This isn't completely up to date but it'll fill you in on what I've been doing!
1/24 Today we left dreary, cold but wonderful Christchurch. Yesterday I woke up with vertigo, first time in my life, I had no idea what was wrong but the whole floor and room was swirling around me. That was definitely a strange feeling but it was unaccompanied by any other symptoms and as the day went on it got better and I could pass up high tea of course! About 9 of the students and both professors went to a nearby hotel for high tea, with yummy scones, sandwiches and cakes and of course all the tea you want! The previous day we went on the Heavenly Creatures Tour but the tour guide never showed up so we kind of just went around by ourselves. Afterwards me and Rachel decided to go see a movie in the most adorable theater. Their cinemas here are more like actual theaters so they’re super nice. We saw the British film Creation about Charles Darwin and it was very good!
Back to today…the drive to Mount Cook was just incredible. I just uploaded all of my pictures onto my computer and I swear they all look fake. I can’t believe I’m actually getting to experience all of this! On our way to Mt Cook we actually stopped in Lake Tekapo which is where we’re traveling to tomorrow for two nights so we got a preview of that and it looks wonderful! We went to the Planetarium here and saw 3 shows—one on Mt. Cook, one about black holes and another about the universe in general—super cool. There is also a museum here devoted to Sir Edmund Hilary since he is super famous and has climbed to the top of Mt Cook before his expedition to Mt Everest. We ate dinner at the café here, it’s extremely isolated, and not very much of a town, but the view was magnificent as the back wall was all glass! We then chilled in one of our amazing rooms afterwards. Sky gazing was futile as it was cloudy but hopefully in Lake Tekapo we’ll have a good night!
1/25 Sadly we had to leave Mt. Cook today but not before going on the most amazing glacier tour! It was incredible jetting around a huge lake that was only 2 degrees Celsius full of icebergs. The glacier there has been steadily retreating over the past few years, so it was pretty crazy knowing that about 6 years ago the water we were in was actually the glacier itself. The water is very opaque because of the rock flour, or the sediments from the rocks that the glacier is on, mix with the melting ice. We got to take a chunk off of one iceberg and eat it! So I ate 300 year old ice! It super dense compared to normal ice so it’s a lot heavier then you expect. After that it was back on the bus for the drive back to Lake Tekapo. We quickly changed into bathing suits and ran out to lay out by the lake and read. Later in the evening once it finally got dark, which isn’t until a little after 10 pm, we got to see all of the beautiful stars without the light pollution we’re used to. The moon is a little over half illuminated though so that did wash out a lot of the stars. It’s so weird to get to see Orion upside-down. Tomorrow is a free day here then Wednesday we’re off to Dunedin.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Wellington and Beyond
So I didn’t update anything while in Wellington because I was too focused on getting pictures up which personally I find more fun then reading a blog, so I hope everyone enjoyed them! Wellington was really great though, so beautiful, but it rained the majority of our time there. We have been doing a great job of bringing the rain with us everywhere we go, thank you Delaware. We ferried over from Wellington to the South Island and stayed in Blenheim for a night, one of the sunniest parts of New Zealand, and yes you guessed it—it rained. We are now in Christchurch where it has been overcast, damp, and rainy for the past three days which is really unfortunate because I love this city and can’t stand the cold rain. We’ve managed to have a good time though and this afternoon a couple of us are going for high tea! Tomorrow we’re off to Mt. Cook for a night, then Lake Tekapo for 2 nights. Then it’s on to Dunedin for 6 nights, back to Auckland for one night and home! This trip has really flown by already, I can’t believe we only have a week and a half left here! I don’t think I’m going to enjoy coming back to the real world and only having four days of recuperation. Yuck! Until next time.
Monday, January 11, 2010
From Paradise to NZ
1/7 Today was the last day in Rarotonga, Cook Islands. A bunch of people went into the town in the morning after packing up all of our stuff and checking out. The town is pretty small but was surprisingly nice. Anything you wanted you could find there! We shopped around a bit for some souvenirs and then had lunch. We headed back to the resort for one last walk on the beach. Of course today was beautiful and sunny as I sweated in my clothes, but I got some incredible pictures! We headed back to the airport with one departure gate, no air conditioning, and only three airlines that fly there. We also all have to pay $55 to get off the island, apparently going towards renovation projects. I saw a sign saying that the new departure gate was to be completed December 2009, obviously that didn’t happen as they were just getting the foundations up. It was definitely an experience in that airport. We took off around 5 pm. Off to Auckland and crossing the dateline! On the plane I watched Case 39 with Rene Zelweiger and Bradley Cooper…. Very strange and scary.
