Keeping Busy

I've been rather busy, with two tests this week and four homework due right before the two tests, I haven't had much time to relax. But, when I have relaxed this week I've been enjoying every minute. When Friday rolled around last week, it was 70 degrees (F). classes were out for the week, and I have a newly licensed motorcycle. And that's all I needed.

I started just driving, around, and settled on checking out Sumner, a small sea-side village right outside Christchurch. A beautiful little town, with lots of gardens scattered between cliffs and the sandy beaches. A highly recommended place to go for a nice afternoon in the sun walking around.

But I wasn't walking around, I was on the search for twisty, sea-side roads through rolling hills. I found a large hill with a road going right through the middle of it. Just the thing I was looking for. I was a little nervous trying out my motorcycle for the first time on major twisty climbs, after recently dismantling the rear wheel and the brake systems. Did I put that bolt back on, is it tight enough? Well mom, there's only one way to find out! Speeding up twisty roads with cliffs to my right, I started to worry a little less once the fun of motorcycling overwhelmed my fears of a motorcycle I've barely used falling apart while going around a hairpin turn.

At the top of the road, it was closed due to earthquake destruction, but luckily for me there was the Godley Head Nature Preserve trail to the left of me. This is where I had some of the greatest fun in New Zealand so far, my first real motorcycle adventure. About 2 meters wide, rising along the cliffs(no guard rails!) I shared with the sheep around me the view overlooking all of Christchurch, Sumner, Lyttleton,Taylor's Mistake, New Brighton and the rest of the Canterbury Plains.

Godley Head was absolutely beautiful, and I would highly recommend someone starting in Sumner and walking (or better biking, (or even better motorcycling!)) and heading to Taylor's mistake, a very tiny village on the beach which is supposedly a great surfing hangout. Then proceed to Godley's head, and check out the surrounding views along the coast line.

I'll hopefully update more on my visit to the botanical gardens, and hopefully finish up my spring break road trip. But after my two tests I'm off to Kaikoura to Seafest 2010, come back Sunday, Do my Presentation on the Fluid Mechanics of Carburetors (mainly Amal Carbs) and then Ellie comes later that week! And it turns out I have finals starting in 1 month. AND THEN!? Summer begins, which means a whole lot of different things, but for another post, another day

-Luke Stover

-Tell me, have I done anything of worth? -Leonardo Da Vinci

Updates: Good News!

Well, School started up again, and I'm trying to organize myself to be productive. With two weeks lost from the school being closed, The second half of my semester (or Term IV) has been reduced from 6.5 to 5 Weeks. They eliminated a large chunk of the study week before final exams, and pushed back the final exam schedule. Students, and Faculty are now in a mad rush trying to grasp Term IV.

I myself, have two more great distractions,

1. My motorcycle is legally on the road! The bike passed inspection, and went through the registration with relatively no worries. I got extremely nervous when the inspector said there is a problem with the database record on my VIN number. If this was the NYS DMV, I would probably resort to throwing the bike off a cliff, because registration would be futile at this point. But no, not New Zealand! The inspector physically removed the VIN number from my frame, and pop riveted an entirely new VIN number. A fancy-shmancy new license plate, and I am now good to go! The legal riding motorcycle has got me planning for multiple weekend trips around the South island, and trying to live on the back of a motorcycle between semesters.

I also just ordered a petrol camping stove. Quite dangerous, to prime it you must light the whole assembly with a tablespoon of petrol, heat up the assembly and then turn on the gas you pressurized in the nearby bottle. But sure does heat water quick!

2. My sister is coming to New Zealand! Another Stover has realized they had to get out of the States. I may have to change the title of this blog to "Stover's In New Zealand". She'll be here for FIVE weeks, and the adventures to follow will be numerous. I'm pretty excited to see the photography she'll capture while traveling the south island. I'll be sure to share with you here.

In other news, this blog hit over 2,000 views last week! So thanks everyone who have been checking out the blog. I decided being that I couldn't get a work visa for my remaining 9 months of being in NZ, I would need to find alternate methods of income. So, being that I spend a large part of my time on this blog, I thought I'd expand it more to get some ad money. So far so good, a couple dollars here and there for my personal journal i was working on anyway, and through networking to different sites the blog audience has been rapidly growing. So thanks for the beer money everyone!

A Virtual Blog Tour of University of Canterbury

Being that school was still closed due to the earthquake, I decided it would be the perfect opportunity to take a stroll around campus. There would be no people, so i could take pictures without looking like an annoying tourist.



Overall, I'd say the University has some fairly bland architecture, but makes up for it through it's landscape. It's fairly consolidated for a 20,000 student population. Most of the living accomodations are just outside of campus.


The Rutherford building, the home of Physics&Astronomy and Chemistry at University. Rather than splitting up the two fields by floors, Rutherford and many other buildings on campus split different fields straight down the middle of the building. This means all rooms on the left side of Rutherford are Physics&Astronomy, and Chemistry on the right. Rutherford was named after the famous physicist Ernest Rutherford, who studied at UCanterbury and later became known for his gold foil experiments. The experiments created the planetary model of the atom, proving the previous "plum pudding model" false. Rutherford is seen on the $100 New Zealand bill


Skipping around to my better photos, we have the Maori building, which explores the rich history and culture of the Maori population.


University of Canterbury has a strong reputation for the sciences, from Physics to Mechatronic Engineering and even Antarctic Studies! Here is some of the greenhouses used for Biology papers(courses)


Commerce Building, home of my painful physics class "Classical Mechanics and Symmetry Principles"


Typical method of spreading word around campus, another popular form is writing large messages in chalk on the pavement


The library, which suffered the most damage from the earthquake. Over one million books fell after the bookcases played toppling dominoes. It's now closed for the rest of term, leaving many to stuff into small lounges and computer labs scattered around campus.



The UCSA building which is home to some general stores for your needs, a couple of food establishments, and a few bars. Most events on campus are located here. ENSOC BBQ hosted over 500 people. The perfect storm had thousands of people where four separate music shows went on simultaneously, and the CUBA Jib is a typical favorite, where students make a snow ramp from snow collected 2 hours away in the back of trucks, where anyone can go off the jump in front of the massive crowd with multiple drinks in them.

The Campus is covered by large trees, and small rivers cutting through




We then head to Ilam village where I reside.


Where do I keep my bike? In the protective shelter of the nearest bicycle park.

Yea, I'm that guy

My flat view of the grounds for Ilam Villages, it keeps getting better as spring progresses towards summer