Wellington!

This weekend Kelsey and I went down to Wellington to stay with a few friends we knew from our Study New Zealand orientation group! We got in on Saturday morning and had the worst landing ever. Wellington is a very windy city so the landing was extremely scary and the plane was being pushed all over the place. We went to Te Papa museum and did a lot of stuff there. We went in a simulator for underwater volcanic research. That was pretty cool but very rocky. Then we went in another simulator to take you around New Zealand and that was no fun at all because it was so jerky and bumpy that we both felt sick after the ride was over. However, the rest of the museum was really cool! We walked around for a few hours and had some fun. Then we walked around the city and since it was raining, we decided to see a movie because there was not much more we could do that was indoors that day. After that, we met up with Lars and Morgan and went to a few different places. Stephen met up with us later and it was really nice for everyone to be together again! We had a lot of fun that night. The next day, we took the Wellington Cable Car up to the Botanical Gardens and walked around the Cable Car Museum! We bought ponchos from the gift shop because it was pouring rain! Then we walked around the gardens and hung out in the greenhouse and saw some beautiful flowers! The rose gardens were really amazing. We took the cable car back down into town and went to a nice restaurant with Lars and Stephen. We had a really great night catching up with them. I really missed everyone that was in our orientation group. The next day we went to brunch together and then to another art museum. Wellington is a very artsy city so it was nice to get to see some museums! Although the weather could have been better for us, we had an amazing time in Wellington!

The Eastlands

Last weekend I took a road trip to the Eastlands with one of my friends. Our first stop was Tauranga which is on the east coast of the north island. We got there and drove straight to the peninsula called Mount Maunganui. We hiked around the mountain which took about an hour and watched the sunset from the rocks overlooking the water. This was a really beautiful place. Then we went to find a hostel and went grocery shopping. The next day, I woke up early and went for a run around the mountain again. It was even more beautiful in the early morning light! Then we walked all the way up Mt. Maunganui. It took about an hour to make the climb up and it was a pretty steep climb but it was totally worth it. We took so many pictures from the top! Then we got on the road and headed south to Whakatane and we got lunch there. Then we continued on the road and stopped in Whanarua Bay. The man who owned the hostel greeted us with a Maori greeting. It was an interesting experience. Our hostel was incredible! It was literally right on the water and it had hammocks and so many other cool things! We woke up early the next morning and went to East Cape. We climbed up to the East Cape lighthouse which is the farthest east you can get in New Zealand. This was also another challenging climb but it was totally worth it. The pictures don't even begin to capture the beauty that we saw this weekend! On the road, there were cows blocking our path to get through. That was so funny! Then we continuted on to Tolaga Bay and walked the 660 meter pier out into the ocean. It was awesome! Then we drove to Gisborne. A lot of the movie Whale Rider was filmed in Gisborne! We visited Captain Cook's famous statue and walked around the city a little bit. The next morning we woke up super early to see the sunrise! We were the first people in THE WORLD to see the sunrise on the morning of Sunday May 17th! That was also a really cool thing to do. Then we drove to Rere Falls. They were really cool. There is also a natural waterslide there that I was going to go down but I didn't have a boogie board or an inner tube. It would have definitely hurt without one! Then, we continued the beautiful drive back to Auckland. This weekend was amazing. We saw so many beautiful things. The landscape on the east coast of New Zealand is incredible and I loved everything we saw!

