Monday, September 04, 2006
Wednesday 23/Friday 25
The flight to LA was short and uneventful. I sat next to a grandmother and her seven-year-old granddaughter, who made lots of noise the whole flight. I ended up walking from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 because I could see the terminal when I stepped outside and it seemed pointless to wait for the shuttle just to go about a hundred feet. Plus, I’d be on a plane for a really long time; I might as well walk and stand while I could.
When I got to Terminal 2, the first thing I saw was the currency exchange stand, so I changed some money and got an idea as to where I could find the ticketing counter. The lady I got at the ticketing counter took her time; I’m not sure whether she didn’t know exactly what she was doing or whether she just worked slow. Either way, I got a boarding pass. While I was in line for it, I met the first person a fellow BU student, Maggie. She had just flown in from New Jersey and we went up to the gates together. Maggie is nice, but whenever I’m around her, I get quiet. She seems like a quiet person… well, more quiet than some of the others in the group, at least. When we made it to the gate, there were already some people there waiting, so we talked to them and started to get to know one another. As more time passed, more people in our group came. I think we had all but two people of the group on our flight, so that must have been about 18 people waiting around at the airport for the plane.
It seemed to take forever to get on the plane. We started boarding 45 minutes before we were due to take off, and we were on a 747. But the flight wasn’t full, and a lot of people got rows to themselves. I had a row to myself but some guy moved into my row and took up three of the four seats [the one he didn’t take up was the one I was in] and slept. I was affronted… I was supposed to be the lucky one with the row to myself! And here was some random guy who’s taking up all my space. He kept moving around a lot, and I tried laying down in the seats, but I couldn’t get comfortable that way, so I was less mad when he came back. I later found out this guy pissed off a lot of the people in my group for one reason or another. His original seat was next to one of the students and his wife, but when he left, his wife stayed in the middle seat and didn’t move over to the end, thus effectively blocking in the student she was sitting next to. Another student he kept staring at for some reason. And at other times, he’d just stand next to someone. He was an odd person. But whatever, we made it through the flight without much other incident. They fed us dinner and breakfast and we were given as much liquids as we wanted. There was also a personal entertainment system in front of everyone’s seat, with access to a lot of movies, tv shows, and games – all for free. I’m sure it would have been more utilised if it weren’t in the middle of the night… but they were nice. I slept to some classic oldies – from the US and from NZ [which sounded a lot like those from the US …] most of the way there. I watched part of World’s Fastest Indian until I fell asleep [the movie is about a New Zealander who owns an Indian motorcycle and is fixing it up to make it faster. I’m assuming he achieves his goal.] and then most of Ice Age 2 until we began to descend and they turned our TVs off.
When we arrived in NZ, I was afraid my luggage wouldn’t come because I hadn’t personally checked it in myself, but it came! Unfortunately, one student’s luggage was lost and he is currently without a change of clothes. We had to wait around the airport while he figured out his luggage wasn’t going to come. It was kind of sad. Going through customs and everything was a bit strange. We had to go through bioscreeners and they had dogs come out every couple of minutes to sniff our luggage.
There were twenty kids in the group, so we had to take two super shuttles to the campus. We just talked about how different NZ was from America the whole way.
Once we got to the campus dorms, we were shuttled into a room for orientation [luggage and all!] and we went over some ground rules of the school. At last, we were given our keys and about an hour to go upstairs and unpack. Surprisingly, everything that I brought fit into my room – and I have room left over!
After that, we had to go back downstairs and we got a walking tour of the city. We got to see our classroom building, which is just up the hill… and when you think you’re done with that hill, there’s three more. I swear, by the time I get through with this program, I should be fit as a fiddle between all the walking, hills, and hiking. Here’s hoping. We then went to lunch at a place called Mezze Bar, which was a kind of Mediterranean café. The food was really good. After that, we walked some more and got our student ID cards verified, and then we went shopping! We went to a sort of … I guess it’s kind of like Wal-Mart, except it’s got all the stuff you probably never needed. It’s called the Warehouse, and we got some sheets and household items. I bought a sheet, a pillow, and a pillow case for less than fifteen US dollars. The sheet’s a little wonky – I had to kind of fold my mattress for it to fit, but hey, it works. Then we took all that stuff home and then went grocery shopping! I think the idea is that they wear us down enough the first day, but take us out all day, to help us get used to the time change. [Did I mention we lost a day in transit? We left Wednesday, flew 13 hours, I think, then arrived on Friday. Crazy.] Groceries are a bit expensive here, for just basics between two people [one of my suitemates bought her own food, and I’m sharing with the other] it was about 80 US dollars, but some of the stuff is stuff we won’t be buying each time, too, so… I guess it will work out. After that, we had another orientation meeting [I really think they just didn’t want us going to sleep at that point], we were allowed to do whatever we wanted to.
Fifteen of the twenty went out for dinner at this little Chinese/Korean/Japanese restaurant. After we ordered, the food came out slowly so some people were finished before others even got theirs. It was late, I guess, for the store, but the food was good. We played the “Guess what breed I am!” game [ie: what nationalities we all were – and we’ve got some interesting mixes here]. Finally, when we finished, we sent Ben [the kid whose luggage was lost and who was exhausted and falling asleep at the table – though we all were at that point] to go get the bill and he told the lady to split the check 15 ways… so we’re waiting and waiting for the checks to come, only afterwards thinking about how much easier one check would have been, until we decide to just go and pay at the front instead of waiting. Turns out, after about fifteen minutes, that was what we should have done – she was waiting for us! We paid, walked home, and fell promptly asleep.
