Queen Charlotte Track

My most recent excursion was traveling to the South Island of New Zealand. Last Thursday I woke up early after a big night out in town. I threw some stuff in my backpack and headed out to catch the bus somewhere, anywhere. I told some people that I was going to find fun for the weekend but I ended up going alone. It was good though, it made for a very neat time! I got onto the ferry at 10:30am for a three hour ferry ride. It was a very large ferry that had a cafe, bar, shop, and cinema. It wasn't too rough but the wind was pretty chilly.

When I first saw the lands of the South Island I was at awe. It is so beautiful, the pictures do not do it justice. We docked in Picton were I had my first meal of fish and chips (which is huge here). I did some light shopping for a baseball hat and a book and waited for the water taxi. I took a small boat over across the bay to a place called Furneaux Lodge Resort along the Queen Charlotte Track. The track is 71km long that travels along shallow shorelines that shoot up to lush green mountains. So I had a room there with two bunk beds for $40 (US that is about $27 or something). It was amazing. It had small cabins, backpackers rooms, and nicer more expensive places. So I stayed in a nice little place and had dinner and a glass of local Sauvignon Blanc.

The next morning I woke up to the poring rain but continued with my plan for the day. I walked four hours to my next stop through a rain forest! I really got the full effect of a rain forest and figured out that my rain coat is no longer water proof. That afternoon I came to a homestay were a lady lives and rents out rooms for backpackers. She told me to strip on the porch and wrap in a towel to go to the shower! So that give you an idea of how much in the middle of no where we are. I had a nice relaxing afternoon of getting warm, eating scones and then dinner with a nice local beer and more fish and chips at a near by resturant. The next morning I woke up early for day just shy of eight hours of walking. I walked up and down mountains, in the trees and on the ridge lines, and through mud inches thick.

But I had a blast. I was so tired by the end of it but the views were amazing. Definitely the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life. So I was picked up at my destination that afternoon and enjoyed a cold beer at the end of a long day. I hopped on the 6pm ferry and made it back to my flat by 10pm. It was a great trip and I will be going back, taking people with me next time! One more thing, school started today! My first class was very fun and I think the semester is going to fly by.

Getting my feet wet

Since my romp in the woods with the wise, I've been getting a touch of the younger lifestyle of Wellington. One afternoon I opened my door to two American guys playing a bluegrass song for me in the hallway. It was so neat, they were playing a guitar and the mandalin. That was their way of saying 'hey we're from the same place, great to meet ya!'
My other roommates moved in and I met a lot of international students this week. I went out one night to an Irish pub then to a disco. It was right out of the 70's. The floor was lit up squares that changed colors and disco balls were hung from the ceiling. I also attended a Lutheran church on Sunday. I had one my best New Zealand experiences there (so far). The people were so nice and came right up and talked to me. One couple even invited me to dinner!
That same day I took a group of new friends with me to the Island Bay Festival that I read about. A short bus ride around the bay brought us to a small festival with a market, music and food. I thought it was pretty interesting that the fair food was Asian style, rice and meat. The festival was right on the beach and one of my friends was able to experience the ocean for the first time in his life! It took me a while to realize that the tire-like rubber stuff on the beach was actual washed up seaweed. It was in very long and thick peices.
Orientation for school started yesterday were I met people from all over the states, Germany, India, and a lot of other places. We spent the day touring the campus and the city and ended with dinner and a movie, Whale Rider.
I was told that Wellington works it's magic on you and I am feeling that now. It took me a while to get here but I am loving the city and the people here. Today I was able to walk down to the beach and sunbath for about two hours. It's nice being in the mountains and on the water at the same time! Also, I DID get into the freezing water at the beach. The water temperature is 60 degrees. That doesn't sound bad, but my legs went numb.

Getting Comfortable

Just to check up to what I'm currently doing, I give a recap of the past week. On Sunday after the Sevens game, I set up my room, meet two of my roomies and found the beach! I was looking for a relaxing lazy day, but I had to go to one store three times to get what I needed. However, I was able to get a cell phone, the Internet, and some groceries.

The beach I found was very small but only about a 10 minute walk from my flat. Now, people keep telling me the sun is a lot stronger here and to wear sunscreen everyday. I hear there is a whole in the Ozone layer directly above New Zealand. At home I never wear sunscreen but just to be safe I put a bit on. Whoa, I got burnt for being out there two hours. I am wearing it every sunny day now.

One morning I woke up with the need to go somewhere so I walked down to the water front. It was a rainy/misty day so I wore my rain coat and went walking. I walked on the boardwalk to two bays away. It was about an hour and a half walk, along the water. It was beautiful!

The next two days were pretty uneventful. School doesn't start until the 23rd and I don't have anything to do until then. The other night I read about a tramping (hiking) club and figured I would go to the meeting. I did and they invited me on a tramp around the city on Wednesday. So yesterday I went on this tramp with 10 people all above 60 years old! It was slow paced but fun and I got to see spots that I would have never found on my own.

Wellington Sevens

My first day in Wellington I was very lucky to attend the New Zealands Sevens games. My mom knew some people here and they let me tag along and bought me a ticket! This was super nice as I just heard yesterday all the tickets sold out in ten minutes. I went with Bob, his children Simon, Sarah and Sarah's husband Layton.
The Sevens is a international rugby event were the teams travel and have tournaments on weekends. It is a huge event here in Wellington and everyone that goes dressed in costume! We were the characters from a New Zealand comic strip- The Footrot Flats. Basically everyone there was dressed up. The crowd was loud and fun. In between rounds music was played and the entire stadium went wild and sang along.
When you went to buy beer you had the choice of getting one, two, or four plastic bottles for yourself. Everyone was walking around with a ring of four bottles, a little different from sporting events in the states. We started our day at about noon and stayed at the rugby field until 10pm. Simon was able to get passes to corporate boxes and tickets for a nice buffet dinner. We were first class!
We walked into town after the leaving the arena with the huge mass of people. I was still very tired from traveling and took a cab home. The rest of my group ended up staying at a street party with a good Led Zeppelin cover band until 12:30. It was a great experience for my first day in Wellington. The kiwis (New Zealanders) definitely lived up to their name as big partiers.

Getting Here

I left Raleigh Wednesday Feb 4Th at 7:30am and arrived in Auckland Friday Feb 6Th at 5:45am. The trip was long but I felt great finally getting into New Zealand. I made it through the 20 hours of flying and was able to take a bird bath to get ready for my first day in my new country.
I took a shuttle to the train station were I made my train by 5 minutes. The train took me from Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand, all the way through the North island to my new home of Wellington. While on the train I saw rolling farms full of cows and sheep that led way to rugged mountains. I was surprised by the snow capped Mount Ruapehu standing at 9,177ft. It's an active volcano that last erupted in 2007. My day on the train was nice but I was so grateful to finally get to the Wellington station.
A lady from international affairs picked me up and took me to my flat at Basin Reserve. I started to get a little weak from being awake for so long and felt like I was rocking on a boat; I needed a bed. However, the wrong key was left for me, so I waited 3 hours for the correct one. I wanted to put my stuff in my new room and be settled. The key never came by 11pm so I just crawled into my bed in the wrong room and passed out.

*Photo on top: Mount Ruapehu from the train. Bottom: Train station in a national park along the trip.