Week Four

This week was a pretty busy one for me; I started my internship, had a pretty big assignment due, and had a test too. Must be why this trip is going by so quickly - I can't believe I've been here for just about a month! Time is flying by here, and I have so much I want to do!


I just realized that I haven't posted any pictures of where I'm staying while I'm here, it's actually a pretty interesting building and we have some great views up on the 10th floor! Our building actually has a pretty wide age range since it's not specifically university housing, so we have families next door as well as college students. Everything is pretty close within walking distance; campus, grocery stores, and the better part of downtown Auckland are all 5-15 minutes away. 

View from my window, out onto part of the harbor (excuse the glare)

Week Three

          This week on Friday I didn't have any class, so my roommate Lydia and I went to the zoo. It was really fun, and we got to see a lot of cool animals, including the elusive kiwi! They’re usually nocturnal, so when we went into the Kiwi House it was almost completely dark and lit like a photography darkroom. Even though it was just their silhouettes, it was really cool to see them wandering around foraging for food. Maybe I’ll get the chance to see one in its natural habitat when we go down to Stewart Island! 

At the entrance

Week(end) Two

On the second weekend we went on a trip around Northland, up the east coast and down the west. Our first stop was Bream Bay, which was one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever been to. Perfect waves, perfect temperature water, and soooo blue. Also a nude beach, but most of us opted to stay clothed.

Bream Bay

Lots of pictures at the link!

Week One

It'll be a little hard for me to remember everything we did, but I'll do my best!

Most of our group arrived here on Tuesday, January 2 and quickly had to get settled in before class on Thursday. Many a trip was made to The Warehouse, which is like Auckland's version of Walmart, I guess. Luckily the students who lived in our apartment before us left us a lot of pots, pans, dishes, and utensils so we didn't have to buy them ourselves. Some of our friends weren't so lucky and had to buy almost everything. Some random stuff here is really expensive, like facewash and drugstore makeup, and especially sunscreen. The sun is definitely a lot stronger here (little to no ozone at all), so sunscreen is a priority...just gonna have to bite the bullet on that one.

The first weekend, we were taken on a day trip around Auckland. We stopped at Mission Bay for a little bit, then continued on to Mount Eden, a volcano near the city. The view from the top was amazing, and there was an enormous crater up there as well. Unfortunately my camera died once we got up to the top, so I only have a few pictures from the day :(

Mission Bay

More pictures and stuff after the jump!

Kia Ora!

"Kia ora," in the language of the native Maori people of New Zealand, means hello or welcome. I'll be posting things here about what I've been up to in Auckland and other places in New Zealand. We're already been here for a couple weeks, so the next few posts might be bigger ones...in the future I'll try to post at least once a week.

Oh, and if you were wondering - "sweet as" is a term they use here if something is awesome or really cool. I think "as" can be added to just about any adjective to make it "really _____", like "smart as" or "smelly as". It'll be something I'll have to bring back with me to the States :)

More posts to come soon!