Kio ora! I've just Spent the weekend in Rotorua with Matilde (Italian) and Ricarda (German) (pictured below). The scenery was incredible and was helped by the beautiful weather.
We set off on Friday evening, travelling 7 hours on a very cold coach before arriving at our hostel at 3.30am. After 4 hours sleep we were up again preparing for a whistle stop tour of Rotorua's main attractions.
Our first sight was the Lady Knox Geyser which we were able to see erupting; in order to set it off they pour soap in the top as was apparently discovered when prisoners used it to wash their clothes.
We were then taken to Wai-O-Tapu thermal park (pictured to the right and above) where the landscape has been transformed by thermal activity. The colours here were phenomenal along with the sulphurous, eggy smell, which I eventually came to like; I couldn't believe they were all natural.
Next stop was Whakarewarewa, a living Maori village. We started with a lunch of hangi pie and sweetcorn, both cooked geothermally; the corn was placed in a hot spring whilst the hangi pie was cooked in a hole in the ground.
The guide taught us about how the Maoris use the geothermal energy; from bathing to cooking and heating there houses. We also saw the dangers of living in a tectonically active region as the ground opened up under houses and buildings were corroded by the sulfur.
To the left is a picture of me after the Maori demonstration where they danced and sung traditional Maori songs which was great fun.
Back to food again... on the way back to the hostel we stopped off at the 'Fat Dog' for the most amazing hot chocolate and coconut cake, would definitely recommend if anyone happens to be popping into Rotorua!
Back at the hostel it was nice to meet people travelling from all over the world (Chile, Canada, China, Germany, England and America) and get tips on travelling the South Island whilst playing 'Killer pool'.
Spent Sunday strolling around Rotorua and along the lake side in the beautiful weather before catching the amazingly scenic bus back to Wellington, seeing the views we'd missed in the dark of the journey to Rotorua.
I had a fabulous weekend and look forward to more trips like this to come!
It has been noted that much of my time is spent talking about food; I feel that this is necessary when living in Wellington where there are more cafes per capita than in New York city.
I've just returned from Wellington's buzzing water front market where cheap(er) fruit and veg and all sorts of tasty food is sold amid a fantastic atmosphere. This week Matilde and I bought some proper NZ yams and Tamarillos; both very tasty, especially the yams when roasted. Another great market in Wellington is the night market on a friday evening where there is an array of different cuisines, we went here for pudding after our sushi and got the most amazing cake coils; shown in the picture above.
To the right is the view from Mount Victoria which Matilde and I climbed on Friday afternoon, the weather's been much better over the past week so the walk was fantastic with amazing views across Wellington.
As mentioned in the title of this blog we've been experiencing some earthquakes, the most recent reached magnitude 6.5; bottles fell over and I actually dropped under my desk for that one! It feels like I'm constantly on moving train with all the aftershocks.
At least all these earthquakes are useful for my course, I get to really feel them in action.
I've now started my courses here at Victoria; my first class was 'Petrology with Microscopy', it was strange to feel like the new girl again when everyone got into friendship groups for the lab, luckily everyone here is really friendly so I was ok.
To the left is a photo of most of the VIX (Victoria exchange) group at the bush walk and BBQ on Saturday. Here we are grouped around an 800 year old tree, we also visited a waterfall and played some man hunt which brought back childhood memories.
Preparing to go to Rotorua with Ricarda and Matilde next week, should be fun.
I'm still loving my time here in Wellington and I aim to have visited all the coffee shops here by the end of my year!
I made it! After 30 hours of flying and waiting I finally landed in Wellington, by far the most beautiful and scenic capital I've ever seen; also, as I've recently found out, the most hilly.
It was a surreal feeling when the wheels touched the tarmac and I realised I only knew 5 other people in this entire hemisphere. I was met at the airport and taken to my new home where I met my house mates for the next 6 months. I am living with Tony, the Kiwi, Russell and Brian, the Americans and Matilde, the Italian.
At the moment the house is extremely cold! The heater downstairs doesn't work and it's winter over here so it's rather chilly, even with two jumpers and a t-shirt. Outside is even colder, windy Wellington is most certainly living up to its name along with rain and winter temperatures it's pretty much opposite to the heat wave being experienced back home at the moment.
I'm loving meeting so many new people from such a range of cultures and learning about the differences. I also love the copious amounts of free food I get given; waffles, a wrap, hot chocolate, cereal bars, apples, cake, chocolate, biscuits... it doesn't matter that food here is expensive at the moment, I'm set!
Overall I'm having a fantastic time out here and can't wait to really get stuck in to the Kiwi way of life.
