SPRING BREAK I: Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk (August 16-20)

It's been a month since my last post, and I'm determined to totally catch up this time! I leave Hamilton for good in just three days, and have so much to share before then.

New Zealand is known for having incredible natural beauty. This reputation is completely justified, and I'm so lucky to be able to play here. One of the more accessible ways to enjoy the outdoors in New Zealand is to do Great Walks. There are nine Great Walks total, and only three of those are in the North Island. These are really popular and well-maintained tracks that take about four days to do. Our mid-semester break was two weeks, so we chose to spend a few days of that doing the Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk. Like many of the other Great Walks, it wasn't a loop. The trail goes halfway around the lake and a road goes around the other half of the lake. The shuttle was very expensive, so we opted to just hike halfway in and then hike back out. A little disappointing, but not terrible. I went with Rachel (Canada) and Rachel (Minnesota).

map of the Lake Waikaremoana track

We finished our classes Friday night and did all of the normal prep for a tramping trip and left early the next morning. We stopped in Rotorua at an award winning bakery for too many pies and headed southeast to the lake. It was a long drive through very rural parts of New Zealand. We passed through seemingly endless timber farms on a perfectly straight road. One of the last places we could have a pit spot in was a tiny town named Marupara. It was absolutely tiny and was one of the few places where I asked for a bathroom and people thought that I meant I wanted a shower. It sounds kind of crude to Americans, but in New Zealand if you have to pee you ask for a toilet. Shortly after leaving Marupara, we left the paved road and had three hours of twisting dirt roads to get to the lake.

Rosie at the trailhead

Our tramp began at what would usually be the end of the trail. We were prepared for wet weather, and just as we expected it began to drizzle just as we left the car. We hiked through beautiful forest and along the shore until after dark. As we were approaching Marauiti, the first hut, we saw a boat come in to dock. We thought it was probably a ranger coming in to check if we all paid for our stay in the hut. To our happy surprise, it was a huge kiwi family. It seemed like there were three separate families all there together. They said they were on a fishing and hunting trip. It was warm and cozy and loud. They had a ton of gear and small children with them and it made the hut feel so homey. One of the little boys was telling us he caught his first possum and how it earns money for his school. Possums are a huge problem in New Zealand because they eat massive amounts of native forest and kiwibird eggs. I know I should be happy that there's one less possum causing damage, but it was so damn cute and scared I just couldn't hate it.

Rachels make good hiking buddies

Marauiti Hut

The second day was our easiest bit of trail. We stayed mostly along the shoreline of the lake and got to the Waiopaoa Hut in good time. I really just can't describe how gorgeous the place was, so instead I'll show pictures. At the hut we met a very nice German couple. They were on a multiple month trip and were travelling in a campervan and had their 6 month old baby with them. I was partially horrified, mostly impressed. We figured they were able to take this trip because of maternal and paternal leave. Their van was at the other end of the track, and we asked if they would be able to give us a ride back around the lake to our car so that we'd be able to do the whole track. The father was more successful than I was at getting a fire going in the fireplace because he had filled his backpack with wood he had dried out at the previous hut. So clever!

leaving Marauiti Hut

style is crucial

Waiopaoa Hut

The next day of hiking to Panekiri hut was the most beautiful and most challenging. We were so stoked to be able to do the whole hike. The father asked us to help carry dry wood to the next hut and of course we obliged. There were places where we were dwarfed by trees in fog and saw the greenest green. It was a cold wet day and was almost entirely uphill. The hut itself was very disappointing, considering it was at the highest elevation and was supposed to have views of the whole lake. In reality, it was completely covered in fog, the hut had huge windows which made it very cold and the ceiling leaked. We got to spend a bit more time with the Germans that night, and talked about language barriers and the quirks of the kiwis. That night the baby fussed more than it had before, and we didn't have a very restful nights sleep.

where's the lake?

Our last day on trail was entirely downhill. We descended quite a lot before the fog finally cleared enough for us to see the lake again. It was our first time seeing it from high up and we felt so triumphant to see how much we had climbed. The downhill was pretty rough on Minnesota. Her boots weren't broken in, and now (2 months later) she's definitely going to lose toenails. The Germans passed us on the trail and waited for us in their campervan at the end. They gave us a much-appreciated ride back to my car and we were happy to discover that the car hadn't been broken into and started just fine! That night we drove all the way back to Hamilton and slept better than we had in a while.

so many different bryophytes on this tree!

