Kayaking on Lake Wanaka and the Avalanche

Calista Pearce and staff Karyn Wynalda and Alison Baker enjoy an afternoon kayaking on Lake Wanaka. Others went hiking on the Rob Roy Glacier...and even managed to view a glacial avalanche!

Thanksgiving Feast

Father Robert Capon would be proud of the feast that was spread after a day of tramping through Rimu forest with Dr Andrew Wells. Students' palates were graced with chicken, potatoes, salad, vegetables, and pumpkin pie. We were so thankful for this trip to the amazing south island, as well as thinking fondly of our friends and family far away.

Bruce Bay Marae

Over Thanksgiving week, we had the honour of being hosted at the Bruce Bay Marae. Certainly this is one of the most beautiful maraes in New Zealand, a celebration of the rich history of the people here through amazing art carvings, weavings, and painting. We were not allowed to take photos inside the marae, but this is a taste of the ambience inside.

Lake Matheson

We stayed at Fox Glacier and went to Lake Matheson for a walk in the evening. It was breathtaking!

Mount Cook and Mount Tasman

After an amazing hike at Lake Matheson, the clouds finally parted and gave an amazing view of the peaks. The sun was setting, we were in good company, and soaked up the view.

Pied Beauty

Pied Oyster Catcher at Bruce Bay.

Forest Ecology

Dr Andrew Wells teaching about disturbance and forest effect at Fox Glacier.

Fox Glacier

CCSP South Pacific Staff

CCSP South Pacific Staff with their fearless leader Chris Elisara after a rendezvous at Makarora.

Mount Taranaki

Flying from Auckland to Queenstown gave us prime opportunity to view Programme Assistant Jane Bowden's landscape, Mount Taranaki.

Joy Jog

November 18, 2005 CCSP celebrated Joy Eckmann's 21st birthday with style. As an avid runner, Joy was asked to run a specially designed running course with rest stations manned by her fellow students. Each station was designed by groups of students and meant to add levity to the occasion. She began running and was soon doused with water and flour, then by champagne, chips and salsa...had a quick makeover....a body painting experience, and then met her boyfriend Bryce--represented by our favourite half man mannequin. Jane Bowden took her on a more public run around the streets of Avondale and then she finished to the triumphal and oh so inspirational Chariots of Fire. Her rest station friends were there snacking on chips, drinking kiwi punch, and began the driveway dance party/body painting festivities.

Nose to the Grindstone

Hello again from Kodesh!

The twelve of us who are currently taking Cultural Anthropology (taught by Rob Kilpatrick) have found ourselves a bit swamped with work for the course, but overall I think we are enjoying it. We expected that the work load would be intense, seeing how the class only lasts for a week. This Saturday we leave for the South Island of New Zealand for our Forest Ecology course. It will be nice to be back in the field again for class. We hope everyone is doing wonderfully in Belize and back in the States (and Canada)!

Tiritiri Motangi

This island fieldtrip was a chance to see a successful ecological restoration project. Here, we saw a lot of birds, such as this New Zealand Robin.

Speed Dating worship

Returning from break, we were eager to share the adventures we had. Celebrating a time of reunion, we prayed and reflected with each other in little stations set up to encourage conversation. We rotated around and shared, munched on snacks, and recorded our "journeys" on maps--pilgriming through the community/semester. We certainly had some neat sharing time. Some comments overheard were, "I don't think I would have talked to that person..." or " it was neat to pray together".