Mud Will Always Get the Best In You...And Your Pants

For those of you who are still curious as to what this blog is, here is an update of my life in New Zealand! Much of thursday was spent in the Valley (A.K.A. the Bush), trudging through mud off trails to reach the many Hihi boxes (Click Here to see a Hihi!) that are conveniently located on the top of the steepest parts of the mountains as possible. Yes, even some of the nest sites had ropes tied to trees to assist people in getting up the hill. Una and Lauren were great company to check the boxes with, and we enjoyed a serene few minutes sitting in the woods at each hidden site. The mud seemed to get the best of me and my pants. I might as well have been wearing no pants at all (it is what it looked like from my many slips)! Some of the slopes were so steep, that it was easier to just sit down, and create a natural mud slide to make your way down.

After checking those boxes, I was sent out with Una and  an older man to check Kaka boxes! Although these nests were not so difficult to get to, the trek up to the boxes was quite strenuous but well worth it! We took the "Steep Trail" up to the fence (yes, we walked all the way up, as far as you can go). And believe me was it steep! I was able to do it with a smile, and actually enjoyed it as well! It was a great little stroll through the park.

I spent the afternoon with a man named Mark (a little crazy if you ask me). It was his first time setting up food for the Hihi birds, and liked to "talk himself through it." He asked me to help him as an excuse to allow his socially unaccepted habit of talking to himself, become accepted.

After a long Thursday, I was in no means psychologically fit to cook myself a meal. The next best option? Order two large pies from Dominos, and have two people eat both of them, as well as the Chocolate Molten Lava Cake (which I highly recommend).

Friday morning was great at the Sanctuary. I was trained how to read the bird's bands and how to record sightings for bellbirds (Bellbirds!). I went off with a high school exchange student from Germany to different trails and we got to sit and watch the birds feed! It was very cool to see. One of the female birds was quite curious and came pretty close to us! The afternoon was spent cleaning out the shed by sweeping (and trust me it had not been swept in a while). It's a good thing that I am good at cleaning! I then continued to do the dirty jobs by getting lucky enough to be assigned to sand all of the tools, and oil them! Woooooooooh! I made it fun for myself though by counting the cracks in the wood. Strange, but hey, it made the time fly by, especially because my iPod died on me before I even finished walking to the bus.

When I got home, I was looking very cute in my work boots, mud, and sweat, to meet my two new roomates, Noah and Jeff. The two guys, Jeni and I went out for an early dinner to JJ's Irish Pub, where I devoured more pizza! We went out to a nice bar after and met up with the guys from the other apartment, Nick and Mack.

I have no idea what Saturdays explorations may bring but more adventures to come!