This week found me FINALLY feeling at home and settled with school as well as live in Wellington. And do you know what that means? Means I have a case of itchy feet and need to move around more. Lucky for me, it's almost our two-week Easter vacation, just one more week of classes to get through.
Saturday (last Saturday, not yesterday) found me on an IFSA-Butler Day Trip. We were told to meet at the train station at 7:45am, which I made just in time. We boarded…a bus? Not gonna lie, I was a bit disappointed as I really like trains. We drove to YMCA camp north of Wellington close to the Tararuas, where I had previously tramped with the tramping club. It reminded me a lot of orientation (if you remember we also stayed at a YMCA there—though YMCA’s here are not YMCA’s at home). We were split into groups for the day and my group took to white-water kayaking.
After some discussion about kayak’s and water, we scrambled into a bus and headed to the Hutt River (if you’ve seen LOTR, you should be familiar with this river as Peter Jackson used it a bit, most notably for the ending of the 1st film). We put on our kayak skirts and jackets and I managed to squeeze into my kayak. They were very small and shallow, not the longer ones that I’m used to on lakes.
We got into the water and paddled around a bit just getting used to being in a current (that likes to spin your boat!). Satisfied with our ability, our two guides led us down the river. Probably five minutes after we started, my boat had two inches of water in it as I was swept by a rapid into a rock, pinned to the rock, and then my skirt came off so my boat was filling with water. My only concern was my camera, which was in a waterproof bag, floating in the kayak. At the end of the first bit of rapids, I got a chance to drain my boat as we talked more about how to tackle rapids.
These rapids were noting to crazy and the river was pretty shallow. We did end up going down a two foot chute, which was awesome as you had to steer between two large rocks or else you’d get pinned at the top of the chute. We then practiced paddling upstream at the mouth of a chute because there is a point where you are riding the wave and it becomes easy to just stay where you are.
The final bout of rapid found us all bunched up so all our boats where together and we collided into each other, into rocks, and boy, was it fun! At the end I was not satisfied with how wet I was so I dove into the river. We then were carted back to the Y for some…KAI!
Kai consisted of quiche, which was delicious, lunch meat, croissants (think I had at least seven), and kiwifruit! So good. During lunch we talked with the other groups. One had gone to work with animals in the morning and the other had gone natural horseback riding. Anna had fallen off her horse when it decided to run full speed into a fence, stopping moments before. After Kai, I headed off the horseback riding.
As this was natural horseback riding, we had to bridle the horses (essentially catch them, though this was not a hard task). We groomed them, cleaned out their hooves, brushed, etc. We saddled them, and finally got on! I was on Raz, a 22-year-old who was apparently in love with Cleo, a 28-year-old. One of the horse, Dusty, remained tied up…perhaps he was the horse that bucked Anna? After being led around a trek (one student on the horse, one student leading) I was content, but after my previous adventure on a horse, I craved more. After returning to the horse camp, we put on the reins and were ready for actual riding.
As soon as Raz and I pulled away from the fence, I knew I had an awesome horse. He liked to go fast. As we progressed on the trail, every time he could he would gallop and I would hang on for my dear life! He was crazy, but that’s how I roll, so we made quite a good pair. When we arrived at a clearing, he raced full speed across. Our instructor was calling out things I could do to slow down, but I was laughing too hard to do anything but hold on. It was about here that I realized this was probably the horse that bucked off Anna. When we arrived back to the horse camp, true to form, Raz raced towards the same fence. I got him to turn around though and we did a few circles before he settled down. It was such a fun ride!
After we finished we returned them to their fields and I laughed watching Raz roll on the ground in the same manner my black lab does! Our instructor did mention she was worried about me riding once we took off, but I assured her it was the most fun I’d had on a horse yet.
They fed us carrot cake? Sure, why not! We boarded the bus and ended up by the Asian night market, which we explored while losing the group. My night ended up with me getting a lil’ trim from Hannah, who has a history of cutting hair, and trying to watch the movie Up. Though I feel asleep 30 mins in after such a long day!
Sunday – found me writing my first paper in New Zealand, which was only 1,000 words on a Maori composer: Ngoingoi Pewharangi. She composed such hits as “Poi E” and “E ipo”, maori music that successfully crossed over into Pakeha culture (pakeha = non-Maori Kiwis).
Monday – handed in that paper! And I went shopping for tramping gear, to calm my case of itchy-foot! But I bought NOTHING as easter sales start later this week.
Tuesday – woke up at 7:00 for Yoga with Briar at 7:30 at the gym. Second time in my life I’ve done yoga, and it was alright. The best part was how much sun flooded the room and the view of the city. I went to Maori language and Maori music; which are both picking up. After dinner I went to the tramping club meeting, mostly about their trip this weekend called bushcraft. Essentially trail-less hiking. The taught us compass skills.
Wednesday – happiest day ever. Woke up at 8:30 so that I’d close to Kathamandu by 9, the start of their sale. Today was for members only and members received an additional 15% off the total bill. And this was some sale! Almost everything was 50% off, with some things more and just a few things at 25%. I bought a pack, gaiters, boots, and many other pieces of gear that had me grinning ear to ear as I walked into Criminology. We have a test Friday! After my Maori music tut (tutorial), I went back to Kathmandu and purchased a couple things I hadn’t had time to get including shirts! I know own an entire outfit that contains 0% cotton and feel quite ready to embark on epic adventures!
That evening found me so happy that I couldn’t focus on anything and thus decided to try to make pancakes. My recipe called for buttermilk and my flat mates had never heard of it! It does exist here, though rare. However did you know you can make buttermilk with milk and vinegar? Because I do now! It seemed weird, but it made great golden brown cinnamon-banana-spice pancakes. I left Briar, who asked for one in the morning, a mickey mouse shaped panackae in the fridge. Such a great day!
Thursday – went to class, not much to report, except another test next week for Maori! We had tried to schedule a neighborhood BBQ for this evening, but it fell through as Dan, the neighbor who was organizing it, had gotten his wisdom teeth removed that morning. Why is this important? Because I cook on Thursdays and had no dinner plan due to the bbq! But I prevailed and delivered a meal consisting of French toast, banana-cinnamon pancakes, apple-cinnamon pancakes, and extra cooked apple bits to serve on top. I felt quite proud at my very nutritious dinner! After dinner I still found it hard to study for my test the following day and I ended up on facebook (what?) and talked with a neighbor Zach, who was headed to a concert Friday night. He invited me and anyone in my flat who wanted to come. So I bought my ticket for 20. Sophie was keen on going as were her friends Ryan and Tan.
Friday – Study, study, study with Armelle and Hannah. We wiped through all the crim material so fast Armelle and I had time to make chocolate chip cookies! However we were out of chocolate chips! So we improvised with drinking chocolate and banana. Interesting cookie, but not bad! We then had our test, which did not go as well as I wanted, but we’ll see.
Weekend had started and Hannah, Grace, and I headed off to see Max (another IFSA Butler kid). He lives in Stafford, where they have to check all guests in. But it’s a nice place, though it lacks an oven. He made a delicious dinner but I had to pull out early as I was eager to get to the show.
When I returned to my flat, it turned out Sophie didn’t get a ticket and that there was a chance we could get her one at the door. We decided to try and Zack, Matt (his flatmate), Sophie, and I got a ride from Liam (another of Zack’s flatmates). We found Tan and Ryan, and went in to the San Francisco Bathhouse, the concert venue to see Naked & Famous opening for Minuit, both NZ indie/electric bands. I was so stoked to see NZ music and thanked Zach over and over for letting us know. It was such a great show. Some woman thought I wasn’t into the music enough and gave me a glow bracelet that I could only wear if I danced, so I danced! But the moment I stopped she took it back. I pleaded with her that I could do better and she gave me a second chance. Probably the strangest interaction I’ve had with a Kiwi. After McD’s everyone was exhausted and went to bed while I went over to Hannah’s. My night ended up at Hannah’s house making some yummy food before Grace and I crashed at her place.
Saturday (yesterday) – up and moving slowly. Said I had a lot to do but I didn’t get much of anything done. Though I had a nice skype with my parents, went grocery shopping, and bought a loaf of French bread, such a good move! It made the best toasty I’ve had yet. That evening, I headed to Jo, Josh (alan’s bf), Alex, and Sylvan’s flatwarming! It was Alice in Wonderland themed and they had even constructed a rabbit hole for their door. I met some more kiwis, got to know some kiwis better, and had a wonderful time. Sophie and I cut out early as we were exhausted. It was great weekend full of Kiwis! Not bad for this American. It was also nice to stay home for a whole weekend for a change.
Peace!
Sunday, March 28
Monday, March 22
For Johnny, Week 3
The following is a poem, written by my flatmate Briar. I meant to share it before and just found it! Enjoy.
"There was a light
once shining
In a far off land
First it looked quite scary
Then it took him by the hand
Feeding you kai
And promising adventure
You didn't know yet
That there was more
There was us four
Pioneers of 4 GT
Two boys and girls three
Let's step out and beyond
the wild trees ahead
Heaps keen
Let's all let ourselves be led
(And now I'm off to bed)"
Good stuff, especially bc she wrote it in like 4 mins.
"There was a light
once shining
In a far off land
First it looked quite scary
Then it took him by the hand
Feeding you kai
And promising adventure
You didn't know yet
That there was more
There was us four
Pioneers of 4 GT
Two boys and girls three
Let's step out and beyond
the wild trees ahead
Heaps keen
Let's all let ourselves be led
(And now I'm off to bed)"
Good stuff, especially bc she wrote it in like 4 mins.
Friday, March 19
Startling to settle in to uni
Update for this week, here we go!!!
Monday I awoke very happy after my wonderful week of tramping. I looked up my work and realized I actually had some! Monday evening found me taking part of an IFSA-Butler event: A night on the town. We met at Te Papa, Welly's museum and went inside where a theatre is located. The "play" was called Mark Twain & Me in Maoriland. I say "play" as it did feature some singing and was not really a narrative, felt much more like story theatre in presentation but without a concrete idea of where the story was heading. What was it about? Good question! I'm still asking myself that. It was about colonialism in Aotearoa (NZ) from the eyes of Mark Twain, who despised such ideas secretly in his journal when he visited New Zealand and saw the clash between Maori and the Europeans. It was well done, i think, I'm just not sure what was done.
After dinner we got a real treat: any dessert we wanted as Strawberry Fare!!! Where desserts are served as dinner portions (though keep in mind NZ dinner portions are not American dinner portions). But they were still pretty large! I had Pavlova, a traditional NZ dessert that has enough sugar in it to make anyone diabetic, or so Hannah quickly surmised. And boy was it sweet! The dessert was created in honor of Anna Pavlova, a Russian ballet dancer. There was much debate as to whether it was created by NZ or Australia, but apparently it's NZ. It's essentially egg whites + sugar whipped up inside a hard meringue shell. It was served topped with Kiwifruit and Passion fruit sauce. Actually I had my first Kiwifruit in New Zealand that night! Though apparently they aren't a native species...whatever still delicious. Apparently they used to be called Chinese gooseberries (as they are from China), according to my prestigious source (Briar Rose Davies, one of my lovely flatmates, if you remember and remember her you should!).
Tuesday found me at Uni in class and learning a bit of new Maori as well as some Maori songs with gestures, though I must admit the music class moves quickly and I failed to pick up on much of it. It time I will! But anyways,
Ko Johnny taku ingnoa. No Chicago ahau. Kei te pai ahau. Ko Jim toku tuakana. Ko Nancy toku whaea. Ko Larry toku matua. Kei te pehea koe?
Translation: I'm Johnny. I'm from Chicago. I'm good. Jim is my older brother. Nancy is my mother. Larry is my father. How are you?
Pretty basic in terms of my vocabulary, but the language is quite fun! A very different structure than spanish or english and it focuses much more on one's relationship and place in life. There are 6 different ways to say "my" because in Maori you identify if your possessions/friends/family are superior/inferior to you. Also most words don't have a plural form, instead you change the possessive word like my to indicate more than one. I also had my first tutorial and now have a vocabulary test next wed and a listening assignment due thursday, which I'm proud to say I've completed!
Maori music has kept me busy with an essay due monday. though i've yet to start writing I have been able to find some good sources by visiting the library this morning and getting a library card for Wellington's library! My essay is on Ngoingoi Pewhairangi, a Maori contemporary composer most famous for her songs E Ipo and Poi E.
Criminology is still quite interesting, today we discussed green and human rights criminology, both very unique approaches as well as peacemaking criminology, which is inspired by Ghandian and Buddhist principles.
Wednesday was St. Patrick's day! An Student night! So everyone was out and about and green. Quite a big holiday here as well. I attended a Kiwi party with Alan and Briar (flatmates) and then hit up some places in town with some of the Americans. It was a nice night.
Thursday I made sweet and sour chicken and fried rice for dinner, spending far too much time on it in an effort of procrastination. When I finally arrived at the library that night I ended up uploaded the 100 best NZ songs onto my computer. Procrastination? Yes! So happy with my decision? YES! And E Ipo and Poi E are on the best list and I need to listen to them for my essay anyways, so it sorta counts, right? Things I learned from the best 100 that How Bizarre was composed by Kiwis! I had no idea!