Catch up! (August 1- August 16)

I'm so behind! Things got busy, so it's been an eternity since I last wrote. I'll try to catch up because so many wonderful things have happened!

One weekend  my housemate Maria took me and Rachel home with her. It was so lovely! She lives about four hours away from campus on the coast in the Bay of Plenty. We drove there on Friday night, and didn't get to see much that night, other than a shamefully trashy TV show. We met Maria's mother Liz and brother Paul.
Their house is gorgeous. They live right on the coast and have big windows facing towards the ocean. They can see an active volcano, White Island, from their dining room table. It's a kiwifruit farm, so there's lots of space. That morning we drove East along the coast to their other house, which was right on the water. We had lunch and spent a little time at the beach. It's legal here to tie animals up by the side of the road, and we made friends with a horse in exactly that situation. If that was done in the US, people would freak out. Road safety, animal cruelty and trespassing would all be raised as issues. This horse was just hanging out, munching grass.

We drove back to the house and Liz cooked a roast for dinner. It was only my second time having lamb and it was so delicious. Not something I can afford to eat often, but still wonderful. I also got to meet Maria's wonderful Dutch grandma. She was a character! That night was the final of the SuperRugby cup, and the Waikato Chiefs were favored to win for the second year in a row. After dinner we all gathered around to watch the game. Up until the very end, it was looking bleak, but the Chiefs pulled through in the end, making for an exciting night!
We left the next day, but not before getting to meet Cruzer, Maria's beloved horse. Getting to spend time in a home with a family felt so good. Maria and her family were wonderful hosts, and I'm so glad they invited me. It was a beautiful place with kind people and good love. Thank you guys!

The next weekend was a rainy, worky one. I had a field trip for my freshwater ecology class, where we stood in the rain all day and occasionally took samples from lakes. I rowed a boat across a geothermal lake with a pH of 2, but that was the highlight of the day.

this is not fog

Classes here in New Zealand are very different from home. They're much much smaller, and it's likely you'll have more that one lecturer for the year. Working with a professor in the field is an experience that I wouldn't have at home. At UCSD, professors are borderline celebrities, depending on the class. Because of this, I felt weird joking with a professor while hopping fences in mud boots.

one of the lakes we sampled

taking water clarity measurements

bug hunting

The First Proper Tramp (July 22- July 31)

This weekend was planned to be my car's first real adventure! It was our intent to go backpacking (pardon me, 'tramping') in the Kaimai mountain range. When were shopping for supplies just two nights before we were planning to leave, I noticed something wrong with my car: the temperature gauge was flashing and my car appeared to be leaking a lot of we-don't-know-what. I tried to stay calm as we shopped for groceries and made bets on how many stops we'd have to make on the way home. The answer was 2. We bought 3 liters of water, and it ate up pretty much all of it by the time we made it back to campus. The next morning (the day before we were planning to leave!) I rushed the car to the mechanic, who said he'd have it done by the end of the day. After a full day of worrying about how much I'd end up paying, I found out that the o-ring that seals the cap of my radiator had partially melted and moved out of place. I paid more than I wanted to, and haven't had any problems since.

We left Hamilton early the next morning with the intent to start our long day as soon as possible. It turned out that we would need to buy maps and hut passes from the info center in the town of Te Aroha, which didn't open until 9:30. Our early start was shot, but there was an upside. We found it! A place in New Zealand with reasonably priced drip coffee! Here in NZ they have a lot of espresso based coffee drinks, and they have a lot of instant coffee. This place was the first I've seen that has drip coffee for sale. The next closest thing on most cafe menus is a 'long black', which is just espresso and hot water. Many places will charge 50 cents more for a long black than a short black (espresso). I'm pretty sure they do this as a punishment for watering down a perfectly delicious espresso, not because they actually put 50 cents worth of hot water into your drink.

Once the info center opened, we bought our maps and hut passes. I also got a book called 'Weekend Tramps in the Kaimai Range', which I hope to use often! It turned out that we could leave the car parked right where it was, on the street in the middle of town, for free and that the trailhead was right behind the building. This is something that definitely takes some getting used to in NZ. In most parts of California, you have to drive to get out of the city, drive farther to get out of the suburbs and drive even farther to get to what you'd consider wilderness. In New Zealand, you walk through a parking lot and you're immediately on the trail.

