After starting in Auckland, where we spent one night, we traveled to Rotorua for 2 nights before flying to our final destination on the South Island; Dunedin!
After over 26 long hours of travel, connections in LAX and Brisbane, Australia, I finally arrived in Auckland, New Zealand! Auckland is the biggest city in NZ with a population of around 1.5 million, which is a large proportion of the population, given that the entire country of NZ has only 4.5 million people
Once in NZ, I got a quick drink at a cafe to use the wifi and then settled into my hotel to sleep before meeting my study abroad group at 9:30 the next morning.
New Zealand falls just before the International Date line, and thus is the first to see the sun rise in the morning! That also means that compared to Chicago, NZ is 19 hours ahead, which in the grand scheme of things is not that large of a time change, it is just 5 hours behind...the next day!
Here I am in my tiny hotel room which was 'economy' size, and fit just a bed, which was totally fine at the time, because that was all I needed.
In the morning I grabbed a cappuccino to get a taste for the legendary kiwi coffee culture I kept hearing about and was not disappointed!
On the first day of orientation, we walked through the central business district of Auckland, and explored a beautiful park in the middle of the city.
After exploring, grabbing some lunch, and getting a glimpse of what Auckland had to offer, we were off to a small peak out side the city for some views and then a quick swim in the ocean!
We swam in a bay overlooking the Rangitoto Volcano, which is Auckland's most recently active volcano, erupting 600 years ago.
After a long day of travel, the group ate dinner and went to bed early to prepare for the following day.
Next on the agenda was traveling to Rotorua, about a 3 hour bus ride away. Rotorua is in the Bay of Plenty region, which is know for its geothermal activity.
We hopped on the bus in the morning and stopped about an hour and a half later is Matamata, or more commonly known as... Hobbiton!!! While the set of the very famous Shire in the Lord of the Rings (the movies that have had me dreaming about New Zealand since I was young) is outside the town, the welcome center of the town mimicked the unique architecture of Middle Earth.
While we did not go on the tour of the official set, when my mom and sister come to visit we will definitely make it a point to do so!
Even without an official visit to the set, driving out of Matamata on the bus... you knew you were in The Shire.
On the way in we stopped at what was one of my favorite activities of the orientation, the Agrodome and Rainbow Springs!
The only way to describe the Agrodome is like an arena for sheep shearing. It was a functioning sheep farm in which we got to see over 19 different kinds of sheep, pet bunnies, pigs, lambs and sheep dogs. Sheep are very important to the New Zealand agriculture economy, and out number people in New Zealand by 9:1!
Rainbow Springs was a Kiwi hatchery and geothermal park, with an aviary where we saw kiwi, kea and kaka all birds native to NZ! Unfortunately no photography was allowed in the Kiwi hatchery, considering they are nocturnal birds and flash could disrupt their normal patterns.
Once in Rotorua, we had the chance to grab dinner by ourselves. I wondered around with a few friends and we stumbled upon an incredible night market with live music! There were food trucks of every kind of food imaginable, it was hard to choose just one on such a lovely night.
The next day we were kept busy! But before anyone was up I snuck out to get a look at the lake steaming in front of the hotel.
We started off the morning visiting mud pools which bubble from chemical releases due to the geothermal activity below.
We then hopped on the bus again to watch a real geyser go off!
After hopping on and off the bus all morning, we spent about an hour or so perusing Wai-O-Tapu the "Thermal Wonderland". All of the colors are natural and occur as a result of chemical reactions. The green-nickelodean-slime-looking pool was extremely acidic with a pH of 2 and would dissolve most anything that fell in!
As we were on our own for lunch, a few friends and I found an adorable cafe and I enjoyed a colorful buddah bowl!
After a short break, we went Zorbing which entails jumping in a huge plastic ball filled with water to roll down a hill with your mates who you inevitably feel much closer to afterwards! (These pictures were taken by a professional at the Zorbing place)
BuzzFeed just posted a video about the exact place I went Zorbing:
Following zorbing, we had what many consider a quintessential New Zealand experience; a night in a traditional Maori Village.
I don't have too many pictures, but from what I do have you can see the beautiful trees of an ancient forest.
The Maori are the indigenous population of New Zealand and constitute around 15% of the population now. We were able to witness a traditional Hakka dance, learn about the significance of their tattoos, observe how baskets were made, and which games were played to sharpen fighting skills! In addition, we were treated to a concert, and a meal cooked in ovens in the earth which was delicious.
Following an eventful few days, we drove back to Auckland the next day in order to fly around 2 hours to Dunedin in the South Island, where I will be for the next semester!
I am loving Dunedin so far, and will be sure to post pictures of all Dunedin has to offer very soon :).
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