Saturday 26
We woke up this morning to have another orientation/internship meeting and then went on a bus tour of Auckland.
First, we went to Mount Eden, which is the highest point in Auckland. We started to drive up the big hill to the top when the driver suddenly stops, and starts apologising to us all and starts backing up. Something about the transmission, we don’t really get the whole answer in the back rows, and we’re a bit concerned about going down the hill in a bus backwards. We finally make it and end up hiking to the top only to find that it’s this huge crater. We take lots of pictures and then hike back down.
After that, we went to the Michael Joseph Savage Memorial. MJS was the first Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand and, if I can recall from my unnecessary readings from this summer [we’re using the book I read as part of the material for the course we’re taking … and by part, I mean one chapter {so not amused by this, either, but I’m glad I didn’t read the others yet}], the Labour party did a lot of good for NZ and he brought in a lot of change and good things. Anyway. Took some more pictures, walked around and ogled.
We also drove through the ritzy part of NZ and saw homes that sold for around 6 million and reportedly charged a $5 entry fee during the real estate boom a bit ago.
Then we stopped at Mission Bay beach/boardwalk for lunch. I had some “fush and chups” and a crab stick [stick of crab + batter] and it was all wrapped in newspaper too! We ate on the beach and threw our extra chips to the seagulls and the Finding Nemo birds that say, “Mine!”
After that, we drove to Muriwai. But on the way there, we stopped at a vineyard and booked a wine tasting and helped get a truck out of a rut at the vineyard. It was well documented. Muriwai was amazing. It was all farm land and hills and sheep and cows and turkeys and bulls and green! I took lots of pictures. Finally, we got to the beach and went to lookouts and out on the beach. Dad, I spit in the Tasman Sea for you. We watched some of the, er, braver kids of the group go into a cave during the transition from low tide to high tide, took more pictures, and then went to our wine tasting. It all kind of tasted the same to me [except the noticeable difference in dryness between red and white] but it smelled different… but I could never place any of the smells. Other people were all, “Oh yeah, apple blossom!” and the rest of us were all, “… grapes?” I bought some, including a bottle of “Cat Pee on Gooseberry,” I believe it’s called. I figure if we don’t drink it here, it’ll be a nice novelty at home. Surprisingly, the vineyard we went to doesn’t have a supplier in Nevada, or else I’d have bought some at home, but alas.
After that, we came home, rested for, oh, a half hour, then went right back out to a pub for Pub Night. Oh, somewhere in between there we stopped at a fish/fresh veggies/fresh fruit market and we got to taste mangosteens. Oddest looking fruit ever but great taste! Anyway, so Pub Night. We went to this place called O’Hagans and I had a ginger beer. It was good, but strong ginger taste… until I realised that there was a lime slice in my drink for a reason, and then it tasted reallllly good. They list calories as energy here, and they’re listed in kilojoules, too. Anyway. So we had some appetizers and such and then walked home in the RAIN. It started to pour during our time there and was still raining on our way home, but it was ok. What’s a little rain?
We walked home, then a few of us were going to go out, but then the group became four. So we walked to the Sky City Casino [it’s in the bottom of the big Space Needle looking thing and we were just kind of wandering anyway]. This guy Matt and I played blackjack. I, at one point, was up 30 NZD, but lost my hand that would have put me up 40, so I walked away with an extra 20 instead. I ended up being the big winner of the night, as the next guy only put some money in a slot machine and won 2.80. We stopped and watched this lounge act that wasn’t that great but we couldn’t look away. We walked home and saw a couple be shot up in a reverse bungee jump and decided it wasn’t that cool and that we weren’t going to go on it. Oh, also, at the Sky City Casino, at the top of the Needle is a “controlled free fall,” which is like a bungee jump, but instead of bouncing around at the end and then whatever, you jump, hang around for a few minutes, then are lowered in a controlled manner to the ground. I still don’t quite get the difference, but I do know what they’re talking about versus a bungee cord. I think you wear harnesses.
I bought a phone card with my winnings and I think the clerk tried to rip me off. I said I wanted a 20 NZD card, and he pulls out the card and starts asking me if I know how to use it, but is just showing me the back. Luckily, I flipped it over before he put my 20 in his drawer and shut it because it was only a 10. :P
Sunday 27
Today was a free day so I got to sleep in some [which was good because we didn’t get home until midnight the night before] and then I just kind of relaxed in the morning. I called a few people and talked and got a coffee and then we went out shopping. I went with two other girls up to Parnell, which is sort of northeast of Auckland City. We took the bus there and kept getting off on the wrong stops, so it cost us a bit extra for our rides. Finally, we found what we were looking for and got some of the stuff we needed for our rooms. I found some rechargeable batteries, but found them at a place that’s kind of like Circuit City, and then found them cheaper at The Warehouse [the Wal-Mart of NZ], so I was kind of upset with myself, but it was only a few dollars, so whatever, life goes on. I also had to get a new alarm clock. The one I brought with me doesn’t quite work. It needs the voltage converter to operate properly, but time seems to slow down for it. I’ll set it to the right time and then I’ll come back and it’ll be two hours slow. I figured it had something to do with a delay in the converter. And I had to get a new purse. Mom was right, my purse is way too small. I finally got tired of having to carry my camera and my purse and a water bottle and whatever else I needed. I ended up getting a smallish messenger carrier bag; all the purses I saw were all glitz and glam for a club.