I was on this tramp with three good friends: Kevin (Minnesota), Joe (Washington) and Rachel (Canada). Rachel and I have both been backpacking lots of times, Joe a couple and it was Kevin's first time. Congratulations! I had helped him buy a Gregory pack a while earlier and was happy to see it used. I guess my gear shop training actually is helpful!

The very first thing the trail did is climb nearly a kilometer in elevation to the top of Mt Te Aroha. It was less than 4 km of distance, so you can imagine the kind of angle that requires. There were parts of the 'trail' that were much more like a scramble, using hands and feet to push body and pack upwards.

It was an incredibly beautiful place. Tons of tree ferns and mosses and bushes. It's hard not knowing what they all are! I'm so used to being able to identify the flora in the deserts and forests at home, but this is all entirely different. The only thing immediately recognizable is the silver fern. While climbing the mountain, we passed by and were passed by all kinds of people, including a couple of men who looked like had grown up in these mountains, a woman who told us she had to close her eyes at the top because she's afraid of heights, and two boys who looked about 11 and were running to the top. It took us less than 3 hours to reach the summit, where we took a break for lunch. This is the highest point in the range.

From the summit, we followed the Mangakino pack track. The area used to be dominated by mines, and we found the remains of a few. The one that we really checked out was basically just a huge whole about 10 feet across, going farther down then we could see. Out of curiosity, we tied a stick to the end of my p-cord and lowered it down. It didn't reach the end. Excited and spooked, we continued to hike. As we went on, the trail got rougher and rougher. It was muddy and had slick exposed roots and the occasional stream or unbridged gap that we'd have to scramble across. We were having a great time, but Rachel and I started to worry about it getting dark before we made it to the hut. Here in NZ, the trail signs are all marked with times instead of distances, which makes it a little easier to estimate how much farther the destination will be. As the sun went down and it got dark in the underbrush, Rachel and I put on our headlamps and found out that neither of the boys had brought flashlights. I had a crappy little extra one (thanks, Dad), but we were still one short. After one mistaken sighting of the hut and an emergency cookie stop, we made it to Daly's Clearing Hut about an hour after dark. We ate dinner and went to bed after admiring the stars.

The next morning we got a much earlier start and expected to make it back to the car in a relatively short time. Our plan was to get the Waitawheta Hut for lunch and finish off the hike before dinner. On the map, the distance from Daly's Clearing to Waitawheta looked to be about half the total distance, so this seemed like a sound plan.  It was a beautiful day and we were feeling good, albeit sore. We got to Waitawheta pretty quickly; it took us two hours and six river crossings (some bridged, some not). This part of the forest was once a major logging area, and the trail we were on was a historic railroad, so it was cool to see the ruins of the logging equipment. We got to stay along the river for pretty much the whole time, which was much different than the rainforest we had been in the day before. Waitawheta (pronouced 'wai-TA-feta') Hut was huge and seemed really luxurious, considering the location.

During lunch, we realized that we hadn't brought nearly enough food on the trip and that we had another 7.5 hours of trail between us Waiorongomai Road, which was an additional 5 km from the car. Slightly panicked, we got back on the trail and kept an aggressive pace with almost no talking. That was the most tense part of the trip, as the trail we were on was brand new and not on my map, and we were unsure of how accurate the time estimates are. Once we crested our biggest peak of the day, we relaxed a little bit, slowed down and started to have fun again. We started to see day hikers, we knew we were getting close. There were several old mining tunnels and really gorgeous bridges along the trail.

  We powered through those 7.5 hours in just about 5, including water and snack breaks. As we got out of the forest, we were met with an incredible view of the township of Te Aroha and the surrounding area. It was all golden from the late afternoon sun and so very different from the dramatic mountains we had been in.  From where we stood, it was really clear just how geologically active New Zealand is. The mountains seemed to just come from nowhere. Everything in front of us was almost entirely flat, pastures and towns. We could see for miles because it was so flat and clear. Everything behind us was thick bush and rocky, jutting mountains. We had gone from Vietnam to Scotland in a matter of minutes.

We celebrated, then realized we were still 5 km from the car. Thankfully we got out of the bush while it was still light, because there was almost no chance of us getting someone to pick us up if it was dark. I suggested that we split into two groups of two because there was no way anybody would stop for a group of four. Kevin and I started off, trying to look as approachable and harmless as possible. Within fifteen minutes of walking, a car stopped for us. It was a hot ride, a bright green metallic sports car. I expected it to be young funky people, but instead it was an older couple who lived on a farm nearby. There was a baby seat in the back.