Friday found me getting that library card (which involves proof of residency, ID, second address, phone numbers, etc.) and finding more sources! I also went to town with all four flatmates (Sophie, Anna, Briar, and Alan) and we found a cheap place to eat delicious food and an outdoor summer cafe with live music for a spot of coffee. It was a very nice summer night, which was a welcome change as it's been quite cold this week.
Tomorrow I have another IFSA Butler event. More details to come...
Questions/Comments also welcome!
Monday I awoke very happy after my wonderful week of tramping. I looked up my work and realized I actually had some! Monday evening found me taking part of an IFSA-Butler event: A night on the town. We met at Te Papa, Welly's museum and went inside where a theatre is located. The "play" was called Mark Twain & Me in Maoriland. I say "play" as it did feature some singing and was not really a narrative, felt much more like story theatre in presentation but without a concrete idea of where the story was heading. What was it about? Good question! I'm still asking myself that. It was about colonialism in Aotearoa (NZ) from the eyes of Mark Twain, who despised such ideas secretly in his journal when he visited New Zealand and saw the clash between Maori and the Europeans. It was well done, i think, I'm just not sure what was done.
After dinner we got a real treat: any dessert we wanted as Strawberry Fare!!! Where desserts are served as dinner portions (though keep in mind NZ dinner portions are not American dinner portions). But they were still pretty large! I had Pavlova, a traditional NZ dessert that has enough sugar in it to make anyone diabetic, or so Hannah quickly surmised. And boy was it sweet! The dessert was created in honor of Anna Pavlova, a Russian ballet dancer. There was much debate as to whether it was created by NZ or Australia, but apparently it's NZ. It's essentially egg whites + sugar whipped up inside a hard meringue shell. It was served topped with Kiwifruit and Passion fruit sauce. Actually I had my first Kiwifruit in New Zealand that night! Though apparently they aren't a native species...whatever still delicious. Apparently they used to be called Chinese gooseberries (as they are from China), according to my prestigious source (Briar Rose Davies, one of my lovely flatmates, if you remember and remember her you should!).
Tuesday found me at Uni in class and learning a bit of new Maori as well as some Maori songs with gestures, though I must admit the music class moves quickly and I failed to pick up on much of it. It time I will! But anyways,
Ko Johnny taku ingnoa. No Chicago ahau. Kei te pai ahau. Ko Jim toku tuakana. Ko Nancy toku whaea. Ko Larry toku matua. Kei te pehea koe?
Translation: I'm Johnny. I'm from Chicago. I'm good. Jim is my older brother. Nancy is my mother. Larry is my father. How are you?
Pretty basic in terms of my vocabulary, but the language is quite fun! A very different structure than spanish or english and it focuses much more on one's relationship and place in life. There are 6 different ways to say "my" because in Maori you identify if your possessions/friends/family are superior/inferior to you. Also most words don't have a plural form, instead you change the possessive word like my to indicate more than one. I also had my first tutorial and now have a vocabulary test next wed and a listening assignment due thursday, which I'm proud to say I've completed!
Maori music has kept me busy with an essay due monday. though i've yet to start writing I have been able to find some good sources by visiting the library this morning and getting a library card for Wellington's library! My essay is on Ngoingoi Pewhairangi, a Maori contemporary composer most famous for her songs E Ipo and Poi E.
Criminology is still quite interesting, today we discussed green and human rights criminology, both very unique approaches as well as peacemaking criminology, which is inspired by Ghandian and Buddhist principles.
Wednesday was St. Patrick's day! An Student night! So everyone was out and about and green. Quite a big holiday here as well. I attended a Kiwi party with Alan and Briar (flatmates) and then hit up some places in town with some of the Americans. It was a nice night.
Thursday I made sweet and sour chicken and fried rice for dinner, spending far too much time on it in an effort of procrastination. When I finally arrived at the library that night I ended up uploaded the 100 best NZ songs onto my computer. Procrastination? Yes! So happy with my decision? YES! And E Ipo and Poi E are on the best list and I need to listen to them for my essay anyways, so it sorta counts, right? Things I learned from the best 100 that How Bizarre was composed by Kiwis! I had no idea!
Friday found me getting that library card (which involves proof of residency, ID, second address, phone numbers, etc.) and finding more sources! I also went to town with all four flatmates (Sophie, Anna, Briar, and Alan) and we found a cheap place to eat delicious food and an outdoor summer cafe with live music for a spot of coffee. It was a very nice summer night, which was a welcome change as it's been quite cold this week.
Tomorrow I have another IFSA Butler event. More details to come...
Questions/Comments also welcome!
Tuesday, March 16
From the Tramping Club trip...
The first bridge that we crossed, much more stable than the second.
This just reminded me of Fern Gully, as a new seed is growing out of an old tree. Life starts anew.
The river we followed for most of the hike
This is what a temperate rain forest looks like.
hannah
Bit of a view, but the hike wasn't really about climbing anything, more just a tramp in the woods.
Sunday, March 14
Trekking, Take One, Action
hulooooo!
I am back from my first ever trekking experience. (Trekking = tramping overnight and tramping = hiking.) After a friday spent doing a bit of work and only one paper (class), I packed in only an hour or so and headed off to Hannah's for some grub. Together we walked to meet Vic's Tramping club, boarded a bus, and headed out from Wellington.
The weather in Welly was rainy, with high winds, and some cyclone-action. As we drove out of Welly we lost much of the wind, but the rain seemed to be everywhere. After a two hour bus ride, we left the bus and began setting up tents in the dark in the middle of nowhere! Thankfully, almost everyone had taken the list of things to bring seriously; sooo many head-torches (torch = flashlight). In fact too many head-torches. Seriously, the situation was reminiscent of driving with brights, you know where if you see another car you turn them off? Well, no one turned them off and blinding lights were scattered around our camp site. The club provided some chips/cookies and many trampers had taken the offer of bringing alcohol. After socializing a bit, I left the lil' hut where we were staying dry (as the rain had returned) and headed into my tent, though tent is an understatment. One tarp on the ground, one tarp suspended by poles above. Basically a tent, though a bit drafty and rainy. I was a bit too long for our setup and after a rough night of sleeping with a storm, I awoke with a bit of dampness in the end of my down bag. Down bags are great and warm but sure don't do well with water. The trip was off to great start...
But in actuality, I was still having a great time as I was so excited to try one of my one-square meal bars! With 700 calories and 33% of you daily needs, it is the ultimate way to start one's day, I paired this with a banana-flavored up & go. Banana flavored up & gos will not be purchased by me nor anyone else I come into contact with. Also, when we woke up we actually saw where we were and where we were was wonderful (try saying that ten times fast!). Camp was surrounded by high hills and quite a bit of temperate rain forest. This was the Tararua range, two hours north of Welly.
Fueled with breakfast, we broke down our "tents", repacked our large bags (I was borrowing Anna's big bag) and started hiking. My group was last to leave the campsite, which we liked giving us no rush and a chance to be slow and take pictures. However half of our group including myself go quite fast for taking our sweet time! From gabbing about ourselves and the beginning, we switched to gasping at the beauty of the hike.
Giant trees (well, in my opinion), ferns that were almost my size, and furry branches gave us much to marvel at. Not long after starting we came across a bridge. This would not be the last of many many many river crossings. It had a load of 8 persons and was about 30 meters or so across. Designed to give in to NZ wind, it swayed a bit, but not too much. Crossing and seeing the river down below did raise my heart beat and gave an instant adrenaline rush.
A few hours later, we hit a large river crossing, in which we had to take off our shoes/socks in order to wade across. Some of the trampers, simply walked right through, boot and all. My half group made it to the lunch spot soon after wards, some rocks/boulders on the river in the sun. I attempted to toast my ham+cheese sandwich in the sun on a rock, but to no avail. After lunch, Hannah and I waded into the water, which was extremely frigid and numbing. So naturally we had to jump right in, though the swimming lasted less than a minute. Regardless we felt proud and continued onward, having lost her group and mine.
After trapesing through mud that rivals the Adirondacks in New York, Hannah and I made it to the campsite, where many students had tried the water. Feeling brave we went in again! Though there was an epic wind, which made me crawl out sooner than I wished. Some trampers were sitting around some food and having swigs of wine and after a couple swigs for myself, I was determined to try the water again! Finally I got to swimming for almost two minutes! Then had the pleasure of putting on dry clothes.
My group combined our ingredients to make guacamole, probably the best I've ever had, and pasta with onions, zucchini, carrots, and my two cans of sauce. Like before on my road trip, two parcels of spaghetti is a lot for seven people, but after tramping all day we where able to finish all of it and most of the guac and not all of the dessert. Apricot pudding (pudding = ??? cake/tart/just general dessert?). After such an excellent and filling dinner, I joined the group 'round a big ol' bonfire. Before I sat down I tried to fill up my nalgene from the river, because apparently that's safe...i wasn't too trusting and intended on using it for emergency water only. As I reached down to fill it up, I slipped and off went my nalegene. I starred at it floating away weighing the pros and cons of the situation before the logic of "I love that water bottle" swayed my judgment. Stripping off my socks I ran down the river back (all rocks mind you) retrieved my nalgene and then tripped in the water plunging my new fresh pair of socks into the water. :( <-- that was my face.
I went to the bonfire with all my socks and wet clothes and boots to dry them by the fire, when I got the brilliant idea to tie my sock to a stick and dry it over the flames. It was working! Steam was being released and they started drying. Feeling even more brilliant i just unrolled the whole sock and stuck a twig through the sock and put that over the fire. The winds frequently caused much smoke to travel my direction and I got the even more brilliant idea of planting part of my branch into the ground as do I could close my eyes. All was well and good until someone added more wood to the fire, causing more smoke, causing me to look away for TOO long. I looked up to see more steam rising, until ti realized it was more smokey. I pulled my sock back to find a small hole in the middle of a dark burnt patch. As I picked it off the twig I watched in horror as the burnt part disintegrated in front of my eyes.
:( <-- my face x 10. Such sadness, but really such stupidity!! But alas, I have plenty of socks back in my flat for other excursions.
Feeling disheartened, which soon just turned into heartened via a roasted marshmallow, shooting starts, and the clearest Milky Way galaxy I've seen, I headed towards or tent, which was located on some tall grass giving it wonderful cushion. I slept so much better and could even recall a dream (which oddly enough I have been able to do more times in New Zealand than I have ever been able to do in my life).
I woke up excited for ONE SQUARE MEAL (which was NOT accompanied by a banana up&go) as well as less excited for the absence of a toilet/outhouse. After reenacting a Charming commercial, I woofed down by breakfast and headed out for the final day of our journey. Today we would be ascending 400 meters in an hour, which had some people a bit nervous. After passing by the Totara Flats hut, where you could spend a night in a bed with toilets (= lame), we came to a large bridge. This time it had a maximum load of ONE PERSON! And was swaying in the wind. It had steel bars every foot or so with chain-link mesh between. Not my idea of sturdy, but it held all 200+ pounds of me plus my large pack.
Our next obstacle was another large stream, all of these smaller streams feed into the Waiohine River (I think that's the right name, not sure). Instead of taking of boots, it seemed more cross-able and those days of track and field which included the triple jump really came in handy!
After the stream we finally started the main ascent. I decided to time myself and managed to pass the leaders in front and get to the top much faster than I thought I could. Though I was not exactly sure where we were headed but I asked some kind trampers and found my way to a nice lookout, where I eventually encountered some of my old group. We hiked down after having a spot of lunch and were greeted with a kiwi BBQ from the leaders who had sprinted ahead. (Kiwis don't use buns...I don't really know why, something about excess carbs/food. Instead they just use bread...I'm starting to get use to it, but so want to show the what they are missing). The bbz spot at the end of the tramp was also located by a river and Hannah and I again dove in, lasting maybe seven seconds. Refreshed, fed, and de-shoed, we headed for the bus and returned to Victoria, this time able to see the scenery. I sat next to girl named Hannah (different than the other Hannah, confusing, no?), a Harvard grad on semester program at Vic. It turns out she currently resides not too far from my place.
After being dropped off I walked barefoot to my flat. I was greeted with warm dinner by Sophie and chocolate from our neighbors. Finally getting my shower, I found the time to update my blog! Still need to check the homework situation, but I have all tomorrow for that...
It's been, yet again, another unbelievable Kiwi experience. Hope all is well with you!
Cheers,
Johnny
I am back from my first ever trekking experience. (Trekking = tramping overnight and tramping = hiking.) After a friday spent doing a bit of work and only one paper (class), I packed in only an hour or so and headed off to Hannah's for some grub. Together we walked to meet Vic's Tramping club, boarded a bus, and headed out from Wellington.
The weather in Welly was rainy, with high winds, and some cyclone-action. As we drove out of Welly we lost much of the wind, but the rain seemed to be everywhere. After a two hour bus ride, we left the bus and began setting up tents in the dark in the middle of nowhere! Thankfully, almost everyone had taken the list of things to bring seriously; sooo many head-torches (torch = flashlight). In fact too many head-torches. Seriously, the situation was reminiscent of driving with brights, you know where if you see another car you turn them off? Well, no one turned them off and blinding lights were scattered around our camp site. The club provided some chips/cookies and many trampers had taken the offer of bringing alcohol. After socializing a bit, I left the lil' hut where we were staying dry (as the rain had returned) and headed into my tent, though tent is an understatment. One tarp on the ground, one tarp suspended by poles above. Basically a tent, though a bit drafty and rainy. I was a bit too long for our setup and after a rough night of sleeping with a storm, I awoke with a bit of dampness in the end of my down bag. Down bags are great and warm but sure don't do well with water. The trip was off to great start...
