Last Friday I had my final lecture of this trimester; this means I now just have an essay and two exams to go until I finally get my summer holiday. I will then be free to explore New Zealand until March!
Due to the 'stress' of these coming exams the university feel it would be too overwhelming for us to have to deal with making breakfast and lunch at the moment, so every day this week we get free cereal, toast and hot chocolate for breakfast and soup, bread and fruit for lunch, it also gives me an excuse to take a break from my essay; I'm not complaining!
Whilst most of the week has been spent churning out an essay on the Otaki landscape and reciting the formation of igneous and metamorphic rocks I was forced to take a few breaks to enjoy the bright sunshiny days. Most of the week has been the usual grey but Saturday was glorious; I went for a run and took these photos on my ipod (hence the bad quality). Trotting along the water front with the sun beating down (don't worry Mum, sun cream was used) put me in a great mood, despite the tomato face. This was then repeated on Wednesday on return from my cleaning job.
On Sunday it was my turn to cook for the flat; I'd got a taste for roast at the Howes so decided to show the others what should be eaten on a Sunday; Roast chicken, potatoes, veg and to add a Kiwi twist, roast kumara.
So I haven't been doing anything too wild this week, still had a good time. I had to say goodbye to my German friend Ricarda as she went home and it made me realise everyone is going to leave soon so I'll have to make the most of the time I have with them before I become a lone traveller. Definitely glad I'm staying a year, seems too soon to be going back already!
This post is a little later than usual as I've only just got back from a fantastic weekend in Auckland, staying with the Howes (second cousins). The plan was to return to Wellington on Monday evening but due to extreme winds (140 kmph) in Wellington my flight was cancelled and I was unable to get another one until 6am Wednesday morning. The Howes kindly put up with me for another two nights.
I set off on Thursday evening, glad to get out of the petrology lab, where I had been frantically trying to learn how to identify 50 minerals, for a few days. Flew into Auckland for 8pm and was met at the airport by Karen, Andrew and Alice.
On Friday we started our day of scrumptious food with a breakfast of pancakes before heading out into the wind and rain (which I brought up from Wellington). First off we took a view of Auckland from Mount Eden, an old volcanic cone containing a large crater. We then took a stroll along the waterfront, viewing some brilliant photos and Chinese Naval ships along the way. Andrew managed to score a perfect shot, hitting a small boy right on the head with a ball in a nearly deserted park; pretty impressive. We made our first tasty stop off for lunch at 'The Food Truck'; a restaurant that serves good quality, healthier 'fast food' which stemmed from a TV program.
We then made our way into the city centre and visited the art gallery which had a mixture of impressive older art and slightly odd modern art; I don't think I'll ever understand this.
Continuing on the food theme Karen, Alice and I then had the most amazing ice creams from 'Giapo' (http://giapo.com/)
on Queen Street; I had tiramisu and lemon meringue flavours; both scrumptious and beautiful.
We then returned to the Howes' home and Karen, Alice and I went down to the beach to walk off our ice creams in preparation for the next meal.
After watching some very funny old home videos Karen, Andrew, George, Alice, George's girlfriend Tara and I went out for pizza followed by frozen yoghurt (the latest craze).
On Saturday we saw a slight improvement in the weather. We headed North, first stopping at a honey shop where you can test various flavours of honey and the huge range of honey/pollen products and see some of the bees busy at work. Continuing North we made our way to the very sweet Matakana farmers' market where we had lunch and hot chocolate before driving to Omaha where the Howes have spent a holiday. The picture below is on the beach there.
On our way back we stopped off at a pottery place which displayed the most fantastic colours, then 'Little and Friday' in Devonport. The cakes above were our choices from 'Little Fridays' they all looked so tasty it was too hard to choose; in the end Alice, Karen and I divided the sticky date pudding, the doughnut and the lemon coconut cake between us; all of which were delicious and I still can't decide which was my favourite. That evening, after Karen's amazing steak and kumara mash, George, his friend Michael and I went to the cinema to watch Gravity; a great film despite making me feel rather dizzy at the beginning.
Sunday (Tom's Birthday): After skyping Mum and Dad we packed up lunch in to the Campervan and set off up the West coast to Karekare; a lot wilder than the East. Here the sand is bluish black due to the high concentration of Iron. We went for a short stroll and saw a large gannet colony and plenty of kite surfers then had lunch and Milo (a malty hot drink) which we used to do the Tim Tam slam (http://www.fussfreecooking.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/a143.jpg)
Stopped off at a Nursery on the way back to choose some plants for the Howes' garden; plants here tend to have harder leaves than back home and grasses are more popular. For tea Karen cooked a roast dinner; the first I've had since arriving in New Zealand, oh how I've missed Sunday roasts!
