I expect that the internet will be turned on later today. So until then I will kill some time and describe the past two weeks as best as I can.
Our Great Barrier Island backpacking adventure went off without a hitch. Well, actually it involved a lot of hitching of rides. I assume that it is one of the onoly places left in the world where it is truely safe to hitchike. Since we were the only travelers on the island (or it seemed to be the case because we certainly did not see anyone else the whole time we were there), the local islanders were happy to give us a lift. One ride sticks out in peticular: he pulled over and made room for us in his car by removing bloody cow legs from the back. "Um... these are for my dogs." he said with a grin. Yea, it was interesting. But later he got us in touch with a gentlemen who rented kyacks. So we spent half of a day roaming around the sea on crystal clear water.
I'll never forget the plane we took to and from the island. It was a small little thing, with only about 6 or 8 seats.
And as for Cape Reinga, I'm going to pull from an e-mail I wrote a few days ago:
We had a full moon both nights, and the sky was bright with shooting stars. We'd lay in the grass and watch the moon rise up from behind the hills... while the sound of the ocean waves crashing on the shore sang soft melodies of comfort. It was quite serene, and also conductive to lots of trailing thoughts and daydreams :-) The grass was super-soft, so it was almost like we wear lying in a bed of feathers. It was certainly one of the best experiences I have had in my lifetime, let alone on this trip.
The whole time, though, I kept on thinking about how I wish I could share this moment with the people who are close to me. It is nice to have friends here, to do things and enjoy things together, but I wish for nothing more than to share an experience like the one I just described with someone truly close.
With that in mind, everyone beg my parents to allow my brother to come visit me in December.
In other news, Dr. Steuer and I had our HSIRB proposal approved, so we can now begin working on our article for publication. Can I get a "Hell yeah"?
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