But in actuality, I was still having a great time as I was so excited to try one of my one-square meal bars! With 700 calories and 33% of you daily needs, it is the ultimate way to start one's day, I paired this with a banana-flavored up & go. Banana flavored up & gos will not be purchased by me nor anyone else I come into contact with. Also, when we woke up we actually saw where we were and where we were was wonderful (try saying that ten times fast!). Camp was surrounded by high hills and quite a bit of temperate rain forest. This was the Tararua range, two hours north of Welly.
Fueled with breakfast, we broke down our "tents", repacked our large bags (I was borrowing Anna's big bag) and started hiking. My group was last to leave the campsite, which we liked giving us no rush and a chance to be slow and take pictures. However half of our group including myself go quite fast for taking our sweet time! From gabbing about ourselves and the beginning, we switched to gasping at the beauty of the hike.
Giant trees (well, in my opinion), ferns that were almost my size, and furry branches gave us much to marvel at. Not long after starting we came across a bridge. This would not be the last of many many many river crossings. It had a load of 8 persons and was about 30 meters or so across. Designed to give in to NZ wind, it swayed a bit, but not too much. Crossing and seeing the river down below did raise my heart beat and gave an instant adrenaline rush.
A few hours later, we hit a large river crossing, in which we had to take off our shoes/socks in order to wade across. Some of the trampers, simply walked right through, boot and all. My half group made it to the lunch spot soon after wards, some rocks/boulders on the river in the sun. I attempted to toast my ham+cheese sandwich in the sun on a rock, but to no avail. After lunch, Hannah and I waded into the water, which was extremely frigid and numbing. So naturally we had to jump right in, though the swimming lasted less than a minute. Regardless we felt proud and continued onward, having lost her group and mine.
After trapesing through mud that rivals the Adirondacks in New York, Hannah and I made it to the campsite, where many students had tried the water. Feeling brave we went in again! Though there was an epic wind, which made me crawl out sooner than I wished. Some trampers were sitting around some food and having swigs of wine and after a couple swigs for myself, I was determined to try the water again! Finally I got to swimming for almost two minutes! Then had the pleasure of putting on dry clothes.
My group combined our ingredients to make guacamole, probably the best I've ever had, and pasta with onions, zucchini, carrots, and my two cans of sauce. Like before on my road trip, two parcels of spaghetti is a lot for seven people, but after tramping all day we where able to finish all of it and most of the guac and not all of the dessert. Apricot pudding (pudding = ??? cake/tart/just general dessert?). After such an excellent and filling dinner, I joined the group 'round a big ol' bonfire. Before I sat down I tried to fill up my nalgene from the river, because apparently that's safe...i wasn't too trusting and intended on using it for emergency water only. As I reached down to fill it up, I slipped and off went my nalegene. I starred at it floating away weighing the pros and cons of the situation before the logic of "I love that water bottle" swayed my judgment. Stripping off my socks I ran down the river back (all rocks mind you) retrieved my nalgene and then tripped in the water plunging my new fresh pair of socks into the water. :( <-- that was my face.
I went to the bonfire with all my socks and wet clothes and boots to dry them by the fire, when I got the brilliant idea to tie my sock to a stick and dry it over the flames. It was working! Steam was being released and they started drying. Feeling even more brilliant i just unrolled the whole sock and stuck a twig through the sock and put that over the fire. The winds frequently caused much smoke to travel my direction and I got the even more brilliant idea of planting part of my branch into the ground as do I could close my eyes. All was well and good until someone added more wood to the fire, causing more smoke, causing me to look away for TOO long. I looked up to see more steam rising, until ti realized it was more smokey. I pulled my sock back to find a small hole in the middle of a dark burnt patch. As I picked it off the twig I watched in horror as the burnt part disintegrated in front of my eyes.
:( <-- my face x 10. Such sadness, but really such stupidity!! But alas, I have plenty of socks back in my flat for other excursions.
Feeling disheartened, which soon just turned into heartened via a roasted marshmallow, shooting starts, and the clearest Milky Way galaxy I've seen, I headed towards or tent, which was located on some tall grass giving it wonderful cushion. I slept so much better and could even recall a dream (which oddly enough I have been able to do more times in New Zealand than I have ever been able to do in my life).
I woke up excited for ONE SQUARE MEAL (which was NOT accompanied by a banana up&go) as well as less excited for the absence of a toilet/outhouse. After reenacting a Charming commercial, I woofed down by breakfast and headed out for the final day of our journey. Today we would be ascending 400 meters in an hour, which had some people a bit nervous. After passing by the Totara Flats hut, where you could spend a night in a bed with toilets (= lame), we came to a large bridge. This time it had a maximum load of ONE PERSON! And was swaying in the wind. It had steel bars every foot or so with chain-link mesh between. Not my idea of sturdy, but it held all 200+ pounds of me plus my large pack.
Our next obstacle was another large stream, all of these smaller streams feed into the Waiohine River (I think that's the right name, not sure). Instead of taking of boots, it seemed more cross-able and those days of track and field which included the triple jump really came in handy!
After the stream we finally started the main ascent. I decided to time myself and managed to pass the leaders in front and get to the top much faster than I thought I could. Though I was not exactly sure where we were headed but I asked some kind trampers and found my way to a nice lookout, where I eventually encountered some of my old group. We hiked down after having a spot of lunch and were greeted with a kiwi BBQ from the leaders who had sprinted ahead. (Kiwis don't use buns...I don't really know why, something about excess carbs/food. Instead they just use bread...I'm starting to get use to it, but so want to show the what they are missing). The bbz spot at the end of the tramp was also located by a river and Hannah and I again dove in, lasting maybe seven seconds. Refreshed, fed, and de-shoed, we headed for the bus and returned to Victoria, this time able to see the scenery. I sat next to girl named Hannah (different than the other Hannah, confusing, no?), a Harvard grad on semester program at Vic. It turns out she currently resides not too far from my place.
After being dropped off I walked barefoot to my flat. I was greeted with warm dinner by Sophie and chocolate from our neighbors. Finally getting my shower, I found the time to update my blog! Still need to check the homework situation, but I have all tomorrow for that...
It's been, yet again, another unbelievable Kiwi experience. Hope all is well with you!
Cheers,
Johnny
Thursday, March 11
Because sometimes language can't quite describe...
So for some reason the pictures were order in reverse chronological order...perhaps something I can improve upon in the future. I'll leave you to take in the pictures but will add a couple quick comments
End of Tongariro crossing
note that black lava flow on the left
red crater
mt. doom again
scree on left and right, rock stream if you will in the middle, that's how you get down in 30 mins
on top.
Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mt. Doom)
Starting the Tongariro Crossing
Lake Taupo
The Dark Night, our trusted rent-a-van
Rotorua, NZ complete with mud pools
riding horses through rivers
We turned a corner and BAM! so beautiful...
The dusk view from our flat
Wellington
View from my french toast...
On the Marae, us boys doing part of a Haka, though we didn't actually learn any words. The meeting house for Whare (prnc. far-ay), can be seen in the background. No photos allowed inside.
Truly New Zealand, complete with sheep. One of the first pictures I took.
End of Tongariro crossing
note that black lava flow on the left
red crater
mt. doom again
scree on left and right, rock stream if you will in the middle, that's how you get down in 30 mins
on top.
Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mt. Doom)
Starting the Tongariro Crossing
Lake Taupo
The Dark Night, our trusted rent-a-van
Rotorua, NZ complete with mud pools
riding horses through rivers
We turned a corner and BAM! so beautiful...
The dusk view from our flat
Wellington
View from my french toast...
On the Marae, us boys doing part of a Haka, though we didn't actually learn any words. The meeting house for Whare (prnc. far-ay), can be seen in the background. No photos allowed inside.
Truly New Zealand, complete with sheep. One of the first pictures I took.
Catching up never felt so good!
So I’m sitting here munching on pineapple lumps, a very delicious NZ candy (probably because all the candy here has REAL SUGAR and not high-fructose corn syrup as do all sodas!), and I’m realizing how much more fun this blog could be if I was writing in the present such as now. I’ve been playing catch up for a month and I’ve decided tonight that I will summarize the events that have occurred since returning from trip until right now, tonight! It may skip some details, but then I could blog about more than just what I do, but more how I feel about New Zealand. Perhaps that might even be more interesting. Oh, and if you’re wondering, right now I’m currently feeling that Imogen Heap + Pineapple lumps (which don’t taste anything like pineapple) are a great combination. Also, once this entry is done I can finally e-mail everyone and let them know I have a blog. I was hesitant to do so until I knew I’d actually be keeping it, which I am! Yay…but for serious, here we go:
So Saturday I woke up at Hannah’s flat exhausted and returned home to try to sleep, except I ended up trying to clean my room, as I hadn’t exactly moved in fully. This process took a couple days and all of a sudden it was MONDAY, the first day of class! But thankfully I don’t have class on Mondays…so I spent the day flat shopping!
Tuesday came around and I finally had something to do, which was nice. It had been almost 80 or so days since I’d been in school. But Victoria is no Vassar. I walked into my Maori class to find 150 other people!! The professor was also a bit shocked and decided to try and split into two streams (which means sections, for non-Kiwis). My Maori class is on the campus marae, which is the area of meeting for the Maori. On the marae, is a whare (far-a), which is the meeting house, where I have class inside on the floor. Upon entering, the memory of speaking at the marae near Auckland popped into my head. I am so glad I had that experience, as it keeps being a useful memory! After my intro to Maori class, I moved on to Maori music, also taught at the marae for its lecture. The class is very performance based and we have to sing/dance with Maori. So glad I’m taking the language class too!
Tuesday night found me baking cookies for the first time in my life. I burnt a couple and felt silly. The reason for the backing was that it was Anna’s Birthday, one of my flat mates. She turned twenty, which is great as know I don’t feel so old (the others are 19 and 18). To celebrate we had a dessert party and skipped a proper dinner…always a good idea. Briar made her famous vegan chocolate cake, still SO GOOD! And all the guests brought dessert, should have taken a picture of the fine fine spread. Anyways, it was a fun night and we celebrated Anna’s birthday well.
Wednesday found me in criminology, introduction to criminological thought. Pretty interesting and I think I’ll keep it. So that with my other two papers (courses) = a full course load (60 points) and thus 4 credits at Vassar. My timetable (schedule) is quite light, though I have a tutorial for each class. Tutorials accompany lectures and are smaller (20 people) and taught by a grad student. As a Vassar kid, this system is very strange as my lectures are 100+ people! And yet apparently I’m in small classes for Vic(toria Univeristy, also referred to as Uni). My three lecturers are all wonderful and interesting and I’m very excited, though I’ve been a bit bored with the lack of work. I will find something constructive to do with my time, I swear!
I also met with a music professor, the head of music composition, as I had submitted a CD in order to pass out of 100-level papers. It turns out I was accepted, though I can’t take the offer as the Comp classes clash with my other papers and I already like my papers. We scheduled a meeting and at that meeting, we had a wonderful hour long chat about music and we went over some of my stuff. It was very helpful and he even served tea. Makes me wonder a bit about Vassar, when a professor at a huge university can take the time to do this with me why Vassar professors often meet for like 15 mins…hmmmmm. Oh well! I also think I have key card access to the music practice rooms, of which there are only fourteen!!! I can’t reserve them as I’m not performance, but I can use them when they are free, which is rare.
Thursday of this week found me at an IFSA-Butler event. We met at Te Papa, Wellington’s museum, which contains a giant squid! From there we were split into groups and had to complete a sheet of questions about things around the city. When we were finished we were to open an envelope that had directions to dinner on Butler. My team was great! We raced through the museum, and then sauntered our way over to the City information center. On the way we think we saw a pod of dolphins in the harbor and stopped for gelato. We even took pictures of it to show IFSA staff. We believed that we might win if we took our time and enjoyed ourselves, though perhaps that was only to rationalize the gelato stop. We eventually ended up at the library, spent too much time there, and realized we would be late. We got to dinner late and turned in our sheet. Much to our surprise we won! We were rewarded with gym bags and a gift certificate (which still hasn’t come…). Perhaps our theory was correct.
Friday found me on a run to the beach, in Crim, and watching Moulin Rouge. Every year Vassar throws a Moulin Rouge party and I never understood why people got all hyped up. Now I do! I’d seen the film when I was much younger and obviously did not understand the random singing. It was a nice quite Friday night, which was good, especially considering that the next night would be our FLAT – WARMING.
SATURDAY, the day of our NEVERLAND THEMED FLAT-WARMING. (Yeah, all caps = excitement.) Briar was Peter Pan, Alan was a very interesting Tinkerbell, Anna was Captain Hook, Sophie was Wendy, and I was Michael Darling with teddy bear from Pack ‘N Save for only $8.00. We invited heaps of people; I invited the Americans. The Kiwis and Americans even mingled! We provided just the space and music, as most parties are BYO here, which makes a whole lot of sense, economically speaking. We also invited our neighbors and many of them came! We now know our neighbors, which is sweet as (cool). Because of our housing regulations, we had to shut down at midnight, so we took the party to town! Though I lost Briar’s PJs and my teddy bear for more suitable clothes. It was an epic night and lots of fun.
