Did you forget about me!?

Okay, I know its been awhile. BUT let me tell you, it is really easy to get busy while you’re abroad. And I have been attempting to pump out thousands of words in essays before I take my 15 day semester break trip! So this is what I have been up to over the past few weeks:

Amazing walking stick I found on the beach.

 Lunch Date with Seals!

Our group for the Red Rocks day trip.

The beautiful coast.

Three weekends ago a few people from my program and I decided to spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Red Rocks Reserve to see if we could find some seals. It’s about a 25 minute bus ride from downtown and then we had to walk about 30 minutes to get to the start of Red Rocks. Thennn we walked all along the coast in search of the seals. There was a lot of people there enjoying the beautiful weather. We probably walked for about an hour and then FINALLY there they were! Hundreds of seals all laid out on big rocks just off the shore. Most of them seemed to be sleeping in the sun, but we watched a few swimming around. You could get so close! But not toooo close because wild seals are dangerous and could/would eat you if you had the chance. They make this horrible growl sound if you get to close. We decided to take a break and have some lunch before heading back to bus stop. I had my pbj sandwich about 15 yards from a snoozing seal. It was awesome.

Then we all decided to head back and figured it would take about an hour and half to get back to the bus stop. BUUUTTT then we found this map and decided to take a trail back instead of walking along the water. On the map, it seemed that this might be a short cut even. HA. NOT. This was hands down the longest hike I have ever completed and I think we walked roughly 10 km total. And most of the hike was up the steep ridge of this mountain, but the views were absolutely incredible so it was hard to complain. And once again, the weather was unbelievable. Which has been rare in this rainy city. Needless to say, I was exhausted by the time I got home that night. I ate a dinner large enough for 3 grown men and then slept for 11 hours. So rewarding.

 

An “Easy” Tramp.

The following weekend I decided to go on a day hike for the tramping club. When they talked about the trip they made it seem like it was no big deal and a beginner level hike. Again, NOT. The first 45 minutes of the hike was up the steepest hill I’ve ever climbed. It wasn’t even fun at first because I was panting so bad that I couldn’t even talk to anyone I was with! Ha. But it got better and the view from the top was very pretty. We also ended up climbing up this hill in a beautiful forest. There was moss everywhere and it was so pretty! I think I fell in love with moss. It made it looked enchanted almost; like a fairy tale. However, the path was pure mud and you had to be very cautious of how you stepped. I am somewhat shocked that I didn’t end up rolling down the whole hill. Callie takes a tumble. We walked across a couple small rivers and also went across this really cool suspension bridge. Overall, it was a fun trip and I am glad I went. Next time I will just have to make sure I know what I’m really getting myself into. I am not sure if I can really keep up with these Kiwi trampers.

First NZ Road trip, Caves & Glow worms

Last weekend four other girls and I took our first road trip to Waitomo to do some black water rafting in the famous glow worm caves. It was one of the coolest things I have ever done! So fun. We picked up our rental car on Friday and I was a wee bit nervous about the driving situation (they drive on the left side of the road here). However, I really had nothing to worry about because it wasn’t bad at all. I didn’t drive on the way up, but that meant I got to take in all the beautiful scenery. It was a little less than 6 hours, but it went by fast. We drove past Tongariro National Park and saw 2 breathtaking mountains. We even got a glimpse of the volcano that erupted just days before. We arrived at our hostel which was really nice and met some guys from the Netherlands that had been travelling for a few weeks. The Olympics were still on then, so we spent the couple nights there watching the events, sipping on wine and enjoying far too many Tim Tams (delicious NZ cookie, if you’re lucky I’ll bring some home for you!).

