Author Archives: kfd5016

The Chroni-WHAT-cles Of Narnia

Saturday morning, we had planned to travel up to the Coromandel Peninsula, east of Auckland on the coast with Jenna, meeting a bunch of her friends when we got there. On the way we passed the town of Paeroa which is the birthplace of the L&P (Lemon and Paeroa) fizzy drink. Consequently, they have a massive L&P bottle statue in the town. We obviously needed a picture with it.

We continued up to Coromandel and checked into our cute little hostel in Hahei which is pretty much the tiniest town imaginable. They had a caf�, restaurant and convenience store, that was all. We changed quickly into bathing suits and drove over to hot water beach to meet Jenna’s friends. Hot water beach is situated over heaps of geothermal activity making the ground and water underneath the sand very hot, even in winter. The basic premise is that you dig a huge hole at low tide and the ground water seeps up and fills your hole creating a spa which you can relax in as the sun sets.

The crew in our spa ^

Digging the hole was pretty easy, the hard part was finding a spot that wasn’t too hot and wasn’t too cold. Then once you’d found a spot you would move an inch to your right or dig your toes in and all of a sudden, scalding hot water is burning you. When people got up out of the pool, their legs were red and basically cooked! Some little kids got over excited and started splashing through abandoned pools only to start crying when they got stuck in near boiling water. That night we watched the Waikato chiefs lose spectacularly before getting an early night for our 7am start the next morning.

The next day dawned bright and clear which meant it was the perfect day to take the walk down to cathedral cove. A few movies have been filmed there, the most well known being The Chronicles of Narnia. It was about a 30 minute walk down to the cove with beautiful views out across the pacific. We braved an extremely muddy path down to Stingray Bay and took in the sun on the rocks for a while before continuing on to Cathedral Cove. It was even more beautiful in real life than in the movies.

White sand beaches with an amazing arch made of white rock. They had fenced the arch off and you weren’t supposed to walk under it to the beach on the other side. We figured we’d be safe if we ran through though, because running way different that walking! We swam out to a huge flat rock about 100 metres off shore and spent quite a while jumping off it.

Haley and I on the rock ^

There was a cool underwater archway that you could walk on next to the rock.

After sunbathing for a while, we decided it wasn’t really summer anymore and we were all really cold so we headed over to Whitianga, a beach town but bigger than Hahei. Jenna’s friends had switched to a hostel in Whitianga and they let you borrow kayaks for free so we grabbed a couple and headed out onto the water to paddle. The rest of the evening was spent playing Frisbee and collecting shells on the beach before Jenna Haley and I decided to grab a dinner of Fish and Chips and head to the ferry which would take us 20 metres across the harbor to where we parked our car. We were waiting in line for our dinner when Jenna reminded us that the ferry took a dinner break from 6:30pm to 7:30pm. Of course it was 6:25pm. Just enough time for us to make it if we ran but not enough time to get our food and make it. Jenna and Haley ran on ahead to try and get the ferry to wait while I waited for the food to be ready. As soon as it was, I sprinted as fast as I could, with only a towel wrapped around my bathing suit to the ferry dock only to find out that the although Jenna and Haley had arrived on time, the ferry guy had refused to take even them. So we ended up having to sit in our towels on the dock and eat, all the while looking at our car across the harbour that was sooo close to us.

Finally we managed to make it back across the habour to our car and once we had showered and changed, we headed back to Jenna’s friends hostel to work on our project for Women in Management and hang out. We managed to hit a possum on the way which was a slightly traumatic experience. Sadly the next day was spent driving as we headed to Auckland airport to drop Haley off and boarded our bus back to Hamilton, or Hams as we affectionately call it.

Location: Coromandel, Whitianga

Another Penn Stater in NZ

A few weeks ago, my friend from Penn State, Haley, decided to fly out! It was a spur of the moment decision but luckily I didn’t have any assignments due that week so I could take a few days off. We rented a car and braved the early morning Hamilton fog to go to Lake Taupo for the day and I somehow managed to convince her to bungy jump! It was so different from when I went before because it was windy and pretty empty without the hot sun and tourists. In Haley’s video you can see me standing by the drop off jumping up and down and clapping when she jumped because I’m an adrenaline junkie and I was so happy to be turning someone else into one. We had bought deserts (mine was a Leamington, a cake dipped in strawberry flavouring, rolled in coconut and filled with cream, mmm) from the Hillcrest Bakery before our trip so we decided to walk to Huka falls and eat them, or share them with an extremely angry duck as it turned out. On the way back we went and sat in the same hot springs that I’d visited before only they were so much better this time because we were pretty much the only people there. We braved the really hot part of the spring and sat under the pounding waterfall for a while. Reallyy cheap way to get a massage! After, we walked down by the lake and found some delicious scones with cream and jam, English style.

Me under the waterfall ^

The next day I had my Women In Management class that I had to be in so Haley came with me. Obviously it happened to be the one class out of the semester when we broke into groups and role-played a bureaucracy picking a work contract from work gangs and the whole time we were just hoping the professor wouldn’t call on Haley! That would have needed some explaining as to why she didn’t know the three perspectives of feminism used in the scenario…

Then it was cake wheels for lunch!

These are pretty much the best thing ever invented. They’re officially called Taiwanese Wheel Cakes and are sold from a tiny cart on campus. The guy makes two deep pancakes and then sandwiches your choice of filling between them. My personal favourite fillings are mozzarella, corn, ham and pepper and chocolate fudge although you can get anything from chicken pot pie to green curry. During the semester, it had become somewhat of a tradition between Jenna and I to get cakes wheels after our Wednesday morning class.

YUM ^

I didn’t drag Haley to my accounting class, but that night we continued traditions and went to beer pong.