When we were done shopping, we decided to take the bus for its full route around the city, so it was a nice, cheapy tour of the surrounding areas of Auckland. Oh, I should mention that prostitution is legal here, so we came across a sort of red light district; it was sex shop after sex shop, and there’s a brothel just down the street from where we’re staying. As far as I know, no one has gone yet, but someone has eaten at the Turkish restaurant next door, so they could have had a jaunt to it as well.
As soon as we put our stuff down, we went right back out and went to the Sky Tower [think Space Needle/Stratosphere] and up to the observation deck. A couple of us ended up not getting the second ticket to go to the deck up a few more floors and outside, so we got coffee and sat and relaxed and enjoyed the view. That part of the group decided to leave, but four of us stayed and just talked and ended up watching the sunset from the top of the Sky Tower. By the time it got dark, we were hungry and we were going to go to this pub we found called the Shakespeare Tavern [with beers named after plays!] and we ran into some people who decided to come to the Tower after the big group of us did and they joined us. Turns out Shakespeare’s isn’t open on Sundays, so our groups ended up splitting again. Since I’m very easily persuaded, I was, at first, going to go home and make dinner, but then the three I was with earlier decided they were going to go out and I decided to join them anyway. We went to a nice restaurant down on the waterfront and ate outside even though it was cold. The seater guy just looked at us odd when we asked if we could [it was a clear night! We could see stars we’d never seen!] and told us, “It’s cold, yeah?” The poor server they sent out to us was new and probably was still being given grunt work. They sent out some complimentary garlic bread to us [I’m not sure if it was management trying to give us something warm or if some people inside thought we were brave/stupid for sitting outside {it really wasn’t that cold; there was just a breeze off of the water which made it seem worse than what it was}]. We had such a good time, though. We told stories and laughed and had a good meal and shared beers, it was fun. Then we walked down to the pier and ogled this huge yacht that was named Kokomo and told lame jokes all the way home.
Monday –
The day before we had class for the first time! We had some more orientation gigs to go to, had a walking tour of the campus, and had a travel agent talk to us about travelling… after which, she asked us questions about the presentation and gave out prizes. I ended up getting a rafting trip in Rotorua, which we will be going to later in the semester.
After the presentation, Tanya, Mary, Maggie, and I walked around the city, window shopping. We also had the idea to start investigating trip ideas, so we went down to the travel agency the woman was from, and got some ideas for a trip for the upcoming weekend.
We got the information, reconvened with the group later that night and got everyone’s input on the trip we’d set up [well, mostly Tanya set up, we were just there for support, really.] and made plans for the trip.
Tuesday we started classes. We have two in this first half, politics and history and culture. Politics occurs early in the morning at around 9 am, usually, and we have it for about 2 hours. The times change almost every day because our program is weird. Then, at 5, we have history and culture for about two hours. Tanya, Maggie, and I went to book our trip during the break, and then went food shopping until we had to get back to class. That night, we went out to a pub and went dancing; we started off with a lot of people, but ended up with just six at the end of the night [everyone else left early to go elsewhere] and Kali entered a pool tournament at the pub.
Wednesday, we had class again. I spent some time alone, went to the computer lab, ate lunch, nothing too important. We ended up staying in and having a beer tasting party. Some of the group went to this town called Otahuhu and wandered around some and found a mix pack of beers that they brought home because they got a free bottle opener with the pack. It was an awesome evening, lots of fun.
Thursday – the start of our weekend! We had classes again. When we came home, we had a potluck dinner and everyone made a little bit of something and passed it around. The kitchens here are called Kitchen Stadium because it’s just row after row of stoves and fridges and is two stories. I’ll have to find a picture of it from someone else. Then we all hung out for a bit, planned out the trip some more, and packed.
Friday – We rented these cars called Spaceships [google Spaceship New Zealand, you’ll get to their website] which lets four or two people sleep in them. We packed up and headed to the north, out of the city. Lots of driving was to be had. We finally stop at a park and see the Four Sisters [Kauri trees, I have pictures!], the 2nd largest Kauri tree, and then the first largest and probably oldest [estimated to be about 2000 years old]. By the time we finished with the first largest, it was dark and we drove to the next town on our list and found a place to sleep for the night. We found this really nice beach area, called Lookout Point, but it said no camping or parking overnight, so we had this big ordeal over whether or not we wanted to risk it. We ended up driving a bit more and we find this bar and someone asks a local about the area. He tells us no one would bother us at Lookout, and that there’s a campground nearby as well. Well, because we just told someone where we would be staying, some of the group decided they didn’t want to camp out at Lookout Point in case they stopped by in the middle of the night to bother us. We finally decide [by way of the campground guy telling us they’ll put us through the system and charging us $12 a head – my car just thought he was saying what he had to in order to make a bit of extra money ] to go to the campgrounds. We hung out on the beach for a while and then hit the hay. Some people stayed up and ended up taking a swim in the dark. Well, more of a wading then a swim – the water’s still pretty cold out here.
