This past weekend, five of us decided to drive to the nearby city of Wanaka. My gracious "kiwi host", Kate, lent us her car for the 3.5 hour drive and we were on our way. Jeremy and Matthias took turns driving, while Tara, Natalie, and I squeezed in the back of the 1989 white Subaru. While I was a bit uneasy about having two previously right-sided drivers driving me on the left side of the road, I was thoroughly impressed with their skills. I did have flashbacks of when my dad would grip the door handle when I first began driving, but it soon subsided and I was completely comfortable.

We left late Friday morning and got there in the early afternoon, after several stops along the way for pictures. Before this trip, I was definitely aware of how beautiful New Zealand is, but it hit a different magnitude as we were cruising down the open roads to Wanaka. The views are breathtaking. I'm not talking about the ones that you have to hike up a mountain to get to or know a certain path to take to find. I'm talking about the side of the road...turning off at any moment to find views that I daresay you can't find anywhere in the United States. Needless to say, we all have more pictures than we know what to do with -- a happy problem.

We arrived and got settled into our (surprisingly nice) hostel and got changed for a hike after a quick walk on the beach. The moderately hard "tramp" got our hearts pumping and more beautiful pictures of Lake Wanaka. To be honest, the whole trip was a bit surreal for me -- I have to pinch myself sometimes to remind myself of where I am and what I'm doing. The fact that I've only been here for 2 weeks boggles my mind. I'm just taking it all in and trying to enjoy every minute. I consider myself very lucky to have such great people to experience it all with -- I feel like I've known them so much longer than a mere 14 days.

We woke up Saturday morning in hopes of checking a big item off our list of things to do while in New Zealand - skydiving! We got all suited up and briefed on what was going to happen, what we should do, etc. After many last bathroom breaks and wiping of the sweaty hands, Jeremy, Matthias, Natalie, and I squeezed in the plane with our tandem jumpers and proceeded to make the trek up to 12,000 ft. I was surprisingly calm until my tandem jumper, Jeff, pointed out when we were 1,000 ft. up and it registered that I was going 12 times higher. Holy cow.

To make a long story short, we finally arrived at 12,000 ft. and I was (again surprisingly) calm and ready to go. We put on our oh so sexy leather caps and goggles and prepared ourselves for the jump. Within ten seconds of jumping, however, we hear that the wind is too strong to jump and we must return back to the ground...via the plane. Talk about anti-climactic. We were all a little disappointed, but obviously didn't want to do it if it was unsafe. We now know what to expect and got a gorgeous plane ride for free -- I can't complain. With that said, I hope to not leave NZ without having gone skydiving. Sorry, Dad.

We made a few stops on the way home and arrived back into Dunedin Saturday night. Natalie and I got up this morning for a hike with the University "Tramping Club". We hiked up Mt. Cargill with the group and were served lunch afterwards. Only in New Zealand do they serve you beer with your lunch right after a two hour hike. Nonetheless, it was a great way to meet more kiwis -- the hike, not the beer.

I had such a hard time picking just a few pictures for this post. I hope these will suffice. All of them are from this past weekend in Wanaka. Matthias has a much nicer camera that is far superior to mine so he has a lot of the group photos, but I hope you guys will be able to get an idea of things from my 4-yr. old Canon. Enjoy!

On Saturday, some of my flatmates and I wandered down to the Dunedin farmer's market. The combination of another sunny day with the purchase of a bargain bag of nectarines made for a wonderful start to my Saturday. Not to mention the market is located by the train station, my favorite part of Dunedin thus far. We then met up with some other students and decided to head to the beach across town. We grabbed a bus to St. Clair and had a nice, relaxing afternoon by the water.

The next few days were consumed with getting classes squared away, picking up odds and ends downtown, and exploring Dunedin. Favorite Dunedin hotspots so far include a Turkish kebab restaurant downtown, a recycled clothing boutique also downtown, and the botannical gardens. The gardens are perfectly trimmed and offer a great location for running, relaxing, and reflecting.

It was around this time that I finally started feeling at home here. While I'm still learning the lingo and the ins and outs of the NZed culture, the tourist mentality is beginning to subside. It's a good feeling.

The top photo is of the gorgeous botannical gardens -- if anywhere can motivate me to run, I believe its there. The middle picture is of my flatmates and me -- (from left) Matthias from Germany, Tara from Canada, myself, and Jeremy from Texas. The third photo is of the train station, where the farmer's market is held every Saturday morning -- don't mind if I do.

Love, love, love to you all.

Thursday and Friday were spent trying to get odds and ends taken care of. I made my first trip to the grocery store with my flatmates, Jeremy and Kate, which was much more overwhelming than I had expected it to be. They have a lot of different brands than we do and certain things are much more expensive than they are at home. The meats are very expensive here, so I'm tring to think of some nice vegetarian dishes -- this could be interesting.

