Rotorua: 12-21 September

When we got into Rotorua it was raining. It was a good foreshadow for the week... Once we got settled in Crank Backpackers we found a good Thai restaurant down the street called Amazing Thai, I think every city in the world has an "Amazing Thai" restaurant.... Then after a huge meal we walked a bit of the town, since it was a Sunday night the town turned into a ghost town. We found a nice bar to relax called Pig and Whistle. It is a bar in the old police station, hence the name! Then got some rest for the big painting day on Monday!

Monday morning we were all ready to paint! We painted the window walls of the hostel rooms BRIGHT green. It actually fit the hostel pretty well. I got to paint with Nicki all day and we listen to some great music and couldn't stop chatting!

Nicki hard at work :)

After painting we went to the grocery store again to buy food for the week because all of our bank accounts were starting to hurt from all the going out to restaurants and bars we've been doing. Because Rotorua is surrounded by geothermal areas it reeks of sulphur... no use getting to this smell.

That night we had an amazing spaghetti dinner again. :) After that we needed to let loose after our tremendously hard day of painting ;) so we decided to go to this town's Base bar, called Lava. It turned out to be a lot of fun, even though we usually dislike the Base bars, but when your with good people it is always fun!

The next day was another fun full day of painting! Today, I painted with Feli the whole day and again we listened to some good music, aka Backstreet Boys and some talking guy who helps people fall asleep.... But we also couldn't stop talking and had a great time! Then at the end of the day we helped Nicki, Bastian, and Niko (a guy from Argentina who also was painting for accommodation) finish painting the gym a sky blue.

We make a great team!

Always having fun! :)

On Wednesday the 22, we set off to Hell's Gate. It is a geothermal area with bubbling mud pools and hot thermal springs. It was awesome to see! We soaked in a hot spring water tub and got messy in their mud bath! It felt great and made our skin all clean, smooth, and stinky!

Mud fun!

The mud bath and hot springs turned us into zombies and the rest of the day was a relaxing day. We went to local cinema that night and the only movie that was playing was Salt or The Expendables. We are all indecisive so someone finally picked The Expendables. As Bastian put it, "The Expendables: amazing cast of 80s, 90's, and 00's action all-stars, about 2 1/2 good jokes plus 120 senseless minutes of totally plot-free action." Couldn't have said it better myself.

Thursday was a rainy, gloomy rainy day so we all did a lot of internet stuff and job searched some more. Feli and I walked the town a little bit and she decided to get her nose pierced! She took it like a champ! Nicki, Bastian and I again went to Amazing Thai because it was so close. A good, relaxing day.

The next day I set off to Kawerau, about an hour east of Rotorua, for a job interview at Tui Glen Farm. It is a 3500 acre farm with 40 horses, dogs, cats, and dirt karts! I got there in the early afternoon so once I got there Steph from Luxembourg, took me on a trek to see how I could ride. It started to pour so we had to cut it short. After that I helped put the show horses to "bed." Pauline cooked us all a chicken, vegetable, and sweet potato dinner! Home cooked meal! Yay! It start to really pour during dinner then after that the wind started to really pick up. Around 9 pm I opened the porch door and it sounded like all the trees around us were twisting, turning, and breaking. With trees all around the farm, it was scary to go to bed...

The next morning, I saw that I was right. The driveway was covered with some huge fallen trees, but luckily all the farm buildings still stood and no animals were hurt! So that morning I helped clean up the trees. I also got to drive the first time here! They drive on the wrong side of the road here... Weird worl they live here! After that a group of young girls came to do a trek for one of their birthdays. So Steph and I took them on a short trek! After the trek I had to head back into town to catch the bus back to Rotorua. On the way back, Pauline, the owner, offered me the job! There is a kids camp starting 26 September and goes till 10 October. So I am going to assist with the 8-15 year olds on horse treks, dirt karts, activities, etc.! For that I get accommodation, three meals a day, a stipend, and lots of free fun activities!!! Not a bad first real job! :)

I got back to Rotorua early afternoon and met back up with "the family" at Fatdog, a place with great paninis! Since it was Feli's birthday the next day we had a fun full night planned for us! We went out to dinner at Tandoori Palace, an amazing Indian restaurant; went to Pig and Whistle to listen to a terrible cover band; and then headed to Lava. Herbie was working again so it was a very cheap night! It was a another great night with lots of memories!

Happy Birthday Feli! (Herbie on the right)

Sunday was a very relaxing day. It was a gloomy day again so Feli and I mostly toured around the town, went into some shops, went to Lake Rotorua, then "the family" went to an Italian restaurant for some dinner. Then we all watched Crash with some other people from the hostel.

On Monday we set off to go do some whitewater rafting! It was so, SO extreme!! Highly recommended wherever you are. The Kaituna River we went down is a Grade 5 river, the highest the grade is a Grade 6, so...yeah...

Gofor (our guide), two Aussies, Feli and Nicki, Me and Bastian

After the 7 meter (23 foot) waterfall!!

