Hello there!
I just returned from traveling around the South Island for the past two weeks. It was absolutely fantastic!! I saw such incredibly beautiful places and it was just an amazing experience. I travelled around with two other people, Meredith and Marc, and we rented a car to travel around in: a white five seater mazda. It was an automatic and worked, but the acceleration was not so great. I actually drove on the left side and except for the first five minutes, it really wasn't bad at all! By the end of the trip, driving on the left even seemed pretty natural! I was very proud of myself.
So before going into the day-by-day of the trip, there are a couple points I want to mention:
1. I did a LOT of hiking this trip (which was great!) and one of the things that really struck me is the whole hiking culture. While on a hike, the people that you pass are really nice and will always say "hi" smile or make some comment about the track. It's a really nice environment to be apart of.
2. I met a lot of people while traveling around who were traveling from all different countries. I met people from: Latvia, Germany, Israel and the UK (among a bunch of other countries). The type of people traveling were really interesting. A lot of people I met have taken a year off and are traveling around the world. Others took a few months off and are traveling around a bunch of different countries in this area. Furthermore, travelers ranged in age from 20s through 70s. It was really fascinating to learn about the different cultures from the people during tour groups and at the backpackers.
3. Traveling around the South Island was surprisingly really easy! There are only a few roads and everything is VERY well signed. There are no huge highways like in the US, mostly it is just a road with one lane going in each direction. Driving through the countryside was really beautiful too - we would go by lakes, tons of mountains and valleys with sheep, cows and horses. Furthermore, in every town there is an iSite that has someone you can talk to about different activities and hikes to do in the area. Most places I went to, I just had to walk into the iSite and could walk out with something fun to do. It was great!
4. The backpackers in generally were pretty nice. Almost all of them were stocked with a full communal kitchen that we could use. There were communal bathrooms too (dorm style) but it was pretty nice. Most of them were about $30 NZ dollar per night - way better than can be found in the US!
5. Meredith and I did the GOOT challenge where you have to take pictures in front of certain places and signs in New Zealand. So in all the pictures where we have our thumbs-up that's what we're doing!
6. I took a lot of pictures but it was just so gorgeous there that my camera honestly could not do it justice. So when you are looking at the pictures, just remember that it was actually at least 100x more beautiful than the pictures seem.
Alright I think those were the main things I wanted to talk about before going day-by-day, so here we go. I'll go day-by-day but some of them are grouped into regions in the country so I'll do some headers too. If you want to follow along with the route that I took here's a map of the South Island: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&g=South+Island%2C+New+Zealand&q=south+island+nz&btnG=Search+Maps
Monday Feb 15
On Monday we flew from Auckland to Christchurch. Christchurch is in the upper middle of the South Island on the east coast. Going on a domestic flight in New Zealand was very interesting: some of the gates you don't need to go through security to get to! I had to go through security to get to mine, but it was very minimal security. Once getting on the plane, the flight was pretty fast. The only hitch was that the man sitting next to me spilled his coffee all over me - luckily it was not too hot. We arrived in Christchurch pretty late, checked into our backpacker then walked around the city and got some food. We saw Cathedral Square which was nice.
Tuesday Feb 16
We woke up early in Christchurch and walked around a bit before our car rental place opened. We went back to Cathedral Square and went to the Christchurch Botanic Gardens. Christchurch is a really nice city with a river running through it. Then we picked up our car, stopped for some groceries (the necessary PB&J) and were on our way! We headed north and stopped for lunch in Kaikoura. Kaikoura is known for seals. We first parked and headed down to the beach and immediately there was a seal right in front of us! It was so exciting - seals are very cute! After eating some fish 'n chips we headed to a seal colony where we saw lots more adorable seals. Then we did a bit of a walk up to an overlook and it was really nice to see Kaikoura and the east coast water. Then we went back in the car and I took my first shot at driving! As I said, the first five minutes were scary (and every time I had to turn) but I quickly got used to it and took us safely to Nelson. At Nelson we stayed in a really nice backpacker that provided us with soup, noodles and breakfast! We missed out on the soup because we checked in too late, but the ramen noodles were delicious. Then we drove into downtown Nelson and saw a beautiful sunset. We then went to a brewery that the backpacker had recommended and I tried a three berry cider and we got a delicious bread and spread platter!
Wednesday Feb 17
We woke up very early and drove to Abel Tasman! We booked a kayak and hike trip there where you kayak the first day, sleep on an aquapacker then hike the second day. We started off with 5 of us in the group (because the others were late) so it was the 3 of us and a retired couple from England. Since we were an odd number one of us had to be with our guide, and I happily volunteered. We first took the kayaks out on a jetboat and got to see a bit of Abel Tasman. The water there is absolutely gorgeous! Our guide told us that the green color is from the granite stones because they apparently release fluoride when they break apart. The way Abel Tasman is set up is in lots of coves with beautiful secluded beaches. We passed by a seal colony and I got to see seal pups which are honestly the cutest things ever!! I couldn't get a picture because they kept moving and splashing around but they are so adorable! They of course reminded me of Buddy. Then we got off the boats, had a quick briefing of the kayaks and the gear and then we were off! Kayaking was a lot of fun and it was just so gorgeous there. Then we stopped for lunch (which they provided) and met up with the late members of our group who were all Israelis! There are actually a ton of Israelis traveling around New Zealand and we ran into quite a few throughout our time there. Anyways I was now with one of them in my kayak. So our guide told us that we were kayaking on a really good day because the sea level was just right so that we were able to go into the lagoons and we went into a couple of them and they were SO beautiful! Towards the end of our day it started to rain which was a bummer, but overall it was a really incredible kayak trip! Then we were dropped off at a beach and picked up by our aquapackers. So the aquapacker is basically a backpacker on the water aka houseboat. It was really cool and I took pictures because I'm sure I won't be able to actually describe it but I'll try: there were about 25 of us sleeping on the houseboat and the boat was 3 levels. There was an upper deck where we ate dinner (BBQ!), a middle one with the kitchen and lower sections where we slept. The sleeping was interesting to say the least: It was basically an extended bunkbed in an "L" shape with about 5 people on top and 5 on the bottom. Anyway everyone from the kayak trip was on the houseboat along with people from Scandanavia, Germany and a couple other countries. It was really interesting to meet the different people and I learned some new card games! We were given lots of food with a BBQ but I had the vegetarian lasagna which had beans and corn in it and lots of coleslaw.