Saturday we got up and it was a beautiful day. We made our way to the black water rafting place and waited for our tour to start. We had to put on full wet suit gear, boots, helmet and grab a black inner tube for the trip. We took our van ride down to the entrance of the cave and were told to climb in behind our two guides. The hole into the cave was a little intimidating and I started to get nervous that I would get claustrophobic down there. But I was just fine! I even forgot that I was inside a cave for most of it. The cave had water running through it and most of the times it was about calf-deep and we were walking through it. We only had the lamps on our helmets to guide us, so it wasn’t the easiest walk and the water was so cold! But what do you expect when you’re in a cave over 200 feet underground. We encountered 2 small waterfalls in the caves. Each time we had to stand at the edge of the waterfall backwards, hold our tube behind us and jump backwards off the waterfall into the water below us. Scary, but so exciting! There were also times when we all linked up in a long chain, turned off our headlamps and just floated. Above us the cave was covered in thousands of glow worms (bio-luminescent maggot poop.... yes, beautiful, incredible, breathtaking poop). You should all look up glow worms, they really are fascinating. Anyway, it almost looked like a starry night sky above us and we just floated in the pitch black. I hope I get the chance to do this again while I am here because it was beyond cool!

We also went on a night hike on Saturday around the same area the caves are because the whole place is covered in glow worms at night. It was a little scary at first to be walking in the pitch black with no real idea of where we were going, but it was totally worth it. Again, I felt like I was in some sort of a fairytale. I think every day that I am here I have a “is this real life?” moment. This country is the most beautiful and amazing place I have ever been. I feel so fortunate to be here! It rained all day Sunday, so we missed out on a day of hiking and drove home early instead.

Senioritis + Study Abroad = Terrible Combination

Other than those few trips, I have been keeping busy with homework and school. I had to write 3 essays within 2 weeks so I had all my work done before leaving for my semester break. Friday morning we leave and I’ll be spending 10 days on the South Island, then taking a flight to Auckland and meeting Nick, Jane (his mom) and Lynette (his aunt) for 5 days of North Island travel. Then back to Welly to watch the All Blacks take on Argentina! (NZ's national men's rugby team). I could not be more excited! My next blog post won’t be for at least 3 weeks, but it will be full of amazingness. So prepare yourself. J Some of the things I am doing over break are hiking a glacier, seeing some the most beautiful places NZ has to offer, hiking through National Parks, possibly bungee jumping, hot water beaches and muchhhh more. Again, is this real life!?!?

Rugby, Zealandia, Uni & Gelato

Rugby field.

Westpac Stadium

Rugby Madness!

A couple weeks ago I went to my first ever rugby match! I still don’t know exactly how it works, but I had one of the guys I know explain the basic rules to me. It seems that a lot of Kiwis don’t even know exactly how it is played. But I guess that’s how I feel about American football; I know the general idea, but I couldn’t explain all the penalties and rules. Anyway, the game was very exciting! It was the Wellington Hurricanes that were playing at Westpac stadium which is about a 20 minute walk from my flat. It was similar to being at a professional football game with lots middle-aged men yelling and getting really into it. It was exciting. J And “The Canes” won in the last second! I’m not 100% positive how they won, but they did! And it is always exciting when your team wins. In September, I will be going to an All Blacks rugby match which is the national NZ team and I am so excited! They are playing Argentina and it should be a very good game. I just need to learn a few more of the rules before going this time so I’m not as confused.



Free banners at the game. Go the Canes!

Zealandia: The Karori Sanctuary Experience

Last week my friend Isabella and I spent a few hours at Zealandia which is a huuuuge bird sanctuary that’s pretty close to where I live. It is inside this forest with different trails, bridges, and a dam to walk across. There are spots where you can see native birds to NZ which was actually really cool (even though I’m not a huge fan of birds). NZ has a lot of native birds and a lot are flightless (the Kiwi is their national bird which is also flightless and adorable). Fun fact: The only native mammal to NZ is a bat. Therefore, the ancient birds that once lived here had no predators they needed to fly away from and therefore, through evolution, lost their ability to fly. Fascinating! It was a beautiful day too! You have to take advantage of the days it doesn’t rain because when it does rain, you just want to stay in bed all day. Brrrr.

First couple weeks of Uni

I officially have 2 weeks of Uni (that’s what they call college here) in NZ under my belt. So exciting to be in a new place, but it definitely takes some adjusting. I originally didn’t sign up for any psychology courses, but after going to my first couple days of class I decided that I missed psychology. I guess that means I picked the right major… haha. So I ended up dropping a music course and picking up a psychology one called “Issues in Human Development.” So far it’s only been review from my previous courses, but I’m excited about the rest of the semester. I am also taking an Asian religions course and one called “Cinema of New Zealand.” I think both should be moderately interesting. Do-able. Ha.

