

Mintauro Hut - one of the basic huts along the Milford Track where we spent a night. 

Kea, cheeky native alpine parrots, love hanging out at the summit

On top of a mountain in the middle of the day, the sun was right there.

Walking above the clouds

The loo with a view (when it isn't as cloudy)

Sutherland Falls (it's a lot higher than it looks from this angle - 580 meters) 

After hiking for four days, we were rewarded with these views of Milford Sound

Scale in the photo below is deceptive. The waterfall to the lower left of that mountain is about 150 meters tall, so you can imagine how tall the mountains are in relation.

Enjoying one of Queenstown's cafes

Michael and his new moa friend

New Zealand was pretty fantastic. The Milford Track was amazing, and it only made us want to go back and do more of the 9 Great Walks. Michael went bungee jumping (video to be posted in the future), and we also went canyoning for the first time. We also enjoyed more lowkey activities like a Zealandia night wildlife walk in Wellington, and the skyline luge and playing disc golf at Queens Park in Queenstown. 

New Zealand is really an epic place with a unique history. It's the only place I've ever been where the only native mammals are bats. There were no other mammals there until the Maori and then other settlers came, which makes for lots of birds that still don't know how to properly react to mammals and predators (and thus many are endangered). There are little robins that will just hop up and sit on your shoe and look at you if you stand still on the trail.

I also like how the Kiwis do such a good job of honoring and integrating Maori culture, compared to how other countries try to pay homage to their indigenous people (but often come up short). I can't speak from their perspective, but it just seems that Maori culture is very prevalent in the arts and education. For example, in the Te Papa museum, all of the informational signs were both in English and Maori, and there is a television channel that is entirely modern Maori programming. Many NZ company designs seem to reflect Maori patterns and icons. I'm sure I could write a thesis about my observations in comparison to what I've seen in Australia, but I won't.

Now it's time to unpack and get our lives back in order. More pics/posts/reflections to come about NZ.

Down Underer

In a few hours I'm hopping on a plane to NZ. Talk to you guys later.