I also finally got a phone, which was a monumental purchase. For a couple days, it was so hard to get in touch with everyone because no one had a way to be contacted. The phone isn't anything snazzy, but it's all I need. New Zealand technology is a good 5-10 years behind that of the U.S. so it has been a bit of an adjustment, but I'm just happy to have one.

Our big course approval day was Friday and into this week so I am now an official Otago student. They do it quite different than the U.S. -- you have to get a form with all of your classes on it and go around to each department to get it signed. Let's just say it was a great test to see how well I knew the campus. Compared to how we typically sign up for classes via the internet, it seemed a bit archaic to me -- again, a little behind on the technological front. Nonetheless, classes start next Monday and I am very excited. It will be nice to get into a routine and finally stimulate my mind after three wonderful months.

I went to my first rugby match last Friday night, which was really fun. Rugby is huge here, much like football in the U.S. I went with my flatmates, but met up with some people from my program there also. We walked back through town, complete with a stop at McDonald's, one of the few American fast food restaurants they have here. After hanging out downtown a bit, we called it a night.

As you can probably guess, the photo is from the rugby game. Their teams aren't divided by universities here, but regions. I still don't quite understand, but I think there are semi-professional and professional teams. Otago (the region) and Auckland played on Friday night and, sadly, the Otago Highlanders lost by 3.

I have enjoyed and thoroughly appreciated the e-mails, Facebook messages, etc. that I have been receiving from many of you. I love staying in the loop and hearing about what you guys are up to. I am having a great time here, but please do not be fooled -- I miss you all greatly and don't think that will change anytime soon.

XOXO.

We had a meeting with the Otago International Office at 10:30 Wednesday morning. Luckily, I was able to walk with some other students from my program to get there -- we all know how good I am with maps. After the meeting, we had a short break for lunch before heading back for a bus tour of Dunedin. Our bus driver, Gerald, gave us all the ins and outs of the town. One unexpected stop was the steepest street in the world -- Baldwin St. I didn't even know it was in Dunedin. We all thought we were just going to drive by, but no -- we walked it. That sounds easy enough to walk up a street, right? No. It was definitely the best work out I've had in a while and I had doubts that I would actually make it. Rest assured, though, my not-so-little legs got me there.

After we finished our bus tour, we were dropped off in town to do our own thing. I chose to go with a group downtown to make my first purchase -- bedding. Somehow I was able to fit a set of sheets from home in my oversized bags, so I found a fairly priced comforter and a pack of 2 pillows to top it off. Now, picture about 6 American students carrying comforters, pillows, and blankets (one guy even bought a plant) across a bustling downtown. Let's just say, our attempted New Zealand personas had gone out the window.

I was exhausted after a long day of walking. I made dinner and hung out with my flatmates and headed to bed.

The top two photos are from Baldwin St. The third picture is Natalie, Melanie, and me at the top of a lookout we stopped at on our tour of Dunedin.

We left the Marae Tuesday morning after a delicious breakfast and farewell ceremony, where we shared our gratitude for them allowing us into their culture. We were to fly out of Auckland at 2:10PM, but had one last stop before our flight -- the Auckland Museum. I'm not usually a museum-goer, but it was really fun to walk around and learn more about the culture and history of New Zealand. They had a lot of cool displays, even a room that shook like a volcano! Obviously, that was my favorite.

After the museum, we headed for the airport. Luckily, we got there in plenty of time to completely rearrange our bags and make sure they were no more than 25kg (50 lbs) each. That should be easy since I had just arrived 3 days before having done it for my flight over, right? False. The main issue was my ginormous sleeping bag, which I didn't realize was so huge until I got over here. As a rough estimate, it is approximately 8 times larger than the ones that all of the other ultra-outdoorsy enthusiasts brought with them. With help from others, however, I was able to squeeze all of it in, chiming in with 2 checked bags -- 24.7kg and 25.0kg. Thank you, thank you very much.

We had a flight from Auckland to Christchurch, then another from Christchurch to Dunedin. On my 5 hour flight from Charlotte to LA, I didn't so much as receive a peanut, unless I wanted to pay $7 for a meal. On my 45 minute flight from Christchurch to Dunedin, I received chips and a glass of wine. I'll take it.

We were dropped off briefly at each of our flats before the bus picked us up again for dinner at a local pizza restaurant. The food was good and it was fun to get a taste of Dunedin. I returned home to hang out with my flatmates and unpack after a long day.

The top picture is one I took from the plane ride. The bottom photo is a view from the bus on our way to Dunedin. Not too exciting, but it gives you a small idea.