Tongariro Crossing

This weekend we went to the Tongariro Crossing in Tongariro National Park. We were expecting to do the hike which is 18 kilometers long and over the most beautiful mountains ever. When we got there, the guide told us that they were not taking trips up the mountains because of snow blizzards. Although we were disappointed, we made the best out of it and did the first 5 kilometers of the hike. We had the most amazing views of Mt. Tongariro, Mt. Ngauruhoe and Mt. Ruapehu. It was exactly what I wanted to see! The snow covering the mountains was just incredible! We hiked for a while and were up pretty high when it started to snow on us. We made our way quickly back down the mountain. The snow was pelting me in the eyes. When we got back to the car, we found another hike to do. We stopped to get hot chocolate first though because all of us were freezing! Then, we hiked 2 hours to see a beautiful waterfall. The view on the way was amazing and the waterfall was incredible! We even went and stood behind the waterfall. That was really cool! Then we found a smaller hike to do. It was a long day full of hiking, or tramping as they say here! Then, we went back to our hostel and hung out there that night. The next day we woke up and it was pouring rain! We had the worst weather this weekend but we made the best of it. My friend Alex and I wanted to do mountain biking while the others slept in. We went and rented them and tried going up the trail but the rain was coming down so hard that we had to turn around. You couldn't see the mountains anyway because the clouds were so low they were covering them. We were not disappointed with having to turn around because we were already soaking wet and not happy! We got back to the hostel, made breakfast and got on our way back home to Auckland. We went back through Taupo. I got to drive!!! It was my first time driving on the left side of the road! I loved it. It was really hard at first because it is totally backwards. I kept putting the windshield wipers on when I meant to put my blinker on! It was awesome though. I drove for 4 hours from National Park Village to Hamilton and then we switched. We got out and walked around the Hamilton Botanical Gardens. We climbed a tree and looked at the pretty flowers. It was great! This weekend was amazing! I had such a good time and saw some more of New Zealand's incredible nature. The landscape here is incredible! I love it :)

Franz Josef Glacier

We got to Franz Josef glacier pretty late at night and when we checked into the Glowworm Cottages, the lady told us that all of the glacier tours had been cancelled that previous day due to flooding. It was still pouring. It poured all night and was still going when we woke up the next morning. Our full day tour got cancelled but there was a possibility of us getting on the half day tour. We waited around and finally got into the tour! It was pouring rain so we were wet and freezing but it was so worth it! Climbing around on that glacier was challenging and amazing. Franz Josef glacier is the steepest guided tour in the world. You cannot be guided on a tour on a steeper glacier! I thought that was cool! It was really hard to get all the way up! The glacier was so beautiful and learning about the history and the science behind it was fascinating. We were ready for it to be over though because we were so cold and soaked through to the very last layer. It was such an amazing experience! We got on the road right after that (the road had been closed earlier because of a bridge collapse but it got reopened just before we left Franz Josef) and drove back to Christchurch! What an amazing trip it was!

Queenstown!

We got to Queenstown around dinnertime on the 15th, right after Milford Sound. So many hostels were completely full so it took us a while to find one with room for us. We found one though and we got some dinner and made friends with the other people there. We all decided to go out for our only night in Queenstown! I ended up meeting someone who goes to school right down the street from me in Towson! It is such a small world! We had a really good time. The next morning, we were going to do a canyon swing, but it was way to expensive. So we took a gondola ride up to the top of a mountain. The view of Queenstown was incredible! When we got to the top, we did a luge ride just for fun. It's a kids ride but we had a good time with it! Then we went to watch the bungy jumpers. We saw someone doing the canyon swing and we decided we had to do it! It was a smaller and a lot less expensive one so we decided we should. We got weighed and all suited up. Kelsey went first. She screamed the whole time! I went next and I took forever to do it! You have to sit in the harness in mid-air and then you have to pull the rope when you're ready to fall. So basically, it's all up to you. I eventually did it and I absolutely loved it! You fly right over the water and the town! It's really just amazing. I was shaking for a while after I was pulled back up but it was so worth doing and I absolutely loved it! Then we rode the gondolas down the mountain again and headed for Franz Josef Glacier! It's a pretty long ride but it's going to be worth it! We had an amazing time in Queenstown!

Milford Sound

We left Dunedin at 5 AM to drive to Milford Sound. We arrived there at around 11:30 and had a 1:30 cruise through the sound. The drive up there was absolutely breathtaking. We saw the most amazing sunrise I have ever seen followed by some pretty incredible rainbows. We took a million pictures before we even got to the sound! The mountains were huge and the water is just so blue. Since we were there early, they put us on the earlier cruise. Kelsey and I were taking pictures when I looked over and saw some of our friends! We didn't even know they were there and had not talked to them since we left Auckland! It was totally weird that we were on the exact same cruise as they were. We had a good time catching up and enjoying the beautiful Milford Sound. We drove the boat under waterfalls and saw a lot of seals laying on the rocks. We got back from the cruise and immediately jumped in the car, heading for Queenstown. It was an amazing day!

Dunedin!