1/8 We arrived back in Auckland around 8 pm, so only 4 hours later but of course it was the next day. I can honestly say keeping up with these time changes and thinking about east coast time has been difficult. I ended up just chilling in the room, getting my stuff organized and hitting the hay early, and by early I mean like midnight. This trip is all go go go, and I feel like I might shut down soon, but hopefully getting to Wellington soon will help!
1/9 Off again, no time to settle! We left and headed out to Waitomo’s glow worm caves! The caves were amazing with their stalactites and stalagmites. But best of all were the glow worms that reside on the top of the darkest portions of the caves. The tour ended in a boat ride through the river that goes through the cave with all of the blue glow worms overhead, the only thing lighting the way. It was incredible and almost creepy, being silent and in the dark with only the worms glow that looked like stars in the sky above. From there we stopped in a small town close by and ate at Subway then headed off to Hobbiton!
Hobbiton was sooooo cool. We got a tour right to the set, saw all the hobbit holes and the big party tree!!! Eeeeek. Apparently it was more put together then a couple years ago when our profs were here last because they’re starting to get ready for filming of the Hobbit. The guide told us that a couple weeks ago Peter Jackson and Del Toro were there scoping everything out!! That would have been so cool to meet them. The casting call for hobbits starts in March… anyone up for a trip back here? I’d be perfect since there’s a height limit—you have to be short! And they look for a good laugh, and since I laugh a lot… me=perfect hobbit. Oh well! The set is on a family owned farm so afterwards we got to see a sheep sheering and got to play with baby lambs.
Then we were finally off to Rotorua, Sulfur City. It reeks here just like rotten eggs. The hotel is pretty nice but the room is definitely supposed to be a double and they just stuck an extra bed in the room so the three beds take up the majority of the space, very squishy and a big change from Auckland and Rarotonga where we had lots of space. For dinner we went to Hell’s Pizza, apparently it’s pretty famous here, and it was delicious. After we wandered around and found a grocery store to check out and get some snacks. Then we headed back to the hotel for some down time before going out.
The Lava bar was quite the experience. I was into it at first but by the end of the night I wanted nothing more then out. The dance floor was insane—strobe and blacklights, mist, smoke, lasers, and disco lights. Got some good dancing in until I started to realize how many creepy people were there and my contacts started getting sticky from being up for 16 hours. Somehow I managed to almost fall asleep standing up so I convinced people to walk back with me thank god! Not sure how people can stand being hot and getting constantly shoved and smashed by people dancing all night, I can’t say it was that enjoyable.
1/10 Today we got to sleep in a bit, didn’t have to leave until 10:15 am! We took the bus around to the volcanic crater lake and then onto a park with a hot spring. Then we were dropped off at Te Puia Thermal Reserve. We first got a tour of the Maori Arts and Crafts Institute where they teach people to carve and weave in the traditional ways. Then we got to see a Kiwi Bird! Unfortunately it was in a display cage to mimic its natural habitat and we weren’t allowed photos, but it was so cute and fat!! Finally we checked out some boiling mud pits and a huge geyser that erupted while we were there!
Then we went off to the Agrodome and saw a sheep show! We got to see 19 different prize rams, a sheep getting sheered, and seeing how the dogs herd the sheep. It was actually pretty cool and the sheep were so cute! Afterwards we headed over to Zorb!!! Zorbing consists of a giant 11 foot ball with two layers, so its sort of one big ball with another small one suspended inside of it. Then you hop on in and they fill it up with a little bit of water and you roll down a huge hill tumbling around floating with the water. It was completely disorienting and loads of fun! I recommend googling it to get a better idea.
Now I’m sitting in the hotel room that doesn’t let you call out with a phone card. Luckily they give you 30 min/8MB of internet for free each day but still not much you can do with that small limit. I’m starting to miss home for the first time during the trip which is only being made worse by the lack of communication. Two more days and I’ll be in Wellington for 9 days at the university so hopefully settling down somewhere will be nice and maybe I’ll actually get to Skype the fam, Richie, and any other friend that’s available! These megabyte limits that these places put don’t really allow for skyping since it involves so much data exchange with the streaming of audio and video so I’m hoping the University will be different! As for now I’m thinking of doing some laundry and going to bed early!