We got to the car and felt that familiar rush of relief to see that it was still there, not towed or stolen. As I unlocked the door I saw a note from the info center on the windshield. It read:

"Bad news! You've left the lights on, when you left on Saturday. If you don't have AA [insurance], call [automotive company], this is their 24 hour service line. 

Good luck! -Anita'

I was simultaneously overwhelmed with disappointment in my dumb self for leaving the lights on and overwhelmed with gratitude and surprise that Anita would go through the extra effort of making sure we wouldn't be caught in a tight spot. I called the phone number she left and they said they would change 60$ for a jump. Relying once again on the kindness of Kiwi strangers, we opened the hood and started waving at people on the road and asking if they had jumper cables. Within ten minutes my car had been jumped and was running like a champ.

Right now, I'm going to recap what had happened since getting out of the bush. 

1. We were picked up and given a ride within fifteen minutes of stepping on the road and sticking out our thumbs.

2. We had been given information that we would need, before we knew we would need it, without asking for it, by a different stranger who would never be thanked.

3. We had our car troubles (which were entirely my own fault) taken care of for us by another two kind strangers who had no actual responsibility to do so.

THIS IS WHAT IT'S LIKE HERE. 

People are actually this kind and thoughtful and helpful. Within a half hour, four different strangers went out of their way to help two smelly dirty young adults.

Kevin and I drove back towards the trail with smiles on our faces and picked up Joe and Rachel. We drove back to Hamilton, listening to Eddie Vedder and feeling more content than we had in a long while. In total, we had hiked about 25 miles with nearly 5000 foot elevation.

Thanks guys! (Idiots in a tunnel)

Public Transit, Big Purchase, Bigger Beauty (July 13- 21)

Sometimes,  dependence on public transportation can give you some funny stories.

A few of my friends and I had all been wanting to go hiking since we got here, but haven't figured out a way to get to a park or reserve. After a little research online, I found out about an arboretum on the outskirts of Hamilton. According to google maps it was only a twenty minute bus ride plus a twenty minute walk to get there. We all decided on Friday that forty minutes of transit would be totally worth a day outside, so we planned to leave campus at 7:30 am the next day. I noticed on the map that the walking portion didn't appear to be on any road, but decided not to think about it.

"Then you just kinda.. walk" - Google Maps

Naturally, half of us missed the 7:30 bus. That, combined with the consequences of decisions made the night before, meant that we didn't get off the bus until ten. We got off at the stop google maps told us to, but we were in the middle of a pleasant looking residential neighborhood. Not exactly where you would expect to find an arboretum. We looked up how to walk there on Kevin's iphone (thank goodness for that) and saw that it would take two hours to walk from our current position to the arboretum IF we stayed on roads. It didn't take us long to decide that cutting across private farms would be the far better option. Kevin and I had some reservations about it, so we looked up local trespassing laws. We crawled over barbed wire fences and tried to avoid the electric ones and overly curious cows. I can tell you with full confidence that what looks like a very short distance to cross on a map ends up feeling much longer when it's land you're not supposed to be on.

Eventually we made it to the Taitua Arboretum. It really nice to be there, outside and with a good group of people. I definitely wouldn't consider that part of the day hiking, but there were a lot of chickens and a surprising number of flowers for winter. I plan on coming back again in spring when everything will be in bloom. One of the highlights for me was the California Redwoods! They smelled like home.

 We probably spent less than two hours total walking around before we started figuring out home to get home. I proposed that we try to hitchhike into town after splitting into smaller groups (because there were six of us total). From the parking lot I asked a local for a ride and told us there was a trail that would take us back into town in fifteen minutes. Sure enough, we followed the trail and it lead us through the fields (legally this time) and into town, right to a bus stop. We couldn't help but laugh about the whole situation as we got on the bus back to town.

Three of us decided that we wanted to just stay in town to go to the night market. Our feet, however, were totally exhausted and soaked through from walking in water on the farms of strangers, so we bought cheap slippers and cheaper socks to give ourselves some relief for the evening. The night market was so cool! It's every Saturday night and had the cheapest most exotic foods I've seen so far. The air was full of steam and good smells, so we bought a ton of food before heading back to campus. The walk from town to campus is about thirty minutes, but it's a flat and fairly interesting thirty minutes. The best part is the bridge across the Waikato River, the longest river in New Zealand and the namesake of the region and my uni.

