Well, it looks like crazy adventures throughout the North Island are going to be halted for a while. School's definitely picking up. In the next couple of weeks I have a few essays and a couple of exams to survive.

Currently, the big news in New Zealand is that the All Blacks, their national rugby team, is definitely in the running for the World Cup, which is currently taking place in France. People here are a bit obsessed and have no problem staying up to watch a game that's coming on at 2am. I'm officially an All Blacks fan now, even though the American team is still in the running. :O)

Andrew has been working with an engineering group on a battery-operated car to participate in the Aussie solar challenge taking place next month. On Wednesday, Amanda and I went to the Uni's Performing Arts Centre to see the unveiling of the car (and Andrew's custom made headlights, of course). It was a neat ceremony because the Minister of Energy and the Environment of New Zealand made the opening speech. The Kiwi's have a healthy respect for their environment and it's cool to see the efforts they make to keep New Zealand as clean as possible.

I asked my friend, Hannah, once if she ever got tired of the ocean or felt trapped by it. In New Zealand, you're never more than 2 hours away from the coast. I remember that she gave me a funny look and said "We know that the ocean is our biggest resource... How can you not appreciate it?" Good point. It's hard to get bored in a place where every 50 km on the road brings out an entirely new ecosystem; forests, plains, the ocean, mountains....

















(Cathedral Cove Track, Cape Reigna Bay and Rainbow Mountain)

Anyways, yours truly has since then made it into the New Zealand Herald. Whoot! It turns out that the photographers caught me and Amanda in the background with the car in the foreground (we're in the top left corner of the pic). We both saved a copy of that day's issue. :O) Here's a link to the article if anyone's interested in reading it: Petrol takes back seat to battery power

All of my papers are still going well. I must say that my favorite paper at the moment is my Human Perspectives Chem class. We've been going through the periodic table and discussing the medical applications of the transition metals and the radioactive elements. I find it all pretty fascinating and my teacher clued us into an awesome periodic table made by the Royal Chemistry Society. They've basically represented each element with a picture that depicts their uses or a unique characteristic (Mom, Dad... I'll probably be asking for a Wallposter of it! :O)) Even if you're not interested in the sciences, I think that you should totally check it out:

RSC Visual Elements Periodic Table (If you click on the element, it'll give a history of it's discovery, uses and a explanation/description of the picture). Enjoy!