Sunday I woke up so happy and content with New Zealand, with my flat mates, and with life. We have a chores list, we have dishes rotation, and we cook communally. We know our neighbors, and they’re awesome. Life is just soo good! Later in the afternoon, Briar, Anna, Sophie, and I headed to Newtown, a neighborhood in Welly that had a street fair.
Monday the NZ magic continued as I ended up taking a late night dip in the ocean with some flatmates and some kiwis. We discovered phosphorescence in the water! If you moved your hands or kicked brilliant blue lights lit up. It was amazing, but also freezing so it didn’t last too long. What a great way to kick off a week!
After class Tuesday, I spent a couple hours vacuuming our new couch, that we obtained for free from a friend of Anna’s. I’m a bit allergic to it’s dust and or cat hair…but it’s too comfy for me to let that stand in the way. Tonight was my first night for cooking. I made meatballs with tortellini and beans. Very yummy and my flat mates appreciated my American-sized portions. Oh, I also baked cookies on Sunday and didn’t burn them! In fact they were amazing with chocolate chips, coconut, cinnamon, and some other spices. I honestly don’t think I can ever follow a recipe perfectly, I also have to change it. Mostly for the best, but not always… After dinner, I headed to the tramping club. They blew me away with their organization so I signed up (20 dollars, as they don’t have an activities fee) and another 30 dollars for a trip this weekend. We leave Friday night and get back Sunday night.
Wednesday found me starting some homework, and then heading out for student night. Still not use to this not always studying on school nights thing…so weird! There’s time to study and enjoy life? What a country!
Finally, and oh me oh my, you better believe this next word: TODAY, Thursday, March 11, 2010, I went to class, 2 hours in the marae for intro to Maori. I think my knowledge of the language just tripled. After class Hannah, Max (another IFSA kid), Grace, and I headed to town as some of us are headed out tramping on that trip tomorrow! I am borrowing Anna’s pack as they cost around 350. But I bought some polypropylene base layer for 45, a bit pricy but there was a two for one deal so guess who’s know a member of Kathmandu? I am! I also know own a spiffy headlamp flashlight that has an incredible 7 LEDs (only 11 at a grocery store!), a bowl, collapsible spork and knife, a pack liner, and some food as we need to provide two breakfasts and two lunches. Oh and the torch (flashlight) was supposed to be a headlamp as the tramping club gave an important talk about the dangers of hiking while holding a flashlight. After all this shopping, we all got a ride back up the hill from one our neighbors! I walked in the door to find some left over dinner, consumed it, played some of Briar’s keyboard, and guess what? STARTED TO BLOG.
Gosh this is incredible. I’m not blogging in the present. Hi, how are you? Crazy huh? So yeah, trip this weekend. Very excited for it, charging the good old camera and such. Tomorrow I only have criminology in the afternoon (round three) so I can pack well and feel prepared. I have little experience overnight tramping as I’ve only really been a day hiker. I’m a little worried about my hiking boots as I blistered a bit after the Tongariro crossing, but buying new boots this week would also be a very bad idea. Hannah, Max, and I are all in different groups, so hopefully we’ll meet some Kiwis! The club runs all sorts of trips and I’m keen to do some Alpine ice climbing, though that happens much latter in the trimester. Well all for now! So good to be in the present.
Also, I'm supposed to bring pasta sauce for our dinner on Saturday night...everyone in my group is bringing one thing that will hopefully morph into dinner!
So Saturday I woke up at Hannah’s flat exhausted and returned home to try to sleep, except I ended up trying to clean my room, as I hadn’t exactly moved in fully. This process took a couple days and all of a sudden it was MONDAY, the first day of class! But thankfully I don’t have class on Mondays…so I spent the day flat shopping!
Tuesday came around and I finally had something to do, which was nice. It had been almost 80 or so days since I’d been in school. But Victoria is no Vassar. I walked into my Maori class to find 150 other people!! The professor was also a bit shocked and decided to try and split into two streams (which means sections, for non-Kiwis). My Maori class is on the campus marae, which is the area of meeting for the Maori. On the marae, is a whare (far-a), which is the meeting house, where I have class inside on the floor. Upon entering, the memory of speaking at the marae near Auckland popped into my head. I am so glad I had that experience, as it keeps being a useful memory! After my intro to Maori class, I moved on to Maori music, also taught at the marae for its lecture. The class is very performance based and we have to sing/dance with Maori. So glad I’m taking the language class too!
Tuesday night found me baking cookies for the first time in my life. I burnt a couple and felt silly. The reason for the backing was that it was Anna’s Birthday, one of my flat mates. She turned twenty, which is great as know I don’t feel so old (the others are 19 and 18). To celebrate we had a dessert party and skipped a proper dinner…always a good idea. Briar made her famous vegan chocolate cake, still SO GOOD! And all the guests brought dessert, should have taken a picture of the fine fine spread. Anyways, it was a fun night and we celebrated Anna’s birthday well.
Wednesday found me in criminology, introduction to criminological thought. Pretty interesting and I think I’ll keep it. So that with my other two papers (courses) = a full course load (60 points) and thus 4 credits at Vassar. My timetable (schedule) is quite light, though I have a tutorial for each class. Tutorials accompany lectures and are smaller (20 people) and taught by a grad student. As a Vassar kid, this system is very strange as my lectures are 100+ people! And yet apparently I’m in small classes for Vic(toria Univeristy, also referred to as Uni). My three lecturers are all wonderful and interesting and I’m very excited, though I’ve been a bit bored with the lack of work. I will find something constructive to do with my time, I swear!
I also met with a music professor, the head of music composition, as I had submitted a CD in order to pass out of 100-level papers. It turns out I was accepted, though I can’t take the offer as the Comp classes clash with my other papers and I already like my papers. We scheduled a meeting and at that meeting, we had a wonderful hour long chat about music and we went over some of my stuff. It was very helpful and he even served tea. Makes me wonder a bit about Vassar, when a professor at a huge university can take the time to do this with me why Vassar professors often meet for like 15 mins…hmmmmm. Oh well! I also think I have key card access to the music practice rooms, of which there are only fourteen!!! I can’t reserve them as I’m not performance, but I can use them when they are free, which is rare.
Thursday of this week found me at an IFSA-Butler event. We met at Te Papa, Wellington’s museum, which contains a giant squid! From there we were split into groups and had to complete a sheet of questions about things around the city. When we were finished we were to open an envelope that had directions to dinner on Butler. My team was great! We raced through the museum, and then sauntered our way over to the City information center. On the way we think we saw a pod of dolphins in the harbor and stopped for gelato. We even took pictures of it to show IFSA staff. We believed that we might win if we took our time and enjoyed ourselves, though perhaps that was only to rationalize the gelato stop. We eventually ended up at the library, spent too much time there, and realized we would be late. We got to dinner late and turned in our sheet. Much to our surprise we won! We were rewarded with gym bags and a gift certificate (which still hasn’t come…). Perhaps our theory was correct.
Friday found me on a run to the beach, in Crim, and watching Moulin Rouge. Every year Vassar throws a Moulin Rouge party and I never understood why people got all hyped up. Now I do! I’d seen the film when I was much younger and obviously did not understand the random singing. It was a nice quite Friday night, which was good, especially considering that the next night would be our FLAT – WARMING.
SATURDAY, the day of our NEVERLAND THEMED FLAT-WARMING. (Yeah, all caps = excitement.) Briar was Peter Pan, Alan was a very interesting Tinkerbell, Anna was Captain Hook, Sophie was Wendy, and I was Michael Darling with teddy bear from Pack ‘N Save for only $8.00. We invited heaps of people; I invited the Americans. The Kiwis and Americans even mingled! We provided just the space and music, as most parties are BYO here, which makes a whole lot of sense, economically speaking. We also invited our neighbors and many of them came! We now know our neighbors, which is sweet as (cool). Because of our housing regulations, we had to shut down at midnight, so we took the party to town! Though I lost Briar’s PJs and my teddy bear for more suitable clothes. It was an epic night and lots of fun.
Sunday I woke up so happy and content with New Zealand, with my flat mates, and with life. We have a chores list, we have dishes rotation, and we cook communally. We know our neighbors, and they’re awesome. Life is just soo good! Later in the afternoon, Briar, Anna, Sophie, and I headed to Newtown, a neighborhood in Welly that had a street fair.
Monday the NZ magic continued as I ended up taking a late night dip in the ocean with some flatmates and some kiwis. We discovered phosphorescence in the water! If you moved your hands or kicked brilliant blue lights lit up. It was amazing, but also freezing so it didn’t last too long. What a great way to kick off a week!
After class Tuesday, I spent a couple hours vacuuming our new couch, that we obtained for free from a friend of Anna’s. I’m a bit allergic to it’s dust and or cat hair…but it’s too comfy for me to let that stand in the way. Tonight was my first night for cooking. I made meatballs with tortellini and beans. Very yummy and my flat mates appreciated my American-sized portions. Oh, I also baked cookies on Sunday and didn’t burn them! In fact they were amazing with chocolate chips, coconut, cinnamon, and some other spices. I honestly don’t think I can ever follow a recipe perfectly, I also have to change it. Mostly for the best, but not always… After dinner, I headed to the tramping club. They blew me away with their organization so I signed up (20 dollars, as they don’t have an activities fee) and another 30 dollars for a trip this weekend. We leave Friday night and get back Sunday night.
Wednesday found me starting some homework, and then heading out for student night. Still not use to this not always studying on school nights thing…so weird! There’s time to study and enjoy life? What a country!
Finally, and oh me oh my, you better believe this next word: TODAY, Thursday, March 11, 2010, I went to class, 2 hours in the marae for intro to Maori. I think my knowledge of the language just tripled. After class Hannah, Max (another IFSA kid), Grace, and I headed to town as some of us are headed out tramping on that trip tomorrow! I am borrowing Anna’s pack as they cost around 350. But I bought some polypropylene base layer for 45, a bit pricy but there was a two for one deal so guess who’s know a member of Kathmandu? I am! I also know own a spiffy headlamp flashlight that has an incredible 7 LEDs (only 11 at a grocery store!), a bowl, collapsible spork and knife, a pack liner, and some food as we need to provide two breakfasts and two lunches. Oh and the torch (flashlight) was supposed to be a headlamp as the tramping club gave an important talk about the dangers of hiking while holding a flashlight. After all this shopping, we all got a ride back up the hill from one our neighbors! I walked in the door to find some left over dinner, consumed it, played some of Briar’s keyboard, and guess what? STARTED TO BLOG.
Gosh this is incredible. I’m not blogging in the present. Hi, how are you? Crazy huh? So yeah, trip this weekend. Very excited for it, charging the good old camera and such. Tomorrow I only have criminology in the afternoon (round three) so I can pack well and feel prepared. I have little experience overnight tramping as I’ve only really been a day hiker. I’m a little worried about my hiking boots as I blistered a bit after the Tongariro crossing, but buying new boots this week would also be a very bad idea. Hannah, Max, and I are all in different groups, so hopefully we’ll meet some Kiwis! The club runs all sorts of trips and I’m keen to do some Alpine ice climbing, though that happens much latter in the trimester. Well all for now! So good to be in the present.
Also, I'm supposed to bring pasta sauce for our dinner on Saturday night...everyone in my group is bringing one thing that will hopefully morph into dinner!
Sunday, March 7
N. Island Road Trip Part 2
Wednesday, Feb 24th
Oh, and yesterday I drove! For maybe 30 minutes. Hannah was keen to drive though and I happily let her, but I feel like I could do it. So, we embarked after breakfast bars and the acquiring of an iTrip and headed to Waitomo. After driving for a bit, I suggested we pull over and find a good spot for lunch. And what a spot for lunch we found! A small brook running through NZ countryside surrounded by green hills and blue sky made quite a good spot for Grace-made pb&j sandwiches (which by the way, is not really big here…at all). Eventually we returned to the DARK KNIGHT and continued on our merry way.
Outside of Waitomo we encountered an ostrich farm! We stopped to take pictures, obviously, and Anna and I figured out we could speak Ostrich fluently. The secret is talking in a semi-Jamaican accent and shooting, “Hey ostrich” or “yo ostrich”. After doing so, the said ostrich will walk towards you and become mildy pissed off in which case you snap a quick picture, return to the car, and drive! They are very large and quite ill-tempered.
We pulled into Waitomo and found the glowworm caves! After paying the fee (NZ 40 or so: ps I’m including prices both for my personal reference and in case any of you plan a trip here!), we headed up some stairs to greet our tour guide. She was Maori and had a very calm soothing voice, which paired with the coolness of the caves resulted in a sleepy Johnny. The caves were incredible! And the once we ventured into has even had benefit concerts inside, as it was large enough. At the end of the tour, we climbed into boats and drifted through the total darkness of the caves to the mouth of the cave where the underground river exits. In the last part, they ask us to refrain from speaking as to not disturb the scene. And what a scene! Up above, and reflected in the still water, were tiny bright green lights. It was like looking up into a night sky. Of course, on our boat there was a baby who had been so well behaved until it started crying in the stillness of the caves. Oh well, it was still magical.