University here and back home have some differences, but overall quite similar. I have lectures and discussions for each of my classes. There is a lot of reading to do and you are expected to keep up with it. Unlike some courses back home, there is often very few things that factor into your final grade in the class. For example, one of my courses only has 2 tests and a paper. So I don’t really have a lot of room to slack. However, the grading scale is much different here. 85% is an A and 50% is a C. There are even such things as “A+”!!! I hope to get my first ever A+ while I’m here. J Probably in my psych course.

Besides schoolwork, I have been spending more time getting to know the city and planning my semester break trip. Last night I went bowling at this fancy bowling alley (nothing like the smelly bowling alleys back home) and that was fun! I joined the campus “tramping club” which is hiking. They plan weekend trips to places around Wellington and teach us the ins and outs of tramping. There is also some opportunity to do rock climbing and bouldering which I might try to get in to.

Gelato worth getting pneumonia for...

I had thee most amazing gelato ever the other night. It was pouring rain outside, but me and few girls decided we were still going to make the hike down the hill into town to get some gelato. And boy, was it worth it! There were probably around 20 flavors. It was completely worth getting soaked on the way there. I chose mint-chip and biscotti (which was like cookies and cream) and it came on the most delicious waffle cone ever. I feel like I might stop by that place a lot… and that could be dangerous.

I am in the process of planning a weekend trip to the Waitomo caves. I want to go black water rafting and explore the glowworm caves. I can’t wait!

Botanic Gardens, My Flat, Island Bay and Orientation.

Botanic Gardens

At the top of the cable car.

Last Saturday my friends Molly, Isabella and I took the cable care up to the Botanic Gardens. The cable car picks up downtown and takes you up the hill where the Gardens are located which is amazing not to have to walk up the hill. And there is a great view of the city from up there.
We saw a lot of different types of trees and plants. It was beautiful and very peaceful. I’d love to go up there and just read a book. it is a little too chilly for that now. When we were there I ended up meeting a guy from St. Cloud just randomly walking through the Gardens. He had just finished a semester abroad in Australia and was traveling before going back to Minnesota. It was the craziest coincidence. What a small world we live in.

Beautiful flowers in the Botanic Gardens

Windy W

My Flat

My bedroom

Sunday came just in time because I was about to go crazy living out of a suitcase. I moved into my flat and met my Kiwi-mate Alice. Each flat has a “Kiwi-mate” which is a local New Zealand student that lives in an international student flat and helps us adjust to NZ and the city. I love that the university does this because she is full of advice and information for where to go for this or that. It’s really nice.

My bedroom

The first thing I did after unpacking was grab my backpack and head down the hill to do some grocery shopping. Did I mention I live on a huge hill? Well… I do. And coming from wonderfully flat Minnesota, it is going to take some getting used to. Wellington is located right on a bay and the downtown/waterfront shopping is all located down there. The farther you move up the hill, away from the bay, the more it becomes residential. The main campus is also located on the hill about 3 blocks from my flat. However, for everything besides class, I will have to make the trek down the hill and back up again. Carrying heavy groceries up that hill is not a good time, to say the least. I’m hoping to have some nicely sculpted legs by the time I get back. J

Living room

Anyway, I have settled into my flat nicely. My room is very spacious and it stays warm with my space heater and new blanket. I have a nice view from my window and a great view of the city from my back porch. I met my second flatmate, Matthieu, yesterday who is from France. We have an empty bedroom this semester which is fine with me because our flat is rather small and I think 3 is the perfect number for it. I have met a few other people that live on my street and am excited to meet more. There was a party last night at a guy from my program’s house and it was pretty much all Americans and some Kiwi-mates. It was fun getting to know people from other programs and hear about what they’ve doing since getting to NZ. We also had international orientation today which was too early and boring, but I met some other people there too. I am excited to start classes, but not for schoolwork. Ugh. One more semester. One more semester and I’m done. I can do it!

The view from our balcony

Island Bay

Island Bay

On Tuesday a few of us took a city bus to Island Bay on the coast in the attempt to get to Red Rocks where you can see seals on the beach and do whale-watching. The bus ride was about 30 minutes, but ended dropping us off further from Red Rocks then we expected. However, the beach we were on was amazing. The ocean is 30 minutes from my house and I love it! Why do I live in the Midwest again? I could get used to this. We walked for a good amount of time toward Red Rocks, but by the time we got there the sun was starting to go down and we didn’t want to make the walk in the dark. So we decided to save the seal watching for another day.

