Mt. Ruapehu / Ohakune picture post!

Another picture post for my friends and family back home! My weekend at Mt. Ruapehu and Ohakune was awesome -beautiful scenery, and lots of fun with great people. Here are some photo highlights:

(Our first glimpse of Mt. Ruapehu on our way up the mountain)

(Just outside the cafe at the top of the first chairlift)

(Sam and me on the way up Mt. Ruapehu)

(Sam sliding on a big plastic bag)

(Me getting ready to do a headfirst dive onto the plastic sheet)

(Sam and me on the Waitonga Falls walk - Tongariro National Park)

(This waterfall was filmed in one of the "Lord of the Rings" movies)

(Group shot at Powderkeg restaurant in Ohakune - I'm holding my $13 paralyzer!)

(Mangawhero Forest walk)

(Monument honouring the 151 lives lost in the Christmas Eve 1953 lahar train bridge disaster)

(Kiwi sign! I really AM in New Zealand!)

(Thermal area just outside the hot pools near Lake Taupo)

(Hot pool near Lake Taupo)

(Just outside the hot pool area)

(Winding road sign)

I had a fantastic weekend - beautiful, exciting, relaxing, scenic, reflective, memorable, and exhausting!!!! I didn't end up skiing (by our Canadian standards, the snow conditions were not great), but as you can see by a few of these pictures, I did a lot of hiking. Tongariro National Park has some beautiful walking trails, so we did a couple of those - 2 were an hour or longer, and then a few were just tiny little short walks, like the one to the Lord of the Rings waterfall. I would have loved to have skiied, but I had a fantastic weekend nonetheless!

Things at school are still just peachy. I have my first Wellington Youth Choir rehearsal tomorrow evening, so I'm pretty excited about that. I'll be taking the train into Wellington, which could potentially be quite the adventure, but I'm arranging to take it with one of my students who sings in the choir as well. He knows his way around, so that's good - I would hate to get lost and arrive late (or not at all!) to my first rehearsal with WYC!

And as a follow-up to my post about the first blues lesson, the second lesson was a blast too! We had 2 groups composing their own original 12-bar blues, and they performed them at the end of the class. Both of them chose humorous lyrics (one group sang about how Penny, who wasn't in their group, was sad because she didn't get to be in the group with Andrew and Hannah: "I got Andrew and Hannah, and Penny, she be sad. Ohhhh I got Andrew and Hannah, and Penny she be sad. And because of this.... your blues might sound real bad!" The other group sang about Barbie losing her cell phone, and thus her ability to text Ken. It was inspired by Penny's pencil case, which featured Barbie talking on her cell phone. These are the things you come up with when you're lacking inspiration. Hahaha). I'll be following up with this class later in the week, teaching a lesson that will likely include B.B. King and Louis Armstrong, and the progression of blues, jazz styles, etc. Should be a good time!

It's now after 11pm and I really need to get to bed. I hope you're enjoying the pictures and updates - I'm trying to keep up! I know you're curious at home. Until next time!