Quad Biking, Trip Planning

I haven't posted here for a while, since life has been incredibly hectic. I figured that it was about time for an update, however, since yesterday I finally went quad biking (this was on the must-do list)! Quad biking, also called four-wheeling, involves riding this awesome contraption through rocky, messy terrain:



Unfortunately, I couldn't get any action shots because I was busy actually riding the quad bike up and down mountains, and through rivers (a little hazardous when it comes to protecting my precious digital camera). But I did manage to get a few pictures of us during a few stops:







It was a great, messy experience. I learned not to panic when my engine smoked as I rode through the water... I loved riding through the rocky parts... I managed to dodge a suicidal sheep that ran in front of my quad bike... I even got up to 60 km/hr when we rode down a highway!

After the quad biking, we went wine tasting in a local winery in Wairarapa; the wine was very good, although I must admit that I have limited skills as a wine taster. I'm just beginning to distinguish between different types of wines, and frankly half of the descriptions people use for wines sound made up. Can you really smell nutmeg, lychee, sawdust, apricot or almonds in there? Even though I doubt I'll ever have the imagination, pretentiousness, or budget to be a true wine connoisseur, I am interested in trying more wines and expanding my palette, especially since I'm finally 21. Right now, it all tastes good to me :-)

We also when to a local Greytown chocolate factory called Schoc, where they make experimental flavors, such as lime chili chocolate and strawberry pepper chocolate. They let us try samples of the flavors, and I decided on the dark rose chocolate, which came with actual rose petals in the package- some of the finest chocolate I've ever had!

I probably should have been using Sunday to work on my two research papers, which are both due in four days, but I'm glad I didn't miss these experiences. Things will only get more intense from here. After turning in my two research papers this friday, I'll be gearing up to do my South Island trip with Nikki. We'll be flying into Queenstown, and heading to Milford Sound, camping in Fiordland National Park, traveling to Dunedin, Christchurch, the Franz Josef Glacier, and various other national parks where we can camp. We've split on a tent in an attempt to save money on hostels (as well to get a real outdoors experience), and we'll be hopping into a rental car with my flatmate halfway through the trip. We left some of the trip open for wandering and spontaneous decisions, which I think will be nice.

Even though I haven't been updating on everything, life has definitely been busy. Outside of school, I've been attending events, meals and parties with new people, and generally being as sociable as I can. I've met some amazing, quirky and interesting locals and international people, and want to continue to do so while I can. I have developed a lot of new relationships, stories and memories, which have been both positive and negative, joyful and painful, relaxing and stressful, and always enlightening. It's difficult to truly articulate my life here... there are so many factors, it's too complex to properly elaborate. But I've learned a lot about myself, introspectively and socially, in relation to different people and cultures.

Also, I baked these fudge cookies, and even though they looked funny, they were delicious: