Last Week in Aotearoa

Hi everyone,

My last week abroad in New Zealand was pretty relaxed. I was done with classes, my internship and exams! The weather on Monday through Thursday was pretty nice, which made just walking around the city a lot of fun! I did a lot of walking around downtown Queen St, going back to some favorite food places (including Mrs Higgins and Muffin Break) and walking along the harbour towards Mission Bay. Here are some highlights from my last week:

Sail NZ: Auckland is known as the “city of sails” and constantly has sailboats in the harbour. I have always loved sailing and have been wanting to sail here since I arrived. So on Tuesday afternoon I did a Sail NZ sailing experience in the harbour for two hours on an American Cup sailboat. It was a true sailing experience and we were put to work! There were 4 grinders which each required 2 people to put the sails up and down, out and in, which was hard work. Then I also got to steer the boat which was a little stressful, but overall was fun! It was a really great day out on the water, and was an awesome way to see and experience the harbour. We went by the harbour bridge, Devonport, Rangitoto and just saw a difference perception of the city. I’m so happy I did it!

Devonport: On Thursday a friend and I went over to Devonport again. It was a nice sunny day out. We took the ferry over, grabbed some food to go at a café and headed to the beach. There is a nice beach by North Head and we just hung out there overlooking Rangitoto for the afternoon. I climbed around North Head a bit, but mostly it was nice to just relax on the beach during “winter.” Then around five we went up North Head to watch a beautiful sunset. It was so cool seeing all the colors changing and the city lights start to go on.

On Friday night BU had a goodbye get-together for us down by the Viaduct which was nice. Also that night Carlson School for Cerebral Palsy (the base school where I did my internship) was having a potluck dinner for the staff as a mid-winter “Christmas” dinner at the school. My friend (who also had an internship at Carlson) and I went and it was a lot of fun! I got to see my head teacher and two of the teacher aides I worked with, in addition to the deputy principal. It was so nice to catch up with them and have fun in a relaxed environment. The food was also really good. They also had karaoke which was a lot of fun, and I even sang a song with one of the other teacher aides by the Beatles. While it made me miss the school and kids a lot, it was a lot of fun and I’m glad I was able to go!

Now my family comes and we have a jam-packed few days in New Zealand before heading off to Australia! Can’t wait!!

Sending lots of love from Auckland!