Submitted by Alina Roell on the 2020 winter session program in New Zealand sponsored by the Department of Animal and Food Sciences…
Kia Ora (Hello!),
My name is Alina Roell and I am in the 2020 ANFS study abroad trip to New Zealand. This blog will sum up my third week here, one of the most exciting weeks so far. Enjoy!
I started off my week visiting one of the largest and most diverse farms our class has seen thus far. Monday morning, we drove to the Acland Farm, which had a wide range of agricultural operations on site. This included raising sheep, cows, deer, and bees for wool, mutton, beef, milk, venison, velvet, and honey. We got an opportunity to see a mass sheep shearing that only happens twice a year, with some of the shearers finishing an entire sheep in under two minutes. David Acland also went into depth about the venison and velvet industry, because that is not a very common practice in the United States. I learned that velvet is actually referring to the stage of growth of the antlers on the deer, not just the fuzzy stuff on the outside. Once harvested, the antlers are frozen and sold in bulk to Asia, who use it for homeopathic medicine.
Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we had no class and had planned a long weekend trip away to Queenstown, widely known as the adventure capital of the world. I ended up staying at JUCY Snooze for the duration of the trip, a hostel with pod-style rooms. Friday morning, I had to be up bright and early for my coach and cruise trip to Milford Sound, an internationally recognized world heritage site. The views here were breathtaking and quite different from the dry, flat scenery I have become accustomed to. There were mountains with lush green rain forest and waterfalls that ran right into the ocean, with dolphins and seals swimming around. I drank glacier water straight from a river and kayaked along the fiords before heading back to Queenstown. It was easily my favorite location that I have been to so far and I hope to return one day to spend more time there.
On Saturday, I honored Queenstown’s signature title by going canyoning, an adrenaline-packed adventure that consisted of rappelling, jumping, swimming and zip-lining down a canyon. I ended up surprising myself because I am not an adrenaline junkie, but I loved every second of this trip. It was the perfect combination of nature, exercise, and excitement that wasn’t too intense, but definitely gave everyone involved quite a rush.
I’m beginning the last full week of my program tomorrow and while I am disappointed that this adventure is almost over, I can’t wait to come back and see my family and friends at home. This really is a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget (with so many souvenirs it would be hard to).