Afterwards, we drove, heading south for Lake Taupo (big lake on North Island, see map). I had my Rough Guide out (thanks Aunt Carol) and found a free campsite! It was left in a man’s will to backpackers to stay for free. We pulled in surveyed the grounds and left to find dinner. We found a pub that offered ten-dollar burgers. While eating, we discovered that Wednesday is quiz night. With no entrance fee, nothing stopped team upsidedowners to enter! But a lot of things stopped us from winning, such as the fact we were in real NZ pub competing against local NZs about all things NZ. It was still a lot of fun and very relaxed. We were encouraged to ask the staff and even got one of the staff to just look up the answers from time to time. The prize for winning was an 100 dollar beer tab and they also gave out free beers, $50 tabs, and other prizes. I won a hacky sack for knowing that Michael Jackson started singing at 5, which was the around the same age I started listening to MJ. Our team didn’t loose though, we came in second to last as we totally aced the pop culture section, seeing as most of it’s from the US. Also, an English man, Les, sat in with our team the whole time. He was very helpful and nice.
We headed next door to a karaoke club, also full of locals. We walked in to find Les, and he performed again and again, quite a good singer. The flavor of the place favored older music, so when Hannah, Anna, and I performed Backstreet Boys, it was a bit awkward. It’s amazing how nerve racking singing in public is, but once you break the seal and do it the first time it’s much easier. Anna and I sang a very strange version of I’m Yours by Jason Mraz, which seemed to be more appealing to the crowd. Eventually it was late, so we drove to our camp site and set up camp, which included laying down a tarp! We snuggled into our bags and went off to sleep.
Thursday, Feb 25th
Woke up too early as it was raining!!! We eventually dried off at a McDonald’s where we planned our next move. We gathered some supplies from town and then drove around the lake to National Park where we got some maps in preparation for Friday. We also found some lodgeing that included a shuttle to both ends of our proposed hike for 50+ dollars! But we decided that was really the only way we’d get to do Tongariro crossing, NZ’s best day hike and in the top ten for the world.
We settled in to our hostel and prepared some dinner which consisted of our variety of canned beans, tuna, and some pasta. Afterwards we started getting our packs ready. I had purchased thirty-six ‘up and go’s. We made enough sandwiches for three per person, got water, apples, cookies, and finally felt ready! The hike is 19km and goes between and almost over some volcanoes. We were eager to climb up Mt. Ngauruhoe, or Mt. Doom, which would add about 2km and much much much elevation.
Packed, fed, and ready we climbed into bed.
Friday, Feb 26th
We woke up early in order to catch our 7:00 am bus to the trailhead. We were ready, rested, and excited. Before the driver dropped us of around 7:45 (the bus was late!) he wanted to know who was thinking of doing Mt. Ngauruhoe. We raised our hands and he said good luck in a way that was very nerve-racking.
We hit the trail and started the mild ascent to Soda Springs, a waterfall with some wildflowers. Though it was not very impressive. After which, we started up the devil’s staircase which was most appropriately named. After an hour and a half or so, we finally made it to stopping point, in which we decided to try and climb Mt. Ngauruhoe. Alison, who had tripped and hurt her ankle decided to opt out. Hannah and Grace also opted out once we started climbing up. There’s a very good reason they did so: Mt. Ngauruhoe is composed of scree, which is loose rock. Not to be confused with gravel, this rock was a bit bigger and offered no support. Every step you take, you slide back a bit which makes for frustrating climbing. Jeff and I kept taking the lead and encourages one another, while drinking liters of water and chocolate eating. I was able to cross to some exposed rock and happily scrambled up for a bit. Eventually my lovely and supportive rock ran out, and again it was the loose scree. Finally, the top was in sight (well it sorta was the whole time, as nothing can grow on scree, that’s what ya gets when your climbing a very active volcano). The last leg was, of course, the worst but with then end in sight I scampered on all-fours to the summit at 2,291 m or 7,520 ft; tallest thing I’ve climbed by 2,000 ft! Up at the top, it actually wasn’t too cold and the view was okay, but hindered by cloud cover below. Sadly we realized that Alison had possession of the ring… After a brief break on the summit Jeff and I started our descent, where we encountered Anna. We waited as she summit-ed with the knowledge that we were running late and probably would not make our 4:00pm bus.
Getting down took only 30 mins (as opposed to the almost hour and half ascent). Why? Because the scree makes it so easy to descend if you’re calm enough. There are some rock streams, if you will, that you can slide down. The streams don’t move on their own, but are more ground up scree and it becomes ridiculously easy to slide down and fall! You essentially ski/snowboard/skateboard/surf down the volcano! It’s a lot of fun, but you can go way too fast and risk falling forward versus falling on your bum, which happened a lot. I wish I could explain it better but really, you have to do it for yourself!
Once back at where the split started (no trail up Mt. Ngauruhoe as the scree makes that impossible to mark….) Jeff, Anna, and I continued on the crossing, which we had only done about a third of. We crossed some barren wasteland that was completely flat and very well received. Next, we hiked up a ridge on the shoulder of Mt. Tongariro, the big volcanic structure that Ngauruhoe is actually apart of. One on the ridge, we got a view of everything! We could see for miles each way and also down into the red crater, blown away by a previous eruption. Once we hit the peak of the ridge and made our descent we viewed an old lava flow to the left and the indigo lakes to the right. The color of the lakes was unreal and didn’t really blend in with the barren land. Continuing on our journey we reach blue lake, which was blue, no surprise there. Finally we climbed away from the rain shadow and entered more of grassland like terrain. Here started our lengthy descent as one descends much more than ascends when doing the crossing.
We found a bathroom hut eventually, as there are still no trees and going to the bathroom is a bit weird without trees. It was there that we met up with Grace and Hannah and discovered that they too would miss the shuttle. Our hopeful plan of Hannah taking the shuttle back and driving pack to pick us up was no more. We started hauling our way down quite fast as I thought I heard some people along the way mention a six o’clock bus, though not one that we had paid for or one that would even go our way. The trail wound down through the grasses and hot springs before we descended into a rain forest-like terrain. Large ferns and thick trees provided a cool shade from the sun. We crossed some rivers and finally found our way down to the bottom, very relieved and two hours late. We had a text from Allison so we knew she had made it back, but the keys to our beloved van were with Hannah. The five of us approached a bus driver and he happily agreed to take all of us with him and drop us of close to our hostel where the car was! Overjoyed and exhausted we climbed out of the bus and ran with blister-clad feet to our hostel and found Allison making Kiwi friends. It was a very nice hike, probably the best hike I’ve ever been on.
We decided to drive south in hopes of finding food (and a place that would serve our smelly/dirty state). We came across a small town found some late night Chinese food and then Hannah and I took the front seats in search of a play to sleep. But then we decided just to drive the whole way back to Wellington, which was successful and beautiful with moon-lit waters and hillsides. We pulled in around 2:00 and caught some much needed rest. We were back, we were happy, and all was good!
Oh, and yesterday I drove! For maybe 30 minutes. Hannah was keen to drive though and I happily let her, but I feel like I could do it. So, we embarked after breakfast bars and the acquiring of an iTrip and headed to Waitomo. After driving for a bit, I suggested we pull over and find a good spot for lunch. And what a spot for lunch we found! A small brook running through NZ countryside surrounded by green hills and blue sky made quite a good spot for Grace-made pb&j sandwiches (which by the way, is not really big here…at all). Eventually we returned to the DARK KNIGHT and continued on our merry way.
Outside of Waitomo we encountered an ostrich farm! We stopped to take pictures, obviously, and Anna and I figured out we could speak Ostrich fluently. The secret is talking in a semi-Jamaican accent and shooting, “Hey ostrich” or “yo ostrich”. After doing so, the said ostrich will walk towards you and become mildy pissed off in which case you snap a quick picture, return to the car, and drive! They are very large and quite ill-tempered.
We pulled into Waitomo and found the glowworm caves! After paying the fee (NZ 40 or so: ps I’m including prices both for my personal reference and in case any of you plan a trip here!), we headed up some stairs to greet our tour guide. She was Maori and had a very calm soothing voice, which paired with the coolness of the caves resulted in a sleepy Johnny. The caves were incredible! And the once we ventured into has even had benefit concerts inside, as it was large enough. At the end of the tour, we climbed into boats and drifted through the total darkness of the caves to the mouth of the cave where the underground river exits. In the last part, they ask us to refrain from speaking as to not disturb the scene. And what a scene! Up above, and reflected in the still water, were tiny bright green lights. It was like looking up into a night sky. Of course, on our boat there was a baby who had been so well behaved until it started crying in the stillness of the caves. Oh well, it was still magical.
Afterwards, we drove, heading south for Lake Taupo (big lake on North Island, see map). I had my Rough Guide out (thanks Aunt Carol) and found a free campsite! It was left in a man’s will to backpackers to stay for free. We pulled in surveyed the grounds and left to find dinner. We found a pub that offered ten-dollar burgers. While eating, we discovered that Wednesday is quiz night. With no entrance fee, nothing stopped team upsidedowners to enter! But a lot of things stopped us from winning, such as the fact we were in real NZ pub competing against local NZs about all things NZ. It was still a lot of fun and very relaxed. We were encouraged to ask the staff and even got one of the staff to just look up the answers from time to time. The prize for winning was an 100 dollar beer tab and they also gave out free beers, $50 tabs, and other prizes. I won a hacky sack for knowing that Michael Jackson started singing at 5, which was the around the same age I started listening to MJ. Our team didn’t loose though, we came in second to last as we totally aced the pop culture section, seeing as most of it’s from the US. Also, an English man, Les, sat in with our team the whole time. He was very helpful and nice.
We headed next door to a karaoke club, also full of locals. We walked in to find Les, and he performed again and again, quite a good singer. The flavor of the place favored older music, so when Hannah, Anna, and I performed Backstreet Boys, it was a bit awkward. It’s amazing how nerve racking singing in public is, but once you break the seal and do it the first time it’s much easier. Anna and I sang a very strange version of I’m Yours by Jason Mraz, which seemed to be more appealing to the crowd. Eventually it was late, so we drove to our camp site and set up camp, which included laying down a tarp! We snuggled into our bags and went off to sleep.
Thursday, Feb 25th
Woke up too early as it was raining!!! We eventually dried off at a McDonald’s where we planned our next move. We gathered some supplies from town and then drove around the lake to National Park where we got some maps in preparation for Friday. We also found some lodgeing that included a shuttle to both ends of our proposed hike for 50+ dollars! But we decided that was really the only way we’d get to do Tongariro crossing, NZ’s best day hike and in the top ten for the world.
We settled in to our hostel and prepared some dinner which consisted of our variety of canned beans, tuna, and some pasta. Afterwards we started getting our packs ready. I had purchased thirty-six ‘up and go’s. We made enough sandwiches for three per person, got water, apples, cookies, and finally felt ready! The hike is 19km and goes between and almost over some volcanoes. We were eager to climb up Mt. Ngauruhoe, or Mt. Doom, which would add about 2km and much much much elevation.
Packed, fed, and ready we climbed into bed.
Friday, Feb 26th
We woke up early in order to catch our 7:00 am bus to the trailhead. We were ready, rested, and excited. Before the driver dropped us of around 7:45 (the bus was late!) he wanted to know who was thinking of doing Mt. Ngauruhoe. We raised our hands and he said good luck in a way that was very nerve-racking.
We hit the trail and started the mild ascent to Soda Springs, a waterfall with some wildflowers. Though it was not very impressive. After which, we started up the devil’s staircase which was most appropriately named. After an hour and a half or so, we finally made it to stopping point, in which we decided to try and climb Mt. Ngauruhoe. Alison, who had tripped and hurt her ankle decided to opt out. Hannah and Grace also opted out once we started climbing up. There’s a very good reason they did so: Mt. Ngauruhoe is composed of scree, which is loose rock. Not to be confused with gravel, this rock was a bit bigger and offered no support. Every step you take, you slide back a bit which makes for frustrating climbing. Jeff and I kept taking the lead and encourages one another, while drinking liters of water and chocolate eating. I was able to cross to some exposed rock and happily scrambled up for a bit. Eventually my lovely and supportive rock ran out, and again it was the loose scree. Finally, the top was in sight (well it sorta was the whole time, as nothing can grow on scree, that’s what ya gets when your climbing a very active volcano). The last leg was, of course, the worst but with then end in sight I scampered on all-fours to the summit at 2,291 m or 7,520 ft; tallest thing I’ve climbed by 2,000 ft! Up at the top, it actually wasn’t too cold and the view was okay, but hindered by cloud cover below. Sadly we realized that Alison had possession of the ring… After a brief break on the summit Jeff and I started our descent, where we encountered Anna. We waited as she summit-ed with the knowledge that we were running late and probably would not make our 4:00pm bus.
Getting down took only 30 mins (as opposed to the almost hour and half ascent). Why? Because the scree makes it so easy to descend if you’re calm enough. There are some rock streams, if you will, that you can slide down. The streams don’t move on their own, but are more ground up scree and it becomes ridiculously easy to slide down and fall! You essentially ski/snowboard/skateboard/surf down the volcano! It’s a lot of fun, but you can go way too fast and risk falling forward versus falling on your bum, which happened a lot. I wish I could explain it better but really, you have to do it for yourself!
