Trial Day

Had the first colts trial today. It went well, our team won 23-0 and I think I played well enough that the coaches were a little impressed. I had a good part in 3 of the tries, the first I put a kick over the top and the winger knocked on. From that scrum and a few plays later we scored. Then I acted as scrum-half for a couple of plays on the opponents 5 meter line and got the ball out to the line that then ran the ball in. On the third try I ran as support, and I almost got a try of my own but the pass back into me was hit out by an opponent. We have a fitness practice on Tuesday and a normal practice on Thursday and a second trial on Sunday. After the game all the coaches were trying to convince us not to be enticed by the "Country" teams around the area. Basically asking us to make commit to Lincoln University Rugby rather than playing for one of the clubs in the surrounding area. Hopefully the coaches liked what they saw in me, we will just have to wait and see.

Pictures from Greymouth (Facebook will have a lot more)

At the beer tasting, they had an open bar after everyone had a taste.

Chilling at a resting spot
Chilling at the bar after our long walk.
Cool effect of Nathans camara

Nathan and I, we got smashed by the wave behind us as soon as the picture was taken
Walking to the beach
On the hike (there were huge spider webs with eggs in that stump)
Outside the Tranz Scenic in Christchurch



Picture from the viewing platform of the train
Picture from Inside the train. Meatpie in reflection

Greymouth and other stuff

Aight guys, its been a while since I've been in touch and I apologise. I've been busy but also trying to be outside my room as much as possible. Last Friday I went with a whole bunch of other exchange students to see Greymouth, the largest "city" on the West coast of the South Island. All 11 of us took the Tranzscenic over the Southern Alps on the trip over. Unfortunately the weather sucked but it was still really beautiful. On the train ride over I had my first meatpie in a long time and it was really good. The train had viewing platforms so we would occasionally go out and try and take pictures outside. When we arrived we were met by 3 other exchange students who had arrived the day before. It was pouring rain and windy but that didn't deter us. We dropped our stuff at the hostel (Globel Village is probably the nicest hostel in the world, they have really nice beds, free bikes and kayaks, huge kichen, living room, video room, amazing bathrooms and really nicely decorated from all over the world.) and went for a 1 hour hike up a hill. The vegetation was so tropical and thick that the rain hardly or didnt even get through, after we went on another hike nearby before heading down to the Tasman Sea where the smooth black pebble beach was being attacked by huge waves. Of course we all waded in and were chased up and down by the waves. We returned to the hostel and feasted on peanut and apricot & Ginger jam sandwiches as well as tuna. The next morning we planned on taking the kayaks out for the morning but the river was too flooded so we took the bikes and went 6 km out of the town to a 3 hr hike. The hike was along the cliffs and was absolutely amazing. From thick tropical forest to fields of some big fern thing (maybe cabbage tree) to the beach where we found a small pub so we all got drinks and chilled watching the waves and water and thinking deep thoughts. There were wild blue berries on the way to the hike too. We then returned to the town and made the tasting session, missed the tour, at the local brewary that we had booked earlier. Later that night we ate a real meal of rice, brocceli, tuna, icecream and watched Oceans 11 before going to a well deserved sleep. The bus ride back to Christchurch was also really picturesque although the weather still had not let up. It is really hard to describe how beautiful New Zealand is, everywhere you look could be a postcard picture. We saw four amazing rainbows on the way back too, big ones where you could see all the colours as well. I'm going to post a lot or as many pictures as I can. My camara ran out of battery but Nathan let me get the pictures off his camara, however hundreds of pictures were taken and I plan to collect all of them so you will all be able to see them soon enough.
Other stuff: Rugby is looking alright, I'm getting the rugby program from the strength and conditioning coach and have my last practice before the trials tomorrow. The trials are just matches, so I will have to bring my A game. All through this week they have been having Orientation week, last week was freshie week, and have famous Kiwi comedians or bands every night. They have been a lot of fun and really good so far. Yesterday was a Kiwi Reggae group called Katchafire who were impressive and tomorrow there is a toga party. People drink a lot here, I'm not sure if it is just because it is Uni or if it is culture but every night people get pretty wasted by 7 pm. Also everyone is allowed to drink from 5:30pm -10pm in the dorms, maybe it is just me but I personally think that is really weird, however no glass bottles or hard alcohol since bottles can be used as weapons. I haven't been going to the gym as much as I've wanted but hopefully once I get a little more settled I will get more structure. If I make the team here though that will be amazing. This is the school that trained Richie McCaw, the All-Black captain, and are known for having one of the best sport preperation programs in the country.
Alright I'm going to sign off here and get another post with pictures since they say more then I can describe. Miss you all, and don't be afraid to write, text, or call.

1st Rugby Practice

I have just gotten back from my first rugby practice. Today was the first practice for Lincoln University Rugby Football Club and it was pure conditioning. Until today I liked to think that I was pretty fit, now I know I have a long way to go before I can match them. There were probably 50 people at the practice and we were split into 2 groups of approximately 25 where you were also paired with someone else. Group A had to run around a 400 meter track for 2 minutes while Group B did exercises on the side. The exercises consisted of:
1. flipping a giant tire
2. pulling a weighted sled on a long rope, so pull the sled until it reaches you and then your partner does it.
3. boxing a rucking pad
4. carrying a body bag 10 metres and then back, then your partner does it.
5. doing shoulder presses with 20 kg plate
6. swinging from your shoulder to opposite hip with 20 kg plate
7. push-ups
8. lunges
9. wheel barrow
10. fire man lift

you and your partner would do each exercise for 1 minute and then switch to running around the track. So you would complete 2 exercises and then run for 2 minutes and then go back to the circuit. the practice took about an hour, but by the end I was exhausted. I think I will probably end up playing with the Colts side (U-21) but even they have their own forward and backs coach. The guys I met all seem really cool and they are also insanely fit. After seeing them it is hard to imagine how strong and fast the All-Blacks and other professional rugby players are. Anyway right now it seems like this is going to be an amazing experience and I cannot wait to start improving my fitness and game skills.

First Day

Today was my first day. I arrived at 2 am at Lincoln, unpacked and attempted to sleep till 6 before waking up and making myself some tea and instant noodles. At around 8 other people slowly woke up and I got to meet them. Almost everyone in my dorm is on an exchange program, the majority from the USA but I also met some people from France, Norway, and Germany. The campus is really small and picturesque, it is really easy to navigate. Spent the day registering, meeting people, and going to meetings. An interesting observation is that the local fashion is rugby shorts, polos with the collars popped and sporting a mullet. Not really sure how that all got into fashion but maybe it is because they are so far away from the world and are stuck in the 70s. The people in the dorm are really cool and friendly, right now we are all getting ready to head down to the Grouse, a bar in Lincoln Town. Other interesting news is that I found out that there is a rugby team for the Uni and the first trial is tomorrow and is going to consist of conditioning. This is my chance to prove how Cornell rugby stands up to the Kiwi's...we'll see how I do. The rugby field is absolutely amazing, I have never seen such short perfect grass, it looks almost fake.
The dorms are interestingly built, they are 3 floors high with two suites consisting of 6 rooms on either side. All the rooms are singles, however the walls seem to be very thin.
New Zealand also seems like a very quiet country. I have never seen such a quiet move in day, you almost could think that no one had really arrived. Everywhere you go though it seems very laid back and quiet. It would be easy to say that New Zealand is its own little bubble.