Tale of Two Cities

Oofta. It has been a whirlwind of days. Apologies for the gap of communication, this post will be quite long as I have many exciting happenings to relate. I made it to New Zealand, “no worries” (a beloved Kiwi phrase). Although New Zealand is quite a progressive country in environmentalism and the likes, ie over 70% of their power derives from renewable resources such as wind, water, and the geysers bubbling outside my door right now, they are not so progressive as far as internet goes. There is hardly any wireless, and where it exists, it is quite slow and expensive. No worries, I have found my way to the World Wide Web and am here to tell you of my travels.

Arrival

After landing in Auckland at 5 in the morning, I felt quite rested and just a little greasy. I was able to watch an array of movies on the plane—there were 65 to choose from! As well as a few tv shows, a few chapters of Robinson Crusoe, and the flight progress just to make sure they weren’t lost or anything. I feel I should give a bit of a shout out to Air New Zealand as they were terribly nice and accommodating. Not only was my dinner amazing and my seat quite comfy (although I wasn’t in the second floor of the plane where the rumor is they got full beds and ottomans—emphasis on the ottomans as that is usually the word the other students would shout at me when describing the second floor luxuries) but I was routinely offered freshly squeezed lemon water and alcoholic beverages—which Mom and Dad, I declined.

Anywho, back to Auckland. Landed. Waited 4 hours for slowpokes. Bus ride. Sightseeing tour. Dormant volcano. What?? Yeah! Dormant volcano! It was a bit scary swerving up a volcano on tiny winding roads in a huge coach bus on the wrong side of the road mind you, but the view of Auckland was amazing. The crater in the middle was also sweet as. Oops, let me explain.

Terms

I have not yet caught on to the incessant cussing that my fellow Australearn students seem to have so willingly adopted (our bus driver, Dusty, can barely breathe a word without coloring it up a bit) but I have taken in a few tamer phrases. One of these being “sweet as.” Sweet as what, you may ask? Who knows. It seems the Kiwis rarely bother to finish a sentence. Just add an “as” onto the end of a word or two and you’re good as. Although terribly annoying at first listen when you keep waiting for someone to finish their sentence, in New Zealand there are times when there are no comparable words to describe the experience anyways. New Zealand is spectacular as.

Volcano Crater

Back to Arrival

So, after driving back down the volcano, we toured the harbor a bit. Auckland is known as the city of sails—made clear by the thousands of sailboats docked in the harbor. We’ll see if I can master technology and get some pics in here. After that tour, a short lecture on New Zealander lingo, and a much needed shower in our humongo hotel, exploring was necessary. My fellow Australearners tend to move in mobs, and Auckland was no exception. I managed to join a herd of 20 or so through the bustling streets of Auckland down to the ferry. This was no simple task. Not only were we a huge group, but we were a huge group constantly looking down thewrongway of the street before we meandered across. Fortunately, the large city of Auckland was accommodating—every so often the stoplights would actually all turn red, and then pedestrians could walk whichever way they like, frontways-sideways-diagonal-J walking-K walking-do a little dance in the middle of the road-sweet as. The ferry was fun, the island of Devenport (our destination) was beautiful. Another volcano was hiked. This time without a tour bus. We opted to climb straight up the steep incline through the mud and grass, too impatient to take the nicely paved walking trails created solely for the purpose of safety and easy walking. This easy walking was apparently too simple for us Americans. I almost paid for this poorly made decision with my purse and person as I slid down the hill with nothing to grab onto but mud. Flats were a fashionable but not practical decision... Needless to say, we took the stairs on the way down.

City of Sails

View of Auckland from Mount Victoria in Devenport

Auckland was a breathtaking city. Apart from the bungee jumping contraption outside our hotel erupting with side splitting screams every few hours, it was quite a pleasant atmosphere. A city of 1.5 million, Auckland houses a third of New Zealand’s total population. Queen Street is a shopper’s paradise, particularly a well-off shopper. The harbor provides a view no matter where the location. Every corner some sort of narrow alleyway peeks through, blinking with unique coffee shops and bars. I wish I could’ve enjoyed it longer, but we were off the next morning before the sun rose.

Rotorua

After declining vegemite on my toast for breakfast, our 50 passenger bus set off for Rotorua—land of bubbling geysers, Maori, caving, and rafting! The three hour bus ride passed quickly with jokes frequently offered for laughs by Dusty, as well as the blasting of Dusty’s favorite tunes—Classic Rock. The bus passed through where the town of Hobbiton from Lord of the Rings was filmed, although we were up too high to make out any hobbits below. Finally, we reached Rotorua where I am now living Harry Potter style. I think I’ll leave it at that. I’ve no doubt extremely bored you by now with my babbling. Plus, I enjoy the thought of leaving a cliffhanger blog. Cheers and Happy 4^th!