1/11 Finally a free day! Tracy (one of my roommates) and I decided we wanted to sleep in which was lovely, and of course sleeping in here still means waking up by 10 am. So we chilled and had some tea then set off with Maura to walk around the town, eat, and shop. We later met up with a bunch of other girls and found some really cute stores. I’m definitely getting used to the sulfur smell throughout the city as I can say I’m not really noticing it anymore. Tonight we have our Maori Hangi concert and dinner which should be pretty exciting and entertaining! Then tomorrow it’s off to Wellington which is about a 5.5 hour drive, however our bus driver is a little insane and wants to stop every hour. He is a little overbearing and likes to explain everything in extreme detail, even things that don’t matter like parking regulations for buses, and he also went into an extreme explanation of happy hour—“it’s a time when drinks are a dollar cheaper or so. Sometimes its from 5-6, sometimes 6-7, sometimes, 7-9:30, so if you’re looking for cheap drinks I’d go to happy hour, again drinks are cheaper.” Like we don’t already know what that is anyway…. So it gets a tad annoying when you’re trying to talk, listen to music or watch of movie.
The weather has been super nice though. A little breezy but hot under the sun, it’s pretty much my favorite weather, not too hot, but you can still get away with shorts. And it hasn’t rained yet since we’ve gotten back to NZ! It was funny because today in a store some Kiwis were talking about how they were jealous of our accents and wished they could talk like us…. Lol, and of course we’re the ones wanting their accents.
It’s going to be weird switching into school mode starting Wednesday. But I mean we have class from 9-11am… and then we’re watching movies and writing journals, can’t get any better then that.
1/8 We arrived back in Auckland around 8 pm, so only 4 hours later but of course it was the next day. I can honestly say keeping up with these time changes and thinking about east coast time has been difficult. I ended up just chilling in the room, getting my stuff organized and hitting the hay early, and by early I mean like midnight. This trip is all go go go, and I feel like I might shut down soon, but hopefully getting to Wellington soon will help!
1/9 Off again, no time to settle! We left and headed out to Waitomo’s glow worm caves! The caves were amazing with their stalactites and stalagmites. But best of all were the glow worms that reside on the top of the darkest portions of the caves. The tour ended in a boat ride through the river that goes through the cave with all of the blue glow worms overhead, the only thing lighting the way. It was incredible and almost creepy, being silent and in the dark with only the worms glow that looked like stars in the sky above. From there we stopped in a small town close by and ate at Subway then headed off to Hobbiton!
Hobbiton was sooooo cool. We got a tour right to the set, saw all the hobbit holes and the big party tree!!! Eeeeek. Apparently it was more put together then a couple years ago when our profs were here last because they’re starting to get ready for filming of the Hobbit. The guide told us that a couple weeks ago Peter Jackson and Del Toro were there scoping everything out!! That would have been so cool to meet them. The casting call for hobbits starts in March… anyone up for a trip back here? I’d be perfect since there’s a height limit—you have to be short! And they look for a good laugh, and since I laugh a lot… me=perfect hobbit. Oh well! The set is on a family owned farm so afterwards we got to see a sheep sheering and got to play with baby lambs.
Then we were finally off to Rotorua, Sulfur City. It reeks here just like rotten eggs. The hotel is pretty nice but the room is definitely supposed to be a double and they just stuck an extra bed in the room so the three beds take up the majority of the space, very squishy and a big change from Auckland and Rarotonga where we had lots of space. For dinner we went to Hell’s Pizza, apparently it’s pretty famous here, and it was delicious. After we wandered around and found a grocery store to check out and get some snacks. Then we headed back to the hotel for some down time before going out.
The Lava bar was quite the experience. I was into it at first but by the end of the night I wanted nothing more then out. The dance floor was insane—strobe and blacklights, mist, smoke, lasers, and disco lights. Got some good dancing in until I started to realize how many creepy people were there and my contacts started getting sticky from being up for 16 hours. Somehow I managed to almost fall asleep standing up so I convinced people to walk back with me thank god! Not sure how people can stand being hot and getting constantly shoved and smashed by people dancing all night, I can’t say it was that enjoyable.
1/10 Today we got to sleep in a bit, didn’t have to leave until 10:15 am! We took the bus around to the volcanic crater lake and then onto a park with a hot spring. Then we were dropped off at Te Puia Thermal Reserve. We first got a tour of the Maori Arts and Crafts Institute where they teach people to carve and weave in the traditional ways. Then we got to see a Kiwi Bird! Unfortunately it was in a display cage to mimic its natural habitat and we weren’t allowed photos, but it was so cute and fat!! Finally we checked out some boiling mud pits and a huge geyser that erupted while we were there!
Then we went off to the Agrodome and saw a sheep show! We got to see 19 different prize rams, a sheep getting sheered, and seeing how the dogs herd the sheep. It was actually pretty cool and the sheep were so cute! Afterwards we headed over to Zorb!!! Zorbing consists of a giant 11 foot ball with two layers, so its sort of one big ball with another small one suspended inside of it. Then you hop on in and they fill it up with a little bit of water and you roll down a huge hill tumbling around floating with the water. It was completely disorienting and loads of fun! I recommend googling it to get a better idea.