It's been my intent to get a car here since the very beginning and it's been hard to far to find a pathway of communication that makes sense. They have trademe here, which is a bit like a combo of ebay and craigslist, but not as good. Communicating with the seller is really difficult, and there's a bigger pressure to buy because there's a 'buy' button. A friend had told me about Turner's Auction House, which sells used cars. Even though the idea of an auction made me really nervous, I decided to check out the catalog online. The cheapest upcoming auction was for repossessed cars, and the one that caught my eye in the catalog was a little red 1994 Volkswagen Golf. I met my friends Ralph (Malaysia) and Kevin (Minnesota) at the auction house. They were there to provide emotional support, car knowledge, logic and to enforce my self-imposed budget. We spent a couple hours test-driving cars, eliminating them for reasons like 'has the wrong battery', 'radio has been ripped out', 'has child size t-shirts stuffed into the engine' and 'sounds like hell'. I've never participated in an auction before, and was super nervous! The only experience I've had with them was the livestock auctions in Indiana and Mom telling me to sit on my hands so I didn't accidentally bid. After a couple tough choices, I ended up with the red Golf that had caught my eye from the very beginning!

A few of my friends from Minnesota also bought a car, and invited me to go North to the Coromandel Peninsula with them. After a Friday night of playing volleyball, we left early Saturday morning. The drive up was beautiful! We went through farms and grassy fields and mountain roads through native bush. One of the main attractions in the Coromandel is Hot Water Beach, which has hot springs upwelling on the sand of the beach. In some places it was too hot to touch! We didn't bring a shovel, even though it was recommended to us, so we dug with our hands. It was such a cool sensation to be laying in a pool of hot water in the sand and have a wave come up over the rim and fill your pool will chilly ocean water. On of the tricks was to get there at low tide, otherwise digging a pool wouldn't be possible. After a few hours there, we headed farther North to our hostel for the night. It was immediately across the road from the beach and had a beautiful view of the bay we were in. They also had free kayak rentals, which we took advantage of. It was a cold afternoon and I had been feeling sick for a while, so I tried to stay as warm as possible. The getup I decided on was swim suit bottoms, a long underwear shirt, my rain jacket and a wool cap. I was stylin'. This was my first time kayaking in NZ, and I was so happy to be back on the water. We only stayed out for about an hour and a half, but it was beautiful and so calming. We had a calm night in the hostel and went to bed early.

Rachel (Minnesota) in the window of the kitchen.

The next day we left the hostel early so we could go to Cathedral Cove before heading back to campus. It was so incredibly beautiful. I know that I say this about everything here, but it was truly breathtaking. I'm not even going to try to talk about it anymore. Here's pictures:

from the top 

 stringray bay

 cathedral cove

a puriri grove

See? Gorgeous.

Thanks Audrey, Rachel, Ashley and Corey for bringing me along for a great weekend!

Orchard Park, Classes and Rotorua (June 30- July 12)

This past week has been the most restful time I've had in years (literally, years). I've been sleeping 8+ hours every night and walking slowly around places I don't even need to go. The only thing I really had to do was orientation for Waikato, which was only a couple hours a day and followed the tradition of all orientations: well-intended and useless (other than making friends). I did an event called the international student amazing race, where we ran all around campus to complete tasks. It was fun and my team didn't finish last.

I'm living in a place called Orchard Park. It's a community of four bedroom cottages that are university owned. They're really quaint and have a lot of character. What they don't have a lot of is insulation. They get super cold at night, especially the floor! I wear my slippers almost constantly because the floor is almost the same temperature as the ground outside. Orchard Park is kind of separated from the rest of campus and tends to be mostly older and international students. It's perfect for me because these are the people who have the same priorities as I do. I also love having my own kitchen. My room is a little sad because I didn't bring anything it decorate it with. Luckily, my dear friend Rachel Paul is sending me something pretty.

Perhaps one of my favorite parts of Orchard Park is the cat. Most people call her (him?) Oreo, but I don't like that name very much. She's an absolute doll. Nobody's really sure where she came from, but that's fine! She's spent a few nights in my bed and I know there's a few cottages (ours included) who have been feeding her. She seems young to us and I hope she sticks around.

