My time on the North Island was quite a whirlwind. In Wellington, I caught up with some family friends who moved to New Zealand almost 15 years ago. Their daughter was one of my friends in elementary school, and we did a bit of a flip flop – she is now in college in the […]
Research in New Zealand
I received funding to do research in New Zealand in the fall of 2016. A self-motivated trip, these posts document my experiences traveling solo and doing research in a foreign country.
Travel Post: Tongariro Crossing
While I was on the North Island, I took a weekend to do the Tongariro Apline Crossing, which was recommended to me as one of the best day hikes in New Zealand by one of the Sustainability and Outdoor Education professors at CPIT. The crossing includes multiple volcanos, including Mt. Ngauruhoe, also known to Lord […]
Travel Post: Nelson
After spending a month and a half in Christchurch, mostly in the small harbor town of Lyttelton, I started to get a bit antsy. After all, I came all this way to experience New Zealand as well as carry out my research projects, but so far I had been living within about a 4 mile […]
Sustainability and Outdoor Education Trip to Peel Forest
Thanks to the joys of networking and kiwi hospitality, I was invited on a field trip with Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology’s (CPIT) Sustainability and Outdoor Education degree students. The trip was to Peel Forest, on the south eastern Canterbury plains just before the Southern Alps. The field trip spanned three days and two nights, which were […]
Canterbury Enviroschools
I had the opportunity to meet and work with a variety of organizations while in New Zealand, all of which were working towards a similar goal of sustainability but in a different manner. One of the organizations, the Enviroschools program, gave me an interesting perspective on what is important to learn about “place.” One sunny […]
Week Two
Week two complete. I am so settled in! This week the boys were on school holiday so we’ve been spending some “family” time together. It’s been great, because I’ve gotten to see some more of Christchurch. We went to the Botanical Garden, Christchurch Museum, and explored nearby Diamond Harbour. On Wednesday I spent the day […]