Once back at where the split started (no trail up Mt. Ngauruhoe as the scree makes that impossible to mark….) Jeff, Anna, and I continued on the crossing, which we had only done about a third of. We crossed some barren wasteland that was completely flat and very well received. Next, we hiked up a ridge on the shoulder of Mt. Tongariro, the big volcanic structure that Ngauruhoe is actually apart of. One on the ridge, we got a view of everything! We could see for miles each way and also down into the red crater, blown away by a previous eruption. Once we hit the peak of the ridge and made our descent we viewed an old lava flow to the left and the indigo lakes to the right. The color of the lakes was unreal and didn’t really blend in with the barren land. Continuing on our journey we reach blue lake, which was blue, no surprise there. Finally we climbed away from the rain shadow and entered more of grassland like terrain. Here started our lengthy descent as one descends much more than ascends when doing the crossing.
We found a bathroom hut eventually, as there are still no trees and going to the bathroom is a bit weird without trees. It was there that we met up with Grace and Hannah and discovered that they too would miss the shuttle. Our hopeful plan of Hannah taking the shuttle back and driving pack to pick us up was no more. We started hauling our way down quite fast as I thought I heard some people along the way mention a six o’clock bus, though not one that we had paid for or one that would even go our way. The trail wound down through the grasses and hot springs before we descended into a rain forest-like terrain. Large ferns and thick trees provided a cool shade from the sun. We crossed some rivers and finally found our way down to the bottom, very relieved and two hours late. We had a text from Allison so we knew she had made it back, but the keys to our beloved van were with Hannah. The five of us approached a bus driver and he happily agreed to take all of us with him and drop us of close to our hostel where the car was! Overjoyed and exhausted we climbed out of the bus and ran with blister-clad feet to our hostel and found Allison making Kiwi friends. It was a very nice hike, probably the best hike I’ve ever been on.
We decided to drive south in hopes of finding food (and a place that would serve our smelly/dirty state). We came across a small town found some late night Chinese food and then Hannah and I took the front seats in search of a play to sleep. But then we decided just to drive the whole way back to Wellington, which was successful and beautiful with moon-lit waters and hillsides. We pulled in around 2:00 and caught some much needed rest. We were back, we were happy, and all was good!
Friday, March 5
Road Trip Part 1
Are you ready to read about the most epic week of my life? (Actually that’s not much of an exaggeration…) I’m finally read to talk, hope you’re ready to read cuz here we go!
Saturday, Feb 20th
Today was beach day! Wellington has a very large bay area, that’s quite protected from the ocean. However, there are no natural beaches, so the city ground up some rocks and such to make a beach. It’s still beautiful and the water is not to bad! After swimming a bit I went with Hannah, an IFSA-Butler student who’s from IL and goes to Illinois Wesleyan. She mentioned that she was going on a road trip starting the next day and I was interested. She wasn’t sure of all the details so we went to lunch to talk a bit more.
Lunch was, well, interesting. (Mom, you may just want to skip to the next paragraph.) We went to a place called Hog’s Breath, a pub that had a balcony over a busy Welly street and served burgers. We both ordered a fantastic burger with curly fries. Delicious! After starring at the drink menu which showcased some summer-islandy choices we decided that they sounded too good to pass up. Our waiter brought our order: 1 Afternoon Delight (for yours truly) and 1 Melon Splice for Hannah. We eagerly tasted and were a bit disappointed with how much they tasted like alcohol. After we mixed them, they drastically improved. By far, the best drink I’ve ever had. Now as you might know, alcohol can impair judgment and alter mood. So when we were asked if we needed anything more, it should come as no surprise that we asked for another round. Hannah stayed true to the Splice but I switched to a Mudslide. After our hour plus lunch on a hot sunny balcony, we paid our tab. Now I suppose that doesn’t sound like the craziest thing for maybe you, but for someone who really doesn’t get drunk that much, it was pretty nuts. We stumbled through Wellington City all the way up the damn hill, stopping often to double over in laughter. We laughed at everything, the price of the drinks, the incline of the hill, and the time, not close to 5pm. Hannah and I eventually managed to make it to a friend’s flat, still not sure how, where we were greeted with warm chocolate chip cookies and a couch! After resting, we managed to make it all the way to my flat where after calming down a bit we started to discuss more about the road trip. What a strange afternoon, full of smiles and stupidity…but sometimes that can be fun!
(Mom, you may not resume reading) After a very philosophical and most serious lunch with Hannah, spent discussing the pros/cons of the trip, I decided I wanted to go. Around 7:30pm the night before. My flat mates told me I should go, which was awesome as I was worried about missing out on flat-bonding. So there I was do laundry and trying to pack for six days, best packing I’ve ever done, even time for sleep!
Sunday, Feb 21st
Woke up early-early! I met up with the other going: Hannah, Anna, Alison, Grace, and Jeff. Anna also goes to Illinois Wesleyan and is from IL. The six of us are all IFSA-Butler students. We walked down to the rent-a-car to find out that our van was not there nor was ever supposed to be. When we had called the previous night, the phone call was automatically transferred to Christchurch as Welly was closed. I’ll save you my rant on why that doesn’t make sense. Thankfully for us, Gavin, a nice kiwi who was hitting Corona’s while working, helped us get a van. However the van wouldn’t be ready until 5pm and even then there was a chance it wouldn’t happen. Gavin was nice enough though to let us leave our bags and promised to keep an eye on them. So we hit the town! We stopped at the farmer’s market and bought some supplies and had a spot of brunch in town. I suggested we go sleep at Hannah + Anna’s flat so we trudged back up the hill.
Hannah, Grace, and I watched Ten Things I hate About You, which I’d never seen and found very entertaining. Afterwards we watched some episodes of Biggest Loser, a show where contestants compete to loose weight. I always thought the title was demeaning as it seems it’s calling overweight individuals losers! But it’s apparently the biggest loser…of weight! Which is clever, but the title still bothers me a bit. I got some shut eye during the episodes and eventually we decided to go down a half and hour early to try to sort out our trip.
Gavin greeted us warmly and helped get us a van, which he had someone drive over from Welly Airport. As soon as we saw it, Hannah exclaimed, “Dark Knight!” And it stuck, our dark green van, the dark knight. Hannah and I signed some papers, as you have to be over 21 to drive a rent-a-car. It was an old Toyota with eight seats.
While the rent-a-car people laughed, Hannah cautiously pulled out from the lot and began driving on the left side of the road! She did very well, though the windshield wipers and turn signal levers are also reversed which is more confusing. We headed to Pack ‘N Save to buy some supplies: breakfast bars, Up & go’s (a nonperishable breakfast shake), canned fruit/veggies, beans, bread, Pb & J, etc. Now it was after six and we started driving north to our first destination Napier, the Art Deco Town (see map). The original plan would have gotten us there in the afternoon to enjoy the town, but with our set back we would just be using it as a sleeping point. Alison, who was the head planner, had made reservations at a Backpacker’s hostel for us, and thus we had to book it over there as they aren’t up all night!
An hour or so after our departure, in which we oooed and awwed at the hills and trees and coast and ocean and the overall beautiful, we spotted huge dark smoke clouds. We were very curious and kept driving until we pulled over to watch the billowing smoke escaping a large hill. We couldn’t believe our luck, suddenly our late start resulted in us watching a volcano erupt! (Sadly, we actually found out later that it was only a fire, though only it as understatement. It was a huge fire, and we watched helicopters go into the ocean to fill up large buckets and dump them. Though our pictures aren’t as cool as they were when we thought it was a volcano…needless to say, we’re American…)
We stopped to make PB & J sandwiches, well Grace made most of them! She has a great knowledge of the correct ratio, such a good sandwich! We were looking for a restroom where we stopped, a small strip, and couldn’t find one anywhere so I went into a restaurant and not only did they let us come in and use their facilities without making us purchase anything, but they even filled up my Nalgene with water and ice! That’s brings the total to 2 for very friendly and helpful Kiwis!
The drive to Napier was so pretty even at night, as the stars came out. We realized we weren’t going to make the time for the hostel and called. Luckily, the man who was working was also a nice Kiwi and told us to call back when we where thirty minutes away and again when we were there and he’d let us in (Kiwi friendly/helpful count: 3) We pulled in a bit before 12 and sure enough, he came down, gave us our sheets, collected our money ($23/person NZ). We shared the room with two others and slept.
Monday, Feb 22nd
We woke up in Napier, which was great as the sun was out and we could see the ocean, with the beautiful beach made up of small stones, as opposed to fine sand. We found breakfast at a little place in town and then got back into the DARK KNIGHT!
Today we were heading to Tikitiki, north of Gisbourne (see map) and also on the coast. The drive took us until 4ish and we had a petrol scare as the countryside is very rural and even small towns don’t have petrol stations. We did find one, and proceeded to Tikitiki, Hannah driving the whole way. Again, we were stunned by the beauty of New Zealand. We also drove through some cows, which was a bit nerving. We made it to Tikitiki alive!
There we found the ranch where we were going to go horseback riding and sleeping at. Ridge, a Maori man who lacked one forearm and hand and in its place had a claw, ran the place. He told us we were his first group of Americans in almost seven years and was surprised we’d found the place. We each mounted a horse and with Ridge and Sam, his assistant, we starting riding. My horse was Wai, which means water in Maori. We rode to the beach, on the beach, in the ocean, up a river, up a steep hill, and finally paused, an hour and a half in to take in the views. It was one of the most beautiful places that I had ever seen; so much green, so little people. Ridge took Anna’s camera and kept snapping pictures at us, while I fumbled with riding and taking my own. It is work riding, but also a lot of fun, especially galloping, though Wai was more of fan of walking. At the end, I said my goodbye to Wai and we walked over to where we’d be sleeping, the grass in front of the kitchen/bathroom facilities. Ridge thought we were crazy to lack a tent and ended up not charging us the ten dollar camping fee (Kiwi’s that rock: 4). He left and we went inside to prepare dinner.
I took charge and cooked pastas, two boxes, with green beans and corn. Gavin had also given us a loaf of bread that the Farmer’s market had given him, so we decided to try it, though it was very strange bread. The two boxes of pasta proved to be way more than we needed and I ate much more than I needed! But it was delicious to have a proper dinner.
We went outside and joined Sam by the fire. There was a couple from Wellington as well as two girls from Europe. Eventually it was just Sam and us and we decided to go to bed. Anna, a fellow psych major, started firing personal questions at Sam, and we ended up learning a lot about him! He was from the UK and here on a sort of holiday. He was only eighteen and traveling and living on his own, which was inspiring. In any case, another night in New Zealand and this time sleeping under the stars. We even convinced Sam to sleep out with us! He’s a funny kid, I’ll leave it at that. And who knows? Maybe we’ll see him again, most likely we won’t.
Also, I made friends with three dogs. Cassie, Tux, and perhaps their offspring, we weren’t sure and nor did we learn her name. They were great pups, though Tux barked next me very early in the morning.
Sleeping under the stars is great in concept but one is prone to dew as well as large flies…
Tuesday, Feb 23rd
Awoke a bit wet and not very well rested and extremely soar from the day before. We all had trouble sitting on our bums. After a quick breakfast and a quick goodbye to Sam, and a long goodbye to the dogs, we left. Ridge had told us about two girls (the two from Europe) that left and then turned the car around and came back. We didn’t have time to do that, but as we left, we all knew we wouldn’t have minded staying there.
Today, we are driving to Rotorua, the city that smells like Rotten Eggs! After a drive, which was slower paced and full of stopping and picture taking, we arrived in Rotorua with no plan, not much food, and no where to camp out. We found another Hostel, paid the fee ($28 NZ) and headed out on a walk around a park full of bubbling mud and horrible smells! Rotorua is known for it’s geothermal activity and stench. The mud pools were cool and actually if you got really close smelled a bit like a ham in the oven…though perhaps not one you had made fresh that day.
We headed to Pack ‘N Save where we purchased some more supplies and food for dinner and took advantage of the fact that our hostel had a pool! Finally it was bed time, and it was nice to have a mattress!
Saturday, Feb 20th
Today was beach day! Wellington has a very large bay area, that’s quite protected from the ocean. However, there are no natural beaches, so the city ground up some rocks and such to make a beach. It’s still beautiful and the water is not to bad! After swimming a bit I went with Hannah, an IFSA-Butler student who’s from IL and goes to Illinois Wesleyan. She mentioned that she was going on a road trip starting the next day and I was interested. She wasn’t sure of all the details so we went to lunch to talk a bit more.