After another briefing session on Monday morning, we packed up (easier said than done) and got on the bus for the Marae. We were told that there was going to be a surprise along the way. While I was expecting something only semi-exciting, I was pleasantly surprised when we pulled up to a winery. We first got a tour of the vineyard before heading inside for our tastings. It was so fun to try the different wines, although I still don't understand how they come up with such eloquent and ornate descriptions for a simple sip of wine. Perhaps such a skill comes with age. Nonetheless, I had a great time.

Soon after leaving the winery, we arrived at the Marae. Although we had been prepared for what to expect, my eyes were still quite opened from the moment we arrived. We formed a semi-circle with girls in the front and boys in the back to "protect" us. After several chants and other rituals, we were welcomed inside. We took our shoes off and proceeded to greet each of the present Maoris by shaking their hand while touching our noses and foreheads with theirs. In their culture, this is equivalent to shaking someone's hand and introducing yourself. We then sat and watched/listened to their ritual dances and chants. It was such a cool thing to be a part of. I was amazed at how nice and genuine they all were. Furthermore, I couldn't believe the joy they had in representing their culture. I hope to one day be as passionate about anything as they are about their heritage. They then served us dinner and we settled in for a nice, cozy slumber party -- all 55 of us.

The top picture is during one of the dances the Maori people put on for us -- so cool. The bottom photo is from the vineyard we went to on our way to the Marae.

I thought I'd leave you guys with a few lyrics from a song we learned in Maori.

Te aroha
Te whakapono
Me te rangimarie
Tatou, tatou e.

With love
With faith
With peace
We are all one together.

So I realized today that I am over a week overdue on my updates so I am going to try to expedite things. I have had my notes by my bed for the last week waiting for time to summarize it all, but time has gotten the best of me. However, I am in for the night and going to do my best to crank it all out.

Last Sunday, my natural alarm got me up around 7AM in time to eat breakfast and ready for a group trivia contest. We were divided into groups randomly of 5-6 and were asked questions about NZ culture, music, slang words, etc., as well as what we should do in certain situations -- a fun way to get us exposed to the NZ lifestyle. The last part of the contest was an athletic challenge throughout the several acres that the YMCA owned. We were given a piece of paper, pencil, and a map. We had to go around the landscape looking for specific markers with symbols on each, as specified by the map. Part of my group went towards the beach, while the rest of us ran to the top of the mountain to find the ones towards the entrance. I was with an Amherst football player and a Vassar rugby player, so it was all I could do to keep up, but I had a great time. For those of you that are familiar with Road Rules/Real World Challenges, that's a bit what it felt like. Although I'm not too crazy about comparing my New Zealand experiences to that of an MTV reality show, it is what it is.

After lunch, we headed out on the water for some good kayaking. We were separated into groups, each with a trained staff member, so it was very safe and well organized. I can't say we were the fastest kayak out there, but we did our best to hold our own. We were able to pull off to look at starfish and sea urchin, which was really neat. The natural beauty here is amazing. On the way back, I was part of a team of about 8 kayaks that joined together to sail back. We had 2 people standing up in the front holding a fairly large tarp, someone steering in the back, all while trying to hold the 8 kayaks together -- it was quite the team effort. Needless to say, my arms were grateful.

We had a quick dinner when we got back before getting a briefing on the Maori culture. The Maoris are the indigenous people of New Zealand and still have a very prominent presence here. An older member, I believe her name was Waitawura, came to speak to us about what we would be experiencing the following day, when we would visit and spend the night at an actual Marae, the meeting place of the Maoris. She taught us the pronunciation of their language, songs that we would be expected to sing, and overall do's and don'ts of their culture. We even chose 2 guys in our group to speak on our behalf in the Maori language by memory upon our arrival. Growing up, I always heard about such vastly different lifestyles, but they always sounded so foreign to me. It was fun to have it come alive.

After a night walk with my friends Laura and Nina, I showered and called it a day.

The top photo is a picture I took while on my walk that night -- not the best quality, but the view wasn't too shabby. The bottom picture gives you an idea of our course for the athletic challenge. If you look closely, you can even see the orange rope that marked the finish line.

