this is it!

Hey everyone! I'm sorry I haven't written in so long but the past few weeks have just been a blur! Tomorrow I leave to go back to Minnesota and I can hardly believe it. I have no idea where the past few months have gone but it's already time to get back to the real world and responsibilities!

This past week I took another road trip, this time around the North Island. We left from Wellington and headed up the East coast towards Napier on our first day, stopping at castle point. The weather was pretty crappy the entire trip but every once in awhile, we would get a break in the clouds and when we stopped at castle point we got a little bit of sunshine which was nice. Castle point is just a lighthouse but of course the surrounding area is gorgeous and there is a little walk up to the lighthouse that my group did. Then we got back into the car and headed to Napier. It was the Queen's birthday weekend so finding a place to tent the first night was kind of a nightmare. Apparently, England doesn't even celebrate the queen's birthday but New Zealand does and the whole country shuts down just like it did on Easter. But eventually we found a spot and slept pretty well after a long day of driving. After Napier, we headed towards Taupo but the rain kept us from hanging out there so we just did a little shopping, I finally recieved my Pounamu greenstone from Chelsea so that was really exciting! According to tradition, you can't buy yourself a greenstone, it has to be a gift so we kind of cheated and I described in great detail what I wanted mine to look like and Chelsea gave it to me on our trip! I feel a little more kiwi everyday! After Taupo, we headed towards Rotorua where it all started at the beginning of my trip. We spent a night in Kiwipaka which is the backpackers my Australearn group originally stayed at my first week in New Zealand. It was exciting to be back there but it wasn't quite as exciting as the first time we were there. The weather was crap again so we just hung out inside, played cards and got some fish n chips.

The next day on our way out of Rotorua we stopped at the Redwood forest which was really cool because I've never really seen Redwoods before. They imported 150 redwoods from the U.S. as an experiment a few decades ago to see how well they would grow in New Zealand conditions and they definitely flourished. The forest was beautiful and we took a nice half hour walk. After the forest we headed up towards the Coromandel peninsula and found a really nice new backpackers to stay at for really cheap. We ended up there for two nights because the price was so nice and we got up to coromandel a lot quicker than we had expected so we needed to waste a day. We got to coromandel late that night so we just went to bed and got up early the next morning to head to Cathedral Cove. If any of you have seen the chronicles of narnia, Cathedral Cove is in the beginning of the movie :) We spent quite a few hours there because the weather was fantastic and we were the only ones on the beach which was also really nice. We made a sand castle, had a PB&J for lunch and just kind of hung out. It was a really nice lazy day. After Cathedral Cove we stopped at a few more little beaches on the way back to our backpackers, ended up at Cook Beach where they have a fun little tree swing that we hung out on for an hour or so and then had another chill night at our backpackers.

The next morning we woke up early and headed to Hot Water Beach where you dig a hole in the sand, it fills with hot water and you sit in it just like a hot tub. It has to do with the hot springs in the area but you can only dig the holes at low tide so that's why we had to be there so early. My group wanted to make a hole big enough for the four of us so it took probably half an hour to dig a hole big enough and deep enough for us to sit in. Luckily, it's not peak tourist season so there weren't as many people as there usually would be but it was still really cool. After hot water beach, we headed up the Northland past Auckland to Mangawhai where we stayed at another nice backpackers and played cards with some german guys. The next morning we did a 3 hour hike to see the beach at mangawhai and then headed to Auckland. I dropped my two big bags off at the airport so I don't have to fly them from Wellington to Auckland and then we kept on our way to Raglan. It was of course raining the entire time we were driving but we got to Raglan a little after dark, checked into our backpackers and then just watched a movie. It was really nice to relax, it had been a big driving day. We ended up stayed two nights in Raglan, and during the day we relaxed in the hot tub, walked around town, watched a movie and did Yoga with one of the surfer guys that worked at the backpackers. It was nice to just have a calm day without driving. The second morning, we woke up, checked out and headed to New Plymouth to see the All Blacks game! The All Blacks are the New Zealand national Rugby team and this year New Zealand is hosting the Rugby world cup so you see All Blacks stuff everywhere. We got to New Plymouth in the afternoon, went and set up our tent for the night and then got ready for the game. I found an All Blacks sweatshirt on sale so I wore that and we bought some face paint to really show our pride. The stadium was packed and they played Ireland, who they haven't lost to in 24 years or something crazy like that. Well, they ended up beating Ireland 66-21 but it was still exciting to see the famous haka before the game and experience the atmosphere of a Rugby game compared to American Football or baseball.

