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.