The next day [Saturday], a few of us get up early and go back to Lookout Point for the sunrise. When we get back, we wake everyone else up and decide to split into two groups. One group going all the way north to Cape Reinga, and the other group going some what more north but heading easterly. There’s a lighthouse at Cape Reinga at the northernmost point of New Zealand. My group ended up going up there and we got to see the point where the South Pacific meets the Tasman Sea; it was way beautiful. There were whirlpools and tons of waves. Rob, Tanya, and I hiked up this huge hill and got an amazing view of the area. We hung up around there until the others in our group showed up. At that point, we took tons of pictures; I had a picnic and got to fly a kite up on the hill, as well. It was a lot of fun and was very breath-taking. I can’t even begin to describe it and the pictures don’t really do it justice. We end up seeing some rain coming in so we head off to the sand dunes about 20 km from the lighthouse. We get to the sand dunes and some people aren’t sure they want to go up, but with some convincing everyone takes off their shoes and rolls up their pants. We get over the first hill, and there’s nothing but sand everywhere. It was the oddest scene; to our left there was forest and to our right and in front of us was nothing but sand. We end up climbing this huge [maybe 50+ feet high] sand dune mountain and then we could see the ocean in front of us. It was so beautiful! I’ve got pictures, but my memory card ran out of space, so I had to stop for a while. Everyone else has pictures, too, so I’ll get some from them. Coming back from the point we all stopped at, some threw themselves down the sand mountain, others swam down, and Tanya, Kali, and I kind of skied down in a link. I was up to my knees in sand! It was unbelievable the amount of sand everyone was covered in by the time we all got down.
After dusting off as best we could, we headed off to Whangera to meet up with the other group. However, half way there, we get a voice message from them saying there had been a minor injury and that they were at the hospital, but didn’t give us the details, so we start speculating. First, we try to figure out who got hurt and then what they hurt. On the first phone message, all we got was that they were going to head back to Auckland, but then there was another one saying they would be staying. Our group ended up finding a scenic picnic area to campout in and crash. Sometime during the night, there was a loud siren that was described as an air raid siren. Now, I’m not a light sleeper usually, but I was dead asleep and did not wake up. It woke everyone else up and it kept them up for fifteen minutes and then an hour or so as they tried to figure out what it meant and what they should do. The ideas floating around were: An air raid leading to a nuclear winter, an escaped convict was nearby, or there was an earthquake and a tsunami was about to hit [which freaked out the most people because we weren’t sure how far away from shore we were]. The worst part was that apparently there are wild roosters and chickens where we stopped and it woke them all up, so they start their cock-a-doodle-doodling and won’t stop. I woke up for that one… it sounded like we were surrounded by a mass migration of them, they were so close! We finally fall back asleep and then find out later the siren must have been for the volunteer fire department.
The next day [Sunday], we go up to the Bay of Islands. On the way there, we stopped by the Treaty House. The big deal about the Treaty is it is what the native chiefs signed to give Britain power over NZ. However, the Treaty was translated into Maori overnight, and very badly translated, and so to this day there is controversy over the legality of the Treaty. The grounds were beautiful, though; right on the water! And all the birds – you’ve never heard so many birds and so many different calls in your life!! After we finished up there, we headed to the actual Bay of Islands and we went kayaking. I’ve never been before so I was kind of worried I’d tip over so I didn’t bring my camera. I didn’t tip, though! We went up to see a waterfall and hung out at the nearby beach for a while before heading back to the rental place. My shoulders are sore as all get out today, though! After a light dinner, we decided to head back to Auckland via Whangera [where the hospital is where the rogue group member was injured]. We’re on the road and we get a call from the other group and we a few details, but we’re told not to come out to the hospital. We also find out who and what got hurt. Raina broke her ankle, apparently, but we never got the whole story. So we decide to head back to Auckland, instead, and make it home by around 10 pm. We unload the vehicles, shower, and just relax the rest of the night.
Today [Monday], we had library orientation that lasted for about an hour. After that was over, Rob, Tanya, and I headed out to find a tent for this weekend [we’re going camping/fishing, but without the roadtrip as we have had enough of cars for a while] and ended up reading in a park we found until we realised it was impossible to get any work done and started playing cribbage instead [I won!]. We headed home and stopped at the grocery store for laundry detergent [who knew road trips were so messy?] and ran into the rest of the people from the other group. Apparently, they went sand-tobogganing down a 200 foot tall sand dune that had about a 60% angle to it. They learned from the first two who went down that breaking midway was a bad idea or else you’d be tossed in the air for a bit. Well, Raina went down, and makes it all the way down the dune, but then hits grass and put her feet down to stop. She was going so fast, however, that she ended up being launched in the air and landed ten feet away from her sled, she tumbled around and ended up falling into a ditch near the dune. She waved at the others but then she started flaying and the two that had gone down before her run over to see what’s wrong; she was white as a ghost and couldn’t remember where she was or how she had gotten there. The others get down, somehow, from the top of the dune, and start trying to figure out how to get her out of the ditch and back to the car. Finally, they get some locals to drive them back to their cars and then they get Raina to the hospital. She has a clean break through her fibula and needs a metal plate and surgery [which she got this morning]. She’ll have a six week recovery, but they say she was laughing and saying she had a great time and she’s got her memory back.
Anyway, so that’s what’s been going on since I’ve gotten here. I promise to update a lot and upload tons of pictures.
