Rangitoto Island
I went with 7 other International Students on a ferry boat over to Rangitoto Island. It's a beautiful island close by that has a volcano. Our mission: to climb up the volcano. The last time it was activated was six hundred years ago, so we're all safe and good to go. We took a 3 hour hike. We got some great views of sulfur rocks and the New Zealand Skyline. I failed to bring any water so by the time we made it to the top, I was incredibly dehydrated from the climb. We found a cave to walk through on the hike that was bee infested and pitch black. Too bad bees are in New Zealand. After we finished our hike we took a swim in the water. It was quality times with wonderful people.
Devenport
A couple of us who stayed in Auckland for the weekend decided to check out Devenport's beach. It's located on a peninsula off Auckland. It was a ten minute ferry ride to get over to our destination. There is a sickly steep hill called Mount Victoria that gives a 360 degree view of Auckland. Once we arrived we decided to blow off the 10 minute walk winding around and around the mount. We decided to walk straight up it. I thought we were all going to die. If I ever thought Jewell's hills were steep, I take it back. This mount was insane. There were times I thought we were just walking up completely vertical. Once we reached the top we felt pretty happy with our decision to avoid taking the scenic route. We took some goofy pictures and then decided to walk down the same way we walked up. Forget the trails, we are just going to go straight down. Well its really easy to slip and catch yourself sliding down this thing. We watched some people take cardboard boxes and sit on them while riding down the mount. This was NZ sledding at its best. We tried sliding down the hill and taking it slow but instead we just got tons of grass riding up our shorts and shirts. After we got down, we walked to the beach. It was beautiful and pretty secluded. You could tell this was a neighborhood beach and not a huge tourist attraction. I found a sand dollar and took some pictures with it until Jeremy, our environmentalist friend told me I was killing it and that I should stop and let it stay in it's natural habitat. I laid out on the sand and just enjoyed a really lazy day. Just closing my eyes and taking it all in rocks: the smell of sea salt, the sunny warmth, and hearing the rolling waves are just too perfect here. I split ice cream with Matt and then we made our way back to the ferry. All in all a successful beach bumming day
Piha Beach
Today I went with Carly, Lauren's sister and her two nephews, Payton and Stephan to the beach. It's about a 45 minute drive from Auckland but it's absolutely breathtaking. It was pretty cold but still a nice day for the beach. We laid out and tanned while the boys played in the sand. Then we decided to walk up Lion's Rock. It was huge and rugged but had spectacular views walking up. We went swimming after going up the rock. The waves were huge and the tide successfully pulls you in whatever direction it wants you to go here. We didn't walk too far out so we were good to go. Instead of staying in the waves, we moved over to a pretty sweet waterhole to swim in. I am getting use to having a beach around. I'm going to be sad to be stuck in the Midwest once I come home. We don't exactly have surfing weather.
I'll conclude with some changes and things I've learned while I've been here:
Swimsuits and Flip Flops are apparantly called "Togs" and "Jandals" here
Hokey Pokey is a type of candy here, not a song
Kiwis don't really cut a mean rug on the dance floor: they tend to only nod and bob their heads. They did not pop, lock, or drop it when the song came on
Party in the USA is really popular here, and that surprised me
Tramping is the same thing as Hiking
Fun expressions to use "sweet as" and "choice"
Their radio stations play all types of new and old school songs from the States: I heard Pretty Fly for a White Guy and One Sweet Day
They use euphemisms when referring to their restroom and trash: Where is the "loo" and I need to take out my "rubbish"
They like to abbreviate as much as the next person, Auckland is called Uni
I know there is more to my adventures and I'm just skimming the surface, but that's the best I've got. Dear United States, I miss you. Thank you for knowing that the Hokey Pokey is a dance. Thank you for dancing. I'm proud that we cut a mean rug.
No comments:
Post a Comment