I'm taking just three classes when I'm here: coastal morphology, applied freshwater ecology and environmental history of New Zealand. I'm actually pretty nervous for them because I haven't taken any of the prerequisite classes. AP bio is high school and basic Earth science is pretty much my entire background and I'm in senior level classes. So far they've been really interesting but I know I'm behind the rest of the class. Thankfully our next assignment in geology is math based, and math has been my life for the past two years.

This Saturday, July 6, I went on a day-trip out to Rotorua. It's a town about an hour and a half drive from school. We spent most of the day on a walk around the lake. Rotorua is a really geothermically active area, so there are thermal upwellings and boiling pits of mud all around the lake. One of the pools was notable for releasing nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and I saw a bird struggling near the pool. It looked like it was trying to fly but couldn't because of an injury. I jumped over the barrier and carried the bird to a safer place. My friends and I watched him for a while and he seemed like he was getting better, but we can't be sure. My guess is that the nitrous oxide was too much for him to handle when he flew close to the pool. Poor darling! After lunch we drove back to Hamilton for the rest of the weekend.

It's been a long while since I've uploaded anything, but I promise another post on my more recent trips soon! Today, July 21st, marks one month that I've been here in this beautiful country. I'm so sure that this is the right place for me right now, and I feel so lucky that I have this opportunity. The next step is to make the most of it!

Roadtrip! (June 25-June 29)

I’m all moved in at the University of Waikato! I've been in the country for about 1.5 weeks and it’s been wonderful so far. Now that I’m all settled, let me tell you about my road trip to Northland.

Orientation ended on June 24, but we decided to stay an extra day in Auckland and do a wine tasting tour on Waiheke Island. There were five of us: Emily (Davis), Alyssa (SC), Chris (SB), Mollie (SC) and myself. None of had ever done a wine tour before as most of us were underage in the states. After breakfast we walked downtown to catch our ferry out. It was the longest ferry we had taken so far, and it really gave us time to look around. The weather in Auckland is incredible variable, so we were able to see the patches of rain and sun moving around us from the boat. As we were coming into Waiheke we could see that very little of it had been developed, a welcome change from Auckland. Penny, our guide picked us up at the ferry building and we were off! She told us  little history of the island, how many of the people who live there are only seasonal residents and that it only really took off once the vehicle ferry was created.

The first winery we went to was Kennedy Point. The owner was originally from New York and came to NZ from Hawaii. She told us how making wine was a longtime dream of her and her husband and once they retired they came to Waiheke. It was a beautiful place and a gorgeous view. She poured us the wines as we walked around the property. Once we were back in the building we tasted their olive and avocados oils. Both were so buttery!

The next one, Peacock Sky, was my favorite in every way. The property was way on the top of a hill in the middle of the island, so you could see everything! When we first got there, the owner didn’t have the tasting prepared yet. Her husband talked to us about the land, the grapes and the effect the weather had on the wine. We mostly just wanted to play with the dog. The woman who did the tastign for us was also a chef, so she had food pairings for each wine! We had a pumpkin bisque, a pastry with blackcurrant jam and feta, a black pepper pate and a chocolate brownie. The foods and wines really complemented each other and the owner was a funny and interesting woman. She moved to Waiheke from Canada with her Irish husband to start the vineyard. She told us that the most important thing for her was to make wine she wanted to drink because that’s what would happen to any wine that people didn’t buy. After the standard tasting she gave us each a taste of her lemoncello, which was delicious!  The label on the bottle was a peacock butterfly. I was sad to leave.

The last winery was called Jurassic Ridge, and the owner’s philosophy was that wine is only a means of getting the flavor out of the ground. He was knowledgeable but he didn’t pour our glasses very full at all, so I’m a little bitter about that.

After all this wine, we went to lunch on the island. One of the people on our tour was an older man form Melbourne who clearly had experienced the finer things in life. The six of us went to a very hip looking restaurant overlooking the water. Alastor told us some history of the antipodes and his perspective on the differences we would notice from America. I was surprised to hear him praise it so much! He said that the US has everything great and everything bad. We asked him about Melbourne and he said they were the most cultured city in Australia! They have perfected everything important: books, food, wine, art and sex.

After lunch we were shuttled back to the ferry building and went back to the hostel for the night.