The flight to LA was short and uneventful. I sat next to a grandmother and her seven-year-old granddaughter, who made lots of noise the whole flight. I ended up walking from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 because I could see the terminal when I stepped outside and it seemed pointless to wait for the shuttle just to go about a hundred feet. Plus, I’d be on a plane for a really long time; I might as well walk and stand while I could.
When I got to Terminal 2, the first thing I saw was the currency exchange stand, so I changed some money and got an idea as to where I could find the ticketing counter. The lady I got at the ticketing counter took her time; I’m not sure whether she didn’t know exactly what she was doing or whether she just worked slow. Either way, I got a boarding pass. While I was in line for it, I met the first person a fellow BU student, Maggie. She had just flown in from New Jersey and we went up to the gates together. Maggie is nice, but whenever I’m around her, I get quiet. She seems like a quiet person… well, more quiet than some of the others in the group, at least. When we made it to the gate, there were already some people there waiting, so we talked to them and started to get to know one another. As more time passed, more people in our group came. I think we had all but two people of the group on our flight, so that must have been about 18 people waiting around at the airport for the plane.
It seemed to take forever to get on the plane. We started boarding 45 minutes before we were due to take off, and we were on a 747. But the flight wasn’t full, and a lot of people got rows to themselves. I had a row to myself but some guy moved into my row and took up three of the four seats [the one he didn’t take up was the one I was in] and slept. I was affronted… I was supposed to be the lucky one with the row to myself! And here was some random guy who’s taking up all my space. He kept moving around a lot, and I tried laying down in the seats, but I couldn’t get comfortable that way, so I was less mad when he came back. I later found out this guy pissed off a lot of the people in my group for one reason or another. His original seat was next to one of the students and his wife, but when he left, his wife stayed in the middle seat and didn’t move over to the end, thus effectively blocking in the student she was sitting next to. Another student he kept staring at for some reason. And at other times, he’d just stand next to someone. He was an odd person. But whatever, we made it through the flight without much other incident. They fed us dinner and breakfast and we were given as much liquids as we wanted. There was also a personal entertainment system in front of everyone’s seat, with access to a lot of movies, tv shows, and games – all for free. I’m sure it would have been more utilised if it weren’t in the middle of the night… but they were nice. I slept to some classic oldies – from the US and from NZ [which sounded a lot like those from the US …] most of the way there. I watched part of World’s Fastest Indian until I fell asleep [the movie is about a New Zealander who owns an Indian motorcycle and is fixing it up to make it faster. I’m assuming he achieves his goal.] and then most of Ice Age 2 until we began to descend and they turned our TVs off.
When we arrived in NZ, I was afraid my luggage wouldn’t come because I hadn’t personally checked it in myself, but it came! Unfortunately, one student’s luggage was lost and he is currently without a change of clothes. We had to wait around the airport while he figured out his luggage wasn’t going to come. It was kind of sad. Going through customs and everything was a bit strange. We had to go through bioscreeners and they had dogs come out every couple of minutes to sniff our luggage.
There were twenty kids in the group, so we had to take two super shuttles to the campus. We just talked about how different NZ was from America the whole way.
Once we got to the campus dorms, we were shuttled into a room for orientation [luggage and all!] and we went over some ground rules of the school. At last, we were given our keys and about an hour to go upstairs and unpack. Surprisingly, everything that I brought fit into my room – and I have room left over!
After that, we had to go back downstairs and we got a walking tour of the city. We got to see our classroom building, which is just up the hill… and when you think you’re done with that hill, there’s three more. I swear, by the time I get through with this program, I should be fit as a fiddle between all the walking, hills, and hiking. Here’s hoping. We then went to lunch at a place called Mezze Bar, which was a kind of Mediterranean café. The food was really good. After that, we walked some more and got our student ID cards verified, and then we went shopping! We went to a sort of … I guess it’s kind of like Wal-Mart, except it’s got all the stuff you probably never needed. It’s called the Warehouse, and we got some sheets and household items. I bought a sheet, a pillow, and a pillow case for less than fifteen US dollars. The sheet’s a little wonky – I had to kind of fold my mattress for it to fit, but hey, it works. Then we took all that stuff home and then went grocery shopping! I think the idea is that they wear us down enough the first day, but take us out all day, to help us get used to the time change. [Did I mention we lost a day in transit? We left Wednesday, flew 13 hours, I think, then arrived on Friday. Crazy.] Groceries are a bit expensive here, for just basics between two people [one of my suitemates bought her own food, and I’m sharing with the other] it was about 80 US dollars, but some of the stuff is stuff we won’t be buying each time, too, so… I guess it will work out. After that, we had another orientation meeting [I really think they just didn’t want us going to sleep at that point], we were allowed to do whatever we wanted to.
Fifteen of the twenty went out for dinner at this little Chinese/Korean/Japanese restaurant. After we ordered, the food came out slowly so some people were finished before others even got theirs. It was late, I guess, for the store, but the food was good. We played the “Guess what breed I am!” game [ie: what nationalities we all were – and we’ve got some interesting mixes here]. Finally, when we finished, we sent Ben [the kid whose luggage was lost and who was exhausted and falling asleep at the table – though we all were at that point] to go get the bill and he told the lady to split the check 15 ways… so we’re waiting and waiting for the checks to come, only afterwards thinking about how much easier one check would have been, until we decide to just go and pay at the front instead of waiting. Turns out, after about fifteen minutes, that was what we should have done – she was waiting for us! We paid, walked home, and fell promptly asleep.