The next morning we woke up and headed back to Wellington. It was a great trip and this morning I took my last final for New Zealand. I can't promise my grades are going to be fantastic but I definitely passed all my classes which is good news! The whole study part of study abroad was a challenge for me but it was still amazing.

This experience has changed my life and taught me so many new things! I learned about the Maori culture, I went to my first Rugby game, I tried new food, met new people and had the time of my life. This was the greatest thing I have ever done and I will never forget about my time in New Zealand. I hope my blog was informative and considering I'll be home tomorrow...maybe we can just talk in person if you have any questions! I bought a really nice photo album that I want to put together sometime this summer so hopefully I can show you all the pictures that go along with the stories!

I think this is it for my New Zealand blog. I might update it in a few weeks to talk about how I'm feeling being back home. They told us the reverse culture shock was going to be much worse than it was when we arrived in New Zealand. I already know that is going to be true considering everything that has changed in my life in the past 4 months.

I hope to talk to you all soon and keep checking back for a post-New Zealand update!

Red Rocks

Not much to report from down under, just had a very relaxing weekend and me and a few friends did the Red Rocks hike today. I have a few blisters on my feet but of course the views were amazing and we saw a seal colony and got pretty close to them! They had a baby with them so I have a few pictures of the little guy as well. We didn't get to finish the whole hike because we got going a little later than expected this morning...we woke up late and then had to go to the market because missing that makes my week pretty sad without fruit and veggies. After the hike we went to Hell Pizza and I finally tried Kumara fries for the first time. It's like sweet potato but a little sweeter I think but they were really good.

Last week was uneventful but I have been working pretty hard on finishing my essays for my classes considering I only have 22 more days here and I have to fit in a road trip in there as well! My next two weeks will be very busy. This weekend I didn't go out either night which was kind of nice...I just got to hang out relax before my busy week coming up. I did go shopping yesterday and finished off my souvenir list. I think I have everything I've been meaning to get but fitting it all in my suitcase is an entirely different story.

Well it's time for a movie and then bed for me. Hiking for 6 hours really takes it out of you!!

Cheers everyone!

Only a few weeks left...

With time flying by I've been trying to fit everything in and hang out with as many people as possible before I have to head home and back to reality. Only two weeks of school left but I still have 3 papers and 1 test before I'm in the clear. I did get a test back last week and got an A so that's a good sign! The school year here is so much shorter than ours, by about 7 weeks, that it feels like I haven't even started.

This past weekend we just hung out around town, nothing too exciting. Saturday I did go to the Wellington Food Show which was held in the WestPac stadium. You pay $20 and you get to walk around and enjoy all the free samples of wine and food. It was really exciting and I got a few fun things to bring home with me :)

Next weekend I think we are going to do the Red Rocks hike which is a day long hike to one of the suburbs of wellington and I hear the views are incredible so I'm definitely looking forward to that. I'm hoping to squeeze in one more weekend trip before I'm done and then the last week before I leave I think I'll be doing a short little North Island road trip. I can't believe how fast time is flying by!!

Sorry this post isn't as long as others but there isn't much to report! Next weekend I should have something good though!

Cheers!!

wild weekend in wild welly!

I feel like I never run out of things to do! This past weekend was filled with fun and I am so tired now it's been really hard to get motivated the past few days...

On Friday night a whole group of us went to see Mt. Eden and a type of music called dubstep. I don't fully understand what it is or what it means but it was really fun. It was a concert with multiple artists and DJ's and it was between two clubs, Sandwiches and Temperance which are both pretty fun places to hang out but they were sooo packed you couldn't even move once you were inside. About ten minutes into the first club I lost one of the girls I was with and I left the crowd to go find her and couldn't so I ended up at the other bar by myself for awhile until some people came around that I knew. (Don't worry Mom, it's really safe and I didn't ever feel threatened) Anyways, I hung around there for an hour or so but it was just too crowded for me so I met up with some other friends and played pool for a little while before heading home.