Thursday Feb 18
We woke up on the houseboat (where I slept pretty well) and had breakfast. Then we were brought back to the beach and set out on our hike. Our kayak group decided to hike together which was fun. The hike was really beautiful and we were mainly in the forest. However it started raining about halfway through the hike which wasn't as fun, but it was still a really amazing hike. Also while we were hiking we ran into another group from the BU program which was funny. At the end of the hike we said goodbye to our kayak group, but now we have a place to stay when we go to England and Israel! After the hike we went to the Golden Bay to the Mussels Inn which is a restaurant that was highly recommended and it was delicious! They brew their own beer there and have excellent seafood. I had a really delicious fish roll and a cider. After the great meal we drove on to Nelson Lakes where we camped.
Friday Feb 19
I woke up a little earlier than the other people in my group so I grabbed my cereal and headed to the lake. Since we had arrived so late the night before, we weren't actually able to see the lake when we got there and it was absolutely breathtaking in the morning! It was so peaceful and had beautiful mountains surrounding it. After the others woke up we went to the iSite and I found a really nice hike to do. We hiked Mt Robert which was about 4 hours and the view at the top was simply spectacular. The lake and mountains were so amazing. However at the very top you couldn't even see the lake and just had an incredible view of the mountains and countryside - it felt very "The Sound of Music." After the hike we drove to the West Coast. The West Coast was really beautiful with incredible beaches. Our first stop was Punakaiki home of the Pancake Rocks. The Pancake Rocks are are really big columns in the water that look like thin stacks of pancakes. We rushed and made it to the Pancake Rocks in time to see the sunset which was really beautiful. There is also the blowhole swell at the rocks where the water rushes in. It was a really nice way to end the day.
Saturday Feb 20
Once again I woke up earlier than the other people in my group and headed over to the beach with my breakfast and book. The beach there was so nice and instead of sand has these big pebbles. Once the others woke up we went to the iSite and found things to do. We went to Truman's Beach which is a bit of a hike away but is absolutely stunning. They had some really big rocks and caves there which were cool. Then we drove further along the West Coast and hiked Point Elizabeth. It was a pretty easy walk with a really nice view of the ocean at the end. Then we went to our backpacker in Greymouth which was really nice. They had free bikes that we could use and a nice kitchen. After dinner we biked to the pier and watched a gorgeous sunset. Then we quickly discovered that nightlife in Greymouth does not exist, but I did have a delicious piece of homemade chocolate cake.
Sunday Feb 21
We left Greymoutha nd drove further along the West Coast to reach Hokitika. Hokitika is famous for jade or as the Maori call it, pounaumu. Jade is very valuable in NZ and it must be given to you as a gift from someone else, you can't buy it for yourself. Hokitika has a lot of jade stores and other crafts. It was a lot of fun to walk around. We went to the West Coast Historical Museum which was very interesting. Apparently aside from being known for jade, Hokitika also used to be a huge player in the New Zealand gold rush and was a mining town. We went to the iSite in Hokitika and found out about a few things very close by. We went to Lake Kaniere which was really nice and went on a hike there. Then we went to the Hokitika Gorge which was absolutely beautiful. The water was unlike anything I had ever seen before! There was a swing bridge which we crossed and it was just really pretty. From there we drove onto Okarito which is famous for it's lake lagoons. We stayed at a campsite that had a firepit so we had a BBQ. Then we went out to the beach (which was right next to the campsite) and saw the sunset which was again beautiful. We tried to start another fire there but the wind was too intense, so we ended up joining someone else's fire to make our banana boats! I was SO happy to have banana boats again. The people who had the fire were from NZ, Canada and Germany so it was interesting to talk to them.
Monday Feb 22
We woke up bright and early on Monday to head over to Franz Josef Glacier! We did a full day hike on the glacier and it was absolutely incredible!! We first got all of our gear from boots, socks, jackets, pants, clamps and fannypacks galore. We started as a big group of 60 but then broke down into 6 groups of 10 based on level. We were in the middle group. In our group were people from England, Norway and other places. First we walked a couple kilometers through the valley to the face of the glacier. We passed by some beautiful waterfalls. At the base we put the clamps on the boots and started up the glacier. The clamps made it so much easier to hike the glacier. The hike was absolutely incredible. We saw really beautiful blue ice, climbed through tunnels, went through narrow passageways, repelled down holes and climbed. It was a lot of fun and just an amazing experience! I also got to carry an axe ice thing which was pretty cool too. The hike lasted all day and we got back to the lodge around 5. From there we drove to Queenstown. We got into Queenstown late and went into our nice backpacker. The backpacker was kind of set up like ski villas where we were sharing a little house with another room with a shared kitchen and bathroom. There was another couple there when we arrived from England and America who were traveling around the world for an entire year - they are about half-way through. They were really nice.
Tuesday Feb 23
We got to explore Queenstown on Tuesday. Queenstown is set up kind of like a ski village, which makes sense because it is a big ski center in the winter. It is surrounded by incredible mountains around a beautiful lake. I really liked it. Queenstown is known as the adventure city in NZ. It is where the bungy was invented and has tons of adventure activities. However, we just took a chill day. I took the gondola up to the top to see an incredible view of Queenstown and did a walk around up there. Then we went to FergBurger which is a famous burger place in Queenstown. They have absolutely delicious burgers! I got "The Codfather" which was basically a fish burger and had really delicious sauce. Then I walked around the lake, read my book and got delicious gelato. That night we made pasta and prepared ourselves for the Routeburn.
Wednesday Feb 24
We woke up early on Wednesday to catch the bus to the Routeburn. The Routeburn is a hike that traverses 32 kilometres of Mount Aspiring and Fiordland National Parks. It is supposed to take 3-4 days to do but we decided to do it in 2 days with the first day being longer. I was really nervous about the hike because it would be my first time doing an overnight hike and I had to carry my big backpack to fit my sleeping bag, tent and clothes. However it worked out alright. The track can run in either direction. We started at the Routeburn Shelter where the bus dropped us off at 10 am and made our way to the Divide. The first few hours were really beautiful and pretty easy since it was quite flat. Then we stopped for lunch at the Routeburn Falls shelter and it started raining a little bit. The next part was all uphill but it was okay and the rain was a little annoying but parts of it were really beautiful. The mountains were covered with mist and it looked magical. Unfortunately the pictures did not come out well but it really was an amazing sight. Then we made it to the top and there was a beautiful lake with mountains and mist in the background and it was so incredibly gorgeous. As we were passing another group going in the opposite direction one of the men stopped us and said "look at this view. this is heaven. you can now tell people that you have been to heaven." That is really how I would describe it - it was just breathtakingly beautiful. Then the rain picked up and we stopped in the next shelter. However during this time the rain really got severe and came down very hard and that is how it stayed. We had about 3 hours until we made it to the lodge where we were staying and it got pretty hard with all the rain. By the end I was walking with a pool in my boots and was soaked head to toe (except for my face which was protected due to my great hat!). While it was hard with the rain, the rain led to lots of beautiful waterfalls right alongside where I was hiking which was really incredible. Anyways when I finally reached the lodge I was soaking wet and decided there was no way I could stay in my wet tent as planned. I talked to the warden and we were able to upgrade to sleep in the bunkrooms (more on that in a bit). In the lodge there was a little fire which I basically attached myself to. Everything in my bag got wet including my sleeping bag so I spent the next couple hours trying to dry things (including myself) off. Once my sleeping bag was pretty dry we went to sleep. The bunkroom slept 30 people and was basically a couple really long big bunkbeds with numbers to denote where you were supposed to sleep, but it was basically one big mattress. There were 5 of us across the bunk that I was on. It was pretty ridiculous but I was just happy to be in a dry bed.
