Orientation and Moving in

Since I've updated last, I have met soo many people and had a ton of fun.  Auckland was a place to see, but not so impressive, so I'm glad I am not spending my semester there...it's a very industrial city.  The long weekend of orientation in Rotorua was a bit like summer camp but a good time.  I went to a sheep show...did you know there are 19 breeds?  

I learned the Haka (YouTube it if you don't know what that is) and also went to a traditional Maori dinner.  I had a really good bottle of wine that night that I split with a guy from Bloomfield Hills!!!  (and Mom, he knows Natalie Krane!!)  It's such a small world.  

  Anyway, we went zorbing as well, which is pretty crazy.  It's pretty much a huge inflatable ball with water in it that you jump into and then roll down a big hill.    The next day we drove to the Waitomo caves where I repelled down a narrow passageway and hiked through some beautiful rock formations.  It's amazing how long the limestone takes to build up and I learned a lot about that.  At one point we all turned our headlamps off to be in the most complete darkness possible...then we zip-lined over some formations to the exit!  That was probably my highlight of the weekend =)

Moving into my flat didn't take long.  I've realized I didn't bring any clothes.  I don't know why I thought having 6 shirts and 2 pairs of jeans would be sufficient.  Oh well, there are "Op Shops" (second-hand stores) all around so I think I'm going to get some stuff tomorrow.  I did the class approval thing and it's such a messed up system here.  No worries though, I'm taking some sweet courses (they call them "papers" here).  Adventure Education, Theories and Perspectives of Physical Education and Health, Maori Society, and the Environmental History of New Zealand.

My flat is pretty nice, other than the weirdest sinks I've ever seen.  Oh, and they don't have central heating here.  If you don't know what that means, then just think of me wearing most of my clothes and bundled up in my bed.  It's damn cold!  I will be purchasing a sleeping bag soon and may take up residency in it.  The people I'm living with are all vegetarian, which is really fun, and we have a community food system for the most part.  One person has been in charge of cooking dinner each night and I made a delicious salad last night with sweet potatoes (they call them "kumara") and beets and feta.  Yummm.  Anyway, my flatmates are Nick the Kiwi host, Kristina from Massachusetts, Rachel from Canada, Stephen from Canada, and Ditte from Denmark just incase I use their names in later posts.

I'm starting to find my way around and classes start next week.  Wahoooo.  I'm sending love.

Oh, and one of my favorite photos from Nambucca Heads when we were in Australia is below!!  Cheers, mates.

Goat on a Leash

Yes, I kid you not. Katie and I spent a night in Green Point, which is in the Great Lakes region. And there we stayed outside Booti Booti National Park. It was meant to be. We parked near some little fishing boats near a house where there was what we thought to be a small cow. It was, in fact, a large goat on a leash, attached to a tree. There were a few people walking around like this shit is normal!?! We also stayed a night at Avoca Beach, which had a good surf scene for us to watch. These guys are nuts. We've been eating oatmeal out of the bag with cold water for days, and on the last day we got creative and got a can of beans and an avocado with pita. Yummm. I know how some of you feel about avocado, but I still say it's delicious.

After a night in the airport where the stories can't really be explained on here, we were on our way to NZ....finally!!! The flight was wonderful as the flight attendant changed our seats so Katie and I sat in an exit row by each other. I highly recommend flying Qantas.

We're currently staying at the Fat Camel hostel (these crazy names seem to follow us) and had a free meal last night. An egg burger. You guessed it, it's a fried egg on a bun. We went out last night to a bar called Cassette 9 and had a ton of fun. Many of the people we met are from England, and we danced a ton to Ricky Martin, Spice Girls, and of course...old school Janet.

We meet our group tomorrow to drive to Rotorua for our orientation. I'll update when I get settled in my flat, which will be after Sunday. Cheers!

Up and Down Again

The title refers to the both the coast and the roads. They are NUTS around here. Since my last post, we've been to a few fun places. After Newcastle, we stopped off at a place called Nambucca Heads where we stayed for two nights. It's a small retirement community with a beautiful board walk and tons of fishermen. I had a wonderful run in the morning (or "mo-nin") and then the three of us laid out on a private beach where we were all by ourselves!! It was a little cloudy, but we managed to get some good sun before the clouds came in. Katie and I took a really long walk along the beach which was only interrupted by a few rocks that we climbed over periodically. When we finally turned around, we saw a DOUBLE RAINBOW in the sky (I thought of you, Mom!) and we had a brief moment =) Then we ran back to the van to get out of the rain and watched "Sports Night" until our laptops died.

We drove to Byron Bay and stood at the most eastern point of Australia, so that was sort of neat. Oh, and not only did we see a kangaroo on the side of the road, but when we stopped to park in Ballina, we saw 4-5 dolphins playing by the shore!! We seriously could have touched them they were so close!!

Yesterday was absolutely crazy. The rain has been nonstop and we wanted to do something fun, so we decided to drive to the Nightcap National Park (which is in the rain forest). We walked around for a little while at one spot, but we were determined to see this 100 meter waterfall that we'd heard of. I drove on this one-lane road up and down the mountains through beautiful scenery in the pouring rain until we were stopped by a flooded road. For some reason, a truck decided to drive by right when we needed help, and this Aussie (picture tanned skin, missing teeth, big belly, cigarette out the mouth, beat-up truck) told us to continue through the flood and we made it!!! The look of relief on our faces is indescribable when we finally saw the falls and it was so breathtaking! After all of that adventure, we'd realized we hadn't eaten and stopped by this Indian restaurant for a yummy dinner.