Saturday night was the Nexus ball :) It was a masquerade so we all got dressed up and our hall advisor set up free hair and makeup people to come in and make all the girls pretty and we got free coffee and it was just a nice leisurely day of pampering. The ball started at 8 and we got shuttled over there because it's kind of far to walk in heels. Everyone looked really nice and they had rented out a section of a club for us to use until midnight so it was just people from our residence hall and their guests. After the ball we stopped by a few more bars to hear some live bands and then headed home. My feet hurt soo bad though because me and heels have never really gotten along. On Sunday, I didn't have a super eventful day but I did go see Iron Man 2 which isn't out in the states yet so that was exciting! The movie theatres here are definitely an experience! You get an assigned seat and the tickets are 16 dollars but the seats are really big and relaxing. It's just something different than I'm used to but I love experiencing New Zealand the way it should be experienced.

I think that's all for now...I got invited to a flat party (apartment party) on Saturday night so right now that is my only plan for this upcoming weekend but who knows. Something exciting always comes up! It's getting late and I should get to bed so sorry if a few of my sentences dont' quite make sense...

back to reality...

A two week easter break was a really bad idea...having to go back to Uni and actually do work is 10,000,000,000,000 times harder than it was before we got to travel for two weeks.

Last week I had a lot of homework to get done considering I didn't really get anything done over break. I had a big group project to get done and even though we finished it, 2 of our 7 group members were completely useless but that always happens when group work is involved. Then I was supposed to have a test on Tuesday but my professor got stuck in an elevator on the way to class so it was postponed until Thursday. Pretty entertaining...she was fine but it worked out well for the class. Then on Thursday after I took my test, the entire southern half of the island lost power for over an hour. Apparently they were doing tests at the power plant and someone made a mistake so my class was cancelled that afternoon because there wasn't any light in the lecture halls. I have never really seen a massive power loss before...all the stoplights stopped working and everything.

Anyways, I went and saw a New Zealand made film on Thursday night which was really interesting because there were things I didn't understand that those who have lived here their whole lives would. It was still fun. Then friday night a big group of us went out to the bars to dance and hang out. We usually go out Saturday night but this weekend ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) day was happening which is equivalent to our veterans day but they take it much more seriously. For national holidays, the entire country basically shuts down with the exception of mcdonalds and a few gas stations. On Sunday morning, they had an AM memorial service that I went to at 545 in the morning. It was super early but they do it to commemorate the time the first soldiers went away to WWI and it was very moving. One of the generals gave a really good speech and it's so different compared to a speech you'd hear from America. This is a very humble country and even though they are small they are very proud and also very peaceful. They aren't out to conquer the world like the US, they just want to do their own thing in the world and I find that so amazing. It almost makes me embarassed by some of the things our leaders are saying and proclaiming to the world. It was a very cultural moment for me and I really enjoyed it.

On a much different note, I finally recieved the dates and times for my final exams and I will officially be back in Minnesota on June 15th. It's much earlier than I had planned but that's just how the tickets worked out and it's my cheapest option. I am so sad to leave this place and all the incredible people I've met. The rest of my group will be here for another two or three weeks after I leave and the fact that I won't get to be there to say the big goodbyes is really depressing but I have obligations at home unfortunately and the real world is waiting for me.

I don't want to make this entry too depressing so I'll make sure to live up my last 7 weeks here! I think this upcoming weekend I'll be going to some new zealand concerts and such so that should be fun!

I think that's all for now!

South Island Road Trip

What an adventure! Sorry for the long break between entries but I just got back yesterday and this entry is sure to be a long one so brace yourselves!

Day 1

We hopped onto the ferry around 8 in the morning on Saturday April 3rd. The ride was absolutely beautiful and even though halfway in I got something in my eye and spent an hour trying to get it out, the ride was still awesome. Up on deck the wind was blowing so hard you had to hang onto the hand rail in order to not fall over.