Thursday Feb 25
We were so wet and cold that we decided to wake up really early on Friday to catch an earlier bus to Queenstown to retrieve our car. The bus times were either 10:15 am or 3:15 pm so we decided to get up at 6 to catch the 10:15 bus. The hike to the Divide was supposed to take 4 hours so we had to move pretty quickly, and it was still raining. Starting the hike was hard because my back and entire body were sore from hiking 8 hours the day before. The first hour was dark so we wore our headlamps which was quite an experience. The sun was up by 7 though which made things easier. The hike was overall okay, except for one big uphill part towards the end. Also the rain wasn't as bad as the day before which helped. We finished the hike at 9:55 am meaning that we finished the entire Routeburn track in 24 hours!! As hard as the Routeburn was because of the rain, the fact that I was able to finish it in 24 hours was really exciting for me! The bus was late but did arrive and had room for us. We made it back to Queenstown by 2 and got our car. Then we went to Fergburger where I got the Holier Than Thou veggie burger. However, it wasn't a normal veggie burger but rather had pieces of tofu with vegetables - it was really delicious. Then we drove back towards the Routeburn to reach the Milford Sound. We checked into our backpacker, had some soup, a hot shower and went to bed.
Friday Feb 26
Friday was a beautiful sunny day, the perfect day to kayak the Milford Sound! The kayak company picked us up at the lodge and brought us to the Sound. The Milford Sound was so incredibly gorgeous. I can't even describe how beautiful the Milford Sound is, and once again the pictures do not do it justice but it is honestly the most amazing place I have ever been. It is part of the Fiordlands and surrounded by Fiords, mountains and beautiful water. Our kayak trip brought us out on a jetboat and then put us in our kayaks. As soon as we hit the water dolphins came swimming by and they were SO close to our kayaks which was very cool. There were also lots of adorable seals on the fiords we passed by. We kayaked under a waterfall which was pretty crazy and fun. It was an amazing trip, but my shoulders were so sore from the Routeburn which made it hard. We stopped for lunch on a beautiful beach and had juice that is made by a fruit in the Fiorlands and it was really delicious. Then we went back into the kayaks and the water had gotten much rougher making kayaking more difficult. Our guide decided we would try sailing in. We attached the boats, put up a sail (we basically attached a sheet to 2 oars and we held them) and let the wind carry us in a few kilometers. It was so much fun!!! It was an incredible trip and I really love the Milford Sound. After the trip we got the car and headed on to Twizel, but of course made another stop in Queenstown to get another Fergburger (went with the Codfather again). We reached Twizel late and went to sleep in the backpacker.
Saturday Feb 27
This was our last real day in the South Island and we made it count. We left Twizel and drove to Aoraki/Mount Cook. On the way we passed by lots of sheep and cows - we even had two cows cross the street right in front of our car!! It was very exciting. Then we made it to Mount Cook. Mount Cook is really impressive and surrounded by lots of glaciers. We went to the iSite, which had a nice museum about the history of Mt Cook, and then we hiked to a nice lookout point called Kea Point. There were also lots of beautiful lakes around Mt Cook. After Mt Cook we headed to Lake Tekapo. This lake was absolutely gorgeous! The water was truly spectacular looking. We hiked Mt John to get a 360 degree view of the lake and surrounding country side. It was really amazing. Then we went to the lake for a bit and relaxed. The lake was actually really cold so I didn't go in, but it was nice to just look at it. Then we completed our loop and made it back to Christchurch. We had some really good thai food in Christchurch then went to the airport to return our car. Our flight the next morning was at 6 am so we slept for a couple hours in the airport before boarding our flight and heading back to Auckland.
Arriving back in Auckland was really nice - I realized just how much Auckland is becoming home to me. Yesterday was filled with lots of odds and ends and preparing for the start of the semester. Today was the beginning of semester one and it is MUCH more crowded around University of Auckland than it was during the summer. I started my class and internship today and am completely exhausted. I promise I'll write about my internship, class and semester one soon!
Hope you enjoyed reading about the South Island. Now if you would like to see pictures about all the places I just talked about here's the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/LSOL817/SouthIslandNZ_2?feat=directlink
Hope all is well with you all and I would love to hear from you!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Carlson & Waitomo Caves!
Hello all,
I decided to take a packing break to update you all on life in New Zealand.
This week was dedicated to figuring out my internship at the Carlson school. The Carlson School is a school for kids with cerebral palsy. Here is the website if you would like to see it: http://www.carlson.school.nz/. One of the components of the program that I am on is that I do a 250 hour internship. The way the program is set up is that starting March 1st I will be interning four days a week and taking one class (Psychology of Personality) at the University of Auckland. On Monday our program director took another girl from the program and myself to our interview at the Carlson base school. We were met by the deputy principal who is great and the interview went very well. After the interview, we were given a tour of the school and got to meet some of the kids. They have various classrooms for children of different ages and abilities. The kids at the base school are those with the most severe needs and the focus is on helping them to develop life skills. It was great to be there and it seems like an incredible school. Another part of the Carlson school is the two satellite classrooms they offer. After talking with the deputy principal, it was decided that throughout the week our program director, the other girl and myself would tour the other two satellite schools and then meet back on Friday and decide where and in which classrooms we would be placed. On Thurdsay we went to the Waikowhai Intermediate School, which has one Carlson classroom, and on Friday we went to the Oranga Primary School, which has two Carlson classrooms. We then went back to the base school to decide where we would be placed. I absolutely loved the Oranga satellite class. The teachers and students all seemed really engaged and I truly enjoyed the environment there. Furthermore, I thought it would be interesting to see how the Carlson students are integrated into the mainstream Oranga school - apparently they do much social integration. So I am officially placed at the Oranga Carlson satellite classroom! I have a main class, but will be helping both classrooms out. I am the first BU participant to be at one of the Carlson satellite schools, but I think it will be a great learning experience and I can't wait to start! Along with figuring out our internships, the other girl placed at Carlson and I were trying to figure out transportation. Since we will be at the schools four times a week, we are trying to see if we can get bikes for the next few months. We tested it out on Thursday by riding to the three different schools and they are all very do-able (although riding to all of them on the same day was pretty difficult!). It was also just really great to ride around the city - we went pretty far out and I got a better sense of my surroundings and of Auckland in general. It was really nice. I haven't found a good bike store yet, but hopefully I'll find a way to ride to my internship soon! Or else, there are buses available.