Wednesday night in Hamilton hosts a beer pong championship league which I’m proud to say I’ve now achieved “regular” status at. We went into it at the beginning of the semester very confident thinking that since we (as in Americans/PSUers) basically invented beer pong, we should have no trouble winning the $100 bar tab. The semester is over now and I haven’t won so much as $25 third place. Kiwi BP is played on super high tables with absolutely no calling on leaning. People will lean as far forward as possible over the table to take their shot. You’re also allowed to catch the ball if the other team airballs which means they lose a cup. There are no boucebacks or double cups for bounce, no island or man on fire. It’s crazy! Beer pong is much more relaxing than a normal night. There’s no dancing so everyone just hangs out in the booths and challenges each other to pool matches when they aren’t competing.

Me making a valient effort, despite lack of hand eye coordination ^

Thursday I decided to show Haley around Hamilton so we went to lunch, wondered around the shops and then went to a leaving dinner for a kiwi friend who had just graduated before hitting the town for Thursday night. Another difference between here and PSU is that Thursday is the big night out with Saturday as the second, but no one goes out on Friday. I’ve been traveling for most Fridays but usually my flat just hangs out in our lounge or gets schoolwork done.

The next day, we picked up Meg and headed to Rotorua. Our first stop was the Maori Village of Tewhakarewarewatangaoteopetauaawahiao or Whakawarewa for “short”.

They gave us a guided tour of the village which actually has many Maori families living in it. The whole area is geothermal so there are pools of bubbling mud and boiling water scattered all around the village. Our guide showed us where she and her family and friends cook, bathe and meet. They had a tattoo artist in the village who draws out traditional ta moko (tattoos). It was really interesting to learn about their traditions, what they consider tapu or sacred and how they put the volcanic activity to good use. We also saw a cultural performance featuring the Haka which is a war dance, nowadays more commonly performed before the All Blacks Rugby Team plays and a poi dance with soft balls on strings that the women twirled.

Meg Haley and I after the performance ^

After the village we decided we needed our fix of adrenaline so we headed over to the Zorb track. Whoever invented Zorbing is both a genius and very stupid. Basically, they throw you and some warm water into what looks like a huge inflatable hamster ball and roll you down a steep zig-zag hill. The result is akin to a blind slip and slide where you might flip upside down at any moment. The guy at the counter was really cool and gave us a multiple person Zorb plus our own single rides for really cheap, because our coups weren’t valid for what we wanted. We did the multiple ride first down the steep but straight track. We were laughing so hard from the minute all three of us climbed, or rather dived very ungracefully inside. The water made it so slippery that we were all squashed together as the ball rolled and pretty much tangled up by the bottom. The second ride was down the zig-zag track so you had no idea which way was forwards.

I thought that it couldn’t possibly be that exciting after bungy jumping and skydiving but it was actually a ton of fun! And you had to wear socks so I was rocking a ski sock and bikini look.

Win.

Location: Hams, Taupo, Rotorua

Wanaka and Fox Glacier

After skydiving I felt great for about an hour. Then the flu set back in. Meg and I were going to meet Jenna and Michelle for lunch but I couldn’t face the sight of food so I ended up sleeping at the hostel for the day. That afternoon Jenna had to fly and we had to pick up our car so we headed to the tiny Queenstown airport. I don’t remember a whole lot of the car hiring process since I was delirious and lying on the floor. Meg had to sign most of the papers even though I was technically the hirer. The next two days, we had planned a fantastic 32 km hike through Fiordland and over the mountains called the Routeburn. We’d booked transport to the start of the track for the next day, a hut in the mountains for that night and transport out the following day. In the evening, Meg was starting to feel awful too and we were having doubts about being able to do the hike. We still shopped for supplies anyway and said we’d make the call in the morning.

We got up and dressed like champs at 6:30am on Tuesday morning and made it almost to our car when we decided that if we were feeling like passing out from a walk to the car, it really wasn’t smart to attempt the hike. Super bummed out, we canceled our transport, went to breakfast and decided to take out time and do the first portion of the hike anyway, turning around when we felt like it. We did our fair share of offroading on the way there. The car company had told us that there were a few roads that we weren’t insured to drive on so when we ended up on a gravel road in the wop-wops (kiwi slang for “middle of nowhere”!), parts of the road having been washed away by the river, we started thinking that we were in the wrong place… Eventually we managed to flag down a safari truck and were told that, yes, we were in the wrong place.

Finally we made it to the track and hiked for a few hours before having some lunch and turning around. It was such a beautiful day with clear blue skies which was probably nature’s way of making us feel worse that we couldn’t hike the whole thing. Still, we got some great pictures and had a decent 4 hour walk which probably did us some good

The next step was to drive over the crown range road to Wanaka, which is like a smaller, less touristy version of Queenstown. The Crown Range Road is SCARY. Hairpin turns every hundred metres and cliffs off to the side. That night in Wanaka, we treated ourselves to a hotel room which was an amazing experience. We also decided to suck it up and eat out freeze dried hiking food for dinner. Never ever eat hiking food when sick, or at all for that matter. It was disgusting and I’ll never buy anything like it for a hike again. The next day we had booked a horse ride in the Cardrona Valley just outside of Wanaka which ended up being awesome. It was just four of us and a guide and she let everyone cater for a while along the river. Pretty much the ultimate Lord of the Rings experience. We stopped by the Cardrona Hotel for a drink after and someone had told me that it was used in the filming of Lord of the Rings which would have been cool. It wasn’t used in filming and we definitely looked stupid for asking as they even had a sign reading “Lord of the Rings was NOT filmed here”. Oh well, we weren’t the only ones!

Thursday morning we were feeling better but still not 100% and decided to do a hike called Roy’s Peak Track. The lady at the information booth told us it was 3-4 hours return. FALSE. It was a hike basically straight up a mountain that doubled as a sheep paddock. The sheep weren’t very friendly though and wouldn’t let us get near enough to pet them. About two and a half hours of slogging uphill in the hot sun, we asked some people how much further it was to the top. When they said we were just about halfway, we decided to turn around. The views were still awesome from where we were and we were running out of time to make the drive to the Fox Glacier that we had to do the evening. On top of still having flu! That evening we drove over the Hasst pass which was beautiful. We stopped at a couple waterfalls and rivers along the way and saw a magnificent sunset just as we reached the west coast.