Lunch was, well, interesting. (Mom, you may just want to skip to the next paragraph.) We went to a place called Hog’s Breath, a pub that had a balcony over a busy Welly street and served burgers. We both ordered a fantastic burger with curly fries. Delicious! After starring at the drink menu which showcased some summer-islandy choices we decided that they sounded too good to pass up. Our waiter brought our order: 1 Afternoon Delight (for yours truly) and 1 Melon Splice for Hannah. We eagerly tasted and were a bit disappointed with how much they tasted like alcohol. After we mixed them, they drastically improved. By far, the best drink I’ve ever had. Now as you might know, alcohol can impair judgment and alter mood. So when we were asked if we needed anything more, it should come as no surprise that we asked for another round. Hannah stayed true to the Splice but I switched to a Mudslide. After our hour plus lunch on a hot sunny balcony, we paid our tab. Now I suppose that doesn’t sound like the craziest thing for maybe you, but for someone who really doesn’t get drunk that much, it was pretty nuts. We stumbled through Wellington City all the way up the damn hill, stopping often to double over in laughter. We laughed at everything, the price of the drinks, the incline of the hill, and the time, not close to 5pm. Hannah and I eventually managed to make it to a friend’s flat, still not sure how, where we were greeted with warm chocolate chip cookies and a couch! After resting, we managed to make it all the way to my flat where after calming down a bit we started to discuss more about the road trip. What a strange afternoon, full of smiles and stupidity…but sometimes that can be fun!
(Mom, you may not resume reading) After a very philosophical and most serious lunch with Hannah, spent discussing the pros/cons of the trip, I decided I wanted to go. Around 7:30pm the night before. My flat mates told me I should go, which was awesome as I was worried about missing out on flat-bonding. So there I was do laundry and trying to pack for six days, best packing I’ve ever done, even time for sleep!
Sunday, Feb 21st
Woke up early-early! I met up with the other going: Hannah, Anna, Alison, Grace, and Jeff. Anna also goes to Illinois Wesleyan and is from IL. The six of us are all IFSA-Butler students. We walked down to the rent-a-car to find out that our van was not there nor was ever supposed to be. When we had called the previous night, the phone call was automatically transferred to Christchurch as Welly was closed. I’ll save you my rant on why that doesn’t make sense. Thankfully for us, Gavin, a nice kiwi who was hitting Corona’s while working, helped us get a van. However the van wouldn’t be ready until 5pm and even then there was a chance it wouldn’t happen. Gavin was nice enough though to let us leave our bags and promised to keep an eye on them. So we hit the town! We stopped at the farmer’s market and bought some supplies and had a spot of brunch in town. I suggested we go sleep at Hannah + Anna’s flat so we trudged back up the hill.
Hannah, Grace, and I watched Ten Things I hate About You, which I’d never seen and found very entertaining. Afterwards we watched some episodes of Biggest Loser, a show where contestants compete to loose weight. I always thought the title was demeaning as it seems it’s calling overweight individuals losers! But it’s apparently the biggest loser…of weight! Which is clever, but the title still bothers me a bit. I got some shut eye during the episodes and eventually we decided to go down a half and hour early to try to sort out our trip.
Gavin greeted us warmly and helped get us a van, which he had someone drive over from Welly Airport. As soon as we saw it, Hannah exclaimed, “Dark Knight!” And it stuck, our dark green van, the dark knight. Hannah and I signed some papers, as you have to be over 21 to drive a rent-a-car. It was an old Toyota with eight seats.
While the rent-a-car people laughed, Hannah cautiously pulled out from the lot and began driving on the left side of the road! She did very well, though the windshield wipers and turn signal levers are also reversed which is more confusing. We headed to Pack ‘N Save to buy some supplies: breakfast bars, Up & go’s (a nonperishable breakfast shake), canned fruit/veggies, beans, bread, Pb & J, etc. Now it was after six and we started driving north to our first destination Napier, the Art Deco Town (see map). The original plan would have gotten us there in the afternoon to enjoy the town, but with our set back we would just be using it as a sleeping point. Alison, who was the head planner, had made reservations at a Backpacker’s hostel for us, and thus we had to book it over there as they aren’t up all night!
An hour or so after our departure, in which we oooed and awwed at the hills and trees and coast and ocean and the overall beautiful, we spotted huge dark smoke clouds. We were very curious and kept driving until we pulled over to watch the billowing smoke escaping a large hill. We couldn’t believe our luck, suddenly our late start resulted in us watching a volcano erupt! (Sadly, we actually found out later that it was only a fire, though only it as understatement. It was a huge fire, and we watched helicopters go into the ocean to fill up large buckets and dump them. Though our pictures aren’t as cool as they were when we thought it was a volcano…needless to say, we’re American…)
We stopped to make PB & J sandwiches, well Grace made most of them! She has a great knowledge of the correct ratio, such a good sandwich! We were looking for a restroom where we stopped, a small strip, and couldn’t find one anywhere so I went into a restaurant and not only did they let us come in and use their facilities without making us purchase anything, but they even filled up my Nalgene with water and ice! That’s brings the total to 2 for very friendly and helpful Kiwis!
The drive to Napier was so pretty even at night, as the stars came out. We realized we weren’t going to make the time for the hostel and called. Luckily, the man who was working was also a nice Kiwi and told us to call back when we where thirty minutes away and again when we were there and he’d let us in (Kiwi friendly/helpful count: 3) We pulled in a bit before 12 and sure enough, he came down, gave us our sheets, collected our money ($23/person NZ). We shared the room with two others and slept.
Monday, Feb 22nd
We woke up in Napier, which was great as the sun was out and we could see the ocean, with the beautiful beach made up of small stones, as opposed to fine sand. We found breakfast at a little place in town and then got back into the DARK KNIGHT!
Today we were heading to Tikitiki, north of Gisbourne (see map) and also on the coast. The drive took us until 4ish and we had a petrol scare as the countryside is very rural and even small towns don’t have petrol stations. We did find one, and proceeded to Tikitiki, Hannah driving the whole way. Again, we were stunned by the beauty of New Zealand. We also drove through some cows, which was a bit nerving. We made it to Tikitiki alive!
There we found the ranch where we were going to go horseback riding and sleeping at. Ridge, a Maori man who lacked one forearm and hand and in its place had a claw, ran the place. He told us we were his first group of Americans in almost seven years and was surprised we’d found the place. We each mounted a horse and with Ridge and Sam, his assistant, we starting riding. My horse was Wai, which means water in Maori. We rode to the beach, on the beach, in the ocean, up a river, up a steep hill, and finally paused, an hour and a half in to take in the views. It was one of the most beautiful places that I had ever seen; so much green, so little people. Ridge took Anna’s camera and kept snapping pictures at us, while I fumbled with riding and taking my own. It is work riding, but also a lot of fun, especially galloping, though Wai was more of fan of walking. At the end, I said my goodbye to Wai and we walked over to where we’d be sleeping, the grass in front of the kitchen/bathroom facilities. Ridge thought we were crazy to lack a tent and ended up not charging us the ten dollar camping fee (Kiwi’s that rock: 4). He left and we went inside to prepare dinner.
I took charge and cooked pastas, two boxes, with green beans and corn. Gavin had also given us a loaf of bread that the Farmer’s market had given him, so we decided to try it, though it was very strange bread. The two boxes of pasta proved to be way more than we needed and I ate much more than I needed! But it was delicious to have a proper dinner.
We went outside and joined Sam by the fire. There was a couple from Wellington as well as two girls from Europe. Eventually it was just Sam and us and we decided to go to bed. Anna, a fellow psych major, started firing personal questions at Sam, and we ended up learning a lot about him! He was from the UK and here on a sort of holiday. He was only eighteen and traveling and living on his own, which was inspiring. In any case, another night in New Zealand and this time sleeping under the stars. We even convinced Sam to sleep out with us! He’s a funny kid, I’ll leave it at that. And who knows? Maybe we’ll see him again, most likely we won’t.
Also, I made friends with three dogs. Cassie, Tux, and perhaps their offspring, we weren’t sure and nor did we learn her name. They were great pups, though Tux barked next me very early in the morning.
Sleeping under the stars is great in concept but one is prone to dew as well as large flies…
Tuesday, Feb 23rd
Awoke a bit wet and not very well rested and extremely soar from the day before. We all had trouble sitting on our bums. After a quick breakfast and a quick goodbye to Sam, and a long goodbye to the dogs, we left. Ridge had told us about two girls (the two from Europe) that left and then turned the car around and came back. We didn’t have time to do that, but as we left, we all knew we wouldn’t have minded staying there.
Today, we are driving to Rotorua, the city that smells like Rotten Eggs! After a drive, which was slower paced and full of stopping and picture taking, we arrived in Rotorua with no plan, not much food, and no where to camp out. We found another Hostel, paid the fee ($28 NZ) and headed out on a walk around a park full of bubbling mud and horrible smells! Rotorua is known for it’s geothermal activity and stench. The mud pools were cool and actually if you got really close smelled a bit like a ham in the oven…though perhaps not one you had made fresh that day.
We headed to Pack ‘N Save where we purchased some more supplies and food for dinner and took advantage of the fact that our hostel had a pool! Finally it was bed time, and it was nice to have a mattress!
Wednesday, March 3
Week in Welly
So again, trying to catch up!
The following occurs between Tuesday, Feb 16th and Friday, Feb 19th
This week, (which is how I’d like the posts to eventually become, weekly! It’s a good goal we’ll see…) was great! I mean, I felt a bit under the weather, but I stopped sleeping for the whole day! Amazing how much more you can accomplish! I spent most of the week trying to make our flat home. And boy, what a flat it is! I still can’t get over the view, Tuesday morning I made French toast and ate it on our picnic table that faces the view. It was a very epic breakfast! I also managed to get a phone on Telecom. New Zealand has two (now three) choice of cell phone service, Telecom or Vodafone. The newest competitor is 2 degrees. The reason I really bring this up is to illustrate a crazy thing about new Zealand: There is NOT enough competition. Prices are high for a lot of goods because only a couple companies compete, especially for groceries. There’s New World and Pack ‘N Save. New World is all over NZ as is Pack ‘N Save (which is cheaper). But New World really holds the spot as NZ’s local grocery store, and they charge like they know it!
Our flat comes with nothing, so we all, well, my flatmates have brought some things to fill it. And speaking of my flatmates I have four kiwis! I’m very excited and lucky to be living here. Aside from me, it’s Briar, Alan, Sophie, and Anna. There all second-years here and are 18-19, which makes me feel old! Though they do all seem to have birthdays coming up. I don’t really know them very well, but they’re very friendly and welcoming.
Orientation happened for us international students. It was pretty awful; long lectures on Kiwi differences that were geared to people from other countries than just the US and some stories from people who had trouble adjusting. One girl told some very horrific stories. But you know what? I’m not going to have an experience like hers! She talked about the struggle of meeting people, especially not living in a dorm. After the talks we finally got to register for classes and I did! I registered for Maori Music, Intro to Maori, and Criminology: Introduction to Criminological Thought. That equates to 60 points, so I think I’m good though I e-mailed Vassar to double check.
And Friday, found me on my first night out on the town. So strange with all the 18-20 yr olds out there! Very young crowd and a whole lot of American top 40. The city does have a great night life and many fun places to bust a move or two. And the whole downtown is walkable and relatively safe. One really feels at ease out! Sadly, at the end of the night, when the feet are tired from all the dancing, you have to climb up the hill to the housing. Three feet of the hill is at a 80 degree angle (naturally there’s a way around, and naturally I always climb that part…makes me feel cool!)
So that concludes that week and this post. Expect another one soon!!!!
The following occurs between Tuesday, Feb 16th and Friday, Feb 19th
This week, (which is how I’d like the posts to eventually become, weekly! It’s a good goal we’ll see…) was great! I mean, I felt a bit under the weather, but I stopped sleeping for the whole day! Amazing how much more you can accomplish! I spent most of the week trying to make our flat home. And boy, what a flat it is! I still can’t get over the view, Tuesday morning I made French toast and ate it on our picnic table that faces the view. It was a very epic breakfast! I also managed to get a phone on Telecom. New Zealand has two (now three) choice of cell phone service, Telecom or Vodafone. The newest competitor is 2 degrees. The reason I really bring this up is to illustrate a crazy thing about new Zealand: There is NOT enough competition. Prices are high for a lot of goods because only a couple companies compete, especially for groceries. There’s New World and Pack ‘N Save. New World is all over NZ as is Pack ‘N Save (which is cheaper). But New World really holds the spot as NZ’s local grocery store, and they charge like they know it!
Our flat comes with nothing, so we all, well, my flatmates have brought some things to fill it. And speaking of my flatmates I have four kiwis! I’m very excited and lucky to be living here. Aside from me, it’s Briar, Alan, Sophie, and Anna. There all second-years here and are 18-19, which makes me feel old! Though they do all seem to have birthdays coming up. I don’t really know them very well, but they’re very friendly and welcoming.
Orientation happened for us international students. It was pretty awful; long lectures on Kiwi differences that were geared to people from other countries than just the US and some stories from people who had trouble adjusting. One girl told some very horrific stories. But you know what? I’m not going to have an experience like hers! She talked about the struggle of meeting people, especially not living in a dorm. After the talks we finally got to register for classes and I did! I registered for Maori Music, Intro to Maori, and Criminology: Introduction to Criminological Thought. That equates to 60 points, so I think I’m good though I e-mailed Vassar to double check.
And Friday, found me on my first night out on the town. So strange with all the 18-20 yr olds out there! Very young crowd and a whole lot of American top 40. The city does have a great night life and many fun places to bust a move or two. And the whole downtown is walkable and relatively safe. One really feels at ease out! Sadly, at the end of the night, when the feet are tired from all the dancing, you have to climb up the hill to the housing. Three feet of the hill is at a 80 degree angle (naturally there’s a way around, and naturally I always climb that part…makes me feel cool!)
So that concludes that week and this post. Expect another one soon!!!!
