Bay of Islands

Hi everyone! I'm slowly but surely starting to adjust to the Kiwi culture. Let me preface this by saying "Kiwi" has many different meanings. It refers to a person from New Zealand, a little bird that is indigenous to NZ, or the actual fruit. The Kiwis (person) have a vocabulary of their own. First off, they say "sweet as" all the time. You think they're going to compare it by saying it's "sweet as something", but they don't. It's just "sweet as". Also, instead of saying a lot or tons, they say heaps. I have heaps of work to do or there are heaps of people. "Cheers" and "mate" are common too.

I am also finding that people here are not huge fans of Americans. Surprise surprise. Our entertainment culture is ruining us as well as our government. They sure do like American music and movies though. Don't worry, I'm working to change their perception. :) Luckily, everyone has been super nice to me. I have only met a handful of people from the states. There are far more travelers from other countries.

This last weekend, we were lucky enough to have our own personal tour guide to take us to the Bay of Islands! A girl we met, Muna, is from New Zealand but lived in Germany and then Australia. Now she works here in tourism at Base which is a large chain of hostels. She was nice enough to offer to take us with her on her business trip. We got to see beautiful scenery on the way. It's all green rolling hills. Not like the green in the states. It's bright green. Once we got to Paihia, we stayed right by the beach and had an amazing time! On Saturday, we took a ferry across the way to a place called Russell Island. We hiked up to Flagstaff Point and got a 360 degree view of all the islands. Absolutely amazing. My pictures won't do it justice.

On our way back, we made a stop at Goat Island. It's a marine reserve with some really great views.

Right now, I'm still in Auckland. I actually had a skype interview for an administrative assistant position at Coronet Peak near Queenstown. Unfortunately it doesn't start until July when the ski season starts to pick up. It's a start though!

Cheers!

Good morning! Or good afternoon in Texas. You get two for one on the blog updates today. I haven't had time to upload. Yesterday, we took a train to see Mt. Eden. It was quite a hike to get up that hill. Sadly I'm sore today which means I am so out of shape. Once you get to the top, you can see the entire city. It's amazing and beautiful. There is a gigantic crater. There are (I think) approximately 15 volcanoes in the Auckland area, but they are all dormant.

Last night, we had a pub meet with some of the other people in our program. We went to a bar where they serve basically towers of beer with a tap. Afterwards, we headed to a bar completely made of ice. They provide you with Eskimo jackets and gloves and you're set! It was pretty cool. We had two additions, one guy from Germany who barely spoke English and a guy from London who looked EXACTLY like Napoleon Dynamite (see picture). Don't worry mom... I won't spend every day at the bar. :) I'm still in the honeymoon phase.

We are having a slow morning as it is raining and the guys are hung-over. I was a good girl and returned to the hostel a little early. I did open a bank account yesterday so my money is safe! Cell phone is next. I feel so disconnected from the world, but I kind of like it. I originally wanted to find a job immediately, but I am going to wait until we figure out where we are going next. I feel a little guilty not having one, but I'm going with the flow. Oh and "we" is always Paul, Daniel and Dave (well for now at least).

First Things First

Hello from New Zealand. I finally arrived early Sunday morning. The flight wasn't too bad even though it was 13 hours from Los Angeles. It is weird that I missed an entire day of my life due to time changes. I was really emotional the first day wondering what in the hell I was doing leaving my wonderful family and friends and moving halfway around the world. I mean seriously, that's a gut check. I could barely even read your e-mails without tearing up. After a lot of prayers and some new friends, I feel 100% better. I went to the orientation for the program I am in and could not be more excited. There is so much to see and do here. It's the "world's biggest playground". I met two guys at orientation, one Canadian, Daniel, who I can barely understand. I swear he sounds Irish, but we all know I cannot decipher or really understand new accents. The other guy, Dave, is from Portland via Pittsburgh via a bunch of other places. We call him our "token black guy". His roommate, Paul, is also from Canada where he was a police officer and some sort of UFC fight. Let me tell you, we are the most random group you have ever seen, but we sure do have fun together. They make fun of me for saying "y'all" and call me "Frizzy"because there is no hope for my hair here. It's so humid. I'm sure the guys I used to work with are relieved that someone is taking up the slack on making fun of me.

My plan was to head straight to Queenstown, but after orientation, I decided to stay around Auckland for a couple more days until I figure out what we're doing. As I'm beginning to realize, it's best just to go with the flow here.

The hostel situation is well, very interesting. I sleep in a very small room with two bunk beds. There is another guy I share it with who I have yet to meet. All I know is he farts a lot and has zero remorse. Showering is a huge pain. It's like living in the dorms, but worse. The showers water turns off after about five seconds to save water. You have to continue hitting the button to turn it back on. The temperature is always either really hot or really cold. I am not exactly living in the lap of luxury, but I love it!!

Auckland is a lovely city. You could be walking down the street and hear 10 different accents of people from all over the world. Last night, the guys and I went down the harbor to an Irish bar. The people here are very friendly. I think our plan today is to head down to see the volcano, Mt. Eden. There are several in the surrounding area, but they are all dormant.

Oh and I am hesitant to even say this because I will scare my parents to death, but I promised to be honest on my blog. I had a major scare yesterday, but it taught me a valuable lesson. I went to get some coffee and decided I should clean out my purse, but oops, I took my money belt off. The money belt that had ALL of my money in it that I had yet to take off. Well, I go to open my bank account later and realize it is no longer there. My sweet friend Dave walked with me to retrace my steps. Low and behold, there are good people in this world. Someone turned it in without a penny missing. Thank you God! He's watching over me.

I will try and update as much as possible, but I'm never sure when I have internet access. If I haven't returned your e-mail, it's not because I don't love you. :) I miss everyone so much, but rest assured, I am having an amazing time thus far! Pictures will be posted soon.