Submitted by Jennifer Schuler on the 2016 winter session program in New Zealand sponsored by the Department of Animal and Food Sciences…
It is the New Zealand summer. The South Island is also in a terrible drought. I will need lots of warm weather clothes. Those are the statements I heard before this trip, yet I have trouble believing them. In fact, I cannot remember the last day it has not rained. I wear more long pants than shorts, and even the farmers we visit admit their crops are doing well in this so called “drought”. The rain has been annoying to say the least, but we have made the most of it.
The night we stayed at Mt. Peel, there was no Wifi and it was raining. The rain did not stop us—we played games, and some people even went for a hike. Another day, a bunch of us decided to play soccer despite the ominous clouds. Suddenly, the skies opened up and many people went inside, but I remained in the rain and did yoga. Later that night, I was watching Lord of the Rings in the lounge, when all of a sudden someone screamed about a rainbow. We paused the movie and dashed outside in excitement. We were like happy little kids, running around with our hands up. What a wonderful sight! But wait, there’s more. When we were in Queenstown, we saw a rainbow as well. Queenstown is surrounded by beautiful mountains, and the rainbow reached over them to create the perfect picture.
The really disappointing thing with rain is the clouds. I love stargazing, and because of all the light pollution back home, I rarely get to see a full sky of stars. We were staying at a mountain lodge outside of Queenstown, and I sat in the yard staring at the sun as it disappeared behind the mountains. I waited for the stars, but of course they were covered up by the clouds. I must have sat there a good while, because suddenly there was a break in the clouds, and a few stars appeared. It wasn’t much, but I smiled anyway because there is no place more beautiful on earth to see stars than in New Zealand. Hopefully the rain will clear up for our last weekend, but I must appreciate the beauty it can bring as well.