On Monday Karen and Alice went back to School and Andrew to work so I made my way into Auckland on the bus; it was nice to just wonder around the city; it almost felt like I was back in the UK wandering around Auckland with all the bustle and busy streets. That evening I was meant to be flying back to Wellington so when I got home I got my bag ready and packed then discovered my flight was cancelled and after sitting on hold for 1/2 an hour was told the next available flight was 6am on Wednesday.
Andrew kindly set up a computer in the Kitchen so I could spend Tuesday revising for my geology exam. After a long day of trying to cram all I could about rocks into my head, Karen, Alice and I went for a very short walk along the beach (the tide was in) and I had my first taste of spirulina in a local cafe; this algae was surprisingly tasty. Had an early night before the 4am start in order to fly back to Wellington in time for my geology test this morning.
I had an absolutely wonderful time in Auckland, it was great to see Karen, Andrew, George and Alice again and they were so kind to me. I really look forward to seeing them again at some point during my time here.
Can't quite believe 3 months have gone by already; it was three months ago tomorrow that I boarded that plane to set off on the journey of a life time. The amount of amazing new people I've met and experiences I've packed into this first quarter of my year is incredible and I haven't even had my summer holidays yet. It's crazy to think that most of my friends here only have one and a half months left of their adventure and my close friend Ricarda has just 10 days! How time flies when you're having fun.
Yes, you did read that right, Christmas...in Spring...in the middle of October, utter madness I know. Some American friends decided that as we won't be able to spend Christmas together, because most people are going home, we should have an early Christmas party, combined with Josh's Birthday. This consisted of a hundreds of fairy lights, dozens of Christmas songs, numerous woolly jumpers, a mug full of candy canes and a sellotape Christmas tree on a wrapping paper covered wall. All in all a great fun night, even if a little odd.
Having completed ten weeks of lectures term is starting to draw to a close; this means multiple assignments and the start of the dreaded revision for exams. Luckily here at Vic uni we are up on the hill which means a lot of effort when bringing back groceries but it also means that the library has a most fantastic view across the city and out to the bay which makes studying that little bit more bearable.
As breaks from study I spent Wednesday night at Rica's with Matilde and Wolfy where we watched 'Goodbye Lenin' after a tasty meal. On Saturday I went to town with Ricarda as it's our last weekend together, then in the evening we had another Disney evening but with Aladdin this time. On Sunday I went round to Bob's and learnt to play Hallelujah on the ukulele (very slowly).
Now to get back to work before I jet off to Auckland on Thursday to spend the weekend with Karen, Andrew, George and Alice (second cousins).
Another busy week. The rain actually eased off enough on Saturday for a group of us (pictured left) to make a trip to Wellington's famous Botanical Gardens; turns out they're only a 15 minute walk from where I live. The plant life was beautiful and bursting with colour (I imagine it will be even better in about a months time) and there was a fantastic climbing tree which we made full use of. To continue on our childlike theme we spent the evening watching Disney movies from the library whilst eating the flapjack I had made in order to show the Americans what true flapjacks are (not pancakes).
On Tuesday I attended a much more mature gathering at GNS (Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences) where a group of us from my geology class learnt about what they do there and their job opportunities. Although the jobs weren't so useful, given that I'm leaving in 9 months, it prompted me to think about my future and the scary world of work for which I currently have no plans. It also opened my eyes to the vast amount of geology there is to study here, we don't find quite so many active tectonic plate boundaries slicing through the UK. Don't worry though, this won't stop me from coming home!
Back to play: Thursday night was Jamie's (American) birthday party which was great fun. Then on Friday night, after having dinner at Ricarda's a group of us ventured down to Meow where a jazz band was playing 1930s music which was tremendous fun to dance to; despite my complete lack of coordination I had a fantastic time.
Last night I met up with the South Island crew to get Korean food which Lisa was craving (she is South Korean). Due to it being a Sunday all the Korean places in town were closed but we found a very tasty Thai restaurant instead. Whilst munching my way through chicken satay we discussed plans for a North Island trip and I realised that sadly it didn't make sense for me to join them as they will be cramming what I hope to experience over the 3 and a half months of summer in to 5 days. So I'm now looking into other short breaks to go on before the majority of the internationals head home in November.
Can't quite believe most of my friends' travels are coming to an end; I still have three quarters of a year full of new and exciting experiences to come!
I would firstly like to apologise for the photos, I didn't take many this week so these are off my ipod.