Saturday 26
We woke up this morning to have another orientation/internship meeting and then went on a bus tour of Auckland.
First, we went to Mount Eden, which is the highest point in Auckland. We started to drive up the big hill to the top when the driver suddenly stops, and starts apologising to us all and starts backing up. Something about the transmission, we don’t really get the whole answer in the back rows, and we’re a bit concerned about going down the hill in a bus backwards. We finally make it and end up hiking to the top only to find that it’s this huge crater. We take lots of pictures and then hike back down.
After that, we went to the Michael Joseph Savage Memorial. MJS was the first Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand and, if I can recall from my unnecessary readings from this summer [we’re using the book I read as part of the material for the course we’re taking … and by part, I mean one chapter {so not amused by this, either, but I’m glad I didn’t read the others yet}], the Labour party did a lot of good for NZ and he brought in a lot of change and good things. Anyway. Took some more pictures, walked around and ogled.
We also drove through the ritzy part of NZ and saw homes that sold for around 6 million and reportedly charged a $5 entry fee during the real estate boom a bit ago.
Then we stopped at Mission Bay beach/boardwalk for lunch. I had some “fush and chups” and a crab stick [stick of crab + batter] and it was all wrapped in newspaper too! We ate on the beach and threw our extra chips to the seagulls and the Finding Nemo birds that say, “Mine!”
After that, we drove to Muriwai. But on the way there, we stopped at a vineyard and booked a wine tasting and helped get a truck out of a rut at the vineyard. It was well documented. Muriwai was amazing. It was all farm land and hills and sheep and cows and turkeys and bulls and green! I took lots of pictures. Finally, we got to the beach and went to lookouts and out on the beach. Dad, I spit in the Tasman Sea for you. We watched some of the, er, braver kids of the group go into a cave during the transition from low tide to high tide, took more pictures, and then went to our wine tasting. It all kind of tasted the same to me [except the noticeable difference in dryness between red and white] but it smelled different… but I could never place any of the smells. Other people were all, “Oh yeah, apple blossom!” and the rest of us were all, “… grapes?” I bought some, including a bottle of “Cat Pee on Gooseberry,” I believe it’s called. I figure if we don’t drink it here, it’ll be a nice novelty at home. Surprisingly, the vineyard we went to doesn’t have a supplier in Nevada, or else I’d have bought some at home, but alas.
After that, we came home, rested for, oh, a half hour, then went right back out to a pub for Pub Night. Oh, somewhere in between there we stopped at a fish/fresh veggies/fresh fruit market and we got to taste mangosteens. Oddest looking fruit ever but great taste! Anyway, so Pub Night. We went to this place called O’Hagans and I had a ginger beer. It was good, but strong ginger taste… until I realised that there was a lime slice in my drink for a reason, and then it tasted reallllly good. They list calories as energy here, and they’re listed in kilojoules, too. Anyway. So we had some appetizers and such and then walked home in the RAIN. It started to pour during our time there and was still raining on our way home, but it was ok. What’s a little rain?
We walked home, then a few of us were going to go out, but then the group became four. So we walked to the Sky City Casino [it’s in the bottom of the big Space Needle looking thing and we were just kind of wandering anyway]. This guy Matt and I played blackjack. I, at one point, was up 30 NZD, but lost my hand that would have put me up 40, so I walked away with an extra 20 instead. I ended up being the big winner of the night, as the next guy only put some money in a slot machine and won 2.80. We stopped and watched this lounge act that wasn’t that great but we couldn’t look away. We walked home and saw a couple be shot up in a reverse bungee jump and decided it wasn’t that cool and that we weren’t going to go on it. Oh, also, at the Sky City Casino, at the top of the Needle is a “controlled free fall,” which is like a bungee jump, but instead of bouncing around at the end and then whatever, you jump, hang around for a few minutes, then are lowered in a controlled manner to the ground. I still don’t quite get the difference, but I do know what they’re talking about versus a bungee cord. I think you wear harnesses.
I bought a phone card with my winnings and I think the clerk tried to rip me off. I said I wanted a 20 NZD card, and he pulls out the card and starts asking me if I know how to use it, but is just showing me the back. Luckily, I flipped it over before he put my 20 in his drawer and shut it because it was only a 10. :P
Sunday 27
Today was a free day so I got to sleep in some [which was good because we didn’t get home until midnight the night before] and then I just kind of relaxed in the morning. I called a few people and talked and got a coffee and then we went out shopping. I went with two other girls up to Parnell, which is sort of northeast of Auckland City. We took the bus there and kept getting off on the wrong stops, so it cost us a bit extra for our rides. Finally, we found what we were looking for and got some of the stuff we needed for our rooms. I found some rechargeable batteries, but found them at a place that’s kind of like Circuit City, and then found them cheaper at The Warehouse [the Wal-Mart of NZ], so I was kind of upset with myself, but it was only a few dollars, so whatever, life goes on. I also had to get a new alarm clock. The one I brought with me doesn’t quite work. It needs the voltage converter to operate properly, but time seems to slow down for it. I’ll set it to the right time and then I’ll come back and it’ll be two hours slow. I figured it had something to do with a delay in the converter. And I had to get a new purse. Mom was right, my purse is way too small. I finally got tired of having to carry my camera and my purse and a water bottle and whatever else I needed. I ended up getting a smallish messenger carrier bag; all the purses I saw were all glitz and glam for a club.