The following morning we had booked an ice climbing expedition on the glacier which has traveled 13km from the Southern Alps and ends almost near the sea which is really rare. Seeing as the company we booked with was a well known tourist operation and the booklet said you needed moderate fitness for the ice climbing, we figured that the climbing would be pretty tame and easily. I’m so glad that it was the opposite. Our guide, Andy, geared the four of us up (Meg and I plus two young Germans) with boots, crampons, ice picks, two pairs of gloves, packs, ice screws, harnesses, helmets, gaiters and jackets. We then took a bus to the terminal face of the glacier and strode past all the other sightseers and under the safety rope until we got to the ice. Andy taught us the basics, like not tripping on your crampons and how to tie yourself onto the rope before we set off walking on the ice. When we reached the first ice wall, it was hugeee and Andy climbed round the back and anchored in two of the ice screws in different spots. When he came back, he told us that the huge, deep hole in the ice face wasn’t there a few days before and told us to check it out as we climbed. He quickly told us how to belay out partners and said “Right off you go then!”. Luckily both Meg and I have belayed before so it wasn’t completely new, but still took a couple minutes to get the hang of. Overall, the ice climbing was probably my favourite part of the trip. We were out there for nine hours, climbing progressively more difficult walls and exploring the moulins (water mills or big holes in the ice that you can climb down into). It was so difficult to keep both your picks and your crampon toes jammed into the ice as you climbed and the most frustrating thing was when your feet slipped and left you hanging by your forearms from your picks. I discovered muscles I didn’t know that I had! On some of the last climbs of the day, Meg and I would get so close to the top then just get really tired when we kept slipping. On one climb I was so exhausted from slipping over and over again that I’m ashamed to say that I started whimpering as I clung on only a few feet from the top, before I has to shake myself and tell myself to not be such a baby.

I’d love to go again and improve as I think it was hard to get the hang of it in one day. So much fun though and the huge chicken burger I had for dinner was well deserved I thought…as well as the bottle of wine and lying on the hostel couch watching the Time Travelers’ Wife. Fox Glacier village wasn’t as hopping as Queenstown…

We were sad to leave Fox the next day as that meant our vacation was almost over. We drove up the west coast, which is basically like West Virginia but by the sea and over Arthurs Pass, on route to Christchurch. We could not find the rental place in Christchurch and instead drove around the Red Zone for a while. It was actually pretty scary. So many building had fallen down and many of the businesses were derelict and empty. The traffic just kept getting directed around and around in circles since no one was allowed in the Red Zone. We were probably lucky not to get caught in a quake when we were there at the rate the earthquakes are coming.

That night was spent at the airport and this time we couldn’t find benches so we just stretched out in our sleeping bags between two pay phones. The next morning in Auckland we had to wait 5 hours for our bus and ended up sleeping/lounging in some big chairs in the centre of a mall. Normally I would be pretty well mannered in a mall, but we were so tired that we had our shoes off, our coats as pillows and were basically passed out surrounded by our packs. Some guy came up to us and said his mom had told him to come and see if we needed somewhere to go because we were welcome to come to their place if we didn’t have anywhere. So basically we were mistaken for homeless people.

However, fantastic trip overall! I’m a little behind so more to come on the past few weeks soon!

Karen

Location: Wanaka, Fox Glacier and Christchurch

Dunedin and Queenstown

The second half of our two week break was to be spent in the South Island of New Zealand. We landed in Dunedin, a major city on the east coast, to much colder weather than we had left behind in Brisbane. My Aunt picked Meg and I up at the airport after about a two hour wait in customs. We had arranged to meet our friends Jenna and Michelle at my Aunt and Uncles house so it wasn’t long before the four of us were catching up on each other’s holidays over a few glasses of wine. My Aunt, Katrina, cooked an amazing dinner of vegetarian lasagne and chocolate puddings which were greatly appreciated after ten days of cheap food, much of it peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We briefly discussed going out but since it was Easter weekend and we were all completely exhausted, we opted to fall asleep in front of the TV with the cats.

The next morning we got up really early and drove down to Boulder beach. We staked out a spot in the grassy dunes and watched for the yellow-eyed penguins to make their morning trek from the dunes to the ocean. We ended up seeing about eight or nine in total and they were adorable. We were also lucky enough to see a huge sea lion lounging around on the beach.

Me, my Aunt, Cousin and Uncle on the beach ^

After most of the penguins had gone, we drove back along the harbour and tucked into a hearty breakfast of pancakes, raspberries, bacon and sausages. We said goodbye and thanks to my Aunt and Uncle and headed into Dunedin to explore a little. We found Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world and, of course, climbed to the top.

Around noon we decided it was time to get on the road to Queenstown, which was about a five hour drive inland, however the weather was great and we stopped many times for pictures, fruit stalls, attempted winery tours, etc. Once in Queenstown and booked into our hostel, another Nomads which was right on the shores of Lake Wakitipu, we made a beeline for the Thai restaurant opposite. Later that night, one of the guys who worked at the hostel was handing out free drink vouchers for The World Bar, which also seemed to be known as the “dirty backpacker bar” so we thought we’d give it a go. We ended up having a great night and one guy insisted on calling me “Taylor Swift” the whole time since I was wearing my hair curly!

Queenstown is the adventure capital of New Zealand. It’s situated right between the mountain rages with four ski resorts within an hour.