Wellington has been serving up a whole range of crazy weather this week. Beautiful sunshine on Wednesday led me to believe Spring was finally here (as can be seen in the photo to the left - view from where I clean), but all hopes were dashed by Friday when a huge thunderstorm hit and reminded me of the joys of living in a metal box. For the past two days we've had pretty much constant torrential rain which has frequently soaked me to the skin.
Despite the crazy weather I've had a great week. Tuesday evening some friends and I made use of the two for one deal on desserts at 'The Library' (not quite as studious as it sounds) I had the date and ginger pudding with roasted rhubarb, very tasty! Wednesday was the study abroad quiz night, we didn't do so well (17/20). I was in a team with Matilde, Rica and mine and Rica's kiwi buddies. Despite our failure at popular culture we had a great time.
Thursday I met up with the south island crew and we looked through our photos which led to us deciding to plan a short trip round the North island before we go our separate ways.
Friday night was the big storm so Matilde and I stayed in and I taught her how to make apple crumble; not as good as Mum's but still good comfort food during the torrential rain!
As the rain continued into Saturday plans of visiting the Botanical gardens were abandoned and a group of us instead took refuge in a coffee shop and learnt about our various countries. (Spain, Germany, the US and the UK).
Spent Sunday catching up with work and then watching Harry Potter at Bob and Alice's; was nice to hear British accents again :)
It seems strange that people in the UK are now going back to uni, makes my time here seem more permanent. Was nice to be able to have a group skype with my house mates back home; I think they should hang the ipad on the wall so I can still participate in flat meals :)
I feel like I've really settled in to a routine here now but there's still so much excitement and many adventures to come!
A slightly less busy week than last week... for once I didn't actually take any photos; thought I'd just pop this iconic Wellington photo on here which I took when I first arrived.
For the past week my facebook wall has been filled with photos of people exploring this corner of the world; from bungy jumping in the north Island to skydiving in the south or from swimming with turtles in Fiji to walking the Sydney harbour bridge, it looks like everyone had a fantastic time. As the title of this post suggests I've spent much of my time catching up with both people and work this week.
Whilst all us international students were off making the most of our time in this amazing country it turns out many of the Kiwis actually used the holiday to catch up on some work.
You may be wondering by now, if you've been reading my blog, whether I actually do any study on this 'study abroad'; do not fear, much of this week was spent catching up with the work I had neglected over the holidays. I'm finding my course out here very interesting; the geology side is great, much more hard core than back in the UK. The statistics on the other hand is not so tough, a welcome break I guess.
In between working I spent Friday evening at Kim's having a pizza and film night, then on Saturday I was invited to Strawberry Fare, a dessert restaurant, for a guy from my geology classes birthday; it was a good job I had been warned not to eat before going as the banoffee pie I had was enormous and very pretty and tasty.
So yet again the highlights of my week appear to be food related; now to go get ready for my meal with the south island crew tonight...
Just returned from the most amazing week on the South Island! I think my catch phrase for the trip was 'Oh my gosh, it's so beautiful' as we were constantly confronted by the most breathtaking scenery; from snow capped mountains to golden sandy beaches or rugged coastlines to rolling, intense green hills covered in a huge variety of vegetation. Over the eight days I managed to take 648 photos, get 21 bug bites, eat around 30 slices of bread and crack countless smiles.
Day 1
After days of worrying, my Jetstar flight set off bang on time. I flew from Wellington to Queenstown on one of the most scenic flights I've ever had the pleasure to travel; ribbon like rivers ran down from the snow capped mountains across glacial valleys into the glistening blue sea... a geographers paradise.
Once off the plane I met my travelling buddies; Juliette (French), Lisa and Lexi (both American). After a lunch of fish and chips on the lake side we set off up the mountain on the Gondola where we were greeted by fantastic views across Queenstown before bombing back down on the luge run. Once back down we went for warm cookies and milk, bringing back childhood memories :)
In the evening a group of about 10 of us from Vic uni went to an Ice bar (-8oC) then a place called cowboys where we tried out the rodeo bull before returning to our hostel.
Day 2
Skydiving! The most amazing, breathtaking (literally) experience. Lexi and I set off in the minibus with worried grins on our faces; the whole experience seemed so surreal. Once we arrived they kitted us out in jump suits and harnesses then within no time we were taking off; wedged in between my instructor and camera man I watched as we climbed to 12000ft., too busy admiring the view to fully comprehend what I was about to do. The jump was amazing (as I kept screaming all the way down); an uninterrupted, 360 degree view of the mountains and Wakatipu lake and the biggest rush of adrenalin I've ever experienced.
Once down Lexi, Wolfgang, Kat and I met up with Lisa and Juliette for the famous, must-try Queenstown Ferg burger: it lived up to my expectations.