When we were done shopping, we decided to take the bus for its full route around the city, so it was a nice, cheapy tour of the surrounding areas of Auckland. Oh, I should mention that prostitution is legal here, so we came across a sort of red light district; it was sex shop after sex shop, and there’s a brothel just down the street from where we’re staying. As far as I know, no one has gone yet, but someone has eaten at the Turkish restaurant next door, so they could have had a jaunt to it as well.
As soon as we put our stuff down, we went right back out and went to the Sky Tower [think Space Needle/Stratosphere] and up to the observation deck. A couple of us ended up not getting the second ticket to go to the deck up a few more floors and outside, so we got coffee and sat and relaxed and enjoyed the view. That part of the group decided to leave, but four of us stayed and just talked and ended up watching the sunset from the top of the Sky Tower. By the time it got dark, we were hungry and we were going to go to this pub we found called the Shakespeare Tavern [with beers named after plays!] and we ran into some people who decided to come to the Tower after the big group of us did and they joined us. Turns out Shakespeare’s isn’t open on Sundays, so our groups ended up splitting again. Since I’m very easily persuaded, I was, at first, going to go home and make dinner, but then the three I was with earlier decided they were going to go out and I decided to join them anyway. We went to a nice restaurant down on the waterfront and ate outside even though it was cold. The seater guy just looked at us odd when we asked if we could [it was a clear night! We could see stars we’d never seen!] and told us, “It’s cold, yeah?” The poor server they sent out to us was new and probably was still being given grunt work. They sent out some complimentary garlic bread to us [I’m not sure if it was management trying to give us something warm or if some people inside thought we were brave/stupid for sitting outside {it really wasn’t that cold; there was just a breeze off of the water which made it seem worse than what it was}]. We had such a good time, though. We told stories and laughed and had a good meal and shared beers, it was fun. Then we walked down to the pier and ogled this huge yacht that was named Kokomo and told lame jokes all the way home.
Monday –
The day before we had class for the first time! We had some more orientation gigs to go to, had a walking tour of the campus, and had a travel agent talk to us about travelling… after which, she asked us questions about the presentation and gave out prizes. I ended up getting a rafting trip in Rotorua, which we will be going to later in the semester.
After the presentation, Tanya, Mary, Maggie, and I walked around the city, window shopping. We also had the idea to start investigating trip ideas, so we went down to the travel agency the woman was from, and got some ideas for a trip for the upcoming weekend.
We got the information, reconvened with the group later that night and got everyone’s input on the trip we’d set up [well, mostly Tanya set up, we were just there for support, really.] and made plans for the trip.
Tuesday we started classes. We have two in this first half, politics and history and culture. Politics occurs early in the morning at around 9 am, usually, and we have it for about 2 hours. The times change almost every day because our program is weird. Then, at 5, we have history and culture for about two hours. Tanya, Maggie, and I went to book our trip during the break, and then went food shopping until we had to get back to class. That night, we went out to a pub and went dancing; we started off with a lot of people, but ended up with just six at the end of the night [everyone else left early to go elsewhere] and Kali entered a pool tournament at the pub.
Wednesday, we had class again. I spent some time alone, went to the computer lab, ate lunch, nothing too important. We ended up staying in and having a beer tasting party. Some of the group went to this town called Otahuhu and wandered around some and found a mix pack of beers that they brought home because they got a free bottle opener with the pack. It was an awesome evening, lots of fun.
Thursday – the start of our weekend! We had classes again. When we came home, we had a potluck dinner and everyone made a little bit of something and passed it around. The kitchens here are called Kitchen Stadium because it’s just row after row of stoves and fridges and is two stories. I’ll have to find a picture of it from someone else. Then we all hung out for a bit, planned out the trip some more, and packed.
Friday – We rented these cars called Spaceships [google Spaceship New Zealand, you’ll get to their website] which lets four or two people sleep in them. We packed up and headed to the north, out of the city. Lots of driving was to be had. We finally stop at a park and see the Four Sisters [Kauri trees, I have pictures!], the 2nd largest Kauri tree, and then the first largest and probably oldest [estimated to be about 2000 years old]. By the time we finished with the first largest, it was dark and we drove to the next town on our list and found a place to sleep for the night. We found this really nice beach area, called Lookout Point, but it said no camping or parking overnight, so we had this big ordeal over whether or not we wanted to risk it. We ended up driving a bit more and we find this bar and someone asks a local about the area. He tells us no one would bother us at Lookout, and that there’s a campground nearby as well. Well, because we just told someone where we would be staying, some of the group decided they didn’t want to camp out at Lookout Point in case they stopped by in the middle of the night to bother us. We finally decide [by way of the campground guy telling us they’ll put us through the system and charging us $12 a head – my car just thought he was saying what he had to in order to make a bit of extra money ] to go to the campgrounds. We hung out on the beach for a while and then hit the hay. Some people stayed up and ended up taking a swim in the dark. Well, more of a wading then a swim – the water’s still pretty cold out here.
