Long time no post

Fans, friends and family sorry it has been so long since our last post. Although some of you seem to think we are casually traveling New Zealand we have actually been super busy with nerdy geology. I (Eric) left Zion to his own devices on the North Island while I took the ferry South yet again to begin my work at the OceanaGold Globe-Progress mine located in glorious Reefton New Zealand. Reefton is home to about 1000 people and for most is just a stop on the way to the West Coast, however it is worth a stop the people there are wonderful and the wilderness is spectacular.
While I was working my way South Zion stayed in the Wellington area to finish an Electron Micro Probe Analysis of volcanic tephras portion of his project, see nerdy picture below:

During this time our fearless advisor Christine Siddoway came to visit us yet again. By visit I mean make sure that we are actually working. Christine spent a few days on North Island with Zion, then flew to the West Coast where I met her for a few glorious days of field work.




After two days of work on the coast a fierce weather system moved in with lashing rain so we returned to Reefton for another look at the rocks there. At this point Zion met up with us having hitchhiked from Picton where the ferry arrives. The photo below is from his hitchhiking adventure with a beautiful view of the rainy/snowy Southern Alps.



After reuniting with Zion Christine had head back to Colorado leaving us all alone to finish up our work here over the next month. Since Christine Departed Zion and I have been gathering data for my research on the West Coast just north of Greymouth. We have been fortunate to have some gorgeous weather here although it is known as an extremely rainy area.
The following photos are from my coastal field sites on the beach here on the West Coast.



Life on the West Coast includes fantastic sunsets when its not raining….



Living in a van on a tight budget sometimes means that the food options are not always ideal. Desparately in need of trip to grocery store we setteled for tuna, salt, oregano, and ketchup sandwiches as a snack one day YUM.


In addition to great rocks there are also fascinating tidal pools and lots of angry seals.



Lastly, I need to say a special hello to my Grandma Nini and her friend Babs who I hear are blog fans back in Mystic CT.