Intro to New Zealand

      So I’m finally settled into my new home at Massey University in Wellington. Sorry it's taken so long to post something, but we don’t have internet in the apartment yet because some kind of wiring is screwed up. Once that is up and running I will add some pictures to the blog. For now I’m working out of the school’s library.

      My apartment has an interesting mix of people. My ‘flat-mates’ consist of two RAs, Tim and Simon, who’ve been friends since high school and seem really amusing, Libby, who’s from Scotland, and Evelien from the Netherlands. The bedrooms are really quite small, but the living room is good-sized. Anyway, enough about where I am now, how about where I’ve been.

      Getting to New Zealand took quite a long time—four hour flight from Chicago to LA, five hours waiting in LAX, and then 13 hours on the plane to Auckland, New Zealand. The plane got in at 5:30 in the morning, and then we had a whole day planned out, so it was pretty exhausting. There were around 20 US students in the group with our study abroad program. We all came to Auckland for a week of ‘orientation’ (aka exploring, adventuring, and getting acquainted with the country), and then split up to our respective universities throughout the country.

      The first day of orientation (Wednesday) we spent quite a while walking around Auckland getting familiar with the area, and stopped at a phone store to set up cell phones for our stay here so we can keep in touch with the locals. In the afternoon we took a short ferry ride to Devenport and took a bit of a hike up a hill to North Head which was once used for army barracks. We got a spectacular view of Auckland and the surrounding area on the bay. I absolutely could have sat on the grass staring at the landscape for hours.

      Thursday we went on a lot of different adventures. We started with a visit to some hills the Maori people used live on. The hills were terraced (basically cut into steps), and houses were built on each level—the higher up on the hill, the higher the status. Each level was surrounded by increasingly taller fences to keep enemy tribes out. If a tribe managed to reach all the way to the top of the hill, they gained control over it. 

     We went to the top of One Tree Hill (yes, like the show) and learned about its significance along with seeing another fantastic view (pictures to come). 

     Then we went to the Auckland museum, which specifically highlights the Maori culture. Inside was a beautifully carved meeting house where Maori community events would take place. If a member of the community passed away, the entire extended family would sleep in the meeting house for several days to allow people time for mourning and recovery. After that time everyone, including the departed, could rest in peace. We also saw a huge waka (canoe) that would have been used for war. 

     After the museum and a lunch of fish and chips, we went to a black sand beach on the Tasman Sea. It’s supposedly the most dangerous beach in New Zealand because of such strong rip tides. Several people are rescued from the water every day, and it’s not even a very large beach. We were careful though, and were only allowed to go in just above our knees. Next to the beach was the towering ‘lion’s rock’ that looks like a lion lying on the beach looking out over the water. If enemy Maori tribes landed at the beach, high status women/girls (princesses in particular) would climb up to the top of the rock to try and avoid kidnap. If an enemy warrior made it up the rock, the girls would jump off to commit suicide, which was preferable to being forced to marry men that killed their own people. 

     We ended the day with a rain forest walk where we learned about all kinds of native plants, and a few animals. We got to see the iconic silver fern that New Zealand uses in logos everywhere. In the jungle, they were frequently used as path markers. Because the underside is distinctly silver, bending over the tip of a leaf once in a while along a trail left an easily seen path, which could then be just as easily erased.

      Our tour guides for the day taught us a little bit about the Maori beliefs on the world. They believe the world was created by Earth Mother and Sky Father, and that we live in the world of light that lies between them. Their children are wind, sea, trees, etc. and we as humans are the youngest children. Therefore, we don’t own Earth Mother, and should treat her like the mother she is. As an interesting note, a LOT of the aspects of the movie Avatar were based on the Maori culture. Their beliefs on the sacredness of the forest, the language, and even the touching of noses as a greeting (called a Hongi, sharing the breath of life) are similarities.

      Friday was quite an excursion as well. We took a 3-hour bus ride to the Waitomo Caves, where we did some black water rafting, essentially underground tubing. It was fantastic. We got dressed up in wetsuits (which were super-flattering by the way) and went climbing/trudging into the caves. At points where the water was too deep to walk through, we would hop on our inner tubes and float along for a while. There were also two small waterfalls we got to jump off of, probably 6 ft.-ish. We jumped backwards holding the inner tubes behind us so we just sort of plopped down and kept on floating. I’m content with omitting the plopping part though and just saying I jumped off an underground waterfall…sounds much cooler. 

     The coolest part of the caving journey was the glow worms. Everywhere we walked/floated, there were hundreds of little glowing green lights above us. We had to turn off our lights (we had fun little lamps on our hardhats) to see them, so it was kind of scary not being able to see where we were going, but the fairy-like awesomeness of the glow worms made up for it. 

     On the way back from the caves, we stopped at a kiwi house, and got to see some of New Zealand’s famous flightless birds. It’s almost impossible to see them in the wild, partially because they’re nocturnal. The kiwis we saw had their sleep cycles shifted so that during our day they’re in a dark room and think it’s night time. Kiwi birds are intensely funny-looking by the way. Most flightless birds still have wings, even if they aren’t usable, but kiwis have nothing. They just look like walking balls of fluff with beaks. I want to take one home :P

      Saturday was a free day for the group. We all decided on taking a ferry to Waiheke Island for the day. We did a ton of walking around and enjoying the views, and took busses to several different beaches. It was beautiful. Visiting that island made me realize what I liked so much about the country so far. It has such a perfect balance of adventure paradise and everyday living. There are vacation-worthy locations and picturesque landscapes at every corner, but it seems like such an easy place to settle down and lead a normal life as well. If the rest of my life weren’t on the other side of the world, I would most definitely consider living here.

      Sunday I took a short plane ride from Auckland to Wellington. It was clear out, so I got some really nice pictures out of the plane window (yay window seat!). Landing in Wellington was really interesting. We flew in over a bay, and the landing strip started almost right where the land itself did. It really felt like we would skim the ocean on the way down.

      I got picked up at the airport, got to my apartment, bought everything I needed, and settled in. We’ve had a week in the apartment getting settled, sorting out classes, and exploring the city, and classes started yesterday. That just about brings it up to speed! I’ll write again after I finish my first week of classes (..wish me luck!)