Now I’m sitting in the hotel room that doesn’t let you call out with a phone card. Luckily they give you 30 min/8MB of internet for free each day but still not much you can do with that small limit. I’m starting to miss home for the first time during the trip which is only being made worse by the lack of communication. Two more days and I’ll be in Wellington for 9 days at the university so hopefully settling down somewhere will be nice and maybe I’ll actually get to Skype the fam, Richie, and any other friend that’s available! These megabyte limits that these places put don’t really allow for skyping since it involves so much data exchange with the streaming of audio and video so I’m hoping the University will be different! As for now I’m thinking of doing some laundry and going to bed early!
1/11 Finally a free day! Tracy (one of my roommates) and I decided we wanted to sleep in which was lovely, and of course sleeping in here still means waking up by 10 am. So we chilled and had some tea then set off with Maura to walk around the town, eat, and shop. We later met up with a bunch of other girls and found some really cute stores. I’m definitely getting used to the sulfur smell throughout the city as I can say I’m not really noticing it anymore. Tonight we have our Maori Hangi concert and dinner which should be pretty exciting and entertaining! Then tomorrow it’s off to Wellington which is about a 5.5 hour drive, however our bus driver is a little insane and wants to stop every hour. He is a little overbearing and likes to explain everything in extreme detail, even things that don’t matter like parking regulations for buses, and he also went into an extreme explanation of happy hour—“it’s a time when drinks are a dollar cheaper or so. Sometimes its from 5-6, sometimes 6-7, sometimes, 7-9:30, so if you’re looking for cheap drinks I’d go to happy hour, again drinks are cheaper.” Like we don’t already know what that is anyway…. So it gets a tad annoying when you’re trying to talk, listen to music or watch of movie.
The weather has been super nice though. A little breezy but hot under the sun, it’s pretty much my favorite weather, not too hot, but you can still get away with shorts. And it hasn’t rained yet since we’ve gotten back to NZ! It was funny because today in a store some Kiwis were talking about how they were jealous of our accents and wished they could talk like us…. Lol, and of course we’re the ones wanting their accents.
It’s going to be weird switching into school mode starting Wednesday. But I mean we have class from 9-11am… and then we’re watching movies and writing journals, can’t get any better then that.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Jungle Safari
1/5: The end of today consisted of the Buffet here at the resort followed by a traditional dance show which was amazing!!! The food wasn't great but the desserts were!! And the dancing was just amazing, I totally want to learn!
1/6: So today we woke up early to go on a jungle safari adventure! We were in big jeeps that seated about 12 people and we set off around the island. We got a tour of the whole island for the most part and stopped at some pretty cool spots. Then the real adventure began. We went off-roading up the mountain and mind you it was raining throughout the day so mud was everywhere. Of course they purposely drive through mud puddles and go insanely fast up the hill. There are some pretty hilarious videos including us getting stuck trying to go up a hill and getting jammed back into the ground. It was pretty much like a rollercoaster through jungle. They tried taking us up to the highest point but there was too much rain and the vehicles didn't get any traction so we went a little early to the lunch they had for us. I actually ate swordfish! It was actually a decent meal, the best out of all three so far! Then we were dropped back off at the resort and we all rested on the beach and by the pool for a while, again with intermittent rain of course! Todays the last full day here! Tomorrow we're off to NZ around 5!
1/6: So today we woke up early to go on a jungle safari adventure! We were in big jeeps that seated about 12 people and we set off around the island. We got a tour of the whole island for the most part and stopped at some pretty cool spots. Then the real adventure began. We went off-roading up the mountain and mind you it was raining throughout the day so mud was everywhere. Of course they purposely drive through mud puddles and go insanely fast up the hill. There are some pretty hilarious videos including us getting stuck trying to go up a hill and getting jammed back into the ground. It was pretty much like a rollercoaster through jungle. They tried taking us up to the highest point but there was too much rain and the vehicles didn't get any traction so we went a little early to the lunch they had for us. I actually ate swordfish! It was actually a decent meal, the best out of all three so far! Then we were dropped back off at the resort and we all rested on the beach and by the pool for a while, again with intermittent rain of course! Todays the last full day here! Tomorrow we're off to NZ around 5!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
First Few Days
1/3 Arrived in at Auckland around 4:45 am after a 12 hour flight. The flight actually wasn’t too bad slept on and off for about 6 hours, only occasionally woken up by something running into me, since I was on the aisle seat. We got dinner soon after we boarded in LAX and got breakfast about 2 hours before landing in Auckland. Both meals were surprisingly okay and had tons of stuff. The crew was so nice, coming around often offering water. Also, with the meal all drinks are free! They even came around with complimentary wines, coffee and tea! I started watching Surrogates at the beginning of the flight during dinner but as soon as my dinner was cleared I was passed out, so I didn’t get to finish the movie, which wasn’t as good as I thought it was going to be. I enjoyed watching the flight channel, which tracks your plane during the flight and gives you all the details of flight like altitude, speed, direction, etc. Then I watched an episode of CSI and What About Ted, both good shows! I didn’t want to start another movie but Air New Zealand was so nice and kept the entertainment running until landing, so I probably could have. The we went through intense screening and customs because of their high biosecurity procedures. Dogs were sniffing all baggage in the baggage claim area to make sure we weren’t bringing in fruits, vegetables, soils, etc, to spoil New Zealand…. Then we had to X-ray all of our baggage before we were allowed to leave the airport! So crazy! I’ve never had to do that exiting an airport before but I guess New Zealand is very conscious about bringing in foreign things that might contaminate their environment.