This weekend a few of us decided to go to the WAITOMO CAVES! The caves are located a little over two hours south of Auckland. We drove up Friday and then did the caves on Saturday. I'll try to describe it all for you, or else here is the link to the website: http://www.waitomo.com/caving-adventure.aspx. We did the Black Abyss which is a 5 hour adventure in the Ruakuri Cave. We had tour tour guides and there were 7 of us in a group. We first put on full body wetsuits, water boots and helmets with lights. Then we piled in the van to go to the cave. We learned how to abseil (aka repelling) and then we each abseiled ourselves down into the cave one at a time. We abseiled down 37 m which transfers to about 100 ft! Naturally, I was so scared. But the top of the cave was not very deep and then I went through a really narrow part to get to the actually cave. I didn't really look down but instead was looking around at the magnificent cave. The way the abseiling worked was we had these devices on and were in control of our speed by feeding the rope through, but there was also one of the guides at the bottom acting as our safety in case we needed her to take over. After reaching the bottom, we all introduced ourselves and then went further into the cave for the Flying Fox. The Flying Fox is actually a zipline through part of the cave in the dark. It was really cool and when I got to the other side I could see the glow worms! There were glow worms all around the cave and they were absolutely beautiful. Apparently they are not so much worms as they are carnevourous maggots, but the light they give off is still pretty. After the flying fox we had a snack of delicious biscuits and hot chocolate. Then we were each given a tube and we had to jump into the water (I screamed really loud!). Then we paddled and pulled ourselves on a rope through the water and got to see some really cool parts of the caves and more glow worms. Then the guide tugged us back which was fun. We then got rid of our tubes and walked/swam through the water. We went to a waterfall where they set up a slide which was fun to go down. We saw a whale fossil which was I think around 3 million years old which was really cool. We were given another snack of chocolate and warm orange juice (kind of) which was excellent. Then when we were at the lowest point (about 60 m) we had to start climbing up to get out of the cave. We had to go through some pretty narrow passage ways which were fun and intense. Then we had to climb up 2 waterfalls to get out which was kind of scary but also really cool. Then on the way out the guide and I saw a frog which we took back outside. Then we walked through part of a rainforest to get back to the van. Back at the base we were given hot showers, tomato soup and bagels (yumm!). It was a really amazing experience and I felt so accomplished afterwards!
One of the guides took pictures of us while we were in the caves. I tried to put the pictures that I am in at the beginning, then the group and then the professional "post-card" pictures. Here's the link so just copy and paste: http://picasaweb.google.com/LSOL817/WaitomoCaves?feat=directlink
Back to Saturday: We then came back to Auckland and I went to the Auckland Zoo for Zoo Music. Zoo Music is a concert the zoo puts on every saturday night during the summer. The UniLodge where I live got free tickets to the concert last night (normally it's $30) and provided transportation. It was a lot of fun! I was able to see animals and listen to some cool New Zealand music by Anika Moa and Sola Rosa. There were SO many people there from New Zealand there which was nice to see.
Yesterday I studied for my geography exam. After being cooped up in the library for a while, I went over to the Auckland Domain to listen to some music while I studied. I had the exam today and let me just say that exams in New Zealand are SO different than exams in the US! The environment is much more intense. The exam was in a different room than we are normally in and you to wait outside to be "invited" in. Our normal lecturers did not administer the exam, but rather four different people who are specifically hired to give out exams. We had to bring our bags up to the front and we were not allowed to talk. We had to sit in every other seat and in every other row, and the exams were already on the desks. We apparently had to have our ID cards, which I didn't realize so after sitting down I had to get up and go get mine from my bag - only slightly embarrassing. Then we had the exam for two hours and there were only certains times that you were allowed to leave: between one hour and one hour 45 min. I finished after about 1 hour and 55 minutes and had to just wait for the last five minutes. The exam was not too bad, but I am just excited that it is OVER!! I am now done with summer school.
Now I just have to finish packing and I will be on my way to South Island! I am leaving for Christchurch tonight and will be traveling around the South Island until February 28th. I'll be sure to update about my adventures when I return. Hope you all have a great rest of February!!
I decided to take a packing break to update you all on life in New Zealand.
This week was dedicated to figuring out my internship at the Carlson school. The Carlson School is a school for kids with cerebral palsy. Here is the website if you would like to see it: http://www.carlson.school.nz/. One of the components of the program that I am on is that I do a 250 hour internship. The way the program is set up is that starting March 1st I will be interning four days a week and taking one class (Psychology of Personality) at the University of Auckland. On Monday our program director took another girl from the program and myself to our interview at the Carlson base school. We were met by the deputy principal who is great and the interview went very well. After the interview, we were given a tour of the school and got to meet some of the kids. They have various classrooms for children of different ages and abilities. The kids at the base school are those with the most severe needs and the focus is on helping them to develop life skills. It was great to be there and it seems like an incredible school. Another part of the Carlson school is the two satellite classrooms they offer. After talking with the deputy principal, it was decided that throughout the week our program director, the other girl and myself would tour the other two satellite schools and then meet back on Friday and decide where and in which classrooms we would be placed. On Thurdsay we went to the Waikowhai Intermediate School, which has one Carlson classroom, and on Friday we went to the Oranga Primary School, which has two Carlson classrooms. We then went back to the base school to decide where we would be placed. I absolutely loved the Oranga satellite class. The teachers and students all seemed really engaged and I truly enjoyed the environment there. Furthermore, I thought it would be interesting to see how the Carlson students are integrated into the mainstream Oranga school - apparently they do much social integration. So I am officially placed at the Oranga Carlson satellite classroom! I have a main class, but will be helping both classrooms out. I am the first BU participant to be at one of the Carlson satellite schools, but I think it will be a great learning experience and I can't wait to start! Along with figuring out our internships, the other girl placed at Carlson and I were trying to figure out transportation. Since we will be at the schools four times a week, we are trying to see if we can get bikes for the next few months. We tested it out on Thursday by riding to the three different schools and they are all very do-able (although riding to all of them on the same day was pretty difficult!). It was also just really great to ride around the city - we went pretty far out and I got a better sense of my surroundings and of Auckland in general. It was really nice. I haven't found a good bike store yet, but hopefully I'll find a way to ride to my internship soon! Or else, there are buses available.
