Hi! It’s been three weeks since I last posted and a lot has happened. We had one week between the Wellington trip and our travels to the West Coast of the South Island. I don’t have a whole lot to say about that week between field trips. I had a lovely day off, which included a leisurely walk to South Bay for a swim. I also took photos of flowers blooming around Kaikoura. There are so many right now!
The West Coast trip is the Terrestrial Ecology portion of the New Zealand Ecosystems course. I had the privilege of being the TA with our professor for the week, Jeff Port (from Bethel University in MN). The opportunity to nerd out over the plants, birds, geology, and natural history of NZ is always fun. My favorite plants to spot are the liverworts, sundews, and epiphytic orchids. I don’t have pictures of those to share, but I do have one of the Mt. Cook Lily – an endemic alpine member of the buttercup family. Also super cool!
We always end the trip in Punakaiki at the Pororari River Track – which is where the students take their field exam. I had a surprising amount of fun helping Jeff pick which plants and birds to test them on… I guess I let the power get to my head. 😉 In all seriousness, it is an honor to get to be a part of their learning (and living) experience here in NZ. I love how close we get by sharing all our days together, whether it’s on trips or at home in Kaikoura. I am getting sentimental because we only have a week and a half left all together!
There and back again Brush 