Tuesday, March 2
Week one, part two (still behind)
So, trying to catch up on my adventures before I have any more…
Thurs, Feb 11th – People of the Land
Today was brilliant! It started off with information sessions about our schools, some of the kids are headed with me to Victoria University, but others are going to three different schools around NZ. The sessions were a bit informative and we went over some of our IFSA-Butler trips, which sound exciting. But I won’t spoil what they entail!
After some kai (x2 or 3), we headed to Auckland City Museum, where we spent some time walking around. Honestly, nothing that special. Or purpose I was more focused on the fact that the Powhiri (Po-fir-e) was happening soon. The Powhiri is the traditional Maori welcome. After some more KAI outside, we headed to the Te Puea Marae, named after a famous Maori princess. 30 mins or so before we arrived, I received news that the speakers (including me, if you remember) were not allowed to use a sheet of paper for our English portion, just for the Maori. The three speakers, Jeff, Sean, and I met outside the marae to discuss what we were going to say. I was to go last and felt it my responsibility to really hit it home. What was I hitting? I wasn’t sure. But the night before we were told we really must speak from the heart.
So here we are at the marae and from the building at the end of the marae (as the term marae refers to the space in front of the hut; gosh this is confusing without pics, but no photos are allowed during and I didn’t take any later – perhaps I’ll add one from ze internet) a man emerges with a large staff or stick and grunts and whacks it. He approaches us and eventually offers the weapon to Sean, the man who is in front of our girls (as the other men are in the back to protect the women). Sean does not take the stick as if he reached for it, the warrior might bash him on the head. Eventually a Maori woman calling to us interrupts the exchange. Watera, the Maori woman who is with us and spoke to us last night, calls back. This happens all in Maori of course. We slowly cross the Marae and enter into the building. We sit, men in front, and the Maori elders speak in Maori. They welcome the spirits of those that recently died in our families into Aoteroa (New Zealand). Other things are said, but my Maori is not very good. Eventually he sits and Jeff, our first speaker, stands and introduces himself in Maori and then switches to English. After Jeff speaks, we all stand and sing in Maori to show that we support what Jeff has said. Sean stands and does his part, we again stand and sing a different Maori tune. Finally, it’s my turn. I stand and speak, “Ko Chicago taku awa. Na te whanau Wojcik ahau. No reira, tena koutou. Nga mihi ki te whare. Nga mihi ki te papakorerotanga. No reira tena kouto.” Maori introduce themselves by their rivers, seas, or mountains. Since Illinois lacks all but one, I only introduced myself by the Chicago River. Next I introduced myself as belonging to the family (whanau) of Wojcik. The rest is all a standard greeting in which I greet the people and the land. I find myself already at the end of my paper. I can’t remember exactly what I said but it was something along the lines of “and now I’m gonna switch to English, which is a bit easier for me” (they laugh, which makes me feel better!). I tell them how impressed we all are with Aoteroa and its beauty and its mountains, which my home state lacks. I also tell them how impressive their sky is. Then I let them know that we have come here not as tourists to just snap some pictures and leave, but we have come here as students to fully immerse ourselves in Kiwi and Maori cultures. I remain standing and the IFSA-Butlers students stand and after some awkward silence, we finally sing “America, the Beautiful”. After we sit, the chief stands and after some words in Maori turns to me and says in English that I should consider playing basketball for their team! After that we greet the Maori with the traditional pressing of the noses, though I was caught off guard when every Maori woman wanted a kiss on the cheek as well.
Feeling much more relaxed and elated by my peers praise over my words, we walk out and see our dinner being prepared. It’s a traditional hangi, which is food cooked in the earth via hot coals. It smells amazing and tastes even better, though there is quite a smoky taste in much of the vegetables! Dinner was great as was our dinner conversation. Somehow my table and I were discussing my old habit of eating bologna and jelly sandwiches as a child.
Oh, and before dinner we sat and enjoyed a performance of Maori music! I was very excited to hear it as I have pre-enrolled for Maori music as well as Intro to Maori. I think I might keep them both after today. After their performances the brought up the guys to do the infamous haka, which involves stamping the ground, a puffed up chest, noisy breathing/grunting/vocalizations, and of course, sticking out one’s tongue. As one can image, I had a difficult time doing this with a straight face, especially with the girls’ reactions.
After dinner, we got into our sleeping bags and Watera told us some stories. Then it was time for bed, though it was a bit hard to sleep in a room full of 50+ people and statues starring at you. In any case, this was the day that really feel in love with New Zealand or Aoteroa. The whole point of going to the Powhiri is to be fully welcomed into Aoteroa by the Maori and being recognized as people of the land.
Fri, Feb 12th – Wellington Bound
Friday greeted us with beautiful weather and a surprise from Butler, a wine tour and tasting at Villa Maria, which does import much wine to the U.S. The tour was pretty cool and the guy leading it was awesome as he held degrees in biochemistry! There is a lab in the winery that assessing so many variables; I was astounded. The bottling room was incredible efficient and entertaining to watch bottles being filled, labeled, washed, dried, inspected, and boxed. After the tour we sat down for a tasting of six wines; 4 whites, 2 reds. Much to my surprise I actually like one of the wines! Something I’ll have to work on while in New Zealand, I suppose.
After Villa Maria, we were dropped off at the airport and given our last orientation KAI! We separated onto our separate universities and headed through the easiest security of my life.
On board Air New Zealand again; though only for an hour. The flight safety video was very well done, informative, and entertaining. Leave it to New Zealand to insert jokes into their flight safety videos. Of course they served us a beverage and a cookie! United could really learn a thing or too from them.
We arrived into SUNNY WELLINGTON! Well not exactly, more like hurricane Wellington. It was raining and very very windy, some said the windiest city in the world to which Anna, a girl from Chicago, said impossible as she has just come from there. We were dropped off at YHA hostel in the city and left there for the weekend, something we weren’t that aware of. The whole week I’d been feeling a bit under the weather and that finally caught up to me.
So I spent my first weekend in Welly in bed…but my I was pretty relaxed and accepting. The way I looked at it, I may be sick in a bed, but that bed’s in NEW ZEALAND!
Mon, Feb 15th
Today I moved into my flat and was greeted warmly by Briar, Anna, Sophie, and Alan (though he has yet to move in). I was still not feeling well and slept most of the day after finding breakfast with Sophie in Welly. Briar made a wonderful chocolate cake.
Oh, and my flat is HUGE! One story and the disability flat, it comes equipped with extra wide entrance way and a no tub bathroom. But the best part of the flat is its view of Welly.
As I’m writing this all two weeks after the events happen, I don’t remember exact details…but I this concluded the first week of my life in New Zealand! Also please comment for more details, if anythings confusing, if you want to share something that's happened to you, or if you just want to say hi.
Thurs, Feb 11th – People of the Land
Today was brilliant! It started off with information sessions about our schools, some of the kids are headed with me to Victoria University, but others are going to three different schools around NZ. The sessions were a bit informative and we went over some of our IFSA-Butler trips, which sound exciting. But I won’t spoil what they entail!
After some kai (x2 or 3), we headed to Auckland City Museum, where we spent some time walking around. Honestly, nothing that special. Or purpose I was more focused on the fact that the Powhiri (Po-fir-e) was happening soon. The Powhiri is the traditional Maori welcome. After some more KAI outside, we headed to the Te Puea Marae, named after a famous Maori princess. 30 mins or so before we arrived, I received news that the speakers (including me, if you remember) were not allowed to use a sheet of paper for our English portion, just for the Maori. The three speakers, Jeff, Sean, and I met outside the marae to discuss what we were going to say. I was to go last and felt it my responsibility to really hit it home. What was I hitting? I wasn’t sure. But the night before we were told we really must speak from the heart.
So here we are at the marae and from the building at the end of the marae (as the term marae refers to the space in front of the hut; gosh this is confusing without pics, but no photos are allowed during and I didn’t take any later – perhaps I’ll add one from ze internet) a man emerges with a large staff or stick and grunts and whacks it. He approaches us and eventually offers the weapon to Sean, the man who is in front of our girls (as the other men are in the back to protect the women). Sean does not take the stick as if he reached for it, the warrior might bash him on the head. Eventually a Maori woman calling to us interrupts the exchange. Watera, the Maori woman who is with us and spoke to us last night, calls back. This happens all in Maori of course. We slowly cross the Marae and enter into the building. We sit, men in front, and the Maori elders speak in Maori. They welcome the spirits of those that recently died in our families into Aoteroa (New Zealand). Other things are said, but my Maori is not very good. Eventually he sits and Jeff, our first speaker, stands and introduces himself in Maori and then switches to English. After Jeff speaks, we all stand and sing in Maori to show that we support what Jeff has said. Sean stands and does his part, we again stand and sing a different Maori tune. Finally, it’s my turn. I stand and speak, “Ko Chicago taku awa. Na te whanau Wojcik ahau. No reira, tena koutou. Nga mihi ki te whare. Nga mihi ki te papakorerotanga. No reira tena kouto.” Maori introduce themselves by their rivers, seas, or mountains. Since Illinois lacks all but one, I only introduced myself by the Chicago River. Next I introduced myself as belonging to the family (whanau) of Wojcik. The rest is all a standard greeting in which I greet the people and the land. I find myself already at the end of my paper. I can’t remember exactly what I said but it was something along the lines of “and now I’m gonna switch to English, which is a bit easier for me” (they laugh, which makes me feel better!). I tell them how impressed we all are with Aoteroa and its beauty and its mountains, which my home state lacks. I also tell them how impressive their sky is. Then I let them know that we have come here not as tourists to just snap some pictures and leave, but we have come here as students to fully immerse ourselves in Kiwi and Maori cultures. I remain standing and the IFSA-Butlers students stand and after some awkward silence, we finally sing “America, the Beautiful”. After we sit, the chief stands and after some words in Maori turns to me and says in English that I should consider playing basketball for their team! After that we greet the Maori with the traditional pressing of the noses, though I was caught off guard when every Maori woman wanted a kiss on the cheek as well.
Feeling much more relaxed and elated by my peers praise over my words, we walk out and see our dinner being prepared. It’s a traditional hangi, which is food cooked in the earth via hot coals. It smells amazing and tastes even better, though there is quite a smoky taste in much of the vegetables! Dinner was great as was our dinner conversation. Somehow my table and I were discussing my old habit of eating bologna and jelly sandwiches as a child.
Oh, and before dinner we sat and enjoyed a performance of Maori music! I was very excited to hear it as I have pre-enrolled for Maori music as well as Intro to Maori. I think I might keep them both after today. After their performances the brought up the guys to do the infamous haka, which involves stamping the ground, a puffed up chest, noisy breathing/grunting/vocalizations, and of course, sticking out one’s tongue. As one can image, I had a difficult time doing this with a straight face, especially with the girls’ reactions.
After dinner, we got into our sleeping bags and Watera told us some stories. Then it was time for bed, though it was a bit hard to sleep in a room full of 50+ people and statues starring at you. In any case, this was the day that really feel in love with New Zealand or Aoteroa. The whole point of going to the Powhiri is to be fully welcomed into Aoteroa by the Maori and being recognized as people of the land.
Fri, Feb 12th – Wellington Bound
Friday greeted us with beautiful weather and a surprise from Butler, a wine tour and tasting at Villa Maria, which does import much wine to the U.S. The tour was pretty cool and the guy leading it was awesome as he held degrees in biochemistry! There is a lab in the winery that assessing so many variables; I was astounded. The bottling room was incredible efficient and entertaining to watch bottles being filled, labeled, washed, dried, inspected, and boxed. After the tour we sat down for a tasting of six wines; 4 whites, 2 reds. Much to my surprise I actually like one of the wines! Something I’ll have to work on while in New Zealand, I suppose.
After Villa Maria, we were dropped off at the airport and given our last orientation KAI! We separated onto our separate universities and headed through the easiest security of my life.
On board Air New Zealand again; though only for an hour. The flight safety video was very well done, informative, and entertaining. Leave it to New Zealand to insert jokes into their flight safety videos. Of course they served us a beverage and a cookie! United could really learn a thing or too from them.
We arrived into SUNNY WELLINGTON! Well not exactly, more like hurricane Wellington. It was raining and very very windy, some said the windiest city in the world to which Anna, a girl from Chicago, said impossible as she has just come from there. We were dropped off at YHA hostel in the city and left there for the weekend, something we weren’t that aware of. The whole week I’d been feeling a bit under the weather and that finally caught up to me.
So I spent my first weekend in Welly in bed…but my I was pretty relaxed and accepting. The way I looked at it, I may be sick in a bed, but that bed’s in NEW ZEALAND!
Mon, Feb 15th
Today I moved into my flat and was greeted warmly by Briar, Anna, Sophie, and Alan (though he has yet to move in). I was still not feeling well and slept most of the day after finding breakfast with Sophie in Welly. Briar made a wonderful chocolate cake.
Oh, and my flat is HUGE! One story and the disability flat, it comes equipped with extra wide entrance way and a no tub bathroom. But the best part of the flat is its view of Welly.
As I’m writing this all two weeks after the events happen, I don’t remember exact details…but I this concluded the first week of my life in New Zealand! Also please comment for more details, if anythings confusing, if you want to share something that's happened to you, or if you just want to say hi.
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