Botanic Gardens
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| 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.
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| Beautiful flowers in the Botanic Gardens |
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| Windy W |
My Flat
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| 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.
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| 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
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| 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!
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| The view from our balcony |
Island Bay
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| 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.
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| 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
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. 
Baller! That view from your porch is most excellent. My view in London was terrible, so I am jealous. Then I saw those mountains! Damn. That is awesome, and I know what you mean about cameras not doing it justice. I can only imagine how clear and gorgeous they were in person. Awesome. Keep having fun sis!
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