Most people don’t actually know what I’m doing in New Zealand. Ok ... most people know I’m here to do university, but what do at uni?
I study Geology. Volcanology to be a little bit more specific; anything and everything to do with volcanoes, and recently I finished a thesis about physical volcanology. Basically I go into the field and try to figure out what the volcano that existed in the past did and what it looked like. Just after the new year I went into the field for a few days. Alone, without power and running water, with only sheep and possums to keep me company - my own little version of “man vs wild” (mild though, very mild).
Some of the images show the hut where I stayed at, the valley that I worked in, sheep and some examples of the rocks I was working with.
Conclusion – It was an underwater volcano, 30Ma old and it looked a lot like the recent eruption at Tonga: LINK.
Of course the whole story is much more exciting but I’m afraid I might scare everyone away with my rambling, so if you want to know more … invite me over for tea :).
MAP UPDATE: the shape shows the location of my field area, North of Christchurch. There is also a tent icon that shows the location of the hut, plus a visual marker for the valley photo.