We drove to Dunedin on April 14th which took us 5 hours to do. The drive was incredible! The coastal views were amazing. We took so many pictures! We even stopped at some random beach to take pictures. When we got there, we went right to an I-Site for ideas on what to do. We also walked around the city a little bit. Dunedin is a really nice, small city. They told us to go to the Otago Peninsula to see the yellow-eyed penguins and sea lions! We went to Penguin Place and did a tour of the penguin reserve. We got really close to them! They have underground tunnels that you use for viewing so you don't disturb them. They were mounting at this time of the year which means their feathers were coming off and they were getting new ones. So most of them were not going in the water. However, we did see a few come waddling out of the ocean from a long day of fishing. We also saw some sea lions playing around in the water and laying on the huge rocks. It was really cool to be able to see these animals in their natural setting. The Otago Peninsula was just incredibly beautiful. The scenery was amazing. We had a great time. Then we went back to our hostel which was called Hogwartz. We made some dinner and went to bed super early because we had a very early morning the next day.

Christchurch, New Zealand

Today we got to Christchurch at noon and we went straight to the rental place. We rented a little navy blue Toyota. It is the perfect car! We drove around looking for an I-Site (a tourist center which makes free bookings for you and helps with any questions we had). We asked them for good places to stay and we found Kiwi Basecamp which was a really nice hostel. We went to Cathedral Square and walked around Christchurch. Then we went back to the hostel and watched We Are Marshall, which was a really good movie. The next morning we woke up at 8 and got the best bagels ever! They reminded me of home :) Then we got on the road headed for Dunedin!!!

We came back to Christchurch on the 17th. We got to Kiwi Basecamp really late that night so we went right to bed. The next morning we woke up and went to Cathedral Square because they had some markets going on. They were celebrating Buddha's birthday so they had some celebratory activities going on. It was cool to see the different cultures coming together. Then we went into the Southern Encounter Aquarium and Kiwi House. The aquarium was so small but it was cool. We saw a few cool animals. Then we went into the kiwi house and saw a live kiwi which is New Zealand's most unique bird. We weren't allowed to take photos of it though, which was upsetting but totally understandable. Then we walked to another market and were totally intrigued by this comedian who was performing on the street. He was hysterical! He saw that I had my camera out and came over to me and started flipping his hair around and doing other funny things in front of my camera. He was really funny. We watched his show and another performer's show and then went back to the hostel. We found a miniature golfing place called Pirate's Island so we did that and then even did the golfing range! We were absolutely terrible but we had a lot of fun! That night we rented some movies with the friends we had made in our hostel and went to bed early because we had an early flight home to Auckland. We had such an amazing trip! I am so grateful that I was able to do everything I did. I really have made some incredible memories!

Melbourne :)

Today we arrived in Melbourne very late at night at the airport that is about 2 hours from civilization. Kelsey knew some people in Melbourne (they are family friends) so they came to pick us up. They thought we had gained a lot of weight while in New Zealand because of all of our layers!! We drove to their houseboat on Lake Eildon. On the way there, they showed us where the Victoria bushfires had destroyed complete towns. I was pretty scared because we drove through all of the damage. The fires just happened 6 weeks ago. The fire could travel the distance that a car could go in 45 minutes, in just 3 minutes. They killed 211 people. I was pretty scared but I knew that I wasn't in any danger. We got to Lake Eildon at 2:00 in the morning so we went straight to bed. We woke up and laid out in the sun for a while. Then we went into town to walk around. Kelsey's friend showed us everything. The town is really small but it's really cute. The next day, Kelsey's friend Caity had a job interview on the top of Mt. Buller (which is a one hour drive). So, we went with her to see some of the country. The landscape here is a lot different from what we've seen in Australia. It is much more desolate and outback. We saw kangaroos in the wild here. After Mt. Buller, we went back to Lake Eildon to go wakeboarding. Kelsey was really good at it! I tried a million times!! I couldn't stand up on the board but I was proud of myself for getting in that water because I'm usually scared about being alone in the water. We then had a barbecue with her whole family. It was a really fun night! We had to leave for the airport at 4 am. Caity's parents drove us there. We said goodbye and went into the airport heading to Christchurch to tour the South Island!!!!

