Monday, February 16, 2009

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!

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