The next morning Emily, Alyssa, Chris and I were beginning our road trip, with an initial plan of ‘go north’. Eventually we refined this plan a little and decided to rent a car and drive up to Pahia, stay there for two nights, drive south to Whangarei for a night and the drive back to Auckland, then continue to Hamilton. Getting the rental car was a complete fiasco (as it usually is), so we didn't end up actually getting on the road until noon. None of us had ever driven in a commonwealth country before, so it took a long, long time to get used to driving on the opposite side of the road, on the opposite side of the car with the turn signals on the opposite side. The drive north was incredible the entire time. I just can’t get over how beautiful this country its! Everything is so vibrantly green because of the rain and the sky is perfectly blue. Although some of the time it was on winding mountain roads, it was still one of the best drives of my life. Our hostel in Pahia was right near the water and after getting checked in we made and ate our dinner. We tried our best to recreate the pastries from Peacock Sky. After a few beers each it tasted almost better! The woman working the front desk at the hostel told us about a jam sesh and a little restaurant called Tito’s just down the road from the hostel. The moment we arrived there, the two guys on guitar started playing Old Crow Medicine Show’s Wagon Wheel. That night, finally being on our own, seeing NZ other than Auckland, eating our own food then dancing to good music with exotic friends from the hostel, was the best night in the country so far.

The next day we woke to pouring, drenching rain. But our plan was to hike to a waterfall and hike we would, goddammit!  Chris opted to check out the Waitangi treaty grounds instead, the place where the treaty that made NZ a country was signed. We suited up in our waterproof clothes as much as we could and set out on the Waitangi Track to Haruru Falls. The first section of the trail was through thick green rain forest. Our feet were soaked almost immediately, but it was so beautiful it didn't matter. When there was a break in the trees we were able to see the Waitangi River. As we reached the edge of the river we could see the transformation into a Mangrove ecosystem and the beginning of a narrow wooden walkway. The walkway turned into a bridge and we crossed the river. After the crossing, the walkway wound its way through the Mangrove, just a few feet above the water. The walkway turned back into a trail and we soon reached the falls. We ate a soggy lunch before heading back down the trail toward the treaty grounds at Waitangi. That night we had dinner at a place called Shippey’s, which was an old sugar ship reverted into a leaky fish and chips restaurant. When we walked in it was totally empty and the sleazy lounge music went well with the sound of the water dripping onto the floor. Eventually we found somebody to help us, who ended up being the owner who looked very displeased with having customers. We overpaid for our food, ate quickly and fell asleep.

The next day we wanted to spend a little more time in Pahia before driving down to Whangarei. Emily, Alyssa and I decided to take the coastal trail and Chris went to Russell, the first capital of NZ. We couldn't find the trailhead then found out that it was inaccessible because of the tide. The rest of the time we had was spent wandering along the coast and making friends with the local cat. When we got to Whangarei a few hours later we were unable to check in because the office was closed. We decided right away to go on a hike to the Whangarei Falls. It was a short loop walk around the waterfall, but we continued on down the river walk back toward Whangarei. It was a cold evening and we got back to the car just before dark. I was really surprised by this place because such a special and striking place was a very short walk from a residential neighborhood. The only place I've seen something like that in California is Niscene Marks State Park in Aptos. Lush and impressive redwoods just a few minute walk from the Safeway. We made dinner, drank cider, met a guy from Chico and headed out into the forest to find some glow worms. The trailhead was a short walk from the hostel and from there it was only a few minutes before we were being wowed by worms in the drippy forest under a sky full of stars.

Yesterday we woke up pretty early with quite a drive ahead of us. We drove from Whangarei to Warkworth, where we stopped for a snack and I had my first New Zealand pie (curry chicken, mmm) and continued on to Auckland. We stopped by the hostel there to drop off Chris and Emily. Chris has a while to travel still before starting school and Emily flew down to Dunedin this morning. Alyssa and I continued on another two hours to Hamilton. We drove around the school at least four times before figuring out where we needed to move in. After picking up some stuff for the store, we split up.

Last night was an interesting one for me because it was the first time I was actually alone in a long time. I had lost my converter sometime between leaving Auckland after orientation and arriving in Hamilton, so although there was electricity I couldn't charge any of my electronics. I also don’t have access to the wifi yet, so I couldn't really talk to anybody from home. I took care of things like unpacking and showering and eating, but didn't know what else to do!

I say unpacking because ‘moving in’ doesn't accurately describe what I did. My room has tons of storage space for all the things I decided not to bring. So I just moved clothes into drawers and tried to figure out an organization system that will still make sense six months from now.  I have an address again! I you want to send me something, message me on facebook and I’ll tell you what it is. Once I've lived here a little longer I’ll talk about what Orchard Park is like. The basics are that I’m living in a University owned cottage just a little bit off campus with three other girls. It’s adorable and I can see cows from my living room.

