VOLUNTEERING IN HUNUA

Another exciting, and strenuous, weekend in New Zealand. Callie, my American friend from Minnesota and another awesome American chick I met, Theresa, headed out to Hunua Ranges Regional Park to do some volunteer work for the weekend. Hunua is a little east of Auckland, located on the North Island, and pretty close to the East Coast. It is a beautiful, lush park. A gorgeous waterfall, plenty of tropical trees, amazing tracks, and of course, completely spotless.
We volunteered with Conservation Volunteers with a pretty awesome project that will eventually help boost the numbers of an endangered bird in the park, the Kokako. To sum up why we did what we did: The Kokako is an endangered land bird, not so excellent with flight. Its eggs and species is being killed by the native possums, stoats, and rats. Sort of a problem. The ecologists at the park created a system of poisoning the pests with a sort of pellet that prevents their blood from clotting. Through out the park, every 100 m, there is a bait station used to administer the poison. Our job was to make the paths to the bait stations so the workers on the project can easily maneuver through the land and get their job done quickly and efficiently. Extreme gardening if you will. The three of us girls and our project leader, Dan (who was awesome by the way) trekked through the park, off the trails with lopers and sheers and created minerature paths. It was pretty hard work actually. We spent 4 hours the first day working on a rather long track, and almost 7 hours the next day working on a series of two tracks. There were points where we were down in the deepest part of the bush, tramping through a river, and cutting down overgrown native plants. It was really intense and totally awesome. There were also points where the climb up the ridges were so steep that it was basically climbing straight up, only holding on to roots and whatever stayed still long enough to pull yourself up.
It was great fun. My feet were one giant blister when we got back to our volunteer house. Dan insisted that I show him and told me it was awesome. I am convinced he is the only male ont he planet who looks at brusied and blistered feet and says "AWESOME! YOU DONT GET THAT FROM SITTING ON THE COUCH".
Other fun events included going to the local sheep-shearing contest. Total redneck fest. Totally awesome. We also went to a place that gives you three scoops of the most delicious ice cream for $2.80 NZD. Which means it is basically free in USD. Fantastic!
This weekend, after working on a pretty intense paper and doing really hard things (like laying out in the sun and reading), I'm going to the East Coast! For real this time, finally! To Tauranga with my new pal, Bobby. It should be a good time. The East Coasts of NZ are known for their white sand beaches and clear blue water. We shall see. There is also a mountain there with a 360 view of the town, I know how to say it, but not spell it. And because I am too lazy to open a new window and look it up, or go to the map located 4 feet away from me, I will take a "stab in the dark" (as Kirill would say). Mount Monginui? It's pronounced MONG-A-NEWY.
Ah, I am such an illiterate and stupid American. I'll attempt to keep the updates coming.