We then boarded a bus with a tour guide and they took us around the city of Auckland, first making a stop at the top of Mount Eden, one of the several extinct volcanoes that makes up Auckland. The views were gorgeous!!! However, it was about 6 am in the morning, so that was kind of strange. We also went through downtown and stopped near the harbor to get out and take some pictures. Finally we headed to the Hotel but being not even 8 am we couldn’t check in so we all took our baggage to a conference room and then set out in the city! I went along with Rachel and Spencer and we first visited the Sky Tower and we went to both levels of observation decks, including the glass floors! We didn’t do the Sky Jump (sort of like bungee jumping but you’re attached to a harness and go down on guide wires so you don’t smash into the building) or the Sky Walk (you walk around an outside platform near the top that’s 1.6 meters wide!!! Of course you’re harnessed in! Maybe on the way back I’ll do one or the other. After that we ventured onto the shark bus which took us to the aquarium across town! It was awesome and we got to see lots of penguins and sharks! Then we went out on a pier across from it and took some amazing pics and chilled in the nice warm sun! Then we headed back to the SkyTower place, which also has a hotel and casino attached off the bottom, I think it’s called SkyCity? Anyway, we went into the casino for lunch, and we got carded!!! Wheeee but the age is 20, good thing my birthday was 2 weeks ago! The security guy jokingly complained to us about how every US state has a different ID style, I guess that makes his job a little harder trying to find the birthdays on all of them. Had some yummy breaded chicken and fries, but the ketchup (tomato sauce as they call it) is kinda funky tasting, but it’s not vinegary like in Europe, it’s almost like spicy with a very different taste, it’s still edible, just not preferred.
The whole gang (all 31 of us) ventured out to an Italian place for dinner, that was an experience!! Haha Afterwards, some of the people and I just went back to the hotel to eat some dessert snacks and watch some TV. NZ TV is horrible, they have the worst channels every, half in some Asian language. We did get to witness the finale of Australia’s Got Talent, so I guess that’s kind of cool.
1/4, oh wait, what’s up 1/3 again? Woke up around 6 to pack everything back up already to head back to Auckland airport at 7:30 in the rain! When we arrived there we sat and got some breakfast, this airport is smart and has some food and shops BEFORE security. We finally boarded around 10:50 and for whatever reason everyone’s seats are for the most part very split up. I had to sit next to a Danish couple, and the older man had the worst B.O. EVER. It was pretty nasty, and there were about 20 little kids under the age of 2, including newborns on the flight…… so you can imagine how that flight went. The airport in the Cooks Islands is hilarious, one baggage claim and you have to get off the plane on the tarmac! It was insanely hot, luckily I wore shorts and a tank on the plane, very smart move. Once we got out bags we loaded on to a super small touring bus and headed off to the resort. Immediately everyone went to their rooms and changed into bathing suits and we all headed to the water! It is absolutely breathtaking! Tropical fish swim right up to shore, ones of every color imaginable. We even got to see a bright blue starfish. The downside is that the bottom is all rocky and coraly in places so it’s not the nicest to stand on. The waves breaking far out are a brilliant blue color—nothing like I’ve ever seen before. Afterwards, we went to dinner together again (everyone) at the restaurant here at the hotel. The menu is actually pretty good! I was able to get a chicken club sandwich and fries and had delicious pineapple juice while the sun set in front of me on the beach. After dinner, somehow everyone ended up gathering in my hotel room for a little party before heading down to the bar. It was a little ridiculous but funny. We all tried to sit in a circle out on the patio again but with this many people it’s really hard, so everyone kind of split up. A bunch of us were pretty tired so we headed back up to our rooms, and I finally got a shower. Night!