This weekend a few of us decided to go to the WAITOMO CAVES! The caves are located a little over two hours south of Auckland. We drove up Friday and then did the caves on Saturday. I'll try to describe it all for you, or else here is the link to the website: http://www.waitomo.com/caving-adventure.aspx. We did the Black Abyss which is a 5 hour adventure in the Ruakuri Cave. We had tour tour guides and there were 7 of us in a group. We first put on full body wetsuits, water boots and helmets with lights. Then we piled in the van to go to the cave. We learned how to abseil (aka repelling) and then we each abseiled ourselves down into the cave one at a time. We abseiled down 37 m which transfers to about 100 ft! Naturally, I was so scared. But the top of the cave was not very deep and then I went through a really narrow part to get to the actually cave. I didn't really look down but instead was looking around at the magnificent cave. The way the abseiling worked was we had these devices on and were in control of our speed by feeding the rope through, but there was also one of the guides at the bottom acting as our safety in case we needed her to take over. After reaching the bottom, we all introduced ourselves and then went further into the cave for the Flying Fox. The Flying Fox is actually a zipline through part of the cave in the dark. It was really cool and when I got to the other side I could see the glow worms! There were glow worms all around the cave and they were absolutely beautiful. Apparently they are not so much worms as they are carnevourous maggots, but the light they give off is still pretty. After the flying fox we had a snack of delicious biscuits and hot chocolate. Then we were each given a tube and we had to jump into the water (I screamed really loud!). Then we paddled and pulled ourselves on a rope through the water and got to see some really cool parts of the caves and more glow worms. Then the guide tugged us back which was fun. We then got rid of our tubes and walked/swam through the water. We went to a waterfall where they set up a slide which was fun to go down. We saw a whale fossil which was I think around 3 million years old which was really cool. We were given another snack of chocolate and warm orange juice (kind of) which was excellent. Then when we were at the lowest point (about 60 m) we had to start climbing up to get out of the cave. We had to go through some pretty narrow passage ways which were fun and intense. Then we had to climb up 2 waterfalls to get out which was kind of scary but also really cool. Then on the way out the guide and I saw a frog which we took back outside. Then we walked through part of a rainforest to get back to the van. Back at the base we were given hot showers, tomato soup and bagels (yumm!). It was a really amazing experience and I felt so accomplished afterwards!
One of the guides took pictures of us while we were in the caves. I tried to put the pictures that I am in at the beginning, then the group and then the professional "post-card" pictures. Here's the link so just copy and paste: http://picasaweb.google.com/LSOL817/WaitomoCaves?feat=directlink
Back to Saturday: We then came back to Auckland and I went to the Auckland Zoo for Zoo Music. Zoo Music is a concert the zoo puts on every saturday night during the summer. The UniLodge where I live got free tickets to the concert last night (normally it's $30) and provided transportation. It was a lot of fun! I was able to see animals and listen to some cool New Zealand music by Anika Moa and Sola Rosa. There were SO many people there from New Zealand there which was nice to see.
Yesterday I studied for my geography exam. After being cooped up in the library for a while, I went over to the Auckland Domain to listen to some music while I studied. I had the exam today and let me just say that exams in New Zealand are SO different than exams in the US! The environment is much more intense. The exam was in a different room than we are normally in and you to wait outside to be "invited" in. Our normal lecturers did not administer the exam, but rather four different people who are specifically hired to give out exams. We had to bring our bags up to the front and we were not allowed to talk. We had to sit in every other seat and in every other row, and the exams were already on the desks. We apparently had to have our ID cards, which I didn't realize so after sitting down I had to get up and go get mine from my bag - only slightly embarrassing. Then we had the exam for two hours and there were only certains times that you were allowed to leave: between one hour and one hour 45 min. I finished after about 1 hour and 55 minutes and had to just wait for the last five minutes. The exam was not too bad, but I am just excited that it is OVER!! I am now done with summer school.
Now I just have to finish packing and I will be on my way to South Island! I am leaving for Christchurch tonight and will be traveling around the South Island until February 28th. I'll be sure to update about my adventures when I return. Hope you all have a great rest of February!!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Geog 207 Fieldtrip to Northland!
Hello,
This past week my geography 207 course had a fieldtrip to Northland. I went to Northland with the BU program a couple weeks ago, but that was a weekend trip where this was 5 days. Northland is the region located above Auckland to the northern most part of New Zealand (hence Northland). Throughout my geography course we had been learning about various aspects of Northland ranging from: disadvantaged communities, economy, coast, sand dunes, kauri trees and tourism. In the past few decades Northland has been struggling, and in this fieldtrip we were able to see first-hand everything we had learned about in the classroom (talk about experiential learning!). The course had around 70 students, of which about 15 were from the BU program and the rest were new zealanders or other international students. All food and accommodation was provided (since we had paid $140 for the trip). I figure the easiest way to tell you all about what I experienced is to go day by day:
Monday February 1
The first day we met at the University of Auckland and split into 8 vans (plus the one van for food). The vans all had between 7-11 people in them, with a tutor or lecturer driving them. Choosing vans was pretty much a free for all, and I ended up in a van with one other American, 3 New Zealanders whose families are from Samoa, 1 person from Thailand who grew up in New Zealand, one girl from China (who did not speak much English) who is not actually in the class but is doing research in geography)and two other New Zealanders. Our van driver was Gretel, who is one of the lecturers from the course who specializes in kauri trees. We were in a 12 person van so we had a bit of room.
