Netball & Puppies

Although I've gotten into a pretty regular routine here, there are little opportunities that I have been taking advantage of that keep life in Dunedin interesting. For instance, Abby plays on a coed, social netball team, and has games once a weekend. Netball is similar to basketball in that the objective is to throw a ball into a hoop, but it's different in that you can't run with or dribble the ball. Instead you have to throw it to your teammates and move it down the court that way. It's played inside a netted area, and gets to be quite fast-paced as people use the nets to their advantage. Anyway, the social teams require 3 girls to be on the court at a time, and Abby's team was short one girl, so I volunteered. It was quite an experience, and I didn't ever quite get the hang of the rules. Regardless, it was fun to run around and participate in a traditional New Zealand sport.

The other day, Kelsey stopped by my house at around 11 am and asked if I wanted to go walk dogs at the local animal shelter. Obviously the answer was yes, so we headed off through the Botanic Garden toward the kennels. We got there and were told that there were only two puppies left to walk. What a shame, who likes to walk and play with puppies for an hour?! WE DO. They were soooo cute, and we walked them all over a nearby trail, and had a nice long chat. It was the perfect beginning to my day, and I fully intend to return to walk dogs again soon. My dream is to get a puppy and walk it down to my flat and play with it there for an hour. Oooh puppies. It's nice to know that there are people and things other than college students in Dunedin!

This last Friday night I headed to the Catlins on the southern coast with Sam, Abby, and Abby's friends Gen and Rachel. We had rented a "batch" or small vacation home, and after figuring out how to turn on the power and killing a few spiders, we settled down and hung out for the night. We dragged a few mattresses into the biggest room, and all slept in their, which was a nice girls night. On Saturday we headed out to explore the surrounding area, and ended up seeing a few sights, including a waterfall and a sketchy little garden called "Teapot Land" which housed about a thousand creepy dolls and figurines. Yikes.

After turning in two essays last week, I have a little break this week with only a small assignment due. I'm looking forward to mid-semester break in a few weeks and further exploration of the South Island!