Halfway Day

After years of anticipation and fundraising, halfway day finally arrived. It takes place near the beginning of second semester, third year, and marks the exact halfway point of our degree.

In preparation, the third years host all the annual vet events (Mr. Vet, the Slave Auction, the Naked Calendar, the Vet vs Ag students debate, and numerous bake sales and other small fund raisers). The other classes always support the third years, in return for getting supported when their time comes.

I'm pretty sure what we did is basically what happens every year: bus trip to Taupo, fancy dinner, and three options for activities during the day. Those options are skydiving, river rafting, or chillaxing (groups went to the hot springs, or fishing on the lake). Skydiving was crazy popular, as you'd expect, however on account of the expense, if you wanted to do that you had to pay a bit extra. I decided not to go skydiving, because you get your one jump and you're done. I chose the rafting, and it was amazing.

We got the day off of class (it was a Friday), and got up at the crack of dawn. After the two or three hour bus ride, with half of us asleep and the other half getting a head start on drinking, we were dropped off at the rafting facility. There was a large amount of chaos as we ate our packed lunches, changed into swimsuits, and queued up for our gear. That was kind of fun: we wove through this little area with staff at every station, rapidly sizing us up and stuffing something in our arms. Then there was the awkward squeezing into wetsuits and buckling up the jacket correctly, and redoing it all when you realise you put something on in the wrong order. Or when, ten minutes later, you suddenly have to pee.

Once we were all geared up, and had taken a sufficient assortment of photos of each other, it was time to grab the rafts and get going. The vans took us about ten minutes away to the river, we teamed up, got ourselves into the water, and then we were off.

The river guide said there were fifty rapids. I was expecting a wild ride, splashing around corners and what have you, but in reality it was actually quite relaxing. Well, I guess it was pretty exciting when we got stuck, and had to rock back and forth pretty vigorously to get ourselves un-stuck. And there was also a lot of passing and getting passed by other rafts, which always involved more than a little bit of splashing with paddles. 

But like I was saying, apart from a few speedy turns and the larger rapids, I would mainly describe it as serene. We had an absolutely perfect day, not a cloud in the sky, warm and sunny. The river cut through cliffs covered in ferns, so most of the time we were surrounded in lush greenery. Halfway through, all the rafts stopped, and they served us hot chocolate and marshmallow fish. Quiet, still, bright, green, ah it was beautiful.

Adding to the relaxed feel, our river guide had a very calm, pleasant voice:

"Okay forward paddle team, forward paddle. That's it team. Okay guys back paddle now. Back paddle."

After the last rapid, they stationed a photographer and shouted at us to pose. I'm in the back right, in front of the river guide. 

On top of everything, when they brought us back, they gave us complementary sausages, beer, and a few other munchies. Everyone was showered and relaxed, and overall the whole experience took up most of day, so personally I think it was the best value choice.

The rest of the evening, we hung out at our hostel, watched some of the Olympics, and got ready for our formal dinner. After night fall, we walked down to the lake, where three boats waited for us. Since there are about a hundred of us, and the boats were not really that big, we kind of crammed ourselves in there, but it was still pretty romantic. The line for the teeny tiny bar, however, must have taken up half the boat. Once we were in the middle of the lake, the town of Taupo nothing but lights on the shore, the boats lined up so we could move between them. Depending on what meal we had ordered (I believe the options were beef dish, chicken dish, and vegetarian dish), we found tables on our designated boats, and dined.

I had the vegetarian meal, and it was awesome. Most of the others weren't actually vegetarians (only 2 or 3), but just thought it would be the best meal, and I'm pretty sure they were right. We had lasagna, along with numerous sides, including scalloped potatoes (one of my favourites), and fresh, soft rolls. We were also the smallest boat, with the fewest diners, so it was reasonably quiet and intimate.

After we finished the meals, our class rep and a few others gave speeches, and they awarded silly prizes ("cutest couple" for instance, and recounting embarrassing moments). The rest of the night was music and dancing, standing out on the deck watching the lake, and sitting at the tables chatting. A vet faculty member is always voted to come on halfway day, and ours was really into it, totally dancing with us and joking around with everyone.

Once the boats got back, most people hit the town. Or more correctly, most people hit the hostel to get themselves ready, and then hit the town, which is a slight detail my friend and I did not realise. We followed some classmates to a nice bar, did some dancing, and noticed that there was a surprising lack of vet students around. So we got bored and left, and just hung out back at the hostel with a small number of people.

Overall it was a great experience, and every bit as fun as expected. The only downside is that we've been looking forward to it for so long, and now it's over. We're faced with long years of classes and studying, as many in front of us as behind, but harder than the first half. I guess the next thing to look forward to is... graduation!