Atrocities!

Yup, that's it, I will admit that I am atrocious at writing this blog.

And I am really sorry for that!

A lot has happened since I last wrote, and I can't decide on where/when to start...

Let's start with my girlfriend has come all the way down to New Zealand to see what kind of tree hugger I've become.

Once she landed I we dropped off her bags at my place, and we did a small tour of Dunedin in the car that we hired for our road trip (that has already been mind you).

And to sum up her feelings, or as I put it, the word of the day/week/month/trip is "Wow." Actually, it's more like "Woooow," with a massive grin on her face. I made sure to do most of the driving, to make sure she got the most of it. Sadly, she wasn't ready for the windy roads that connect all the cities here in wondering NZ, since on the first day, we need to buy some motion sickness pills for her to coup with it all.

For those who don't know, we drove from Dunedin to Manapouri via the Catlins and touristic scenic route, then we did a day trip to Milford Sound, then to Queenstown where we went nucking futs with fun activities, up to Mt. Cook for a short hike (we also spent a night in a tent, which was never repeated because the wee little one got too cold), doubled back to Wanaka, up the West Coast, drove through Arthurs Pass, Hanmer Springs, Kaikoura, Christchurch, aaaaaand finally back to Dunedin.

I have to admit, it was a lot of driving. Like...a lot. But it was totally worth it, and I would do it all again in a heart beat :D

Little Sia was a real trooper doing a canyoning trip, bungee jump, and camping. All these things were new to her, but she went through all of it like a champ! Really proud of her!

And also, one thing that I was surprised (actually not) was the que that's formed outside of Ferg Burger pretty much all the time now! We actually booked a burger at 08:00 to be picked up at 17:00. I remember when I could just saunter in and order a burger. Something really epic though, they haven't spent a dime on advertising. That is how good they are!

Franz Josef glacier has pretty much disappeared as well. A friend shared a photo of us from way back in 2008, and it just slammed into your face saying, "Yo, I'm a fucking glacier. So, fuck you." Now it's like the really shy guy at school, peaking around the corner "Hey guys, is it safe to come out now?" So sad. But that's the way it goes I guess.

After we came back to Dirty Duners, my missus made a move on up to the North Island to see what was happening up there. She's currently up there now, and slowly making her way back.

Once she's back, she'll spend another two weeks here in Dunedin before heading back to the beautiful spring that is going on in Sweden.

And speaking of spring, the weather down here before she arrived was pretty sweet. Our class did a trip to Dansey's Pass where we climbed and pruned trees for four days. It was a lot of work. And I have to admit, there were moments where I had some anal leakage going on, because we were so high up. And also, that's when I got to start using a chainsaw up in the tree! Mind you, I was about 30 meters up when I actually started it, so it was nice and safe. Or something like that. I did have supervision, and have two roping points, far apart as well. What does that mean? If I cut one of the ropes, the other one will take my weight. If not, it would have a long way down to think about my mistakes. One thing I learned while climbing with a chainsaw is that it's pretty damn tough, and not very fun at all. Cutting stuff in the tree was great, and descending was fine, but having to actually climb with the chainsaw wasn't all too much fun. You can check out the photos here. As per usual, you won't see any of me, but nobody takes photos of the photographer.

After my missus had left for the North Island, we got to use the bigger chainsaws, but on the ground. This isn't anything new to me, but I'm far from an expert. So getting proper instructions from professionals made all the difference, as with watching the more experienced people as well. Now my chainsaw technique is way better than before, but still needs some perfection. Also got to learn how to sharpen a chainsaw as well, which is a pretty handy skill to have.

This up coming week we're going to be getting into the more serious stuff, which will be felling. Ie, bringing down full grown trees in a controlled manor. I'm really looking forward to this, why? Not to sure. It could be the "destructive" part of it. Toppling over a big tree, a "man vs nature" kind of thing.

Ok folks, I have assignments that I need to do, and prepare for tomorrow.

Have a good one! Maybe I should be doing a vlog instead?