Even though it was super windy, they view from the boat was absolutely beautiful. It was a three hour boat ride but we were always able to see land on at least one side of the boat.

When we arrived in Picton and got off the ferry, we made our way to the car rental place and of course, there were problems right away. The original car we were supposed to get had been in an accident so we were told we had to wait an hour or so until another car was returned and then we could have that one. No big deal right? Well, after we started the paper work for the new car, the guy realized the tabs were going to expire four days into our trip and if we didn't get them renewed we would not be able to drive the car. Well, in New Zealand, you have to go get your car inspected before you can renew the tabs so we were going to have to drive to a vtnz car place and get the car checked out. Well, for our troubles, he gave us two free days for the car. That was nice. This wasn't the end of our troubles...but I'll keep going with the road trip first.

I was the first one to drive on the wrong side of the road and it was crazy! The blinker is on the other side of the steering wheel and your right turns have to be wide and you can turn left on red lights...all the rules are backwards! After we left Picton, we drove for about two hours until we reached Nelson, with a few stops along the way. We stopped at the Peiorus River which had these cliffs that you could jump off of...so we did :) The water was freezing but it was a great start to our holiday! Once we arrived in Nelson, we found a campsite and just hung out the rest of the night, eating our first meal together as a group :)

The next day, we drove from Nelson to Abel Tasman and on the way encountered an Easter Festival that we stopped at and did some shopping and had lunch for a few hours. It was a nice little surprise and gave us something to do for that day. When we got to the outskirts of Abel Tasman National Park, we stayed at Old MacDonald's Farm for the night and booked our kayaking and water taxi trips for the next few days. From Old MacDonald's Farm, we walked to the beach and took some pictures, it was low tide so the water seemed really far away from us at the time.

The next morning we were up super early to start our Kayaking trip of the coastline of Abel Tasman. We had a one hour safety and preparation meeting and then we headed out to the ocean!

After we all got into our kayaks and started our five hour trip, my motion sickness kicked in and the group had to drop me off on the coast and continue without me :( I was way to sick to continue and I didn't want to hold them back...so I walked the hour and a half back to where we started and just hung out for the rest of the day and had dinner ready for the group when they got back. I'm a little bummed I didn't get to see the entire route but I did get to see one of the islands off the coast. We had a sausage sizzle that night and just went to bed early because everyone was so exhausted.

The next day, day 4, we took a water taxi to Bark Bay and hiked the 7 hours back to Old MacDonald's Farm. Because of the low tide, the water taxi had to be pulled by a tractor probably half a mile out to where the ocean got deep enough for the boat to take off.

It was pretty entertaining seeing 15 or so tractors pulling all of these boats out to the water. The day before, when we left for kayaking, we starting paddling right off the shoreline. It was really amazing to me to see how drastic the difference is between high tide and low tide.

After the water taxi dropped us off at Bark Bay, we started walking the beautiful paths through Abel Tasman and I took way too many pictures.

Most of the paths were really nicely laid out for us and the walk was just incredible. It was a really long day but it was definitely worth it. At one point on the hike, there is a path that takes only half an hour if the tide is low, but if the tide is high you have to walk around for an hour and a half, and of course, it was high tide by the time we got there. It was really nice to walk around but that was about four hours in and half an hour sounded much nicer than an hour and a half detour. We did get to see some really cool things along the way including a few swing bridges and Cleopatra's Pool which is in the picture below. The whole park was just beautiful and the water is so clear it's amazing.

We made it back around 5 or so from the hike with a few blisters but it was an incredible day. The next day the fun really began with the car problems. We had to bring the car back to nelson to have it inspected and of course, it didn't pass inspection. So after I spent an hour trying to reach the car rental company, they told me we'd have to bring the car to an ace rental place and exchange it for a new car. Well, that meant us driving all the way to Greymouth in one day, which was not what we had planned. But, we needed the car so we started on our way and left nelson at probably 10 am. Along the way we stopped at a seal colony which was on this incredibly beautiful beach.

