Sunday, April 14, 2013
North Island Video Post
Hey all! I just finished my GoPro video of our North Island trip! Be sure to check it out on youtube!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBvP5SN3V38
Thursday, April 11, 2013
North Island Trip!
Wow! I have been so busy since leaving for Auckland on the 27th of March! We were very luck to get a week off for Easter so I went up to the top of the North Island with Shoshana, Sean, Nina, Laura, Phil, Vince and Dan. We were quite the crew traveling around all together. When we landed in Auckland Sho Sean and I went up to the sky tower where we got to look out over all of Auckland from all directions, the room at the top was circular with windows wrapping all the way around at the top. There was also a few spots with glass floors where we got to stand and look down on the city. Auckland is a much bigger city than Wellington, it was a bit overwhelming to be honest, I don't think I could handle being there for more than a few days. I am just not a city girl. It was very cool to experience the larger city in New Zealand though. From there we took a bus up to The Bay of Islands in Paihia and spent 3 nights a the Pickled Parrot, a hostel with an bulldozer sleeping in the bed across from my bunk. But actually, you would not believe how loud this guy snored, I probably got 4 hours of sleep the whole time we were there, it was unbelievable I could hear him over my ipod cranked up on loud. Here we got some good beach time in the first day and the day that followed was probably my favorite day since being here. We went on an all day sailing trip out around the islands. It was absolutely breathtaking, relaxing and completely wonderful. On our way out of the bay we saw a group of dolphins swimming in the distance ahead of us. They were huge, easily 7-8 feet long and they were a gorgeous shade of grey. That start made the whole boat trip worth it but then it just got even better! We stopped midday on a small island with a short hike that had a 360 degree view at the top so we could see all the islands. (there are going to be quite a few pictures with this post) on our stop we had a wonderful picnic did some kayaking and took a dip in the water. On our way back to shore a dolphin showed up right under our boat, I got some great video with the gopro of it swimming at the bow of the boat! The rest of the trip was so relaxing, a guy who came on the sailing trip was an amateur singer and he brought his guitar and sang Zac Brown Band, George Straight and Johnny Cash to us, it was so cool! (Hailey House you'd have loveddd it!)
From Paihia we went to the Coromandel Penisula, and on Easter morning I was able to skype my beautiful family who were all having Easter dinner at Gramma's house. I was sad that I couldn't be there with everyone but luckily this holiday I refrained from crying as we were off for our beach hoppin' day. We went to a beach near cooks beach where I built a pretty awesome sand castle and then went over to another place where we hiked down to Cathedral Cove. There
I did some minor rock jumping (don't stress mom I really do mean minor 10-12 feet max). From there we went to the hot spring beaches, at low tide there is a specific spot on the beach where everyone congregates to dig holes in the sand near the hot springs creating mini hot tubs to chill (or actually heat up) in. It was a spectacular experience! Overall the trip was spectacular and so much fun!
Coming back to school I was welcomed with 3 1500-2000 word essays and another 1000 word assignment. Not coO0oo0Ol. At all. Finally I have finished all my papers and my assignment. Only to find out I have 2 more things due next week. ughh. School shouldn't be this much of a drag. haha Luckily I am doing one of my presentations next week on the Nazi Olympics so hopefully that will be able to hold my attention long enough while also daydreaming about actually being in the Olympics some day. (Lindsay you better be working out!)
From Paihia we went to the Coromandel Penisula, and on Easter morning I was able to skype my beautiful family who were all having Easter dinner at Gramma's house. I was sad that I couldn't be there with everyone but luckily this holiday I refrained from crying as we were off for our beach hoppin' day. We went to a beach near cooks beach where I built a pretty awesome sand castle and then went over to another place where we hiked down to Cathedral Cove. There
I did some minor rock jumping (don't stress mom I really do mean minor 10-12 feet max). From there we went to the hot spring beaches, at low tide there is a specific spot on the beach where everyone congregates to dig holes in the sand near the hot springs creating mini hot tubs to chill (or actually heat up) in. It was a spectacular experience! Overall the trip was spectacular and so much fun!