Shot of Lake Wakitipu with the mountains ^

In keeping with the adventurous spirit, we obviously had to do another bungy jump. With a choice of three in Queenstown, we decided to go big or go home and went with the Nevis, a 143 metre drop from a little cable car strung by wines over a canyon. This one was more than twice the size of the one we had had done in Taupo. Even getting to the Nevis was extreme. They took us on a bus up winding, narrow roads for twenty minutes of so, everyone getting more and more nervous the higher we got. We finally were shuttled over (in an open hanging basket type device) to the cable car and fitted up with our gear. Jenna went first and, like a champ, didn’t hesitate at all.

Jenna jumping! NUTS! ^

The weird thing about this bungy was that it was just too high to pull you into a boat on the river when you were done, like they did in Taupo. They told you that you had to pull a red fabric lever attached to your feet on your second or third bounce so that your feet would be released and they’d be able to pull you back up in a sitting position. Really scary to do in practice since pulling at your gear while dangling headfirst over a really really high ravine doesn’t seem like the best idea. All in all, while the Nevis was awesome, I liked Taupo better because the Nevis was just TOO high. You fell for so long that it wasn’t the same rush as on a smaller bungy.

The remainder of the day was spent eating delicious burgers in the sun on the lake front and walking around the cute, albeit touristy, town. It was really nice to lounge around the hostel, reading and sleeping, after the rush of Australia. We had dinner at a little cosy restaurant called The Cow which was Italian fare but had a picture of Queen Victoria on the menu. I wasn’t sure if they were trying to say that Italians eat a lot of beef or that Queen Victoria was a cow.

That night was not one of the best. I got flu later in the evening and being sick in a twelve person room in a hostel is not very nice. We were also booked in to sky dive early the next morning and that was the only time we could do it, not to mention that I would lose my money (lots of money)if I didn’t go. I didn’t sleep at all, and just prayed that I’d feel better by the morning. The sky diving orientation was rough, as was the drive out to the airstrip. However, once they had me all suited up in my dive gear I felt fine, so I just figured that the cure for flu is sky diving.

The dive was unreal. They crammed everyone and their tandem partners into a tiny airplane with mats on the floor instead of seats. You sat with your legs around the person in front of you and the pilot to your back. As Meg and I had chosen the 12,000ft dive and the other people, a 9,000ft, we were the first into the plane and the last out. The plane ride was about fifteen minutes and it was so cool to see the mountains from the air, that I forgot that we were actually expected to jump out. At 9,000ft, the first tandem instructor leaned over and rolled up the door. Your immediate instinct should be to panic since you really don’t want the side of the plane open at 9,000ft, however it was so surreal, it still didn’t really register. The wind was incredible; you could just hear it howling past the opening as the first team made the move to shuffle to the edge. One by one, the teams were sucked out of the opening, literally sucked, until it was only Meg and I left. 5,000 more feet and it was my turn. My photographer went first and climbed out onto the side of the plane and told me to look up for a picture as I sat with my legs dangling out, clutching my harness that was attached to my instructor. It was less of a jump and more of a “rock until you get sucked out” movement and the next thing I knew, I was tumbling though the air. My instructor pulled a small guiding chute just to keep us level and within seconds we had reached terminal velocity. All you can do is look around you as you’re falling over the amazing snow-capped mountains. Not until we pulled our chute and I saw my photographer fall away beneath us did I realise how fast we’d actually been falling, roughly 122mph all the signs seemed to say! The next part of the fall was to sit back and enjoy the scenery while doing some, at times, almost horizontal spins.

Slightly terrified ^

If you only ever do one crazy thing, skydiving should be it, it was an absolutely amazing experience.

More to come on the rest of the South Island!

Karen xx

Location: Dunedin and Queenstown

Byron Bay and Brisbane

Our hostel in Byron Bay was awesome and by far my favourite that we stayed in. It was called the Arts Factory and had been renovated into a hostel from the actual arts factory it was in the 70’s and the rock and roll venue of the 80’s. It was completely open air with a pool, hot tub and hugee tee-pees instead of rooms. It even had a didgeridoo pit where you could take a lesson.

This was ours! ^

We dropped our stuff and then joined in on the free yoga being offered a little Japanese guy who looked a little like Yoda. We hadn’t known before, but we had stumbled on Blues Fest eve and the whole place was buzzing with hippies who had traveled from far and wide to attend the 5 day music festival. Everyone seemed to have dreads, guitars or both. The entire hostel was full of smoke and being there on 4/20 probably didn’t help the matter…no one seemed to mind much despite the hostel’s posters discouraging it and telling us it was still illegal. They even offered an “alternative” tour of the nearby town, Nimbin, which is apparently known for it.

We headed down to the beach as the clouds rolled in. I rented my surfboard and wetsuit for three days and was told, when I asked about the likelihood of being eaten by a shark, that I “would see two metre tiger sharks, but probably not a great white”. Comforting.

The weather grew steadily worse but the water was still really warm so I stayed at the beach for a while Meg and Morgan headed for shelter. That night the rain hadn’t eased up so we just hung out at the local bar watching live music and then followed a couple new friends from our tee-pee to a campsite party. One of our new friends had thought ahead and had Krispy Kremes, “for bartering purposes” as he said. We were strangely divided into a table of Canadians and Americans and another table of purely Eastern Europeans. It was cool to hear everyone’s stories of how they ended up in Byron.

The hut area we had our campsite party in ^

I got up really early the next morning which dawned hot with blue skies and headed to another smaller surf beach called Tallows with a Canadian surfer I’d met. It was absolutely worth getting up early. The waves were great and the beach was completely untouched white sand, strewn with coconuts. Whenever I stood up on my board, I could see shoals of fish swimming beneath me in the crystal water. Amazing.

Sunset over Tallows later that day ^

We spent the rest of the day lying on the beach and Meg and I decided to go sea kayaking. Getting out onto the calmer water was the majority of the challenge as you had to keep paddling as hard as you could towards the breaking waves when you really wanted to throw up your arms and shield your face. We were one of the few kayaks who made it out without flipping over! Once out there, we saw a couple dolphins swimming around while our guides pointed out the other wildlife. We weren’t so lucky when we tried to being our kayak in. Our guides told us that the only thing to remember was “lean into the wave”. We were paddling really hard towards the shore when we caught a wave and began to surf. I was really excited and keep paddling while Meg screamed “LEAN BACK”. We flipped pretty hard in front of everyone who had already landed. Whoops.