We hung around there for about an hour taking pictures and such and then kept driving. Our next stop was my favorite from the entire trip. We stopped at Punakaiki and watched the sunset over the pancake rocks.

The rocks themselves are really cool, they have multiple layers which makes them look like pancakes and we were there during high tide so we also got to see the really amazing blowholes that seemed to be everywhere. It took about an hour for the sun to set but watching the sun disappear from the horizon was just incredible.

It was an incredible moment and probably something I'll remember for the rest of my life. After we saw the sunset and got a few pictures afterwards, we kept on our journey to Greymouth to return the car. We were told that we had until 10 pm to get the car there so we arrived in Greymouth around 8:30 and decided to get something to eat first since we had some time. Well, we didn't arrive at the rental place/holiday car park until 9:30 and the guy who was helping us was not very helpful at all. He was rude and angry and I had been told we would be refunded for our day since we had to get the car exchanged and he didn't believe us and it was just ridiculous. Originally we never received a contract for our other car so he also thought we had stolen the car or something, which is crazy but whatever. In the morning I called the woman I had previously talked to and she sorted everything out for us so in the end, we ended up with 3 free days, a free tank of gas and we didnt' have to pay for our drivers. Not a bad deal, but the hassle was pretty inconvenient.

The switching of the cars....

Alright, now that the car situation was over, we could finally enjoy our trip :)

The next day, we left greymouth and headed towards the Franz Josef glacier. We stopped in Hokitika for lunch and some shopping and then just walked up to the base of the glacier, we didn't want to pay for an actual glacier hike, although it was a beautiful day.

I had never seen a glacier before and certainly not up close so this was a really exciting part of the trip for me! The scenery was of course gorgeous as well...the walk to the base took about two hours round trip and then we checked into our campsite and went on a pretty scary walk through the bush to find some glo worms. Although they were few and far between, we did see a few! Nighttime in New Zealand can get pretty creepy because there is absolutely no light pollution from cities or anything so I was definitely clutching to Chelsea during the glo worm walk. I'm still a little afraid of the dark....

Anyways, the next day we headed towards Fox Glacier and although they were different, I didn't get as close to this one because I wasn't as excited about it. Fox did have some pretty incredible rivers and streams running off of it though. Beware though...

After Fox Glacier, we drove to Lake Wanaka, which is absolutely beautiful and met up with some friends from Wellington and tented with them for the night. On our way, my wish came true to run through a field of sheep :) The sheep wanted nothing to do with me but it was still exciting.

The next morning, we woke up at 5:30 to hike up Iron Mountain to see the sun rise over the valley. It was a pretty hard uphill hike which took about an hour but of course, it was worth it!

After our hike, we headed back to the campsite, packed up our stuff and made a quick stop at Puzzle world before we continued on to Queenstown. Puzzle world was just a silly little shop, very similar to the Cosmos in the Black Hills of South Dakota. After we arrived in Queenstown, we booked our Bungy jump for the next day and then hit up Fergburger, the best burger place I've ever been to in my life. We found a nice little campsite near the lake and went to bed early, I was super nervous at Bungy though!

We woke up early the next morning to face our fate! The day had finally come to Bungy, and of course it was off the third highest in the world! 134 meters, which is 440 feet approximately. We got suited up with all our gear and then headed out to the platform!

I jumped first :/ and it was the most incredible experience of my life! I got the video so everyone at home can see that I actually did it, but it went so quick it's almost hard to remember! I survived and I'm sooo glad I did it!

When we got back to Queenstown our group celebrated with another trip to Fergburger! We were all worn out by the time afternoon rolled around we just had a lazy night and went to bed early again because we had to be up super early the next morning for our trip to Milford Sound. We parted ways with our friends from Wellington and left early to drive the five hours to Milford Sound. Chelsea, Flo and myself took the cruise around the sound and even though it was raining, the views were still incredible!

The mountains come straight up out of the water and continue straight down into the sea for at least another 300 feet. Our boat got right up next to the cliffs and stuck it's nose into a few of the hundreds of waterfalls that had formed because of the rain. The mountains were streaked with all the waterfalls and it was such a cool thing to see.

