Elephants rock

We have 2 weeks to catch up on so this may be a long one! I'll start with the Olympics.  We have been spending most of our evenings watching and rooting (rooting, by the way, means having sex with in NZ terms, but we mean it as cheering for...) the USA and New Zealand. It's nice to have 2 countries to cheer on, it really increases your chances of success!  So, we have grown to love watching all of the rowing events and, surprisingly, have developed a fondness for table tennis.  Those guys are crazy! Anyway, all of the sports have been great entertainment for us and we're sad to see them end.

Last weekend we were invited to a North American dinner party at our fellow Americans' place. There were 5 Americans and 2 Canadians, good company. Emily and Dan provided some yummy homemade pizza and beverages while we cheered on NZ's Mahe Drysdale as he rowed for the gold but finished with a bronze.  After crossing the finish line, he had to be dragged into a rescue boat where he passed out and then threw up for about 20 minutes before being carried to the podium to receive his medal.  He had been sick all week and had lost about 10 pounds in 4 days.  Made for an exciting finish!

Mahe Drysdale after his race!

Also last weekend, we went to Dunedin's Public Art Gallery to check out a cool exhibit about walking canes.  This after sampling a new crepe at the Farmers Market of course.  Lemon juice and sugar this week.  The French guy squeezed a whole lemon onto the crepe and then added a spoonful of raw (brownish and chunky) sugar.  It ended up tasting a lot like lemonade and was tasty!  Craig also tried the popular bacon butte (bacon, onions, ketchup, and mustard) sandwich which was surprisingly good.  I began my new job on Monday!  I am working for the Dean of the Physio school, basically on whatever projects he wants.  So far, so good, I'm getting used to having a desk type job, not used to sitting in one place at work.  But, I do like it and it's giving me some good experience. And all of the people are great.

Monday night, Craig and I attended a lecture given by some pretty well known professors from the US.  Afterward, we joined them and a few other faculty for dinner at a great seafood restaurant.  Craig had Salmon, and I tried the Blue Cod, a pretty popular NZ fish.  Both were good.  We also sampled Dan's Muttonbird.  Muttonbird is a bird that tastes like a fish, and is found only in NZ.  The description we got from a waitress in Queenstown is, "It is very fishy, salty, and greasy."  So, based on that description, we decided not to order (can you blame us?) but Dan stepped up to the plated and decided to give it a try.  We both sampled it and it actually wasn't bad.  I don't know that we would order it for a meal though.  Craig then took Bill and Jill, the lecturers for a tour of campus the next day.  

During the week, we watched more olympics and enjoyed the (finally) nice weather.  It was sunny every day, allowing us to get outside on our lunch breaks.  We found a mountain bike for me, and are still looking for one for Craig.  We can't wait to get out and do some riding! Yesterday, we took advantage of a really warm, sunny day, and went to a place called Elephant Rocks.  It's basically a farmer's field with the HUGE boulders scattered about in it.  It was fun to go climb and hike around in there.



On our way back home, we stopped at the Anatini Whale Fossile Site where we could view a partially excavated whale skeleton (a rib, scapula, mandible, and vertebrae).  It was strange to think that where these bones were discovered (in a rocky area), was underwater years ago.  It's now a completely dry area, nowhere near the ocean.

After that, we drove through Trotter's Gorge where we stopped for a hike to some caves.  The trail was very green and jungly, and we hope to get back there for some more hiking soon. We think Spring is here, and everything is starting to bloom, so hopefully our days of sunshine will keep coming!





Elephant Rocks Pictures