Once we were in the vans and going, we made our first stop at Kaipara lookout. Kaipara is the first district within Northland and we got our first glimpse of Northland here. We also saw Kaikoura Harbour which is the second largest harbour in the world. We then went to visit Muriwai Valley Farm in Kaipara. Muriwai Valley Farm is an organic farm and the woman who runs it spoke to us about the challenges of running an organic farm. We then went on to the Matakohe Kauri Museum where we learned about kauri trees. It was a very hands-on museum which was cool. The kauri tree is the second largest tree in the world and the largest in the southern hemisphere. It used to be Auckland's biggest export and was used for everything, but now kauri trees are protected and not used. Kauri gum (sap inside the tree) used to be highly sought after, and there was a whole room filled with objects made from kauri gum (even a castle!). We then went on to Kaipara Kumara in Ruawai and learned about a tourist venture called Kauri Country and the Kaipara Kumara organization to learn about the challenges they face. However, both of our guest speakers were unable to come, so our lecturers filled in. We then drove to Kai Iwi Lakes which was absolutely beautiful and had a chance to splash around there. Then we went to Dargaville where we stayed for the night at the Northern Wairoa Hotel (more like a motel/hostel). After a delicious dinner, our van did discussion questions (which we had to do daily and they make up a percentage of our final grade). The hotel was really nice with comfortable beds, but there were no bathrooms in the room, so it was more like dorm-style living.
Tuesday February 2
The second day we awoke to a delicious breakfast made by the hotel. They serve this spaghetti soup thing on toast which I didn't have, but some people really seemed to like it. They also have these dry wheat crackers/biscuits, and some people tried to complete a challenge of putting peanut butter on the cracker and eating it within a minute - no one was able to complete it. I tried the cracker but dipped it in milk and put some sugar on it, which was good. Also before we left the hotel we put tape and decorated our van. We named the van: "The Vandastic Lady Mahuta" after our driver who is nicknamed "The Lady Mahuta" because the largest kauri tree is called Tane (translated to "man") Mahuta.
Anyways we then left the hotel and were on our way. The first stop was Trounson kauri Park. This was the first governmentally protected kauri park in New Zealand. They began protecting the kauri because they were becoming extinct, and Northland is really the only area where kauri trees thrive. Walking through the kauri park was really interesting because I was able to see the different types of kauri trees we had learned about in class. Also, it was interesting to hear what New Zealanders thought about the trees. One person was a chemistry major in the class and he knew so much about the kauri trees just from growing up in New Zealand! We then went to Waipoua Centennial Trust Farm and learned from our lecturers (after another no-show guest lecturer) about what the Trust does. The Trust is trying to re-grow Kauri trees in this area so that in 500 years (that's how long it takes for kauri trees to reach their full height) the kauri forest will be what it used to be prior to man. The Waipoua Forest is New Zealand's largest sub-tropical rainforst and contains the largest remaining area of kauri forest. We then drove within the Waipoua Forest and saw Tane Mahuta, the largest Kauri tree and had a picnic lunch there (make your own sandwiches which were good). We then drove onto Hokianga Heads and discussed tourism on the west coast. We also learned that the Hokianga coast is made form uplifted sandstone sediment. We then took our vans on the Rawene ferry to reach Tamatea Marae in Motuti, North Hokianga.
A marae is a Maori sacred place which serves religious and social purposes. Before arriving, the chief took us to the top of a hill where we were able to see the marae in a unique, wider perspective. We were able to see all the areas around the marae, including the harbour which it sits on. We then went down to the outskirts of the marae and saw the church where bishop Pompellier was buried. Then we had the ceremonial welcome where one of the women sings as we entered in. We then went in the meeting house where the official welcome ceremony happened with lots of speeches and singing. We had to sing two songs to the iwi (tribe) that was hosting us in Maori which was fun. We then had Maori food (which was delicious) then went back in the meeting house to prepare for bed. The meeting house was filled with tons of matresses and pillows for all of us, and we supplied our own sleeping bags. Once everyone had a bed, we all introduced ourselves and where we come from. The Marae was a great experience where I was actually able to see what Maori culture was like and learn about their struggles.
Wednesday February 3
On Wednesday we had a Maori breakfast which was good and then had the farewell ceremony to leave the marae, complete with more singing. We then switched gears to the coastal beach portion of our trip. We first stopped by Ahipara for lunch and a swim in the Tasman sea. We then drove to the base of the Ninety Mile Beach for our first beach measuring activities. In our vans we had to complete a series of activities to gather information about the waves, sediment and dunes. After the measuring, we played some games on the beach and then drove on through Sandhills Road to pass by different types of sand dunes. We then arrived at Puheke and climbed the hill (which was really intense and I think should be more considered to be a mountain) to see a spectacular view of the Karikari penninsula. We then drove to Whatuwhiwhi where we stayed the night. Whatuwhiwhi was a campsite area where we stayed in "cabins" which were really just 4 person rooms with bunk-beds and bathrooms not connected to the rooms. It was right on the water and so nice. We had a BBQ there which was good.
Thursday February 4
On Thurssday we continued our beach measurement exercises and compared the beaches on the west coast to those on the east coast. We went to Matai Bay which is considered to be one of the most beautiful beaches in New Zealand and it was absolutely gorgeous! After completing the measurement activities we went swimming which was cold but totally worth it. We then went to our third beach measurement site of Cable Bay, which was markedly different from the other two beaches with coarser sand and different dune types. We then drove onto Paihia in the Bay of Islands for another sandwich making lunch (still delicious with really good spreads) on the water. Then we had a guest lecture by someone who works at Fullers. Fullers is a tourism company that pretty much dominates tourism in the Bay of Islands. We then had a kind of scavenger hunt to see how different tourism is on the east coast than the west. We then drove by Waitangi which was preparing for the big Waitangi day which occured on Saturday (more on this later) and on to Aroha Island where we spent the night. Aroha Island is a campsite where we had to pitch our tents, and I was able to use my new sleeping mat for the first time. We had a "New Zealand" BBQ for dinner (which was pretty similar to the previous night but had steaks instead of burgers type thing). We then had a talk from the person in charge of NZ Kiwi Foundation and Queen Elizabeth II National trust. We learned that Aroha Island is a kiwi (the bird) national habitat. Apparently kiwis are not found very often in the wild and they must be protected, which is what this trust aims to do. Aroha Island has some kiwis, but they are not often spotted. We then had an award presentation from the lecturers for the week. After that, a bunch of us went off with red cellophane wrapped around our headlamps and flashlights to try to find kiwis (apparently kiwis are attracted to red light). The first attempt did not work well, but a couple hours later a few of us went and SAW TWO KIWIS!! We had just left the main road and saw two little kiwis run across the pathway. They were so little and cute!! It was very exciting.