Coming back to school I was welcomed with 3 1500-2000 word essays and another 1000 word assignment. Not coO0oo0Ol. At all. Finally I have finished all my papers and my assignment. Only to find out I have 2 more things due next week. ughh. School shouldn't be this much of a drag. haha Luckily I am doing one of my presentations next week on the Nazi Olympics so hopefully that will be able to hold my attention long enough while also daydreaming about actually being in the Olympics some day. (Lindsay you better be working out!)
Friday, March 15, 2013
Tongariri's Taking Over
Hello!
Last weekend we went on a trip to Tongariro where we got to hike Mt. Doom, an active volcano! This hike was unlike any that I've ever been on! we were literally getting blown away from the strong winds coming at us. The land was completely barren and rocky, the first part of the hike was very flat and along man made paths and board walks. Then it turned into a dramatic incline with lots of stairs. It wasn't until about 3/4th up the mountain that it turned into natural path with ligit hiking and climbing. The view from the top was so cool, we could see the whole volcano and a few of the Emerald lakes! This hike was one of the coldest ones I've been on, at the top a few of us laid down in a spooning train just to try and warm up from the cold winds!
Getting back into the swing of school has proven to be difficult. I am just not in class mode yet, the set up is different here, instead of all lectures we have either 2 or 3 lectures a week with a mandatory 1 hour tutorial which is smaller than our lecture forcing us to participate more. This set up makes skipping lectures very tempting (sorry mom). I'm thinking next week I'll be better about doing my readings and being prepared for class.
I have decided to join club basketball and club rowing.... and tramping (hiking) and white water kayaking? There is just so much to do and participate in at Victoria I want to do it all! Last night from 4-8pm I went to this basketball clinic run by former NBA coach of Kevin Love. I was by no means in shape enough for this. It was more of a camp geared towards younger kids looking to play college ball in the states. Woops missed the boat on that one! As hard as it was I had a really good time playing serious ball and working on my skills. Rowing was supposed to start this morning but I couldn't pull myself out of bed, I am so sore from basketball! I'll have to get into it next week. Gotta get my rowing in if Lindsay and I are going to make it to RIO!
After Basketball last night Jackie Shoshana, 2 of Jackie's roommates and I went down to Cuba Street (Very similar to Church Street in Burlington) where they had a night market with lots of food and venders. We got this delicious hallow spiral bread, the outside was covered with cinnamon sugar, and they coated the inside with chocolate. I was salivating just looking at and tasted even more great that I can describe! Wellington is such a cute wonderful city!
I just booked my trip up to Auckland for Easter break with Shoshana and Sean and 2 other girls from another program. I'm so excited we are going to be going to the Bay of Islands and some other really awesome places up north, it's coming up so soon!
Last weekend we went on a trip to Tongariro where we got to hike Mt. Doom, an active volcano! This hike was unlike any that I've ever been on! we were literally getting blown away from the strong winds coming at us. The land was completely barren and rocky, the first part of the hike was very flat and along man made paths and board walks. Then it turned into a dramatic incline with lots of stairs. It wasn't until about 3/4th up the mountain that it turned into natural path with ligit hiking and climbing. The view from the top was so cool, we could see the whole volcano and a few of the Emerald lakes! This hike was one of the coldest ones I've been on, at the top a few of us laid down in a spooning train just to try and warm up from the cold winds!
Getting back into the swing of school has proven to be difficult. I am just not in class mode yet, the set up is different here, instead of all lectures we have either 2 or 3 lectures a week with a mandatory 1 hour tutorial which is smaller than our lecture forcing us to participate more. This set up makes skipping lectures very tempting (sorry mom). I'm thinking next week I'll be better about doing my readings and being prepared for class.