Sydney: Opera House and Harbour Bridge

We got to Sydney on April 7th in the afternoon. We had a bus driver take us to a hostel and we had to walk around a little bit to find one that wasn't full or too expensive. We finally found one and we settled in and put our things away. We had two roommates from Taiwan. One of them didn't speak much English and the other one was so excited to meet people from America! She had never met anyone from America before and she was so thrilled! They were both really nice. We went to the grocery and got some food for the next few days. It was pretty late by that time so we just watched an Australian show and went to bed. The next day, we took a bus to Coogee Beach and did the cliff walk from there to Bondi Beach. It was so beautiful! We walked all along the coast until we got to Bondi beach. When we got there, we just layed on the beach and listened to some music. Then we got on the bus back to the city. We got changed into warmer clothes and headed to the harbour! We saw the Opera House and it was all lit up and just absolutely beautiful! We took some pictures of the opera house and the bridge. Then we went to eat dinner right in front of the Opera House. It was so nice! The next day, I woke up and mailed some postcards. Then I walked to the Botanical Gardens. They were beautiful! I saw those huge bats and definitely had to conquer my fear because they were right above me! Kelsey didn't come because she wanted to go to the zoo. After the gardens, I walked up onto the Harbour Bridge and climbed to the top of the lookout. I had a great view of the city and the Opera House. It was awesome to be that high up! The next day, we went to Manly Beach. It was a half hour ferry ride. The town was so cute! It was just a little beach town with really great street performers. We spent the day on the beach and did some tourist shopping and then went back on the ferry. The ride home was beautiful because we had an awesome view of the city and the Opera House. We went back to our hostel and got all packed up. A shuttle came to pick us up around 7 pm to take us to the airport. We got there and our carry on bags were too heavy and they wanted to charge us $80 to check one bag! So we went into the bathroom and put on 5 pairs of pants and about 1o shirts each! We looked like huge hockey players! We made it work though. We were uncomfortable but it definitely gave us a good laugh. Then we headed to Melbourne!!

Brisbane, Australia

On April 3, I flew to Brisbane to meet my friend Aditi who is studying there. My roommate Kelsey came the next day because she had Friday classes that she could not miss. We had a two hour delay because of a technical problem with the plane (which totally freaked me out). Everything was fine and once I got to Brisbane, I took the train to meet Aditi and her friend Brittney at Central Station. It was so good to see her! Once we got to her apartment, we got ready for an Australian footy game (their version of football). We went to see the Brisbane Broncos! It was so cool! I went to see a rugby game in Auckland, but I definitely liked this better because it was a lot easier to understand. We had a lot of fun. On the walk home, I saw my first HUGE Australian bat! Those who have never heard of these massive bats, you should look them up online. They are huge! I was not aware that Australia had these bats so when I saw it, I freaked out. I didn't like that one bit and they are everywhere! That was not so much fun but the game was awesome! The next day, Aditi and I got up early to meet Kelsey at the train station. We went to get some breakfast and tried to catch the bus to the Koala Sanctuary but it never came! When it started getting late, we just decided to go the next day. We walked around the city (which is really cute) and Aditi showed us some different interesting landmarks. That night, we went to meet up with some of her friends. I grew up with one of them! It was weird to randomly run into someone that I know from Belmar! We went out and listened to a live band who was really good. We had an awesome time! The next day we tried to catch the bus to see the koalas again but they don't run on Sundays! We had the worst luck with those busses! The next day, Kelsey and I made it to the Koala Sanctuary! Aditi couldn't come because she had class but we went and it was awesome! We got to hold koala bears and we even held a huge snake!! Then we went in and got to feed kangaroos! They just hop right up to you and you get to feed them. It was such an awesome experience! Then we went back to Aditi's apartment and got ready to go to South Bank. There is a huge ferris wheel there that we all wanted to go on! It looked so cool at night when it was all lit up. After the ferris wheel, we walked around and saw street performers who were juggling and doing other cool tricks. We got back on the ferry and took it to Riverside to get some ice cream. The next day, I woke up early and went for a run. Then Kelsey and I took the ferry to the train station to get to the airport. We flew seperately because the airline she took would not accept my Debit Card. However, we took off 5 minutes apart from each other. So we landed relatively at the same time. Then we were on our way to Sydney!!!!

Coromandel Peninsula!