That evening we went out to a club called the Cheeky Monkey which was…interesting…but definitely a good time. There didn’t seem to be a single local there, mostly Brits. We would have stayed out longer but all bars were charging a five dollar cover and we decided we’d rather have milkshakes because we’re old and would rather drink milk than alcohol. No luck on the milkshakes since the hostel’s caf� (with the best shakes ever) had long since closed and the pizza place we walked into was not a likely bet. We ended up with ice cream/chocolate milk and chatted to some British guys on the street who had been living in Byron for a few months looking for work.

Sadly the next day was our bus to Brisbane. Meg and I headed to the beach really early again to surf and got some good pictures.

6:45am ^

We were sad to leave right when Blues Fest was just gearing up, but that’ll have to be saved for another time. Two hours on the road and we arrived at Chill Backpackers in Brisbane city. Definitely one of the nicer hostels we stayed in but not as funky as Arts Factory. We still needed to see the Australian wildlife so it was off to Lone Pine Koala sanctuary. We were able to cuddle and stroke the koalas and they were SO CUTE but had really sharp claws so you had to stand really still like a tree. Apparently koala cuddling is banned in New South Wales which is where Sydney is, but since we were just over the border in Queensland when we were in Brisbane, we were able to hold them. Win!

We also were let loose in a field of hundreds of kangaroos. Most were completely unfased by all the tourists trying the feed them and just sat around being lazy, but it was really funny when one did start bouncing around. We also saw wombats and dingos which looked just like regular dogs! Later that night we wandered around the city centre which was full of life and ate a really strange but delicious meal. We shared a pizza, shrimp pasta and Thai egg noodles which didn’t really go together but we were so hungry we didn’t care. Back at the hostel we played pool with some more Brits, rugby players this time, before getting an early night. We said goodbye to Aussie the next morning as we boarded our plane back to New Zealand.

Location: Byron Bay and Brisbane, Australia

Sydney

We flew from Melbourne to Sydney with Tiger Airways which was extremely sketchy. They didn’t check any ID and had such strict weight restrictions on carry-ons that everyone was basically wearing everything they owned as they went through security. Morgan had her jeans wrapped around her waist under her sweater and I saw a girl pulling straighteners and all sorts of electronics out of her pockets when we’d gone through. Our flight was rough, and it was pouring when we got to Sydney but luckily only a short subway ride and walk to our hostel. We managed to do a turnaround from soaked and with plane hair, to ready to go out in about an hour which is a record. The hostel had a van that picked everyone up and took us to a bar called the Gaff. We weren’t really sure where we were even going but apparently there were coups to be had and we like free stuff. They gave us free fish and chips and 3 free drinks if we bought one drink! Love it. We texted our friend Alex, who we met in Tongariro National Park back in New Zealand and he told us to meet him and his friends out in Bondi Beach. We grabbed a cab and were out there by midnight. Great decision as it turned into one of the best nights of the trips. We started at a bar called Beach Road Hotel and then had a run in with the “fun police”. It’s ok, that’s what they called themselves and tried to get all of us into one cab when clearly that is illegal. We eventually ended up at a bar called the Sugar Mill in The Cross and danced until 4:30am.

Morgan, Me, Alex and Meg^

Putting on our “serious police faces” for the fun police ^

On leaving, Morgan kept insisting that we walk home and “explore the city” which was hilarious in the morning seeing as we had no idea where we were. We eventually took a cab back and were so excited to sleep. However, when we got back to out 36(!) person room in the hostel, it was deserted. Something wasn’t right. After talking to reception, we found out that someone had fire extiquished the entire room, leaving a thick layer of disgusting foamy, powdery stuff. They told us to “find the beds with the least crap on them” which wasn’t want we wanted to hear at 5:30am. They moved Meg eventually but I was so tired I didn’t want to move all my stuff so I just slept in a fire extinguishy bed. I haven’t died yet so it probably wasn’t too toxic.

Outside our hostel, wish we’d actually been able to experience the Church dorm ^

The next day we got up and went to explore SYDNEY!! We got amazing smoothies and walked to the harbor to see the bridge and the opera house before getting on the ferry to Manley.

Manley was so pretty with tons of little shops and a really beautiful surf beach at the end of town. We stayed on the beach for a while with our feet in the water before heading back to the city.

Manley ^

We decided not to really go out that night and instead went for a delicious Malaysian meal in Darling harbor. Sydney felt surprisingly American and I kept forgetting I was in Australia and thought it could have been San Francisco or maybe a (much nicer) Baltimore inner harbor. Meg and Morgan went back to the hostel after dinner but I really wanted to see the opera house lit up so I trekked back to the harbor. An opera was just letting out and it was nice to just stroll around the steps and look at city lights.

Out to dinner ^

We didn’t have much time the next morning since our overnight train to Byron Bay left at 4pm, but we really wanted to get out to Bondi again and actually see the beach. After a bus ride and a super long walk we made it with a picnic with us, and headed down to the cliffs overlooking the beach to eat. It was so warm and everyone was out surfing and sunbathing and generally living up to the Aussie stereotype.

Bondi beach ^

The rest of the day consisted of getting on our train and beginning the 13 or so hour overnight trip up the coast to Byron Bay, again we didn’t realize how big Australia is… Once I fell asleep the train ride wasn’t too bad, except for when we switched to a coach at 4am for the last two hours. We arrived, exhausted, in a pretty empty Byron Bay around 6am and found a coffee shop to sit in for a while. I was super tired and drained my coffee in about 60 second and proceeded to eat the sugar packets. I think that woke me up a bit.

