New Zealand Wonders

Submitted by Nicholas Villari on the 2016 winter session program in New Zealand sponsored by the Department of Animal and Food Sciences…

What do  hiking through temperate rain forests, clear blue glacier water, and driftwood bonfires on the beach all have in common? They are all things one will experience in just one week on the New Zealand study abroad program!

My last full week in New Zealand was definitely jam packed. Early in the week, our group traveled to Mt. Peel, a large highland farm that features deer, sheep and cattle as livestock. We stayed overnight in a cozy mountain lodge, playing board games to pass the time.

After a day to rest at Lincoln University, we set out again to the west coast of New Zealand to a small beach town called Hokitica. I was dreading the long bus ride; however, once we began our pass through the Southern Alps, I quickly became engrossed in the beauty of the landscape around me. Unlike the landscape around the eastern plains of New Zealand, the western coast offers a view into the temperate rain forest of New Zealand. We passed through many treacherous mountain roads and saw beautiful blue lakes and mountainsides covered in lush green foliage. Wild fern trees and plants created a dense wall along the roadsides, separating the cars from the natural beauty within the forests. At one point, we got out of our bus and walked through the surrounding rain forest. The forest was much thicker and denser than any forest I have experienced before in the United States. Without the walking path, one would not be able to walk through the forest unless they had a machete to blaze their own trail. The forest was also extremely loud! The insects created a never ending forest conversation that went on all around you as you walked. The calls of birds soon followed when we were deeper in the forest. We came up to an old cable bridge which spanned the bluest water I have ever seen! It was the called the blue gorge and was created by flowing glacier water. Down near the shoreline, we put our feet in the water and gasped at how cold it was. I have never seen a place of such natural beautiful before.  I knew at that moment that I would never find such place in the United States. It was unreal that such a place was located not far off the roadway and the only sign it was there is a small carpark on the side of the road. It was a great testament to all that New Zealand has to offer.

The final night in Hokitica my fellow study abroad travelers and I went to the beach for a bonfire. The beach was loaded with drift wood which was easy to light on fire. We circled around the warm fire and some of us built tiny stone towers with rocks lying about. One of our group members brought out a ukulele and we all shared in singing some relaxing campfire songs. The stars were clear in the night sky and we could find the Southern Cross, the Milky Way, and the Sagittarius (a start constellation that looks like a man holding a bow).  Who would have though star gazing is another hidden gem New Zealand has to offer? It was the perfect night to end our last full week in New Zealand. We are leaving two days from now, this program has really flown by!Blue Gorge Nicholas Villari 16W New Zealand ANFS sm