Mountains from the south island

The most incredible thing about this adventure was that you could see off in the distance the snow-capped peaks of the mountains on the south island (for those of you that don’t know NZ is made up of 2 large islands and Wellington is located on the very bottom of the north island). It was breathtaking. I was standing on the beach, but could see the snowy mountains in the distance. I wish cameras could capture moments like that. I will definitely go back soon to see the seals though and I can’t wait. 

Classes start on Monday and we’re starting to plan our semester break trip to the south island. Can’t wait to see what happens next. J

My life for the last 2 weeks.

I thought I would catch you all up on what’s been happening in my life over the past 2 weeks. For those of you that don’t know, I am spending this semester in Wellington, New Zealand through a study abroad program called The Education Abroad Network (TEAN). I flew out of LAX on Saturday, June 23rd and first stopped in Fiji for 4 nights. Then I flew to Auckland, NZ for another 4 nights. Finally, I made it to my new home, Wellington, on Tuesday evening and have been here for a couple nights now. I’m currently staying in a hotel until I can move into my flat on Sunday. Words cannot describe how excited I am to not be living out my suitcase. Anyway, here’s a brief description of my time in both Fiji and Auckland, and first impressions of Wellington. It has been quite the adventure so far…

BULA! Pre-Semester vacation in Fiji

The sunset on our first night on Naviti island.

Let me just say, one of the main reasons I chose to study through this program was because of this Fiji trip. I had read wonderful things about it, and because the cost was included in my program fees, I just couldn’t say no. And I was definitely not disappointed. We arrived pretty early on Monday, June 25^th and were greeted by one of our TEAN coordinators, Kate. She is Australian and was really cool. We dropped all our luggage at the hotel we stayed at on our last night (and there was A LOT between the 21 of us) and then jumped on a large ferry on our way to the island we stayed at. (Fiji is made up of over 300 islands and just over 100 are inhabited). Our resort was on Naviti which was about a 3 hour boat ride in which we passed by several other islands and resorts. It was incredible. Once we arrived to Naviti, we were greeted by the staff playing/singing a welcome song for us (“Bula” means hello/welcome in Fijian... but we seemed to use it in many other contexts.  I probably said that word 400 times over the 4 days there). We all slept in bunk beds that were nice and close to each other in this large bunk house. If we weren’t all going to bond in that situation, I don’t know when we would have.

The beach view from the local village.

The school house at the local village.

I have never seen water as blue and as clear as the water in Fiji. It was also like bath water and swimming felt amazing. There was a large raft we could swim out and relax in the sun. I spent a lot of time laying on the beach or snorkeling. I’d never been snorkeling before, but it was so much fun. The coral was amazing in our little bay and I got to see lots of awesome fish. We also went a boat ride to a different island one day to snorkel with manta rays. I only saw it twice because it was very hard to swim and keep up with the darn thing, but it was crazy! I was right above one at one point. Another day we took a hike over the ridge and visited the local village on the island (everyone that works at the resort is from the local village). The view from the top was breathtaking, but the hike wasn’t easy. Especially on the way back when the sun was getting hotter. In the village, we visited the school and walked around a little. The women of the village set up their handmade crafts for us to purchase. All the jewelry was very beautiful. The whole experience was very humbling. Everyone was so nice and welcoming.

We also played sand volleyball, Fijian games (spear throwing and tug-o-war), and entertained ourselves at night. Everyone from my program was very nice and we all seemed to get along well, which was great. There were several times when I was sitting on the beach, looking out of the breathtaking view, and I would think “Is this real life? Am I really here right now?” I feel so very fortunate to have gotten the chance to experience something like this.

Snorkling in the bay of our island.

Our last night was spent at a resort on the mainland. We had a delicious dinner together and then all pretty much passed out. Not having sand everywhere and a hot shower were the best parts of this night. Bright and early we got up and on our plane to Auckland. Finally, after months and months of waiting, I was on my way to NZ!