Sugar is goooood ^

Summary: Sydney is baller.

Location: Sydney, Australia

Melbourne

I’ve been slacking on my blog recently because of the 19 day epic trip I took with my friends Meg and Morgan. We had decided early on in the semester to go to Australia and the two week “teaching recess” seemed the perfect time. We booked our flights into Melbourne and out of Brisbane, slightly unaware of how big Australia actually is. However, I think this actually ended up being a blessing because we packed in so much more than I thought possible.

On Wednesday 13^thof April, we headed up to Auckland and were met by Michelle, a friend of a friend from back a PSU. What a small world! Had a great Japanese dinner before heading to the airport to sleep before catching our 6:30am flight to Melbourne. Michelle was so gracious and drove us to save us $80 in a cab fee!

Sleeping at the airport was not fun and even though we managed to snag some benches to lie down on, I only slept for about an hour the whole night. We also had some trouble going through security since we’d decided to take carry on only to avoid checked bag fees and all of our bags were overweight, a problem that plagued us throughout the trip. Due to sheer luck, Morgan and I managed to get through, although they made Meg check hers.

We landed in Melbourne to clear weather even though the forecast called for rain which boded well. We checked into our hostel and put our bags in the luggage room using a stuffed kangaroo as the key! First sign that we were actually in AUSTRALIA! Next to the hostel was a huge outdoor market, Victoria Street Market, which we obviously had to visit. Three hours later we had seem boomerangs, wigs, some (slightly creepy) actors putting on a tea-party from Alice in Wonderland and bought heaps of food for dinner, including a kilo of mushrooms. The mushroom guy told us that we could have mushrooms for $2 but only if we bought a kilo.

Meg and I decided to go to the aquarium that afternoon and Morgan explored the city. We saw an enclosure with emperor penguins which were so adorable but I felt bad that they couldn’t actually live in real snow. They must have been so hot.

We were also suckered into becoming members at Crown Casino and they gave us five dollars which I promptly lost to the penny slots. It was a shock to us just how expensive everything was. It probably wasn’t as bad for Australians being paid in Aussie dollars, but our Kiwi dollars didn’t go far AT ALL. We would pay $8 kiwi dollars for a coffee and cake in New Zealand and $8 Aussie dollars for the same thing in Australia. With the exchange rate, that’s almost $11 New Zealand dollars! Robbery.

That night we went out looking for nightlife and ended up joining with an underground bar tour group who took us to a couple of small eccentric bars down back alleys that we never would have found on our own. The guy who suggested we join them was from “Tazzie” or Tasmania which was surprising because I didn’t think people actually lived there. Apparently they do.

Obviously, we wanted McDonalds fries after the excitement of the night and when Meg came to sit down, she said that the guys standing by the counter said that you get free refills on your fries in Australia. I went up to the counter, a little skeptical, and inquired. It’s NOT true and the guys laughed at us, but I guess it was worth a try!

The next day, we went back to the market and picked up food for a picnic. SO much good stuff! Buffalo mozzarella, prosciutto, avocado and Turkish bread. After an hour of getting lost in the city, we managed to find the right tram and headed out to St.Kilda, a cute artsy town by the beach and ate our picnic and looked round the shops. They had some amazing little cake shops all in a row.

Graffiti by the rows of cake shops ^

When we headed back to town, we met up with Meg’s friend Sam who lives just outside Melbourne. We had tickets to a footy match which is sort of like rugby but you can kick and bounce the ball too. Really anything goes and it was really fun to get involved. Meg and I decided to root for Richmond, the underdogs, while Morgan supported Collingwood. For a few moments in the third quarter it looked like Richmond might make a spectacular comeback, but no such luck. Collingwood crushed them.

FOOTY! ^

After the match we went out to a couple of bars and had some of the best mojitos I’ve ever tasted. The next day there was a comedy festival on, so we sat down and watched some of an act. The performers were doing all kinds of outrageous things, including dragging guys out of the audience. Surprisingly the guys went along with it instead of being embarrassed. There was also a Disney exhibition on at a museum so we went to that and learned all about the history of film and Walt Disney. Really cool! Sadly it was then time to head to the airport for out flight to Sydney. I really enjoyed Melbourne, it wasn’t touristy but it seemed really cultured and had tons of information about bands and art exhibitions plastered around the streets. I wish we could have visited the Ocean Road and the 12 Apostles (or “stacky-rocky-things” I tried calling them at first) but there just wasn’t enough time.

Our Hostel >

Location: Melbourne, Australia

You probably don’t have time to do Mt. Doom.

So this past weekend, a few of us die hards also known as Sarah, Jenna, Meg and I, decided to make another attempt at the Tongariro Crossing. We waited until the very last minute before going, just in case the weather wanted to hate on us again, but the forecast called for fine weather with light winds. Win! Jenna and I picked up our car in town on Friday and drove to Student village to get everyone. Obviously, I immediately had to parallel park with 5 or so uni students pointing and laughing.

Once we were on the road though, it was easy enough to forget we were driving on the wrong side and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the freedom of being able to stop whenever we wanted and not have to spend 30 minutes in the Rotorua visitor centre. Again.

We stayed at the Crossing Backpackers again and felt like we hadn’t even spent a week away. Friday night was spent playing pool (pretty terribly on my part) and getting ready for our 7:45am bus to the crossing the next day. The next morning dawned with clear (ish) skies and we got on our bus so excited to finally be able to do the hike.

Meg assigned everyone Lord of the Rings characters since we were in the land of Mordor. She was Frodo, I was Sam, Jenna was Gandalf, to some confusion since she hadn’t seen Lord of the Rings, and Sarah was Gimli, because she was wearing her red hair in a braid, haha. The only problem was we didn’t get to the beginning of the 20km or 10 mile track until 8:40am and our bus on the other side left at 4:30pm. The estimated time to complete the crossing was 7 to 8 hours and that didn’t include climbing Mt. Ngauruhoe or Mt. Doom (!), an extra 3 hour side trip. We had roughly 8 hours and there was no way we were skipping Ngauruhoe. The Fellowship needed to make it to the top of Mt. Doom. We made pretty good time to the base of Ngauruhoe, including climbing Devil’s stairs. Meg and Sarah flew up them while Jenna and I took our time a little bit.

