Wanaka (sung like Waterloo (ABBA))
HI GUYS,
Good to see you. Hope you all are hanging in there, with exams and the Canadian election and the politics. I love talking to everyone at home and I miss you all a lot, but I don’t want to come home yet. Let’s get to it.
I rallied the troupes (3 people) to go to Wanaka this weekend, by strategically inviting someone with a car (Benjamin, the one who also drove us to Mount Cook). The day before we were supposed to leave, Emily and I were at the climbing gym and she took a nasty fall and wrecked her ankle – so she had to bail last minute :(. Still, me, Aidan and Benjamin had a great weekend, except for the food poisoning or fever we all got afterward… I guess that’s why you don’t leave me in charge of the food. Anyway, I love hiking and the whole time the script running through my head is “this is beautiful” “we are so lucky to be here” “it doesn’t get better than this”. I love hiking because it’s easy to have interesting conversations on the trail, and it’s exciting because the view keeps getting better.
Roy's peak is THE classic New Zealand hike (when you Google Image it, it's the third picture that shows up). It's a big hike but people have decided that the cool thing to do is a sunrise hike. Instead, we did a sunset hike so that we weren't climbing a mountain for three hours in the dark, and walking down instead. Obviously, it was just beautiful. It was chilly and very windy at the top when we were waiting for sunset, but we had all gone a bit delirious, so it was fun.
The next day we did an almost identical peak in terms of distance and elevation called Isthmus peak, but this one was twice as beautiful, if that's even possible. Panoramic views of two huge lakes, many layers of mountains, snow-capped peaks in the distance, and lush hills. Two sheepies followed us on the way down like our shadows.
It was Rory's birthday this past week and we celebrated by making them a secret cake the night before, and we hosted a party with the theme British Icons (fitting, considering all the British people I've met here). Me and Savage went as Wallace and Gromit and I don't have a single photo.
I've been thinking a lot about `letting go' in the past week. That's been something major I'm learning. It feels unnatural to me to surrender control in my life, but it has been so necessary. Starting with last May deciding if I was going to apply for exchange, I was worried about not being a part of my friends' lives, and missing out on the summer internship season. But, if your friends are meant to be there when you get home, they will be. Of course, their lives will continue, but so will yours. Give the rope some slack. Also, it's ok to not have an internship this summer. This is something that has cropped up multiple times. First while I was applying for exchange, throughout the fall and winter break while I was half-assedly applying for internships that I wouldn't be around for, and while I was in Hawaii, I spent 2-3 days fussing over whether I should apply for a certain research award. But, school and work is always going to be there, but my version of New Zealand won't be. Even in my day to day life, letting go looks like not stressing about social situations. No one cares if that was a bit embarrassing. It's possible to embody this by just existing -- open the door and walk into the room. You don't have to make up for anything. Let go of the rules. Everything is going to be ok. I expect this lesson to keep appearing in the most uncomfortable and inconvenient ways :)
I dropped the ball on school this week, and I have maybe `too' many trips coming up. Next weekend I'm going to Makarora with the Tramping Club, and then next week on Wednesday I'm leaving for a 10-day mid-semester break trip.