1/4 Woke up around 7:45 this morning, then went to have continental breakfast down in the restaurant. Afterwards we had an introduction to the resort and island by Tiki Daniel, the activities coordinator here at the resort. He went over a bunch of different activities they have at the resort and other things offered around the island. A bunch of us are planning on doing a jungle jeep safari for Wednesday since tomorrow we have our whole day planned for us for the most part. Some people even ventured out today, but most of us stayed here. I went out onto the beach and took some pictures around the area then it was time for a little ukulele lesson here at the resort… I played some chords. Not too bad I have to say… hahaha. Got some snorkeling in—it was kind of a failed situation though. Last night and early this morning there was torrential downpours so it churned up the water a little bit—wasn’t as clear as when we got here yesterday and it was actually wavy, not calm. Also my mask kept getting water in it and I was worried about getting my contacts wet, so I ended up just chilling in the water for a bit which is lovely. As for the rain, it’s really random, comes and goes, usually just drizzles. A bunch of us decided to take a walk down the beach, got some more pictures in. Then I decided to actually start one of my journal entries, while laying on a chair on the beach next to a palm tree…. Oh yea. For dinner a bunch of us went to the Spaghetti House right here close to the resort. The pasta carbonara was delicious!!! Later when we returned to our rooms a bunch of us gathered in a room and played MadLibs for hours… needless to say it was absolutely hilarious. Lots of inside jokes have already been made. Then tonight was the first night I slept really good and didn’t wake up til the morning!
1/5 Today we went to Highland Paradise, a big area of land preserved by a Maori lady that her father had started this project on to protect and educate in their culture and history. It was absolutely gorgeous nestled into the mountain and jungle. We started off getting an overview of Maori history by the lady herself, then watched a DVD they put together, then we were taken on a walk up the mountain with a man all decked out in traditional wear. He was really funny and awesome and we got to learn and see some really cool things. And of course the views were incredible!!!!!! The only downside was they fed us lunch, a traditional Cook Island meal…. Not the greatest. Mostly really weird foods and fruits that don’t taste like fruit. Good thing the resort has good French fries! A bunch of people tried snorkeling again but it’s been raining on and off all day so again not the best viewing. Then I got attacked by millions of little black flies, freaked out, and ran to take a 30 min shower. Right now as I’m writing its downpouring again, sadly. The weather has been pretty nice but it’s pretty much been cloudy or overcast the whole time. Maybe we’ll get some sun tomorrow or Thursday! Then it’s off back to New Zealand. Not sure how good of an idea it was to do the island first… Not sure I want to leave!
We then boarded a bus with a tour guide and they took us around the city of Auckland, first making a stop at the top of Mount Eden, one of the several extinct volcanoes that makes up Auckland. The views were gorgeous!!! However, it was about 6 am in the morning, so that was kind of strange. We also went through downtown and stopped near the harbor to get out and take some pictures. Finally we headed to the Hotel but being not even 8 am we couldn’t check in so we all took our baggage to a conference room and then set out in the city! I went along with Rachel and Spencer and we first visited the Sky Tower and we went to both levels of observation decks, including the glass floors! We didn’t do the Sky Jump (sort of like bungee jumping but you’re attached to a harness and go down on guide wires so you don’t smash into the building) or the Sky Walk (you walk around an outside platform near the top that’s 1.6 meters wide!!! Of course you’re harnessed in! Maybe on the way back I’ll do one or the other. After that we ventured onto the shark bus which took us to the aquarium across town! It was awesome and we got to see lots of penguins and sharks! Then we went out on a pier across from it and took some amazing pics and chilled in the nice warm sun! Then we headed back to the SkyTower place, which also has a hotel and casino attached off the bottom, I think it’s called SkyCity? Anyway, we went into the casino for lunch, and we got carded!!! Wheeee but the age is 20, good thing my birthday was 2 weeks ago! The security guy jokingly complained to us about how every US state has a different ID style, I guess that makes his job a little harder trying to find the birthdays on all of them. Had some yummy breaded chicken and fries, but the ketchup (tomato sauce as they call it) is kinda funky tasting, but it’s not vinegary like in Europe, it’s almost like spicy with a very different taste, it’s still edible, just not preferred.
The whole gang (all 31 of us) ventured out to an Italian place for dinner, that was an experience!! Haha Afterwards, some of the people and I just went back to the hotel to eat some dessert snacks and watch some TV. NZ TV is horrible, they have the worst channels every, half in some Asian language. We did get to witness the finale of Australia’s Got Talent, so I guess that’s kind of cool.