Hey everyone! Last weekend we went to Coromandel Peninsula which is directly east of Auckland (although you have to drive south and then back up north because there is water in between). We rented a van which was made me a little bit nervous because it was my first time trusting someone who wasn't used to driving on the wrong side of the road. My friend did an awesome job with staying to the left though. Anyway, we left for Coromandel on Friday and went straight to Tairua to get some dinner to cook on the grill. We went to a campsite near the Hot Water Beach and set up our tents there. We spent all night cooking on our little grill (it took a really long time!). The next morning we woke up and went to Hot Water Beach. When it is low tide, you dig a hole in the sand and make your own jacuzzi because the water underneath the sand is so warm! I tried surfing that day. Needless to say, it isn't for me. I tried a longboard which was way too big for me. The waves were rough (it is one of the worst places in New Zealand for rip tides) and I couldn't even hold the board. I didn't even try to ride a wave because it was scary so I just got out of the water. Kelsey and I traded our surf board for a boogie board. She had a lot of fun but I still wasn't too thrilled about going in the rough water so I stayed on the beach. After we finished at Hot Water Beach, we drove up to Cathedral Cove. It was absolutely amazing! We did a 40 minute hike each way and walked down to the cove. It is really beautiful. Then we went to dinner and back to a different campsite close to Coromandel town. We set up tent and got a good night's sleep. The next morning we woke up and went into Coromandel, stopping along the way to take some beautiful scenery pictures. We had breakfast and continued on our way to Coromandel National Park. We found a great place there to camp and we even found a cliff that you could jump off of into the water (completely safe!). It was really scary but I did it! After I did it once, it was a lot of fun. We spent the rest of the day walking up the rocks along the river. We found a bridge to cross the river on which only held one person at a time. I didn't like walking across that because it looked pretty old and rickety. After exploring, we went into town to get some dinner and found a place to camp. After setting up camp, we spent the night playing cards and trying not to get eaten alive by the millions of mosquitoes! We had a great time! The next morning we woke up at 5:30 am and got ready for our long hike up the mountain. We wanted to climb all the way to the top because you could look out over the edge and see this beautiful waterfall. We began our climb and it was really intense from the beginning. It was really steep the whole way up. At one point, it got so steep that they had to put a railroad track for people to climb up and not lose their footing. We got all the way to the top and had lunch looking out at the beautiful waterfall. It was definitely worth waking up early and climbing all that way. After our hike (the way down was really hard because you had to worry about slipping), we got in the car and headed for home so we could have the van back on time. We had such a great weekend! Then we got back to reality which included classes and school again. This week I set up a date with the kindegarten (I'm going on Wednesday!). I am really excited for that. Also, I got set up with a girl from Germany who is struggling with her English. I told her that I would help her with that. I went to the International Office and they set me up with someone who is really into volunteer work (which I am too!). This girl is going to meet with me tomorrow and show me some things I could be doing around Auckland. I am really excited for that. I am also going to get more involved with the International Office. They play soccer on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I'm going to start with that! I will write more soon!

Hey everyone! Everything here has been going pretty well. I have been attending classes and have been getting pretty interested in them. I have now had almost 3 full weeks of classes and I'm starting to become more familiar with campus. I am looking into volunteering at a Kindergarten here. I found a program that works with study abroad students who are Education majors. It should be a great experience for me. I have not done much travelling since the last time I wrote but we did make a day trip to a beautiful beach on the west coast called Piha beach. It is a beach with black sand and beautiful rocks. We climbed to the top of "Lion Rock" which is the huge rock that you can see in the pictures. It was such a beautiful day! The view from the top of the rocks was incredible. It was such a little town but the scenery was just amazing. Ashley learned how to surf and Kelsey and I just went swimming in the water. It was freezing and the currents were really strong there! We had a great day! This weekend we are taking a road trip to Coromandel Peninsula. It is about a 2 and a half hour drive. It is supposed to be just beautiful there! I will write more after our trip!