Climbing Ngauruhoe is almost impossible to describe. There’s no real track and the best way to do it is to, well, scramble. Imagine trying to climb a massive sand dune, that also happens to be an active volcano. There was so much volcano ash and lava flow that every step you took, you would sink back down the 45 degree slope a few steps. Also, the rocks aren’t anchored to the slope so every ten minutes of so, someone above you would whistle and start yelling “Rock! Rock!” and you’d see some boulder hurtling down towards you. One man was unlucky enough to get hit by one of these falling rocks and had to be taken off the mountain by helicopter since it smashed his leg. Finally, after a gruelling hour and a half of climbing, we made it to the crater. Everything was tinted red and looked like Mars but the cloud would clear every so often and you could see for miles over rolling hills and forests, reminding you that you hadn’t actually left the planet. Obviously, we needed to celebrate and had joked the week before about cracking a bottle of champagne at the crater. No one actually drank it, but who else can say they’ve sprayed champagne into the crater of a volcano??

Popping bottle ^

We didn’t think jumping by the crater was a good idea at first, but we got a great pic ^

The way down Ngauruhoe was, for me, almost as difficult as the way up. It was so steep with so many loose rocks and ash that every time I’d get into a rhythm, sort of like skiing, my feet would slip out from under me and I’d land on my back. I think Meg put it perfectly in her blog “slide, fall, eat shit, volcanic rocks up the butt.” I emptied so much ash out of my shoes, socks and pants at the bottom!

The rest of the crossing was beautiful. We climbed up to Red Crater and then down to the emerald lakes which are turquoise because of all the volcanic minerals. Some crazy hikers actually stripped down and swam in them which is a horrible idea because, a.) They’re sacred to the Maori, b.) They could easily be poisonous and c.) You’re on a windy mountain, with 11km more to hike and it’s FREEZING!

After the emerald lakes, we realized that we really needed to start booking it in order to make our bus. From the Ketetahi Hut, the sign said it was another 11/2 to 2 hours to the car park. We had an hour, whoops. Meg ran the rest of the way since she’s a champ but I decided on a power walk/occasional jog. My legs were ready to drop off at that point.

When we finally reached the car park, the bus said they weren’t going to leave without all their passengers and that we weren’t the last ones off the track, there was still about 7 people behind us.

Back at the backpackers we showered and were offered dinner by some really nice older people who turned out to also be from Hamilton and worked at the uni. Scalloped potatoes, lasagne, and mini quiches were really what we needed to end such an awesome and tiring day. Watching Return of the King followed dinner, which was a fitting ending to the trip although no one could really keep their eyes open to finish watching.

The next day, we said goodbye to the backpackers once again and headed to Waitomo Caves. Meg and Sarah went blackwater rafting, but Jenna and I opted not to and instead we limped (everything hurt) round the Kiwi sanctuary to see if we could finally see the mythical kiwi. They were SO CUTE, even if there were only two of them. We also found some ostriches on the side of the road which were a tiny bit scary…

Back to Hamilton and now I just have to write two papers before more adventures can begin.

Karen

Location: Tongariro National Park, New Zealand

Too meke!

Firstly, “too meke” is Maori for “too much” and seems to have become a slang way of saying, “wow, I’m laughing so hard my ribs hurt”.

These past two weeks have been fantastic despite some bad weather. Last weekend Morgan, Jenna and I, took a trip with Uni to a local farm. The farm was only about 15 minutes outside of town and the weather was beautiful. They fed us a delicious lunch of pies, sausage rolls and desserts before walking us up to the top of one of the hills. The farm was huge and we had great views of Mt Karioi and the Waikato River from the top. Our guide and host, Neville, told us that, technically, you could see both the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Later, we watched the sheepdogs muster the sheep so they could be sheared and everyone watched while the sheep went from being fluffy and cute to bald and slightly scary looking. It was a really fun day trip, everyone learned a lot about farm life and petting some sheep is really just a necessary thing to do if you live in New Zealand.

Thomas, Morgan, Jenna and I at the farm ^

This weekend we had planned to hike the Tongariro Crossing down in Tongariro National Park, a 7 hour hike over the volcanoes and to the summit of Mt. Nagarahoe, also known as Mt. Doom from The Lord of The Rings.

Nagarahoe ^

Maori legend has it that when Ngatoroirangi, the high priest and navigator of Te Anawa, one of the first Eastern Polynesian canoes to land in New Zealand, climbed Tongariro, a strong south wind blew and he almost froze. He called on his sisters from the Maori homeland for help and they arrived in the form of fire, leaving geysers and volcanic activity as they travelled across the North Island to Tongariro to warm the priest. The name Tongariro means “south wind” and “seize” representing the near death of Ngatoroirangi.

Clearly this legend has some merit, because as we arrived in the National Park, the skies were grey, the jackets were out and the forecast was predicting gale force winds. Luckily our hostel, a backpackers in the middle of the park, was awesome. We were picked up from the gas station where our bus dropped us by an Aussie called Alex and driven into the wilderness. We unpacked went exploring, saying hello to Daisy the pig and the adorable foals in the paddock.

The gang under The Crossing sign ^

After deciding the weather was too horrible for exploring, we opened a case of Speight’s beer as we settled in for the night. The hostel had a games room which had a secret wardrobe to Narnia which added to its appeal and a brand new glow in the dark paintball shed out the back so later on in the evening, everyone trekked over there with the hostel’s owner Bryan for some fun. It was my first time playing paintball and at first I was pretty terrified. We had a few practice rounds, shooting the piles of tyres and the noise it made echoed through the barn. All in all, I don’t think I did too badly, although I wasn’t really keen on sacrificing myself to get the flag. Some of the welts on people’s arms and legs after the game were enormous and I’m glad I got away with relatively few!