Shamless plug: I've spent the last week and a half staying in YHA Hostels. These hostels are throughout NZ and they’re wonderful! They’re cheap and clean and I've had nothing but good interactions with both the staff and the guests. I’m paying 16$ (US) per night to stay in places more beautiful than I've ever seen. If you plan on traveling here in NZ I would recommend then without hesitation.

Orientation (June 22-June 24)

I haven't written anything in a long time, so tonight I'll try to catch up!

These last days have all been spent doing the EAP orientation in Auckland. The group of us are all from different UCs and going to different New Zealand Universities. We have people staying in Auckland University, and going to Waikato University in Hamilton, Massey University in Christchurch, Victoria University in Wellington, Lincoln University in Christchurch and Otago University in Dunedin. Each day we've had different talks from people somehow associated to the program on things we should know before living in NZ on our own. The topics have been things like 'NZ social and political scene', 'do we speak the same language?' and 'the great outdoors'. These have been mostly interesting and funny, but we'll see how much help they really are. Whenever a presenter asks if there are any questions, they end up being something like 'will I make friends?' and 'what's the bar scene like?'. Each day we have morning tea, something we should definitely start having in the states! It's about an hour after breakfast and about an hour before lunch. We have tea or coffee, little fried cheese rice balls, muffins, scones with jam and cream and different kinds of tarts. It's delicious and full of regret.

One of the highlights during orientation was the Maori cultural performance at the Auckland Museum. It was a dancing and singing performance and was surprisingly intense. There was a performance of poi, which I didn't know came from the Maori. I had only ever seen fire poi before, so this was lighthearted and fun in comparison. The most powerful dance was definitely the last one, the Haka. It was used to mentally prepare the men for battle and call upon the Gods to support them along the way. The men were slapping their hands against their bodies and stomping the floor, the women had their eyes opened so widely it was scary. I was sitting in the second row and my heart was still beating fast!

We had what we all thought would be our first Kiwi University Experience on the night of the 22nd when the All Blacks had a game. A barbecue was put together for us, and we had drinks paid for by the university (incredible!). The game was projected onto a wall in the hall of residence we had been having all our meals at, and the residents of that hall came down to watch the game. Everybody was really enthusiastic about the whole idea, even though it was finals season. You'd never seen something like that back at UCSD. I heard that the game was good, but I don't know that for sure because I don't really understand rugby. I also fell asleep before halftime.

Every orientation they run has an outing. Usually it's a beach day trip, but seeing as it's winter, Ivan decided to find something a little more season appropriate. We traveled North to Wenderholm Regional Park. It was stunningly beautiful there. The grass here is vibrantly green and everything stays damp and clean because of the constant rain. The park was an estuary and from the beach we could see different islands and peninsulas. Because I'm so used to the coast of California, standing on the beach and being able to see more land masses is really strange. I'm used to places like Big Sur, where you can look out into the ocean and believe wholeheartedly that there won't be land no matter how far you travel. We then went to Waiwera, a little hot springs pool resort. It was okay, but I soon ended up walking back to the beach, even in the wind and rain.

On the last night of orientation, we had a closing ceremony of sorts with the whole EAP group. The program had reserved a restaurant called Duder's at Devonport, and we were given ferry tickets in order to get there. We were all doing our best to pretend to know where the ferry building was and that we remembered where the directions that Ivan, our director, had rattled off earlier in the day. Eventually we all made it to the restaurant where we had the best food so far in the program. I was lucky enough to sit at a table with Ivan, and we all giggled and egged him on to tell more stories as he got tipsier and tipsier as the night went on.

My closest friends and I had all decided that since we hadn't gone out to a bar yet during orientation, the last night was the night to do it! We drank just a little and headed out on the town, expected to find a wild and fun place. It wasn't until we had seen the streets that we realized we were trying to find a party at 11pm on a Monday night in the middle of winter. We eventually ended up running into another big group of EAP people at a place called the Family Bar, a dingy American wild west saloon themed gay karaoke bar. We were the only ones there and that's why it ended up being such a fun night, we danced and winced at drink prices as long as we were able to stay awake.

And that was the end of the orientation to the country I'll be staying in for the next 6 months. Up next is a road trip to Northland!