As the Posts Slow Down

Ok, so it has been over a week since we have posted and even longer since I (Matt) have posted. I think it is probably a trend among bloggers to post a lot right at first and then less and less as the novelty wears off. However, we are going to try and fight that urge. It isn't that the novelty has worn off its just that we have settled into a routine here in Dunedin [1] and so our day-to-day has been less noteworthy. So, in an effort to demonstrate what our routine is, here's the last week in a nutshell:

Monday: I worked in the afternoon at the front desk [2]. Easy day. All of the laundry was already done when I got here so I just had to sit around in case of fire or other emergency. Carrie... I forget what Carrie did. I think maybe she spent most of the day getting articles and things in preparation for her applications to grad school. She has been using the journal access from our friend Elizabeth's office at the University of Otago [3]. I had to miss a frisbee training day because of work.

Tuesday: I worked the whole day at the desk. Another easy day. I met some people from Perth, Australia and played Jenga with them. Carrie spent the whole day in our room working on her applications.

Wednesday: Today was Carrie's day to work all day so I slept in and then in the afternoon I went out walking around Dunedin. I did a few geocaches. That night I had ultimate. It was the last Wednesday where we will be playing indoor [4]. Now we will move outdoors.

Thursday: Carrie worked all morning. She woke me up when she got back from work and Carrie and I went to the Botanic Gardens here in Dunedin [5]. They are beautiful! We walked around and did a few geocaches and released a 'Travel Bug' whose mission is to make it back to the cache at Blandy Experimental Farm where Carrie worked. While we were Geocaching there there was a forest fire burning in the bush (wilderness) right nearby [6]. We were never in any danger but it was pretty cool to watch all of the helicopters with huge buckets of water trying to put it out. After that we picked Elizabeth up at her work, went grocery shopping and made dinner with her. Frisbee training was canceled because most of the people were out of town.

Friday: We didn't have any plans for today so in the afternoon I came down to the main hostel and ended up hanging out with my friends from Perth. Carrie came down, we played some cards did some drinking and that slowly turned into a long and very late night out on the town where I spent way too much money for one day. Oh well, it was fun. It just can't happen very often. Carrie had already made big Friday night plans with the Web of Science that night so really I'm the only one to blame.


Saturday: We watched Apollo 13 with the director's commentary on. Very very cool. If any of you get the chance to do this take it. It is amazing how they filmed that movie and just how accurate they were to the actual events. Fascinating. That afternoon we picked up Elizabeth again (we have been using her car while we are here) and drove out to a place called Sandfly bay. I think we mentioned it in a previous post. We got there about two hours before sunset and sat in this hide that is built there for penguin observation [7]. It took some patience but eventually we did see 6 penguins come in out of the water and waddle/hop their way up the side of the hill and settle in for the night.
It was really something to see. It is amazing how steep of a climb they can manage.


Finally Sunday: Carrie went to Quaker meeting in the morning and then in the afternoon I went to play more Ultimate [8] and Carrie went back to the Gardens to practice her drawing.
and that brings us back to doh...

[1] "Elm Lodge Too" Where we are actually staying: 45°52'27.84"S, 170°29'38.86"E
[2] "Elm Lodge" The main building where we work: 45°52'29.70"S, 170°29'44.90"E
[3] University where Elizabeth works: 45°51'53.60"S, 170°30'59.14"E
[4] Edgar Center where I have been playing indoor ultimate: 45°53'32.09"S, 170°30'41.24"E
[5] Botanic Gardens: 45°51'25.10"S, 170°31'9.63"E
[6] This is where the big forest fire was: 45°51'44.69"S, 170°31'57.90"E
[7] This is the Penguin hide on Sandfly Bay: 45°53'52.61"S, 170°39'10.62"E
[8] This is where I play ultimate outdoors: 45°52'2.85"S, 170°31'22.00"E

Matt

P.S. Matt mixed up what we did on Thursday and Saturday so I just corrected it. Carrie