| hoveround
September 14, 2011
5:42:42 PM
Entry #: 3799804
| Time for another update!
Well, I've reached the midway point in my journey here. I've been in the country ten weeks and it will only be about ten more weeks until I'm back stateside. I'm starting to like the weather here even more. I hope it safe to say we're pretty much done with winter here. Spring's been moving in with some nice mid-60 degree weather the last few weeks. We still get our fair share of rainy and cloudy days, but it's been pretty nice since about mid-August. It'll be nice to have this spring weather the next two and a half months before coming back to a cold winter in the States. We haven't been getting any earthquakes, hurricanes or crazy torrential downpours/floods in Dunedin. I'm kind of sad to be missing it all back East. I love crazy weather. But I hope everyone's safe and hasn't been affected by it too much.
Classes have been pretty average lately. A lot of the lecturers have been preparing us for our term papers and finals exams. I have a crucial two weeks ahead of me: I have four essays due (all max. 1500 words) plus an online exam. Though I only need to pass, I'd like to do well on the essays so I have more leeway for my final exams. Despite all the work, I'm still feeling quite relaxed and not too stressed.
A week ago I got back from my Spring Break road trip with some friends. It was quite epic. We departed Dunedin at 8:30 pm Friday night and spent the entire night driving. The drive wasn't without excitement. Jan, our driver, was pulled over by a police officer 35 minutes into the trip. He was ticketed for driving 115 km/h in a 100 zone. Luckily the fine was only NZ$80 (40 Euros to him, since he's from Germany). We arrived in Picton - located at the top of the South Island - at around 6 am. After sleeping in the car for an hour or so, we boarded the ferry to Wellington. Once on the North Island, we drove the 9 hours to Auckland where we were able to stay with a friend at his house.
Note: I shared a large portion of the driving. Driving on the left, especially in the rural areas, isn't all that bad.
In Auckland, we climbed a volcano, viewed the city at night from the observation deck of the Sky Tower, toured the city a little bit and picked up my friend Erin from the airport. I even got to drive in Auckland! This was my first time driving in a big city. Auckland's inner-city reminds me a little bit of New York with fewer vehicles. The outer part of the city is more like LA, with its different neighborhoods (air pollution included). The Auckland residents could tell I was an American driver because I was the only one who used the car horn. One thing to understand is that Auckland is a quiet city. People aren't yelling and NOBODY uses their horn. Like I said, they could tell I was American. In my defense though, it was a green light and the car in front of me stayed stopped for a solid three or four seconds. I found it kind of comical actually, because since the city is so quiet, the sound of the car horn bounced off all the tall buildings. It could be heard a far distance away I'm sure. All the pedestrians, and I mean all of them, looked at me. I just kept driving.
After Auckland, I drove us to Rotorua, but not without stopping in "Hobbiton". I checked out the farmland where the Shire was filmed for Lord of the Rings. There was also an area to pet sheep. We were all pretty thrilled about that part. Once in Rotorua (which smells like eggs/sulfur from all the geothermal activity), we checked in at our very first hostel, an interesting place to say the least. It was called Cactus Jacks and had a very flamboyant color scheme that made the area stick out like a sore thumb in the middle of town. It was cool though. In Rotorua we took a tour of a Maori village, complete with cultural performances and a hangi (a feast of food cooked in the ground all day). The next day some members of our group went luging and zorbing, though I opted not to in order to save money to sky dive.
That day we also left for Taupo. On the way we stopped at a natural hot spring to relax. The next day, while our friends were mountain biking, Jan and I were picked up by a limo (my first time in one) and driven to the local airport. Once there, we donned our jumpsuits and fell through the sky. It was THE most exhilarating experience of my life. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. It was an amazing view from 12,000 feet high.
We spent our last couple days in Turangi. We spent that Friday looking around and ventured out to Tongariro National Park. We hiked up a trail, but halfway up came to a stop. My friends turned back (since they were doing another hike the next day and didn't want to exhaust themselves) and I kept on by myself. The trail took me to two lakes hidden deep between a couple mountains. It was a pretty amazing sight. The best part of the hike was when I reached the end of the trail. At the end, I was 1440 metres up (little more than 4700 ft high). The top was cold and VERY windy. The best view was of Mt. Ngauruhoe, also known as Mt. Doom from the Lord of the Rings. I took some great photos too. I wanted to get closer to Mt. Doom, and at one point even considered climbing to the top. However, the entire mountain was covered in ice and snow. I would have needed better equipment and a little more climbing experience. Some day I'll make my way back to NZ to conquer it. I would have tried to get closer to the mountain from the end of my trail, but I was already losing sunlight. After returning two and a half hours later (the last half hour post-sunset) from the trail, I learned the entire hike was 17 km (10.5 miles). The next day (Saturday) Erin and I rested up at the hostel while our other friends hiked the 19 km Alpine Crossing.
Sunday morning, 1:30 am, we departed for Wellington. I drove the first three hours and Jan drove the last hour. After napping through the three hour ferry ride and driving nine hours (I did the last two) back to Dunedin, we were finally home. I spent the rest of the week showing Erin around Dunedin. We toured the Cadbury chocolate factory (I still like Hershey's chocolate better), explored the Otago Peninsula, and went on a hike.
It's been a very fun and eventful last two weeks, but now I've got to return to academic reality. On the bright side, I've just recently gotten hooked on the show "How I Met Your Mother." Whenever I'm not doing my essays, I've been watching six seasons worth of episodes. I've found a good balance between work and play. Also, the Rugby World Cup just started, so that will keep me occupied as well. I watched New Zealand beat Tonga a couple nights ago, and went to a local sports bar to watch the England-Argentina match (which was being played only a few blocks away in Dunedin). I'm hoping to see a match while in Dunedin. The atmosphere on game day is incredible. I can only imagine how better it would be inside the stadium. Of course I'm rooting for NZ. If they win, it's going to be a party in the streets. If they lose, it'll be rioting in the streets. Either way, there's going to be some action.
I'm staying safe and alive. Hope all is well back home.
Cheers,
Micah
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