On Sunday we left Anne's farm at 9 in the morning and made our way to Outdoor Pursuit Center, or OPC.(they like acronyms there) It was approximately a 6-7 hour shuttle ride but as we approached our destination three enourmous snow capped mountains loomed in the distance, one of which being the infamous "Mt. Doom" from Lord of the Rings. We were given the corporate accomodations on the OPC grounds which was perfect becuase half of our group came down with a stomach parasite and the plush leather couches and fireplace were perfect for recovery. Our first two days there were basic team building activities, things like trust falls and low ropes courses. On the second day our instructor, Julian Malcolm, showed us how to use maps and compasses and gave us a real location within the area to locate. To get to where we needed to go we had to tramp through the bush, which was very diffacult but the end location was a flyingfox, or zipline, and we had a bit of fun to end the day. The next day, Wednesday, we did a kayak trip through a stream and then into a lake which was surrounded in gorgeous dark green mountains. After our journey we got to relax in a nearby natural springs hot pool, which was the perfect relaxer for a tough kayak session in windy, rainy conditions. Before we left we chopped varios vegetables and took them to a hot spring location nearby where we would leave them in the ground to cook in traditional Maori fashion. We had them with our lunch and they were the perfect side to ham sandwiches. Instead of our nightly presentation Julian showed us the basics to belaying and tying figure-8 knots for rock climbing. Thursday was our last full day and in the morning Julian had us do a one hour orienteering race, where we had to use a map and find locations on the map for points within an hour. It was cold and rainy, but extrememly fun and in the end Gordie a and Meghan came out victorious, with myself and James a close second. In the afternoon we hit the high ropes course, so our belaying had to be on point so no one got hurt. We chose three obstacles on the course, the high up sideways skull monkey climbing wall of death, the monkey tails, and the blindfolded draw bridge. All were challenges, and we were all challenged which was the point and we all had a lot of fun. That night we camped out in tents and the next day we headed south to Marton were we would spend last night and today in a Morae with some locals from the village. Today we even learned the Haka, which is the Maori war dance, we got a video of it and although it is a serious dance, the video is hilarious. I am currently using the internet in our hostel in Wellington and tomorrow we are headed to the south island for our final week or so in New Zealand. Also did you know that OPC had New Zealand's first manmade rock climbing wall, wow, I did not know that thank you James Flood, this weeks trivia master. From all of us on the FANZ trip, this is Wyatt Good signing off, another blog next week.