Tiritiri Matangi Island

Well it was about a month and a half ago now that I had the chance to visit a little island called Tiritiri Matangi. It's a native bird and tree conservatory. We were able to walk through dense tropical forest and explore some rocky beaches with cliffs and hollows created by the tide. It's a great little escape to nature a short ferry's ride from Auckland, and oh yeah, we saw a Little Blue Penguin too!

Clouds!

The Island Lighthouse (1864)

...and Fisherman's Bay.

Hello New Zealand

So it was exactly a month and a day ago that I left Southern California, and one day less than a month since I arrived in New Zealand. Oh and by the way, happy rarest date of the year today. Well, I've met a ton of unique people from several different countries all over the world, which currently works out to be too many Americans and not yet enough Kiwis. I've gone through one orientation already and am almost finishing up another, but was fortunate enough to have a three week break to travel around the South Island between the two. Here are some notable spots we stayed and things we experienced: Overlander Train, Wellington, Ferry through Marlborough Sound, Kayaking in Kaetiritiri, Hanmer Springs, Dunedin and Tunnel Beach, Catlins Forest, Te Anau, Fiordland National Park, Routeburn Track, Queenstown, Puzzling World in Wanaka, Mt. Aspiring National Park, Franz Joseph Glacier, Arthur's Pass, and Christchurch. Of course the details of the trip are the best part, but that's just a little too much for me. I'll throw in details as I put up more pictures, which will most likely be sporadic.

So now I'm living in an apartment in Auckland and attending the University here for the next four months. I don't start school until Monday March 3rd, which means I'm still currently on summer break. That sounds good to say at this time of year. Still everyday is filled with exploring new places, meeting new people, and experiencing new things. The next four months have a lot in store for me, I'll be posting words and pictures on here whenever I think it's worthwhile.

Here is the view of Mt. Momus from our second campsite on the Routeburn Track. I was just out taking pictures and was completely taken by surprise when the moon began to rise behind my subject.

And here is the view a short walk from our first night's campsite. That is Lake Mackenzie behind me with a couple of good lookin' peaks and clouds behind it. I've been places that compare in beauty, but it is difficult to say that I've ever experienced a landscape so vast.

The Moose

Hello. A couple of months ago I read "Into the Wild", a book by Jon Krakauer describing in detail the last years of the life of Chris McCandless. It's about a guy who graduates college, donates his life savings to charity, burns his cash, and lives life on the road for a couple years before heading up to his ultimate adventure of attempting to survive Alaska. It's inspiring because McCandless is such a positive, refreshing contrast to society, very similar to the lifestyle we are called to live, without ever citing Jesus as a reason.

Well, one day while he's hunting in Alaska he shoots himself a moose (I hope I see a moose in person sometime soon, I think I'd like them). Only problem is he struggles to preserve all of the meat and it ends up going to waste, well, to the wolves. McCandless describes this act of killing the wild animal without being able to make good use of it as, "The greatest tragedy of my life."

McCandless was reading through Henry Thoreau's Walden at the time. He marked a passage which included the lines, "The fruits eaten temperately need not make us ashamed of our appetites, nor interrupt the worthiest pursuits. But put an extra condiment into your dish, and it will poison you." Kind of harsh, but I think he's onto something here.

Now I'm not sure how biblical this mindset is, but it is hard to picture Jesus disagreeing with it. The fact is, we live in an obese nation, and being weary of eating any more than we need to can be a respectable habit to have. I understand the importance of feasts and celebrations with friends, but living in a country that consumes an absurd amount of food in proportion to its population, while we are all so aware of all those out there with very little, this mindset seems quite appropriate.

I want a Face (...in a girl)

So a lot of people like to read magazines like People and US. I flipped through one of my mom's People while I was in Yosemite with my family. I guess you can say I have a healthy disgust for those magazines now. Here's a little excerpt from something I wrote that night.

Every woman is so pretty and so close to perfect. I feel myself looking at them and wanting someone like them and that makes me sad. My ego leads me to want visual perfection in a woman. Looking at that magazine makes me sad. Sad because those women feel the need to do that, sad because many of them are prettier before the work, sad because everyone compares themselves to them, sad because people outside of that business have a lot of work done too, sad because I attach myself to pretty faces in Hollywood when they are simply not what they seem. I want a face to attach to that I know well, that I know where it came from and what it wants to be. I want a face that is happy with any uniqueness it may have, that is so natural that make up only enhances beauty, but does not add it and is not necessary. I want a face that is not the most attractive part of the person.

Happy Isles

changes

So it's always happening. Most of the time it's slow and small and we don't notice. Then every once in a while it's real big and real quick and knocks us over. Right now it's hard. I'm on my own though. That's new. Good things will come from it. I believe they will.

I went backpacking in Yosemite with my cousin a couple weeks ago. That place is good for me.

The Dominican

Hi. First off, I just wanted to put up some pictures. Second off, I had the opportunity to go to the Domican Republic last summer. Here are my favorite pictures from it. The first one is of my friend Ramon. He told me that I was welcome to return whenever I wanted, and that he would always be there. There's more great stuff about him, but for now here's what he looks like.

Ramon

Little Boy

Tiendas

Cinco Amigos (?)

Startin' Fresh!

So I'm currently in the middle of two books. First, West of Jesus by Steven Kotler and second, Franne and Zoe by J.D. Salinger. When I read a well-written book by a great author it makes me want to write something. To go along with that, I love photography and like the idea of being able to post my favorite pictures, whether I shot them or not. So here is a place where I get to write anything that might come to mind and post any photo that I might enjoy, and do them both whenever I want. Sounds good to me.