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
View from the top!
After Mount Eden we continued on to a fresh water lake, and had to cross black sand dunes to get there. It was a really cool place since the sand and the lake were in the middle of a fairly large forest, which was unexpected. We swam and hung around there for a little and then drove over to the west coast, which has bigger waves on the beaches. It was a little scary because the riptide out there is pretty strong, but it was still fun and a unique experience. I'll definitely have to go back, since we didn't get to spend much time there.
On Sunday some friends and I went back to Mission Bay to spend the day there, since it's only a 10-15 minute bus ride away. We hung out on the beach and did some reading and swimming, with plenty of sunscreen reapplication in between! There are a lot of cute little restaurants along the beach, so we got a $10 Indian food lunch (curry+rice+naan+drink), which was delicious. We went to a little Swiss (or Swedish? I can't really remember) ice cream shop afterwards, which was soooo good. I think I've come to the conclusion that ice cream here is creamier...and thus better overall.
All in all it was a good week/weekend, getting settled in and used to everything. Stuff is getting a lot more familiar now, but I don't think exploring the city will ever get old.
Going to the zoo today, I think! I'll post more about the second week soon :) Cheers!
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