We dropped Stephanie off with a friend last night at Bond Uni and now it's just Katie and I...look out Australia!!!!! We're headed south and will try to hit up a winery and a beach tomorrow if the weather gets better. As for now, it's still raining but we're still smiling (Dad).

Will update soon!!

Sydney nonsense and Wicked turns

Photo of Hank loving Bondi Beach...and then me and Big Rhonda after a 124398754 hour trip

Alright, so after staying with Meighan for a night, she suggested for us to stay with her another night and save ourselves some money and hassle...plus she wanted someone to see the city with.  We woke up and walked to a market and then saw the Australian Museum which was pretty cool.  They had a wildlife photography exhibit and a lot of animal bones and such, including dinosaurs.  Pretty neat.  Then we went to the Art Museum of New South Wales for a few minutes before they closed, and what we got to see of it was lovely.  After that we walked through the never-ending botanical gardens and got another view of the Opera House and bridge.  Oh, and if you've heard about the house Nicole Kidman bought?  Maybe you saw a photo in People...well it's real and it's huge.  We walked back to the apartment before getting spruced up for dinner at a Malaysian restauran overlooking Darling Harbour, and the food was verrry good.

Meighan was gabbing the entire day talking about her travels and random stories (including something about a Biggie Smalls tape in Burma).  She is so entertaining and it's amazing how things come together...what if I wouldn't have sat next to her?  Some things are just meant to happen and we're so grateful for her generosity!

And then we started to get Wicked.  Driving on the other side of the road isn't as bad as you might think, but driving through the heart of Sydney was a bit intimidating.  No worries, though.  We got to Newcastle last night and had Indian food for dinner...asked a local pharmacist where to park for free and we drove to Nobby's beach.  We spoke with a nice surfer and an old raspy man who both told us the beach would be safe, so we took their word for it.  Other than a stiff back, sleeping in the van wasn't too bad and it's definitely an adventure!  Since the weather is expected to be cloudy for the next few days, we're going to drive north and explore...more soon!  Hopefully winter break is relaxing for you Hope students before pledge adventures begin.

Whew

I've come to realize that when traveling, you definitely have to go with the flow and not be too attached to plans. Stephanie, Katie, and I have been doing quite well with the spontanaeity thus far, however =) Today we left the hostel at Bondi to head into the city where Meighan (the New Yorker) is staying in a beautiful apartment with a "sick" view of Darling Harbour. We dropped our luggage off there and started the day looking for hostels, however many were expensive or booked. After giving up on that, we walked around Darling Harbour and walked through Paddy's Market (for those of you that were in Brazil with me, picture that big warehouse with rows and rows of booths). We had yummy sandwiches for lunch (soo much avocado here!) and window-shopped on George Street, which is a lot like Michigan Ave in Chicago with the designer stores and such.

We finally have real proof of being in Australia as we saw the Opera House and walked across the Harbour Bridge! The view was amazing (and my new camera is doing wonders). If anyone plans on coming to this city ever, you must walk through the section called "The Rocks". There are old buildings with original foundations yet many of them have newer stores or pubs inside. There is great contrast between old and new, and hopefully some of my photos show that!

After sitting in the fanciest McDonald's EVER and dinner at Sushi Train, we headed back to Meighan's in hopes of crashing for the night. She met us there and let us shower and do laundry and has some of the funniest stories about traveling and has given us many little tips to remember! This lady is seriously a trip. She's a defense attorney from Brooklyn if that means anything to anyone and is the most traveled person I've probably ever met (yes, even more than you, Miss Mary).

Tomorrow we'll head to King's Cross on the other side of Sydney to stay at another hostel and hopefully find somewhere to spend the day inside (there are a few museums with free admission!). Why inside you ask? It's supposed to be 47 degrees here!!! (Yes, that's Celsius, and yes, that is HOT!!!!!) We pick up the Wicked Van Monday and although we've loved seeing the sights of the city, I think we're about ready to see some countryside and smaller beach towns. Byron Bay has been suggested to us by many people we've met and we plan on just camping out at beaches along the eastern coast until next week when we fly out to Auckland. Unfortunately, we won't be able to drive to the Great Barrier Reef due to the cyclones and rainy season on the north-east coast (weird with the heat wave on the south end).

I'll upload pictures when I'm at a place with my own computer and not using a public one.

Cheers!

Land Down Unda

The flights were good...I had a woman from Brooklyn to talk my ear off on the long flight and Katie and I found Stephanie in the airport in Sydney. We took a taxi to the place where we were renting the van. Come to find out they only had manual transmission vans. That combined with driving on the other side of the road did not sound like a good idea. We're staying at Bondi Beach until Monday where we can get an automatic van. We may be staying in the city for a couple of days if we can crash with a person we met...

It's record heat here and we have to stay out of the sun more than expected =) Hopefully you're all not dying of frost bite in Michigan!!

Love to all