So to pick up where I left off…

We flew into Auckland around 5:30AM Saturday morning and were greeted by IFSA-Butler staff at the airport. Their goal was to keep us active throughout the day to avoid succumbing to jetlag and that they did. Our day started by driving about an hour up the coast to Shakespeare Lodge, a YMCA camp-like setting where we stayed for the majority of Orientation. It was a gorgeous area with a lot of open land and access to the water. We had a short briefing session before picking bedrooms. I was in a room with five other girls each with approximately five months of luggage…a bonding experience to say the least! We then went for a “wander” around the park and took in a stereotypical view of New Zealand – a gorgeous coastline, huge grassy mountains, and dozens and dozens of sheep. We then headed back for some kai, the New Zealand slang for tea/food, which I personally couldn’t get enough of. The Lodge had its own cooks, so the meals were delicious. After lunch, we went down to the water and learned the rules of cricket and rugby – huge NZ sports. I played my first game of touch-rugby and had a blast. I later learned that several of the students I was playing with play for their universities so I didn’t feel too badly about my limited skills. With that said, I was thoroughly reminded of how out of shape I am. Several of us commented on how surreal everything was – playing rugby on a field right next to the water with gorgeous mountains surrounding us from all angles. We even had to stop our game for two peacocks who decided to wander across our field! So fun. After some more kai, we headed to the hot springs, which sound much more natural and enticing than they actually turned out to be. We lounged in basically large hot tubs for about an hour before heading to Woody’s, a local pub, for a quick drink. After returning home, we had a late dinner and started to head to bed around 8:30. It was a very exhausting day, but a great welcome to the NZ lifestyle.

The above photos are just some candid shots of the view from Shakespeare Lodge -- as you can tell, quite hard to beat!

As always, thanks for reading. More to come soon! XOXO.

Kia Ora from Dunedin, New Zealand! I have endured so much in the last several days that I have tried to come up with the most logical way of reporting my experiences to you all. I am going to go in chronological order so as not to forget or leave out any of my recent experiences. So, although in some ways I am backtracking, I believe I had too much fun to let it go unwritten. I didn't have internet access during my Orientation, hence the reason I am so behind. I did, however, take good notes so I could keep you all well-informed -- I hope they will suffice.

My journey began last Tuesday, February 11th, when my Dad and I flew out to LA. The combination of a bit of jetlag and the 5:30AM flight were fairly exhausting, so our first day was nice and relaxing. The next day, we had a great time cruising the streets in our (rather heinous) golden, mustardy Mustang convertible. It was a gorgeous day and we explored all facets of Los Angeles -- downtown, Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, the beaches of Santa Monica...it was awesome. I had never experienced LA before, but it was gorgeous. Between the beautiful beaches and the snow-covered mountains, how can you go wrong? Of course, the 70 degree, sunny day didn't hurt either.

The next day, we woke up fairly early to head to the airport. Dad flew out around 11:45AM and I hung out at the airport until my flight at 7:30PM. While I thought it was going to be a long and endless day, it ended up not being too bad. Other students from my program started arriving so we were all able to chat before boarding the plane. It was fun to hear everyone's stories and get to know the people I was going to be around for the next five months. We then headed off on our flight to Auckland, NZ, where we would begin our program Orientation.

That is all for now, I will try to post the details of Orientation and get up-to-date tomorrow. As of right now, it is 1AM here and I am exhausted.

XOXO.

P.S. All of the above photos were taken in Los Angeles. I hadn't even gotten to New Zealand yet!

It is hard to believe that I will start my trip to NZ a week from today. Although I am still a little anxious, I am so extremely excited. I have been in touch with several of my flatmates, who all seem very nice. Touching base with them really eased my nervousness and helped me get excited. I will be living with five others -- Tara from Canada, Andrew from Scotland, Matthias from Germany, Jeremy from the U.S., and Kate from New Zealand. Matthias just arrived a few days ago and said the weather was beautiful, but advised me not to forget my "sunscream". This should be fun, haha.

Warning: The rest of the entry shares a lot of minute details that many may not care to know about. I will not take offense if you have more important things to do than read about my flight details, living arrangements, etc.

Several folks have been asking about my schedule and when I leave, etc. for the next couple of weeks. My dad is flying out to LA with me (thanks to frequent flyer miles!) at 5:30AM on Tuesday. We'll then explore LA and have some good father-daughter bonding time before he heads back to Lynchburg on Thursday, the 11th. I'll fly with my group flight to Auckland, NZ around 7:30 PM that night. For those that don't know, New Zealand has two "parts" (for lack of a better word), North Island and South Island. My program orientation will take place in Auckland for a few days, which is in the northern part of the North Island. I think this will be really fun, as we will be kayaking, camping, etc. We will then fly to Christchurch in the South Island, then to Dunedin, which is my final destination and where I will be for the duration. I will get into Dunedin on February 16th, around 5:30 PM, New Zealand time. New Zealand is 18 hours ahead of the U.S., so add six hours and change the time of day and you've got it!

I will be attending the University of Otago, which is located in Dunedin, South Island. I've been told that it's a great college town with lots of things to do, including beach and mountains within about 10 minutes of each other, I believe. Of course, I will have a better idea of such things when I actually arrive...if I ever actually arrive, haha. I creepily google-mapped my flat and the University and saw exactly where I will be, which was really neat. I even ran right into a Starbucks! It's amazing what you can do with technology.

Sorry I don't have more exciting things to post -- hopefully that will change soon :)

XOXO.