Submitted by Kelley Lucey on the 2019 winter session study abroad program in New Zealand sponsored by the Department of Behavioral Health and Nutrition…
My second week in New Zealand has been very busy! We left Lincoln University where we had stayed for the first week and began traveling south. Our first stop was in Greymouth at the Pancake Rocks! The Pancake Rocks were beautiful and it was amazing to see how the years of weathering from the winds and water impacted the limestone. Our second stop was the Franz Josef Glacier. The glacier itself and the surrounding area were unlike anything I had ever seen before! As we hiked, our guide gave us cups to fill with stream water as we went (something that never happens in the United States)! The water was cool and extremely clean. The glacier was beautiful and also alarming. There were signs throughout the trail mentioning how far the glacier used to reach in previous years. It was alarming to see how far the glacier had receded in the past ten years alone. The signs also offered tips to help climate change which I thought was really unique!