I have decided to join club basketball and club rowing.... and tramping (hiking) and white water kayaking? There is just so much to do and participate in at Victoria I want to do it all! Last night from 4-8pm I went to this basketball clinic run by former NBA coach of Kevin Love. I was by no means in shape enough for this. It was more of a camp geared towards younger kids looking to play college ball in the states. Woops missed the boat on that one! As hard as it was I had a really good time playing serious ball and working on my skills. Rowing was supposed to start this morning but I couldn't pull myself out of bed, I am so sore from basketball! I'll have to get into it next week. Gotta get my rowing in if Lindsay and I are going to make it to RIO!
After Basketball last night Jackie Shoshana, 2 of Jackie's roommates and I went down to Cuba Street (Very similar to Church Street in Burlington) where they had a night market with lots of food and venders. We got this delicious hallow spiral bread, the outside was covered with cinnamon sugar, and they coated the inside with chocolate. I was salivating just looking at and tasted even more great that I can describe! Wellington is such a cute wonderful city!
I just booked my trip up to Auckland for Easter break with Shoshana and Sean and 2 other girls from another program. I'm so excited we are going to be going to the Bay of Islands and some other really awesome places up north, it's coming up so soon!
Monday, March 4, 2013
Week 1 in Wellington!
This first week in Wellington has been absolutely crazy! There are just so many little housekeeping things to do when you are trying to adjust into a new county. I've had to get a phone to contact people locally, open a bank account in order to get the best conversion rates, sign up for classes and a million and ten other little things in order to settle in. Today was the second day of classes, my schedule is pretty manageable too, I have two classes everyday except Wednesdays which I have off! But here they do school very differently, usually the locals only spend three years in University, jealous. They also have this thing called tutorial, which is an hour of scheduled time every week with a group from your class that's mandatory to attend making my schedule seem a bit busier than just two classes a day. Getting adjusted to school is tough now that I've had the last two and a half months off, hopefully I can get into the swing of things soon, however that's going to be difficult seeing as how the weather has been so nice! Its been hanging around a perfect 70 and sunny with no humidity, very different from Fiji! This has been making beach trips very tempting since its only a 15-20 minute walk from my flat. I live with three Americans, Becca who goes to school in southern Cali, Nick who is from Michigan, and Tommy from Mass.
Wellington has been wonderful so far! Campus is literally on top of a mountain, in order to get to town we have to walk up and down this gigantic hill, its so steep walking up it has been one big struggle especially when I have my arms full of groceries! My legs are finding it to be a love/hate relationship because it burns but that also means I'm getting a sick workout just by walking home. Last week we hiked up to this wind turbine where we could look down on all of Wellington it was beautiful! On this hike we were supposed to be able to see the south island but it was too hazy out that day. We ended up going with probably three other groups which made for about 30 of us hiking up through town up to the trail #tourists.
A few people in my group are going paddle boarding today, Jackie decided to skip class to go even, but not me (ehem Mom, see I am a good student!) I'll be going tomorrow when I don't have class. :) This Friday night a bar downtown is having a Space Jam party, yes, Space Jam. Like the looney tunes/Michael Jordan movie. I wish I had brought my Jordan jersey here with me so I could wear it out this weekend! (not that I actually have one...) I'm stoked there's so much to do right in Wellington and hopefully I can start planning some bigger trips throughout New Zealand in the next few weeks, there is just so much to do and see I can't wait to get started!
Wellington has been wonderful so far! Campus is literally on top of a mountain, in order to get to town we have to walk up and down this gigantic hill, its so steep walking up it has been one big struggle especially when I have my arms full of groceries! My legs are finding it to be a love/hate relationship because it burns but that also means I'm getting a sick workout just by walking home. Last week we hiked up to this wind turbine where we could look down on all of Wellington it was beautiful! On this hike we were supposed to be able to see the south island but it was too hazy out that day. We ended up going with probably three other groups which made for about 30 of us hiking up through town up to the trail #tourists.
