My initial plan to work with Project Lyttelton for my first two weeks to get acquainted with the area blossomed into living there my entire time in New Zealand. I think it’s a testament to place and community that it happened that way — initially I didn’t really expect it to connect to my work […]

A few weeks ago, I attended a community meeting regarding the push to make Christchurch a Child Friendly City. Admittedly, I had never heard of Child Friendly cities before this meeting. After some research, I learned that it is an initiative launched by UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) to promote the democratic empowerment, health, safety, […]

Today I had the pleasure of joining Jocelyn, Environment Canterbury’s Youth Engagement Educator, on a visit to a local Marae, or Maori meeting place. This specific Marae, Koukourārata, is located about 45 minutes from Lyttelton, just over the hill and along the coast. We arrived just after 9am, and the sun was shining, creating a […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]