PAINTBALL!!!! ^

That night we went to bed praying for the weather to clear up since the crossing would be cancelled if it didn’t. No one slept much and when 6:30am dawned with howling winds and torrential downpour, we knew the crossing wasn’t going ahead. Instead we headed up to Mt. Ruapehu and took a three hour hike from the Whakapapa (pronounced with an F instead of a Wh. Easy compared to “Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakit anatahu” which is actually a place!!!!) ski field to Taranaki Falls. The walk was great even though it was pouring and you couldn’t see the mountains through the mist.

Alex came and picked us up around 3pm and we headed to the pub for a pint as we watched New Zealand cream South Korea in Rugby. That evening, everyone gathered round the table and a good time was had by all as a bottle of red wine became champagne, Carlsberg and Jim Beam. There were another couple of kiwi guys hanging out with us and kept repeating “too meke” when they were laughing, which is the first time I’ve actually heard it in conversation.

Group shot ^

The hostel was the friendliest I’ve ever been to and sitting round the table with Bryan, Alex and another guy who worked there, Luke, we felt like extended family, even helping out with some mural painting and replacing the toilet paper in the bathrooms at 2am! At 4am, we decided to call it quits as there was still a vague hope the weather would clear up and the crossing would be available in the morning.

No such luck, but we’re already making plans to go back next weekend for a second attempt. The volcanoes are beautiful in good weather and are something that we really don’t want to miss out on!

What we would have seen, had the weather been nice ^

Karen

Location: Hamilton, New Zealand

Hurry up, we’ve got reckless things to do.

So this past weekend, myself, Meg, and her two flatmates, Britta, Mats decided to take a trip to Lake Taupo which was formed by a massive volcanic eruption a long, long time ago, although the volcano still remains dormant. Taupo is about 2.5 hours south of Hamilton and easily accessible by bus. The lake is beautiful, surrounded by a small town and with views of Mt. Ruapehu, Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Ngauruhoe. Ngauruhoe is the location of “Mt. Doom” for the Lord of the Rings fans. We stayed at a backpackers hostel called Taupo Urban Retreat in the town for two nights. Backpacker’s are really the way to go when you want to travel on a budget. Nakedsleep is one of the cheapest with rooms starting at $5. The website is NOT called Nakedbeds as I found out…

We booked a 4 bed dorm which, since we were planning on spending most of our time exploring, was fine. Two guys that Meg knew from uni, David and Jeff, were also put in our room so we didn’t have to worry about our things being safe. The hostel’s staff were very friendly and willing to help us plan activities as well as assist in quenching our thirst with cheap pitchers of Snakebite (half cider, half lager, with a large amount of blackcurrent cordial. YUM!). The people were surprisingly friendly too, a mix of Brits, Canadians, Eastern Europeans and one slighty crazy old man. Friday was a night out on the town, listening to live music, eating fish and chips and playing pool with a couple from Ireland (we won, but only thanks to Meg).

Lake Taupo with the mountains ^

The next day was what we had been waiting for. We had booked a bungy jump. I wasn’t really nervous until we started talking a guy in the hostel who had done a couple. We arrived at the cliffs overlooking the Waikato river and signed our selves in. The blue water looked so peaceful and surreal from the height (47 metres!). Sometimes they dunk you in the river during your bungy but since this was our first time, we opted to stay dry.

Once we were all strapped in (a thin body harness was used, but you were really only held onto the cord by ankle straps), the guy working the bungy casually told us just “put your arms up, stand on the edge and lean forward on the count of three”. He told me to try putting one arm out and one on my hip and singing I’m a little teapot when I asked if I needed to keep my arms up the whole time. Meg went first and didn’t hesitate at all so I knew I’d have to go straight over too. None of the “hmmm I’ll think I’ll stay here for another minute” nonsense. The scariest part was right as your feet left the platform. It was about 6 seconds of free fall, with the water hurtling up towards you. Once the initial fall was over, I was able to really start enjoying the flying feeling and loved every second! Meg and I have already decided that we want to do another bungy in Queenstown, Nevis bungy which is the highest in New Zealand, almost twice the size of Taupo’s!

Before the jump ^

A terrifying few moments ^

After the excitement of the jump, we decided to take a walk to see Huka falls, a huge channel of white water pounding under a bridge. We ate lunch at a peaceful spot on the riverbank, before heading to the hot springs. The naturally hot water created spa-like pools, some too hot to even put a foot in.

Hot springs, there were all kinds of pieces of vocanic rock or “pumice” floating in the water ^

Then it was back to the hostel after an exhausting day where we took advantage of the hostel’s happy hour and played some poker. Everyone in the hostel was gathered together laughing, eating, playing cards, and screaming at the rugby match on TV. A really good atmosphere for the end of a long day.

Kiwi-as Lingo

Mean- Really good. Ex.) “Happy hour includes $4 dollar beers, mean!”

Sweet-as– Can mean anything from “ok” to “awesome!”. Could also be cool-as, kiwi-as, tired-as, hungry-as…

Bach- small holiday home, pronounced “batch”.

Jersey- Sweater or hoodie.

Jandals- Flip flops. Apparently this comes from “Japanese Sandals”

Kiwi- Person or New Zealand origin, not to be confused with…

Kiwi-fruit- Small, brown, hairy fruit with a green tangy center or with…

Kiwi- Small, brown, hairy, flightless bird.

The person is named after the bird, not the fruit.

Big week of school coming up, so now it’s time to study!

Cheers,

Karen

Location: Lake Taupo, New Zealand

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You probably don’t have time to do Mt. Doom.

Too meke!

Hurry up, we’ve got reckless things to do.