The next day [Saturday], a few of us get up early and go back to Lookout Point for the sunrise. When we get back, we wake everyone else up and decide to split into two groups. One group going all the way north to Cape Reinga, and the other group going some what more north but heading easterly. There’s a lighthouse at Cape Reinga at the northernmost point of New Zealand. My group ended up going up there and we got to see the point where the South Pacific meets the Tasman Sea; it was way beautiful. There were whirlpools and tons of waves. Rob, Tanya, and I hiked up this huge hill and got an amazing view of the area. We hung up around there until the others in our group showed up. At that point, we took tons of pictures; I had a picnic and got to fly a kite up on the hill, as well. It was a lot of fun and was very breath-taking. I can’t even begin to describe it and the pictures don’t really do it justice. We end up seeing some rain coming in so we head off to the sand dunes about 20 km from the lighthouse. We get to the sand dunes and some people aren’t sure they want to go up, but with some convincing everyone takes off their shoes and rolls up their pants. We get over the first hill, and there’s nothing but sand everywhere. It was the oddest scene; to our left there was forest and to our right and in front of us was nothing but sand. We end up climbing this huge [maybe 50+ feet high] sand dune mountain and then we could see the ocean in front of us. It was so beautiful! I’ve got pictures, but my memory card ran out of space, so I had to stop for a while. Everyone else has pictures, too, so I’ll get some from them. Coming back from the point we all stopped at, some threw themselves down the sand mountain, others swam down, and Tanya, Kali, and I kind of skied down in a link. I was up to my knees in sand! It was unbelievable the amount of sand everyone was covered in by the time we all got down.
After dusting off as best we could, we headed off to Whangera to meet up with the other group. However, half way there, we get a voice message from them saying there had been a minor injury and that they were at the hospital, but didn’t give us the details, so we start speculating. First, we try to figure out who got hurt and then what they hurt. On the first phone message, all we got was that they were going to head back to Auckland, but then there was another one saying they would be staying. Our group ended up finding a scenic picnic area to campout in and crash. Sometime during the night, there was a loud siren that was described as an air raid siren. Now, I’m not a light sleeper usually, but I was dead asleep and did not wake up. It woke everyone else up and it kept them up for fifteen minutes and then an hour or so as they tried to figure out what it meant and what they should do. The ideas floating around were: An air raid leading to a nuclear winter, an escaped convict was nearby, or there was an earthquake and a tsunami was about to hit [which freaked out the most people because we weren’t sure how far away from shore we were]. The worst part was that apparently there are wild roosters and chickens where we stopped and it woke them all up, so they start their cock-a-doodle-doodling and won’t stop. I woke up for that one… it sounded like we were surrounded by a mass migration of them, they were so close! We finally fall back asleep and then find out later the siren must have been for the volunteer fire department.
The next day [Sunday], we go up to the Bay of Islands. On the way there, we stopped by the Treaty House. The big deal about the Treaty is it is what the native chiefs signed to give Britain power over NZ. However, the Treaty was translated into Maori overnight, and very badly translated, and so to this day there is controversy over the legality of the Treaty. The grounds were beautiful, though; right on the water! And all the birds – you’ve never heard so many birds and so many different calls in your life!! After we finished up there, we headed to the actual Bay of Islands and we went kayaking. I’ve never been before so I was kind of worried I’d tip over so I didn’t bring my camera. I didn’t tip, though! We went up to see a waterfall and hung out at the nearby beach for a while before heading back to the rental place. My shoulders are sore as all get out today, though! After a light dinner, we decided to head back to Auckland via Whangera [where the hospital is where the rogue group member was injured]. We’re on the road and we get a call from the other group and we a few details, but we’re told not to come out to the hospital. We also find out who and what got hurt. Raina broke her ankle, apparently, but we never got the whole story. So we decide to head back to Auckland, instead, and make it home by around 10 pm. We unload the vehicles, shower, and just relax the rest of the night.
Today [Monday], we had library orientation that lasted for about an hour. After that was over, Rob, Tanya, and I headed out to find a tent for this weekend [we’re going camping/fishing, but without the roadtrip as we have had enough of cars for a while] and ended up reading in a park we found until we realised it was impossible to get any work done and started playing cribbage instead [I won!]. We headed home and stopped at the grocery store for laundry detergent [who knew road trips were so messy?] and ran into the rest of the people from the other group. Apparently, they went sand-tobogganing down a 200 foot tall sand dune that had about a 60% angle to it. They learned from the first two who went down that breaking midway was a bad idea or else you’d be tossed in the air for a bit. Well, Raina went down, and makes it all the way down the dune, but then hits grass and put her feet down to stop. She was going so fast, however, that she ended up being launched in the air and landed ten feet away from her sled, she tumbled around and ended up falling into a ditch near the dune. She waved at the others but then she started flaying and the two that had gone down before her run over to see what’s wrong; she was white as a ghost and couldn’t remember where she was or how she had gotten there. The others get down, somehow, from the top of the dune, and start trying to figure out how to get her out of the ditch and back to the car. Finally, they get some locals to drive them back to their cars and then they get Raina to the hospital. She has a clean break through her fibula and needs a metal plate and surgery [which she got this morning]. She’ll have a six week recovery, but they say she was laughing and saying she had a great time and she’s got her memory back.
Anyway, so that’s what’s been going on since I’ve gotten here. I promise to update a lot and upload tons of pictures.
// posted by Chelcie @ 2:52 AM 