Life in Auckland

Hi Everyone! I don't have a lot of exciting news to write about since we have just been settling into classes and everything but I wanted to write a little bit about where I'm living and post some pictures so you can see! We had orientation events all last week. On Monday, we had our school orientation. It was a lot of lecturing about information we already knew. They had a local Maori tribe perform for us, which was really neat. Then, on Tuesday, we went to Waiheke Island! It's a 30 minute ferry ride from Auckland. It was beautiful! When we got there, it was chilly and raining but all we had to do was wait an hour and it was like paradise! We went for walks and explored the beach and then we went to dinner at another spot on the island. It was a really great day! On Tuesday, we went to Long Bay Beach for our dorm orientation. We had a barbecue there with everyone. It was pretty nasty weather but it was perfect for walking and just reading a book on the beach. I found some really neat shells! The next day, we went bowling with our friend's dorm and met some people from Germany and Sweden. It's really great to meet so many international students. I am learning a lot about other countries. I had my first day of classes today. My first class was at 8 AM and it was a Theology class called Reading the Bible. I was actually really frustrated because I feel like a lot of the material is way over my head! My second class was at 2 PM and it was called Schooling Ethnic Diversity. I absolutely love this one already! Tomorrow I have class at 4, which is Introduction to Maori Education. I think I might like that one the best. Then, on Thursday, I have class at 12 which is Child and Adolescent Development. I don't have class on Mondays or Fridays which is really good because then I can travel on the weekends! Our next adventure is going to be to Cathedral Cove, a peninsula on the north island (about 3 hour bus ride from Auckland). It's supposed to be amazing there! Also, our spring break plans are to travel to Australia for the first part of our two weeks off and then to fly back to the South Island and travel around there for the second week. It's going to be amazing! I'll keep everyone posted on how I'm doing! Don't forget to leave me messages :)

Taupo-Rotorua-Waitomo

Hey everyone! I just wanted to write about my latest adventure which included us travelling down to Taupo, New Zealand and to other places. The bus ride from Auckland to Taupo took about 6 hours but it was totally worth it! We got there and the water was beautiful and the landscape was just breathtaking! We checked into our hostel and walked to the hot springs which were amazing! We got to sit in the river which was as warm as a bath! Then we continued our really long hike to Huka Falls which was incredible! The water was a color I've never seen before! The next day we woke up and Ashley and I went for a run down by Lake Taupo (the largest lake in Australasia). It was beautiful! Then we just went to the beach and a nearby park and spent the day walking around and exploring. On Thursday morning, we boarded a bus to take us to Rotorua. It smells like sulfur there because of the geothermal activity in the town. We walked around and saw Redwood trees and some hot springs that were literally steaming. It was so cool! Then today we went to the Waitomo Caves. It was the most amazing experience I have ever had! The Waitomo Caves are the only place in the world where you can see glowworms so it's amazing! We took a tour called the Abyss which was pretty physically demanding. We got all suited up in wet suits and helmets and began our tour! First, we got to abseil down into the cave. It was about 9 stories deep so it was pretty scary to have to repel that far down into the cave. Once everyone got to the bottom, we walked through the caves for a while and then got to go on a zip line through the dark caves! It was pitch black and we were sailing through the caves! Then we continued walking until we got to the tubes. We jumped 15 feet off a cliff into the water in the caves. I didn't really like that part because it hurt when you hit the water but it was definitely interesting. Then we got to black water raft down the river and then we came back to where we started. We put our tubes back and started walking through the water. Since you couldn't see the bottom and the ground was uneven, we all fell a few times until we decided that it would be a better idea to swim through it. There were parts that we went through where there was only a foot of space between the water and the rocks that we had to squeeze through. Since there was a lot of rain today, the water level was extremely high. It was amazing! We got to stop for some hot chocolate that the guide had brought with him because it was freezing down there! We spent the rest of our time swimming through the glowworm caves and sliding down waterfalls. At the end of the tour, we got to rockclimb up two waterfalls. This was my favorite part because I enjoy rockclimbing. It was really hard though because the water was so forceful and was pushing against me as I was trying to climb up. When I got to the top of the second waterfall, I was all alone in the cave because my friend Mike had already exited the cave and everyone else hadn't climbed yet. That part was pretty scary because I didn't like being alone! When I exited the cave, there was just a beautiful sight waiting for me. Everything was so green and the rain just made it so much prettier! It was, by far, the best experience I've ever had in my life! We have pictures but I can't put them on here just yet because I don't have my laptop with me. Tomorrow we're going to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Park to view a geyser, some mudpools, and other geothermal activity. It's going to be great! Then, were heading back to Auckland tomorrow afternoon to start orientation on Monday! I'll write more soon!

I'm Finally Here!