Friday February 5
On our last day we left Aroha Island and headed for Moerewa. Moerewa was one of the towns that I talked about in my essay for the class on disadvantaged towns in Northland. The person running the He Iwi Kotahi Tatou Trust was supposed to talk to us, but he ended up having to cancel so our lecturers filled in again. We went to a cafe that the Trust runs which was really cool for me, since I had discussed the cafe in my essay! We then drove through Kerikeri to reach Whangarei Town Basin. At Whangarei we had free time to get lunch from a variety of cafes along the water and play on the playground which was fun. I had some really good mac and cheese, and saw glass blowing which was neat. We then piled back in the van and drove through Marsden Cove and Marsden Point which is an oil refinery but they are trying to develop the area around it into expensive homes, which we discussed. Then we drove onwards back to Auckland.
It was a really fun trip and I felt like I learned a lot about the places we saw, and now have a greater understanding of New Zealand! It was also really great to actually meet some New Zealanders and learn what their culture is like through them. From talking to the New Zealanders I have some more differences to add to my list (in addition to a few others that I had forgotten about) so here we go:
-they call sandals "jandals" and bathing suits "togs"
-walking around barefoot is completely normal. anywhere.
-they listen to lots of American music (especially in stores)
-the store people really try to help you NOT spend money, and will tell you if something is not good rather than just looking for a commission
-they don't tip
-when the cross light goes off, a kiwi bird sound is played (so now sometimes I echo the sound after it)
...hmm there are definitely more but I can't remember right now. Stay tuned!
-the entire relation between teachers and students in New Zealand is very relaxed (especially on this trip) and they all go by their first names.
-most New Zealanders commute to university and live at home
-the amount of time it takes a university student to graduate depends on the type of program they are in, but most graduate within 3 years. Furthermore, university students graduate at different semesters
Yesterday was Waitangi day, which was the day the Waitangi treaty was signed between the British and Maori (which I discussed in a previous blog). Some of my roommates and I went to a Waitangi festival at Okahu Bay in Auckland. They had lots of food and a free concert which was fun! We took a bus there and walked back which was nice.
Other than that, since I've returned I've been taking it easy and catching up on stuff back here. Tomorrow I have my interview for my internship at the Carlson School for kids with Cerebral Palsy which I am really looking forward too. I also have my last exam for my New Zealand culture class about sports, identity and the media in New Zealand. Then I have my geography exam next Monday and then summer term is over and it's onto the South Island. In the past couple days I booked a ton of stuff for my South Island trip and I am SO excited!!
Here are the pictures of my entire Geography Field Trip: http://picasaweb.google.com/LSOL817/GeogFieldTrip?feat=directlink
Hope all is well with you all and I would love to hear from you!
This past week my geography 207 course had a fieldtrip to Northland. I went to Northland with the BU program a couple weeks ago, but that was a weekend trip where this was 5 days. Northland is the region located above Auckland to the northern most part of New Zealand (hence Northland). Throughout my geography course we had been learning about various aspects of Northland ranging from: disadvantaged communities, economy, coast, sand dunes, kauri trees and tourism. In the past few decades Northland has been struggling, and in this fieldtrip we were able to see first-hand everything we had learned about in the classroom (talk about experiential learning!). The course had around 70 students, of which about 15 were from the BU program and the rest were new zealanders or other international students. All food and accommodation was provided (since we had paid $140 for the trip). I figure the easiest way to tell you all about what I experienced is to go day by day:
Monday February 1
The first day we met at the University of Auckland and split into 8 vans (plus the one van for food). The vans all had between 7-11 people in them, with a tutor or lecturer driving them. Choosing vans was pretty much a free for all, and I ended up in a van with one other American, 3 New Zealanders whose families are from Samoa, 1 person from Thailand who grew up in New Zealand, one girl from China (who did not speak much English) who is not actually in the class but is doing research in geography)and two other New Zealanders. Our van driver was Gretel, who is one of the lecturers from the course who specializes in kauri trees. We were in a 12 person van so we had a bit of room.
Once we were in the vans and going, we made our first stop at Kaipara lookout. Kaipara is the first district within Northland and we got our first glimpse of Northland here. We also saw Kaikoura Harbour which is the second largest harbour in the world. We then went to visit Muriwai Valley Farm in Kaipara. Muriwai Valley Farm is an organic farm and the woman who runs it spoke to us about the challenges of running an organic farm. We then went on to the Matakohe Kauri Museum where we learned about kauri trees. It was a very hands-on museum which was cool. The kauri tree is the second largest tree in the world and the largest in the southern hemisphere. It used to be Auckland's biggest export and was used for everything, but now kauri trees are protected and not used. Kauri gum (sap inside the tree) used to be highly sought after, and there was a whole room filled with objects made from kauri gum (even a castle!). We then went on to Kaipara Kumara in Ruawai and learned about a tourist venture called Kauri Country and the Kaipara Kumara organization to learn about the challenges they face. However, both of our guest speakers were unable to come, so our lecturers filled in. We then drove to Kai Iwi Lakes which was absolutely beautiful and had a chance to splash around there. Then we went to Dargaville where we stayed for the night at the Northern Wairoa Hotel (more like a motel/hostel). After a delicious dinner, our van did discussion questions (which we had to do daily and they make up a percentage of our final grade). The hotel was really nice with comfortable beds, but there were no bathrooms in the room, so it was more like dorm-style living.
Tuesday February 2
The second day we awoke to a delicious breakfast made by the hotel. They serve this spaghetti soup thing on toast which I didn't have, but some people really seemed to like it. They also have these dry wheat crackers/biscuits, and some people tried to complete a challenge of putting peanut butter on the cracker and eating it within a minute - no one was able to complete it. I tried the cracker but dipped it in milk and put some sugar on it, which was good. Also before we left the hotel we put tape and decorated our van. We named the van: "The Vandastic Lady Mahuta" after our driver who is nicknamed "The Lady Mahuta" because the largest kauri tree is called Tane (translated to "man") Mahuta.
Anyways we then left the hotel and were on our way. The first stop was Trounson kauri Park. This was the first governmentally protected kauri park in New Zealand. They began protecting the kauri because they were becoming extinct, and Northland is really the only area where kauri trees thrive. Walking through the kauri park was really interesting because I was able to see the different types of kauri trees we had learned about in class. Also, it was interesting to hear what New Zealanders thought about the trees. One person was a chemistry major in the class and he knew so much about the kauri trees just from growing up in New Zealand! We then went to Waipoua Centennial Trust Farm and learned from our lecturers (after another no-show guest lecturer) about what the Trust does. The Trust is trying to re-grow Kauri trees in this area so that in 500 years (that's how long it takes for kauri trees to reach their full height) the kauri forest will be what it used to be prior to man. The Waipoua Forest is New Zealand's largest sub-tropical rainforst and contains the largest remaining area of kauri forest. We then drove within the Waipoua Forest and saw Tane Mahuta, the largest Kauri tree and had a picnic lunch there (make your own sandwiches which were good). We then drove onto Hokianga Heads and discussed tourism on the west coast. We also learned that the Hokianga coast is made form uplifted sandstone sediment. We then took our vans on the Rawene ferry to reach Tamatea Marae in Motuti, North Hokianga.