Monday, February 25, 2013
HAPPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BEAUTIFUL BABY SISTER TAYLOR TODAY!!!!! 17 GIRL YOU ROCK! I LOVE AND MISS YOU VERY MUCH! HERE'S TO 17 BEING YOUR BEST YEAR YET!!!!!!!!!! AND ANOTHER HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO LINDSAY MOTT!!! MISS YOU LOTS! I JUST GO TO CAMPUS ITS ON TOP OF A MOUNTAIN SO I'LL BE GETTING LOTS OF WORK OUTS IN!
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Hey Ya'll!
I am currently sitting in the airport in Sydney Australia! I'm so excited about finally getting into Wellington tonight so I no longer have to live out of my suitcase!
The Village!
Beachcomber!
Sand dunes!
Fiji was an incredible experience, our group really got to see Fiji from many different perspectives which was amazing. We got a taste of the touristy side when we went to Beachcomber Island, we were able to experience the local life of the Fijians by living with our host families, which was great! Sateri and Walter may come visit the south island of New Zealand with Shoshana and me in May. We went out to the bars a couple times with our local coordinator's son. The bars were hoppin', I discovered that you can get guys to buy you a drink if you do the robot... still not sure how that one worked out. Finally we were able to see the cultural side of Fiji when we went into Waikete Village, I didn't realize before coming here how many people still live in villages. We really got a chance to view their lifestyle, they baked our food, chicken and taro in an underground oven, they heat the rocks up with a fire and then remove the wood, covering the food with large leaves and dirt to hold in the heat. One of our guides climbed up a coconut tree and cut open a fresh coconut for us to drink the juice inside. Everything there is so fresh and available, I was loving all the watermelon especially! It was definitely very hot and humid, my hair could not be tamed, I rocked a pony tail most days with a sweaty face. I found it interesting how much the Fijians love Americans, I thought that they might have some negative bias of us but they just love Obama! It was really cool how the Fijians are able to hold on to their culture and simultaneously progress, they are not against technology or anything like that but they continue to live in the Villages.
I am currently sitting in the airport in Sydney Australia! I'm so excited about finally getting into Wellington tonight so I no longer have to live out of my suitcase!
Fiji was an incredible experience, our group really got to see Fiji from many different perspectives which was amazing. We got a taste of the touristy side when we went to Beachcomber Island, we were able to experience the local life of the Fijians by living with our host families, which was great! Sateri and Walter may come visit the south island of New Zealand with Shoshana and me in May. We went out to the bars a couple times with our local coordinator's son. The bars were hoppin', I discovered that you can get guys to buy you a drink if you do the robot... still not sure how that one worked out. Finally we were able to see the cultural side of Fiji when we went into Waikete Village, I didn't realize before coming here how many people still live in villages. We really got a chance to view their lifestyle, they baked our food, chicken and taro in an underground oven, they heat the rocks up with a fire and then remove the wood, covering the food with large leaves and dirt to hold in the heat. One of our guides climbed up a coconut tree and cut open a fresh coconut for us to drink the juice inside. Everything there is so fresh and available, I was loving all the watermelon especially! It was definitely very hot and humid, my hair could not be tamed, I rocked a pony tail most days with a sweaty face. I found it interesting how much the Fijians love Americans, I thought that they might have some negative bias of us but they just love Obama! It was really cool how the Fijians are able to hold on to their culture and simultaneously progress, they are not against technology or anything like that but they continue to live in the Villages.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Bula!
Muggle struggle #2... the pictures I take don't move.