1/4, oh wait, what’s up 1/3 again? Woke up around 6 to pack everything back up already to head back to Auckland airport at 7:30 in the rain! When we arrived there we sat and got some breakfast, this airport is smart and has some food and shops BEFORE security. We finally boarded around 10:50 and for whatever reason everyone’s seats are for the most part very split up. I had to sit next to a Danish couple, and the older man had the worst B.O. EVER. It was pretty nasty, and there were about 20 little kids under the age of 2, including newborns on the flight…… so you can imagine how that flight went. The airport in the Cooks Islands is hilarious, one baggage claim and you have to get off the plane on the tarmac! It was insanely hot, luckily I wore shorts and a tank on the plane, very smart move. Once we got out bags we loaded on to a super small touring bus and headed off to the resort. Immediately everyone went to their rooms and changed into bathing suits and we all headed to the water! It is absolutely breathtaking! Tropical fish swim right up to shore, ones of every color imaginable. We even got to see a bright blue starfish. The downside is that the bottom is all rocky and coraly in places so it’s not the nicest to stand on. The waves breaking far out are a brilliant blue color—nothing like I’ve ever seen before. Afterwards, we went to dinner together again (everyone) at the restaurant here at the hotel. The menu is actually pretty good! I was able to get a chicken club sandwich and fries and had delicious pineapple juice while the sun set in front of me on the beach. After dinner, somehow everyone ended up gathering in my hotel room for a little party before heading down to the bar. It was a little ridiculous but funny. We all tried to sit in a circle out on the patio again but with this many people it’s really hard, so everyone kind of split up. A bunch of us were pretty tired so we headed back up to our rooms, and I finally got a shower. Night!
1/4 Woke up around 7:45 this morning, then went to have continental breakfast down in the restaurant. Afterwards we had an introduction to the resort and island by Tiki Daniel, the activities coordinator here at the resort. He went over a bunch of different activities they have at the resort and other things offered around the island. A bunch of us are planning on doing a jungle jeep safari for Wednesday since tomorrow we have our whole day planned for us for the most part. Some people even ventured out today, but most of us stayed here. I went out onto the beach and took some pictures around the area then it was time for a little ukulele lesson here at the resort… I played some chords. Not too bad I have to say… hahaha. Got some snorkeling in—it was kind of a failed situation though. Last night and early this morning there was torrential downpours so it churned up the water a little bit—wasn’t as clear as when we got here yesterday and it was actually wavy, not calm. Also my mask kept getting water in it and I was worried about getting my contacts wet, so I ended up just chilling in the water for a bit which is lovely. As for the rain, it’s really random, comes and goes, usually just drizzles. A bunch of us decided to take a walk down the beach, got some more pictures in. Then I decided to actually start one of my journal entries, while laying on a chair on the beach next to a palm tree…. Oh yea. For dinner a bunch of us went to the Spaghetti House right here close to the resort. The pasta carbonara was delicious!!! Later when we returned to our rooms a bunch of us gathered in a room and played MadLibs for hours… needless to say it was absolutely hilarious. Lots of inside jokes have already been made. Then tonight was the first night I slept really good and didn’t wake up til the morning!
1/5 Today we went to Highland Paradise, a big area of land preserved by a Maori lady that her father had started this project on to protect and educate in their culture and history. It was absolutely gorgeous nestled into the mountain and jungle. We started off getting an overview of Maori history by the lady herself, then watched a DVD they put together, then we were taken on a walk up the mountain with a man all decked out in traditional wear. He was really funny and awesome and we got to learn and see some really cool things. And of course the views were incredible!!!!!! The only downside was they fed us lunch, a traditional Cook Island meal…. Not the greatest. Mostly really weird foods and fruits that don’t taste like fruit. Good thing the resort has good French fries! A bunch of people tried snorkeling again but it’s been raining on and off all day so again not the best viewing. Then I got attacked by millions of little black flies, freaked out, and ran to take a 30 min shower. Right now as I’m writing its downpouring again, sadly. The weather has been pretty nice but it’s pretty much been cloudy or overcast the whole time. Maybe we’ll get some sun tomorrow or Thursday! Then it’s off back to New Zealand. Not sure how good of an idea it was to do the island first… Not sure I want to leave!
Friday, December 25, 2009
Itinerary
Hello everyone who is reading this!! I'm planning to hopefully make some blog posts and put some pictures up while I'm abroad, pending internet access/expenses.
Here is my itinerary for those of you who are interested!
I've set the post dates for this blog to New Zealand time, so I don't get confused. Just for an easy way for the time conversion: for NZ take eastern standard time and subtract 6 hours, but then remember they're a day ahead (it's easier then adding 18 hours to the EST). Then for the Cook Islands just subtract 5 hours from EST, and its the same day. Example: It's 6:19 pm 12/24 in Delaware, 12:19 pm 12/25 in New Zealand, and 1:19 pm 12/24 in the Cook Islands.