After the cruise, we looked for a place to stay in Milford but everything was booked so we drove an hour and a half back to Te Anau and slept in beds for the first time in ten days! It was so nice and because it was really raining that night, it probably kept us dry as well.

From Te Anau we drove down to Invercargill which is on the southern tip of the south island. The city didn't have much to offer but we did stop by the beach which was really nice, even though it was raining. We could drive the car right onto the beach and we just hung out there for about an hour taking pictures and eating some PB&J.

Our pretty little rental car :)

After the beach, we stopped at Splash Palace for a few hours because admission was only $3.40 for students and they had a hottub, sauna, waterslide and diving boards. It was a nice break from the car and from sight seeing! We decided to try KFC that night, it is not the same at all and I was very disappointed. They didn't even have their delicious biscuits! Oh well, we learned our lesson! From Invercargill we drove about an hour to Slope Point and stayed at the backpackers there. We were the only ones at the backpackers and it was a really creepy drive out there because it was on a gravel road which felt like it was leading us to the middle of nowhere. Fortunately, the backpackers was really nice and we survived the night!

The next morning we went to Slope Point which is the southernmost tip of the South Island.

It's not that exciting but it's fun to say that I've been that close to Antarctica! I dont' really know how close it is but it was freezing and windy so it felt like it was right next door!

After Slope Point we made the long drive to Dunedin, which was definitely not my favorite city. Chelsea had a friend who goes to school there though so we stopped for a few hours and had dinner with her. We did drive the Peninsula in Dunedin and got to see a seal up close!

He was just hanging out and probably loving the attention! After we parted ways with Chelsea's friend, we did take a quick detour to the steepest street in the world! The car definitely did not want to go up it...it sits at a 19 degree angle which doesn't sound big, but it was ridiculous! After we had our excitement on the street we headed towards the Moeraki Boulders and camped that night just off the beach. Chelsea and Ben woke up early to see the sunrise over the boulders, I was a little lazy and didn't get that far, but I'll steal their pictures and make sure I have some to show everyone when I get back :) We packed up our tents, and headed to Christchurch, our final destination on our crazy long journey around the South Island! We dropped Ben off at the airport, he had a flight a day earlier than the rest of the group, and then found a backpackers and pretty much called it a night! We did go out for drinks and pizza but nothing too exciting, we just wanted to commemorate our trip. The next morning we had to wake up super early to catch our 6:45 plane back to Wellington and when we finally got back, I never thought I'd be so happy to see Nexus again!

It was a great trip, and after 13 days of sleeping in tents, seeing sunrises and sunsets, it will be a holiday I'll never forget :)

Rugby and Hell Pizza

I got to see my first Rugby game last Saturday night! The Wellington Hurricanes played the Sharks, a team from South Africa. It wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be but I didn't really know what was going on either so maybe next time I will try to learn the rules instead of just cheering when everyone else does. The game was only 80 minutes long but it was really interesting to see a completely different sport than I'm used to! American football doesn't really have anything on Rugby :) One guy's eye was bleeding but he kept playing! It was pretty awesome.

After the game a group of us went to Hell Pizza which is the first real pizza I've had since I've been here...usually they put bbq sauce on everything and it's just not my style. But Hell pizza is kind of like Mesa pizza in Dinkytown where anything you want on your pizza you can get :) It was delicious and we ate 3 pizzas, between 7 people so it's not as bad as you think.

Other than that, this weekend was pretty non eventful, I'm working really hard to get a bunch of my school work done before break because I'll be gone for 13 days on a great road trip to the south island :) I'm sure I'll have a huge blog about that when I get back but so far, we are going to be living out of our rented car and a 4 person tent that we bought off of new zealands version of craigslist and we are going to have a LOT of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

I do have to register for my University of Minnesota classes while I'm on break so I'll be on the internet at least once but other than that i don't think I'll be on much but when i get back I'll try and call a lot of people because I'll have a phone to hook up to my magic jack, right now it doesn't work very well with me just talking through the computer.

I hope everything at home is going well and I hear the weather is getting nice! I'll talk to you all soon!