Hey everyone! I arrived in New Zealand on Tuesday here which is Monday there. I haven't had time to write because we just got internet in our flat today unfortuntely. But anyway, I have been having an amazing time here already! On Tuesday when we got here, our orientation leaders picked us up at the airport and drove us to our hotel. Since it was 7 Am, we couldn't check into the hotel room yet so we got access to showers and then went to the cellphone store. After that, we went to the Auckland museum and saw a Maori cultural performance. I am going to try to post a video of that on my blog. After the museum, we went back to the hotel and then on a walking tour of Auckland until we got to dinner in the harbor. It was absolutely beautiful! In the morning, we got up and had breakfast and an orienation session where we learned about cultural differences. Then, we took a ferry across the harbor to Devonport. It reminded me of being in Harbor Springs, Michigan. We climbed a mountain and when we got to the top, the view was incredible! We could see the city of Auckland and even some dormant volcanoes! We hiked back down and had lunch in the city and then took the ferry back to Auckland. After we got back to the hotel, we boarded a bus and headed for Paihia which is in the Bay of Islands. The scenery on the way there kept me awake despite the fact that I was jet-lagged. When we got there, we checked into the Bay Adventurer Hostel and went for a walk around Paihia. It is a really small town but it is so beautiful! We went out to dinner after that and then just headed back to the hostel because we knew we had a long day ahead of us! The next morning, we woke up early and went dolphin watching! We were supposed to be able to swim with them but NZ has a law that you cannot swim with any pods that have children with them. We saw about 50 or 60 dolphins but they were travelling with babies so we could not get in the water. Even though I was a little disappointed, seeing the dolphins was unlike anything I've ever seen. They were beautiful and you could hear them making noise! If you waved your hand infront of their face slowly, they would look at you and make a noise! It was incredible. The dolphin boat then transported us to a huge catamaran to sail around on! We could sit on little trampolines on the front and just enjoy the sailing. We had lunch and then stopped at an island to swim around. I got in the water to go snorkelling but then someone saw a stingray and that's all it took for me to freak out! I got out of the water right away. The captain of the boat had to reassure me that they won't bother you if you don't bother them. So I got back in and started snorkelling with my roommates Ashley and Kelsey! I saw beautiful fish and coral reef. It was incredible! The shells were beautiful and the water was so clear. I swam to shore and got in a kayak and kayaked around the Bay of Islands (which is 144 islands in a bay...it is huge!). After that we got back on the catamaran and went back to shore. We then showered off and went to a kayaking place to kayak to a vineyard for a wine tasting! The kayaking was hard because the wind was so strong but we had a private wine tasting at the vineyard on a little island on top of a huge hill. It was amazing! The next day, we got up and took the bus back to Auckland where we had our final orientation session and went out for a nice dinner in Ponsonby at the restaurant Estasi. After that, we just hung out at the hotel and said goodbye to everyone because the next day we were transported to our individual schools (most of the people from my orientation are not studying at my university). On Saturday morning, a van picked us up and took me, Kelsey and Ashley to our housing at 14 Whitaker Place. I was really sad when we were moving in because I was used to everyone being around but then they were all gone. It was weird to get used to. But after we unpacked everything, we went to the grocery store and got even more settled. By that time, I was feeling a lot better. On Sunday, we spent the day planning our upcoming trip and going shopping at a place called Warehouse but it resembles a Wal-Mart. Today, which is Monday here but Sunday back home, Ashley and I went for a run around the city. We ran down by the harbor and through Victoria Park. It was wonderful! We just have to get used to running up the huge hills in Auckland! Then we went over to the University of Auckland and got our classes set up and our ID cards. It was good to see the campus and find out where everything is. Tomorrow we are going to Taupo Lake to see what it is like down there. Then we're off to Rotorua to see the mudpools and then off to Waitomo to see the glow worm caves! It's going to be amazing! I will write more the next time I have access to a computer! I miss you all!

Before departing...

It is 48 hours before I am set to depart for New Zealand and I wanted to test out my blog site to make sure everyone will be able to follow along. I am leaving from Los Angeles on Sunday night and will arrive in Auckland at 5 AM on Tuesday (that is New Zealand time). I am not as nervous as I was before I came out to Arizona but that is probably only because I am already packed and am just waiting to go. I get to swim with the dolphins when I get there! I know I'm going to have a great time! I will write more when I get there :)