After taking numerous photos of Queenstown and stocking up on food we set off in our van (home for the next four days) towards Milford sound. Cooked tea at the side of the road whilst watching the sunset then arrived at Lake Gunn campsite at about 10pm and squished into the back of the van like sardines to sleep the night. The stars were the brightest I've ever seen with the Milky way stretching right across the sky and reflected in the glassy lake.
Day 3
Woke to a rather chilly but beautiful morning. Turns out Lake Gunn reflects the surrounding mountains in its water in the mornings. After much coaxing I managed to get the other three up and out of bed so we could catch our Milford Sound cruise. I now see why Rudyard Kipling named it the 'eighth wonder of the world'. We were fortunate enough to have completely clear skies so the fjord (not actually a sound as it was carved out by ice not rivers) looked stunning, hence my camera was constantly clicking.
We then set off on our journey to the Catlins on the South coast; stopping off at the mirror lakes, Te Anau, Invercargill and countless viewing platforms along the way.
After hours of driving (Automatic is so simple compared to manual!) we found a campsite with hot showers right on the beach to stay the night.
Day 4
Drove through the Catlins to Dunedin. Sadly we didn't manage to see any penguins but we did see seals on our way up to the lighthouse at Nugget point and we also visited Slope point - the Southern tip of the South Island (could see Stewart Island from here), Purakaunui Falls and Curio bay.
Finally arrived in Dunedin around 7pm, craving something that wasn't bread and Nutella or pasta so we went for a Chinese.
After following the satnav to a 'campsite' we ended up parking up the van down the end of a cul-de-sac for the night.
Day 5
Up at 6am in order to get to Christchurch by 2pm to drop off the van. The weather was miserable with constant driving rain from Dunedin right the way up to Christchurch.
We made a few short stops on the way, including the Moeraki boulders, amazing, perfectly rounded boulders; but we mostly just drove due to the poor weather and lack of time.
It was strange and sad driving through Christchurch seeing all the buildings still demolished after the 2011 earthquake.
Spent the night in a hostel, was nice to be able to move in the bed after the squeeze in the van!
Day 6
5.30 start in order to catch our bus to Nelson. We stopped off in Blenheim on the way and eventually arrived in Nelson around 2pm having seen yet more fantastic coastlines and intensely green rolling hills.
Nelson's a really pretty city, made all the more great by the fact we were staying with Lisa's friend's family in a proper home! Debbie had three children (13,14 and 15 years old) and a french husband which Juliette was happy about.
They were so welcoming; as a thank you we cooked them a pasta bake then for dessert Debbie's daughter Margo had made us a chocolate fondant, delicious!
Lexi and I stayed just down the road at Debbie's friends' house where again the family were so welcoming. It was so nice to be in a big comfortable bed and sit round a roaring fire after the nights in the campervan and hostels.
Day 7
Abel Tasman time! Took yet another bus to Marahau where we were staying. After dumping off our stuff we set off to the Abel Tasman track. Spent a while looking around a natural sculpture park before making our way along part of the track.
The beaches were fabulous with golden sand surrounded by small rocky caves looking out on a clear blue sea with snow capped mountains beyond.
We spent the day slowly strolling from beach to beach, exploring the rocky coves and catching up on some sleep under the intense sun (much sun cream was needed even though it's only just getting into spring).
In the photo to the right we've spelt our nick names out in rocks; when the tide comes in the rocks are covered but can be seen from the bridges above.
Cooked up our last meal of copious amounts of packet soup before retiring to bed around 9.30.
Day 8
Spent the morning kayaking, seeing plenty of sea birds and split apple rock. The weather was great for it, really calm and pretty sunny with turquoise water and yet more golden sandy beaches.The guide took us through a cave and up an estuary.
After our final lunch of bread and nutella we wandered back to the abel tasman track and relaxed in the sun until our bus took us back to Nelson at 4pm.
Debbie's husband had made us proper, French boeuff bourguignon for dinner which was super tasty then for dessert we made chocolate chip cupcakes. Slight mistake in that I used baking soda instead of baking powder but they still turned out just fine.
Final night in the extremely comfy bed down the road before returning to Wellington.
Day 9
Took a bus to Picton then waited in the glorious sunshine for our ferry which had been delayed by an hour and a half. Felt like spring had properly arrived as I sat on the waters edge licking at a liquorice allsorts icecream, watching people sailing past in the sun.
Finally took the ferry back across to Wellington, saw the North of the South island and the South of the North. Arrived home around 6pm exhausted but extremely content.
Phew! So that's it, my trip to the south island, I had the most fantastic time, saw the most fabulous scenery met many wonderful people and experienced so much. Thank you to everyone who made it possible to go on this trip and here's to much more travelling to come!
