Wednesday 7 May 2014

Orchard Park Bits and Pieces

After a complete whirlwind trip back home to surprise mum for easter, which included - sprinting through Sydney airport, before being stopped and searched (I guess running full kilt through an airport is suspicious in australia…), having 8hours of truly awful turbulence which was so bad everyone was told they absolutely couldn't leave their seats, missing my connection and having to spend 24hrs in Dubai, and having a 3hour nosebleed on my 13hour flight! Oh and I managed to watch a TON of films

Now I'm settled back in, all unpacked and very nearly over the time difference, I thought I'd show you a couple of photos of where I'm actually staying here! The campus has been well and truly scorched by the sun down here with all the grass being bleached yellow - a novel view for me since I don't think we've ever had enough sun in blackpool to brown the grass!

Waikato University grounds
This is the main field - the landscape looks to alien considering only a few weeks ago it was just your bog standard green playing field!

The library, thought I'd include this since I see it every day
After walking up the ridiculously still hill that I have to trek up several times a day this is the view I get, it doesn't look too impressive in the picture but it's actually very pretty in person
Separating the university buildings from Orchard Park is this cute little stream

 Orchard Park is basically just a collection of 'cottages' built on top of an orchard so it's quite cute
And this is the place I've been calling home for the last two months!
My room is the one the one at the front behind the tree - so the window on the left

That's all for now, there's a couple of trips in the pipeline but, although it doesn't look it in these photos, winter really is starting to hit. The Tongarario crossing which is slight famous, and a couple of us were desperate to do, has already had an early snow fall meaning there's no way we can do it. As soon as ice settles it's a dangerous hike and we just don't have the experience or the equipment which we're all a little sad about since we've missed the window of opportunity. 

But I'm sure I'll manage to fit in everything else on my to-do list like Gisborne, Napier, Hastings, Taupo, Raglan, Corromandel etc :)

No comments:

Post a Comment