A marae is a Maori sacred place which serves religious and social purposes. Before arriving, the chief took us to the top of a hill where we were able to see the marae in a unique, wider perspective. We were able to see all the areas around the marae, including the harbour which it sits on. We then went down to the outskirts of the marae and saw the church where bishop Pompellier was buried. Then we had the ceremonial welcome where one of the women sings as we entered in. We then went in the meeting house where the official welcome ceremony happened with lots of speeches and singing. We had to sing two songs to the iwi (tribe) that was hosting us in Maori which was fun. We then had Maori food (which was delicious) then went back in the meeting house to prepare for bed. The meeting house was filled with tons of matresses and pillows for all of us, and we supplied our own sleeping bags. Once everyone had a bed, we all introduced ourselves and where we come from. The Marae was a great experience where I was actually able to see what Maori culture was like and learn about their struggles.
Wednesday February 3
On Wednesday we had a Maori breakfast which was good and then had the farewell ceremony to leave the marae, complete with more singing. We then switched gears to the coastal beach portion of our trip. We first stopped by Ahipara for lunch and a swim in the Tasman sea. We then drove to the base of the Ninety Mile Beach for our first beach measuring activities. In our vans we had to complete a series of activities to gather information about the waves, sediment and dunes. After the measuring, we played some games on the beach and then drove on through Sandhills Road to pass by different types of sand dunes. We then arrived at Puheke and climbed the hill (which was really intense and I think should be more considered to be a mountain) to see a spectacular view of the Karikari penninsula. We then drove to Whatuwhiwhi where we stayed the night. Whatuwhiwhi was a campsite area where we stayed in "cabins" which were really just 4 person rooms with bunk-beds and bathrooms not connected to the rooms. It was right on the water and so nice. We had a BBQ there which was good.
Thursday February 4
On Thurssday we continued our beach measurement exercises and compared the beaches on the west coast to those on the east coast. We went to Matai Bay which is considered to be one of the most beautiful beaches in New Zealand and it was absolutely gorgeous! After completing the measurement activities we went swimming which was cold but totally worth it. We then went to our third beach measurement site of Cable Bay, which was markedly different from the other two beaches with coarser sand and different dune types. We then drove onto Paihia in the Bay of Islands for another sandwich making lunch (still delicious with really good spreads) on the water. Then we had a guest lecture by someone who works at Fullers. Fullers is a tourism company that pretty much dominates tourism in the Bay of Islands. We then had a kind of scavenger hunt to see how different tourism is on the east coast than the west. We then drove by Waitangi which was preparing for the big Waitangi day which occured on Saturday (more on this later) and on to Aroha Island where we spent the night. Aroha Island is a campsite where we had to pitch our tents, and I was able to use my new sleeping mat for the first time. We had a "New Zealand" BBQ for dinner (which was pretty similar to the previous night but had steaks instead of burgers type thing). We then had a talk from the person in charge of NZ Kiwi Foundation and Queen Elizabeth II National trust. We learned that Aroha Island is a kiwi (the bird) national habitat. Apparently kiwis are not found very often in the wild and they must be protected, which is what this trust aims to do. Aroha Island has some kiwis, but they are not often spotted. We then had an award presentation from the lecturers for the week. After that, a bunch of us went off with red cellophane wrapped around our headlamps and flashlights to try to find kiwis (apparently kiwis are attracted to red light). The first attempt did not work well, but a couple hours later a few of us went and SAW TWO KIWIS!! We had just left the main road and saw two little kiwis run across the pathway. They were so little and cute!! It was very exciting.
Friday February 5
On our last day we left Aroha Island and headed for Moerewa. Moerewa was one of the towns that I talked about in my essay for the class on disadvantaged towns in Northland. The person running the He Iwi Kotahi Tatou Trust was supposed to talk to us, but he ended up having to cancel so our lecturers filled in again. We went to a cafe that the Trust runs which was really cool for me, since I had discussed the cafe in my essay! We then drove through Kerikeri to reach Whangarei Town Basin. At Whangarei we had free time to get lunch from a variety of cafes along the water and play on the playground which was fun. I had some really good mac and cheese, and saw glass blowing which was neat. We then piled back in the van and drove through Marsden Cove and Marsden Point which is an oil refinery but they are trying to develop the area around it into expensive homes, which we discussed. Then we drove onwards back to Auckland.
It was a really fun trip and I felt like I learned a lot about the places we saw, and now have a greater understanding of New Zealand! It was also really great to actually meet some New Zealanders and learn what their culture is like through them. From talking to the New Zealanders I have some more differences to add to my list (in addition to a few others that I had forgotten about) so here we go:
-they call sandals "jandals" and bathing suits "togs"
-walking around barefoot is completely normal. anywhere.
-they listen to lots of American music (especially in stores)
-the store people really try to help you NOT spend money, and will tell you if something is not good rather than just looking for a commission
-they don't tip
-when the cross light goes off, a kiwi bird sound is played (so now sometimes I echo the sound after it)
...hmm there are definitely more but I can't remember right now. Stay tuned!
-the entire relation between teachers and students in New Zealand is very relaxed (especially on this trip) and they all go by their first names.
-most New Zealanders commute to university and live at home
-the amount of time it takes a university student to graduate depends on the type of program they are in, but most graduate within 3 years. Furthermore, university students graduate at different semesters
Yesterday was Waitangi day, which was the day the Waitangi treaty was signed between the British and Maori (which I discussed in a previous blog). Some of my roommates and I went to a Waitangi festival at Okahu Bay in Auckland. They had lots of food and a free concert which was fun! We took a bus there and walked back which was nice.
Other than that, since I've returned I've been taking it easy and catching up on stuff back here. Tomorrow I have my interview for my internship at the Carlson School for kids with Cerebral Palsy which I am really looking forward too. I also have my last exam for my New Zealand culture class about sports, identity and the media in New Zealand. Then I have my geography exam next Monday and then summer term is over and it's onto the South Island. In the past couple days I booked a ton of stuff for my South Island trip and I am SO excited!!
Here are the pictures of my entire Geography Field Trip: http://picasaweb.google.com/LSOL817/GeogFieldTrip?feat=directlink
Hope all is well with you all and I would love to hear from you!
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