I Heart NZ

Wow, writing this post has been the most frustrating thing ever. I almost just gave it up. But I am so dedicated to telling you guys about my life that I'm giving it another shot.

So on Wednesday, I hiked to the top of Mt. Eden with some people. It is the highest point above Auckland and a volcanic crater. I even got to go inside the crater which was pretty cool. We could see the whole city from up there and a bunch of other volcanoes. Apparently Auckland is comprised of 48 volcanoes and is still an active field. Wonder when the next one will blow.

This is the crater with a view of the city.

Thursday was the first day of orientation. We had a couple sessions about stuff like the outdoors and Kiwi language and we had some free time in the afternoon so we went to the beach. The water here is really beautiful and warm. I even went in! Of course, I got sunburned, even though I put on sunscreen. It's going to take a lot to get used to the sun here. At least I can get tan!


Takapuna Beach.

Yesterday was Waitangi day, a celebration of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. We went to the Auckland War Memorial Museum and saw a ton of cool stuff. The picture below is of a Maori court. All the carving inside is original. I can't believe that they can carve such intricate designs. I'm thinking maybe I should take a Maori wood carving class now. After looking around the museum a bit, we got to see a Maori concert. It was really awesome. I love the Haka (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-lrE2JcO44) and the Poi (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Hu2g5h0hNM). Go to those links if you want to see what I'm talking about. Maori culture is really amazing.


So today was our big island trip for orientation. We went to Tiritiri Matangi island out off the coast of Auckland. It is an open preserve that they have been completely reforesting since the 1970s. Now it has all native species there, with no outside influence. They even made people clean off their shoes before going on the island. It was so green there and the water was so turquoise, I never wanted to leave. We got to go on a guided hike through the bush, which was awesome because I never would have noticed as much without the guide there. There are also native birds there, and there's one called the Takahe that is so rare there are only 220 left in the wild still. They are flightless and only live in the Fjordland and on some remote islands like this one. There was one named Greg that tried to steal everyone's lunches.


How beautiful is this place?


A Takahe in the wild (not Greg).

Everything has been amazing so far, I've just been going nonstop since I've been here. Auckland is definitely a cool city, but I'm excited to get down to the South Island too. I know I'm going to be here for at least 10 months, but already I'm worried I won't even be able to see everything (or want to leave for that matter).

I might not be able to write again for a while, since I'll be busy, but this is my schedule for the next week: tomorrow is the last day of orientation, we're going to have a nice dinner across the harbor; then on Monday I'm flying to Christchurch (I think it's the biggest city on the South Island) and going tramping (backpacking) with two other girls around the area for four days. We're going to be doing a track that sounds really beautiful, going by bays and beaches and stuff. Then finally on the 15th I'm flying down to Dunedin and that's where I'll be living for the rest of the year. So I'll update you on that when I get there, don't miss me too much!