Fiji is absolutely Gorgeous!! Everywhere we go is more beautiful than the next, the pictures I've taken don't do it justice. The water is so clear and bright blue and the greenery is amazing. This is not real life. The first day here felt like 3, after we got off the plane we took a trip into the town of Nadi where we saw a bit of the city and a colorful temple. Later that day we went to a hot spring, one of them was so hot they use it to boil their potatoes! They had another spring that was cooler where we covered ourselves with Fijian mud which was supposed to be ridiculously good for your skin, or that's what they tell us to watch all the foreigners look like idiots running around covered head to toe in mud. Either way it was lots of fun (pictures to follow). Another day we went out to Beachcomer Island, did you know Fiji is made up of over 100 islands!? Mind blown. The island we went to was very much a college party beach island. We met some Canadians and Europeans there and they were all bummed that we were not staying the night. Also we met some Germans, every time we run into Germans I try to say something to them, as if I can remember anything other than Gutentag... On the island I got to go snorkeling for the first time ever! It was so cool! I got to see a shark, a million colorful fish, Dory included, and we held a bright blue starfish after someone dove down for it.
We are now in Suva which was about a 5 hour drive from Nadi, did I mention I still don't have my luggage, supposedly its back in Nadi waiting for me. Here in Suva we are staying with host families, Shoshana and I are staying with Walter and Satire, they are wonderful! I am absolutely obsessed with them. Walter loves sports, mainly rugby and has done lots of world traveling for business and Satire is such a mother, she is always making sure we are well fed. One night at dinner I let slip what an extreme sweet tooth and the next day when we got back she had made a chocolate cake and bought ice cream for us! Score!
Yesterday we had a full day of lectures where we learned about the Pacific Islands, but all I learned is that I am not in school mode yet. Luckily classes in Wellington don't start until March 4th.
In Fiji everyone says Bula to greet you! It means many different things: welcome, life or good life, and when you sneeze and say Bula it means someone is thinking of you, I wish we had a word like that in English.
Well its very hot here so I am off to get some ice cream! I'll be in touch soon!
Fiji is absolutely Gorgeous!! Everywhere we go is more beautiful than the next, the pictures I've taken don't do it justice. The water is so clear and bright blue and the greenery is amazing. This is not real life. The first day here felt like 3, after we got off the plane we took a trip into the town of Nadi where we saw a bit of the city and a colorful temple. Later that day we went to a hot spring, one of them was so hot they use it to boil their potatoes! They had another spring that was cooler where we covered ourselves with Fijian mud which was supposed to be ridiculously good for your skin, or that's what they tell us to watch all the foreigners look like idiots running around covered head to toe in mud. Either way it was lots of fun (pictures to follow). Another day we went out to Beachcomer Island, did you know Fiji is made up of over 100 islands!? Mind blown. The island we went to was very much a college party beach island. We met some Canadians and Europeans there and they were all bummed that we were not staying the night. Also we met some Germans, every time we run into Germans I try to say something to them, as if I can remember anything other than Gutentag... On the island I got to go snorkeling for the first time ever! It was so cool! I got to see a shark, a million colorful fish, Dory included, and we held a bright blue starfish after someone dove down for it.
We are now in Suva which was about a 5 hour drive from Nadi, did I mention I still don't have my luggage, supposedly its back in Nadi waiting for me. Here in Suva we are staying with host families, Shoshana and I are staying with Walter and Satire, they are wonderful! I am absolutely obsessed with them. Walter loves sports, mainly rugby and has done lots of world traveling for business and Satire is such a mother, she is always making sure we are well fed. One night at dinner I let slip what an extreme sweet tooth and the next day when we got back she had made a chocolate cake and bought ice cream for us! Score!
Yesterday we had a full day of lectures where we learned about the Pacific Islands, but all I learned is that I am not in school mode yet. Luckily classes in Wellington don't start until March 4th.
In Fiji everyone says Bula to greet you! It means many different things: welcome, life or good life, and when you sneeze and say Bula it means someone is thinking of you, I wish we had a word like that in English.
Well its very hot here so I am off to get some ice cream! I'll be in touch soon!
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