All times are local times to whatever time zone I'll currently be in:
1/1 Fri Depart from Dulles Airport @ 12:15pm arriving in LA @ 3:01 pm
Depart from LA @ 7:30 pm for Auckland
1/2 Sat Lose a Day--hope nothing exciting happens! But I guess getting two Jan 3rds in two countries is pretty cool
1/3 Sun Arrive in Auckland @ 5:25 am
Stay @ President Hotel
1/4 Mon Fly to the Cook Islands, leave Auckland @ 11:20 am
1/3 Sun Arrive in Cook Islands @ 4:15 pm
Stay @ the Edgewater Resort
1/3 Sun-1/7 Thu spent in the Cook Islands
1/7 Thu Leave Cook Islands @ 5:30 pm
1/8 Fri Arrive in Auckland @ 7:45 pm
Stay @ President Hotel
1/9 Sat Traveling from Auckland to Rotorua
1/9-1/12 in Rotorua Stay @ The Ibis Hotel
1/12 Tues Traveling from Rotorua to Wellington
1/12-1/20 Staying at Victoria University in Wellington
1/20 Wed Inter-island ferry from Wellington to Picton then on to Blenheim
Stay @ Heartland Hotel Marlborough in Blenheim
1/21 Thur Traveling from Blenheim to Christchurch
1/21-1/24 Stay @ Base Backpackers Hotel in Christchurch
1/24 Sun Traveling from Christchurch to Mount Cook
Stay @ The Hermitage, Chalets
1/25 Mon Glaciers of Mount Cook then traveling to Lake Tekapo
1/25-1/27 Stay @ Godley Hotel in Lake Tekapo
1/27 Wed Travel to Dunedin
1/27-2/2 Stay @ St. Margaret’s College in Dunedin
2/2 Tue Fly from Dunedin to Auckland
Stay @ President Hotel
2/3 Wed Depart Auckland @ 7:30 pm Arrive in San Francisco @ 10:45am. Depart @ 3:07pm. Arrive in Philly @ 11:23 pm. This will be the longest day of my life, literally. (My body will feel like it's 4:23pm 2/4 when I get home)
Here is my itinerary for those of you who are interested!
I've set the post dates for this blog to New Zealand time, so I don't get confused. Just for an easy way for the time conversion: for NZ take eastern standard time and subtract 6 hours, but then remember they're a day ahead (it's easier then adding 18 hours to the EST). Then for the Cook Islands just subtract 5 hours from EST, and its the same day. Example: It's 6:19 pm 12/24 in Delaware, 12:19 pm 12/25 in New Zealand, and 1:19 pm 12/24 in the Cook Islands.
All times are local times to whatever time zone I'll currently be in:
1/1 Fri Depart from Dulles Airport @ 12:15pm arriving in LA @ 3:01 pm
Depart from LA @ 7:30 pm for Auckland
1/2 Sat Lose a Day--hope nothing exciting happens! But I guess getting two Jan 3rds in two countries is pretty cool
1/3 Sun Arrive in Auckland @ 5:25 am
Stay @ President Hotel
1/4 Mon Fly to the Cook Islands, leave Auckland @ 11:20 am
1/3 Sun Arrive in Cook Islands @ 4:15 pm
Stay @ the Edgewater Resort
1/3 Sun-1/7 Thu spent in the Cook Islands
1/7 Thu Leave Cook Islands @ 5:30 pm
1/8 Fri Arrive in Auckland @ 7:45 pm
Stay @ President Hotel
1/9 Sat Traveling from Auckland to Rotorua
1/9-1/12 in Rotorua Stay @ The Ibis Hotel
1/12 Tues Traveling from Rotorua to Wellington
1/12-1/20 Staying at Victoria University in Wellington
1/20 Wed Inter-island ferry from Wellington to Picton then on to Blenheim
Stay @ Heartland Hotel Marlborough in Blenheim
1/21 Thur Traveling from Blenheim to Christchurch
1/21-1/24 Stay @ Base Backpackers Hotel in Christchurch
1/24 Sun Traveling from Christchurch to Mount Cook
Stay @ The Hermitage, Chalets
1/25 Mon Glaciers of Mount Cook then traveling to Lake Tekapo
1/25-1/27 Stay @ Godley Hotel in Lake Tekapo
1/27 Wed Travel to Dunedin
1/27-2/2 Stay @ St. Margaret’s College in Dunedin
2/2 Tue Fly from Dunedin to Auckland
Stay @ President Hotel
2/3 Wed Depart Auckland @ 7:30 pm Arrive in San Francisco @ 10:45am. Depart @ 3:07pm. Arrive in Philly @ 11:23 pm. This will be the longest day of my life, literally. (My body will feel like it's 4:23pm 2/4 when I get home)
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