Welcome to New Zealand! TEAN Orientation in Auckland

Sky Tower in Auckland

At the top of Mt. Eden.

We arrived in Auckland and right away went to check into our hotel. It was a really nice place. The first day we took a walking tour of Auckland and then had dinner at a tapas bar. It was delicious, but I never seem to get full just off tapas. Oh well. The following day we met our guide for the day, Mellissa and prepared ourselves for a day full of Maori history. She is decedent of one of the tribes and had a lot of insight into the history of NZ. She took us to Mt. Eden which was a volcano and now serves as a park/look out over the city. We also visited a Maori museum and learned even more about Maori culture. It really was fascinating, but I was so exhausted from traveling and lack of sleep. However, we had our first NZ fish and chips experience for lunch and it was delicious. Each meal was wrapped up in several layers of newspaper like a present. Haha. And we sat on the steps of the museum and ate the food out of our laps. Very casual, I liked it.

Maori mask.

Going over the 7m waterfall.

Our raft flipping over.

The following day was my favorite of the trip. Sunday morning we set out for Rotorua for the day/night. Rotorua is about a 3 hour drive from Auckland and we drove past many sheep farms along the way. We actually stopped in a town now called “Hobbiton” that is the starting point for LOTR trips to the “Shire.” I need to get back there sometime in the next few months! First on the agenda was white water rafting. I’ve done this before in Costa Rica, but I was still anxious. We got all suited up and got into the water with our rafts. We were then told that the 7 meter water fall (about 21 feet) we were about to go over is the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world. THE WORLD! Ahhh. It was so exciting. We went over a smaller waterfall first and that went fine, but the second didn’t go so well. We were the only raft to flip. It all happened so fast. One second I see us going over the edge of the fall and the next I realize I am under the water. I was able to find the surface and grab onto the raft, but it was intense. There was a split second of panic, but once I found the surface I knew I’d be fine. Everyone else was fine too. The whole river was a lot of fun and I’m kind of glad we flipped. It was an adventure.

Zorbing in Rotorua.

Then we went Zorbing; which is when you climb inside this large plastic hamster ball filled with some water and roll down a hill. I rode down in the Zorb with another girl and we bounced around the whole time. Besides the fact that we had to stand in the frigidly cold air, in wet bathing suits, for 30 minutes before it was our turn, it was a blast! We finished the night relaxing in some geothermal hot springs in Rotorua which was the perfect ending to a cold day (even though it smelt like rotten eggs). We stayed at a backpacker’s hostel that night and then made the drive back to Auckland in the morning.

Crazy vine tree.

Our last night in Auckland was spent having a super fancy dinner out with our program leaders. After, we all toasted to wonderful orientation and the new friends we made. The next day we were all splitting up and going to our home universities so we all hung out at the hotel that night and enjoyed everyone’s company for the last night. The next morning we all got ready to leave Auckland (some stayed and moved into their university housing in Auckland) and it was very bittersweet. But I am sure I will see them all again sometime soon as we all plan to travel a lot this semester.

First impressions of Wellington

After an 1.5 hour flight delay we finally arrived in my new home, Wellington, on Tuesday afternoon. When I stepped off the plane, it already felt like home. We are staying in hotel until we can move in to our flats on Sunday. I’ve done some exploring of the city and have walked to campus. I even found the flat where I’ll be living and am very excited to move in. We went out a couple nights ago and the bar we went to was packed. A rugby game was on and everyone in the bar was glued to. It was really exciting. I just wish I knew what the rules were… I need to figure those out soon because Kiwis are seriously passionate about their rugby. Life here doesn’t seem too different from back home, but I am sure I will notice more as time goes on. However, on our first night here there was an earthquake… the first one I’ve ever experienced so that was quite exciting. Haha. It wasn’t big, but our hotel shook for about 15 seconds. I’m glad we got that out of the way the first night, so now I feel a little more prepared for the next one. Maybe…

Botanic Gardens in Wellington.

I am missing you all and am a little bummed I wasn’t home for the 4^th of July, but am so happy to finally be in Wellington. I will try to keep this blog up throughout the semester so you all have an idea of what I’m up to. You can message me on Facebook or email me also (fros0084@umn.edu).

From now on, my entries won’t be this long… promise. J