After 13 awesome drops, twisting rapids, and of course the risky 7 meter waterfall, we all survived. What an adrenaline rush! That night was the last night "the family" would have together for a few weeks because the next day I am off to Tui Glen Farm and the other three rented a car for two weeks to travel the east coast of the north island! We went back to Tandoori Palace because it was so so good the first time and it was just as good the second time! 

That morning I packed my packs again! After making the packs as full as they can be, there is always one more thing that doesn't fit. Push, shove, squish, squeeze, zip! Since I will be on the farm for a few weeks, I got my first hair cut in NZ!

I was then off to my first real job at Tui Glen Farm, 2km from Kawerau! I am so excited to be working with horses!! Lots of work with lots of fun! Can't wait! 

Paihia, Bay of Islands: 8-12 September

And we are off! We were all tired and on the three and a half hour bus ride we all got some much needed rest. Luckily we all got our own rows so we had room to stretch and become as comfortable as we possible could on a coach bus!

When we got to Paihia it was night out so we had no clue what the area looked like. But we checked into our hotsel, the Mousetrap, and got settled. Then we walked right across the street to Salty Bar for some food and drinks. Nicki and Feli fell in love with the video jukebox! When you choose a song, on the TV's it plays the music video too. They couldn't stop picking songs.... :)

The next day it started out gloomy and some rain, of course. But that didn't stop us from exploring! We walked the beach to a place called Waitangi Bay, where the Waitangi Treaty Ground. This is where the first treaty was signed in NZ. Pretty historic place. The beach walk was very nice.

It was about a 20 minute walk to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds but once we got there the weather was beautiful! You have to watch yourself here with the sun because there is no ozone layer over NZ, so lots of sunscreen is essential. That being said, none of us put any on this day. Opps. Luckily we all had layers on so no one got too much sun. But the treaty grounds was a very cool place. Very nice and historical. I learned a lot about the Maori history and how NZ become a commonwealth.

The flag pole is where the treaty was signed

We walked around the grounds for a while and saw the house of James Busby; the writer of the treaty, saw Te Whare Runanga, a typical Maori meeting house; and two Maori war canoes.

After that we left the grounds and decided to go on a hike and go see the Haruru Falls. It was about a 6km walk one way from the treaty grounds. It was a great long hike and was a pretty easy, just long. The hike walked all the with the Waitangi River that leads to the ocean. Again, it looked like a forest but we saw some cool birds, spooky little swamp area, and Calla Lilies. Calla Lilies are everywhere around here! Really beautiful!

After around two hours of hiking we came to the falls! Since it has been raining all the time in the area the falls were at full force!

As you can see in the picture it was getting a bit dark so we decide to look at the local cartoon map that we got at the hostel, the same kind I looked at in Waiheke Island, for a road route back. Bad idea. The road that looked like a residential road turned out to be a highway. So we had to walk 6km back on the highway. And it got dark. And this is the dark dark with no street lights, no city lights, no lights at all dark dark. Luckily Bastion had a flashlight or "torch" as they call it here and we were able to see the cliffs on the side of us while we were walking and have the cars see us. Also this wasn't a straight highway, it was a curvy, hilly highway so there were plenty of blind sports for cars. After another long, scary, dark, fun, adventurous, walk we finally made it back to the town. Phew.

The next morning we were up and ready for a Dolphin/Whale Cruise! It was a beautiful day for a nice cruise in the ocean! In the first 30 minutes we saw large group of dolphins with babies! There were also a few penguins too!!! YAY!!! I finally got to see my beloved penguins!! They were small ones diving in and out of the water with the dolphins. So cool!

We also went to and through "The Hole in the Rock" which is an island off the coast, stopped at Otehei Bay for lunch, and cruised around and saw many small islands. And sad to say we did not see any whales. Still a great cruise though with great scenery!

After that we took the afternoon and relaxed, went to the grocery store, and made a full on spaghetti dinner complete with Skittles for desert! It was great to cook an Italian dinner for my three great friends or by this time we stared calling ourselves "the family." :P

Yum!

After dinner we met two nice people from the San Francisco and France and chatted the night away with them, we all learned and revealed a little too much about ourselves that night with a very fun game.

The next morning was an early morning as we were traveling to the northern most tip of NZ! It was a crappy day but full of activities!! We went to Manginangina Forest where they Maori got the huge trees to make their war canoes; Cape Reinga, the northern most part; did some sand dune surfing (in the rain); drove down 90 mile beach on the west coast; and went the an amazing fish and chips restaurant where they get the fish right off the boats because they are right next to the marina! 

The rain, wind, and fog can't stop us!

So much fun!!

The day was full of amazing activities! The night was our last night in Paihia so we made it a great one! 

Sunday, 12 September morning was again an early morning and we had to catch the naked bus by 7:30 am. We had a bus ride back to Auckland and then from Auckland we had a long bus ride to Rotorua where we were to start our first job! Nicki found a job for the four of us - painting at a hostel in exchange for accommodation! Yay! Free! Well for the most part... paint two days for a weeks worth of accommodation...not bad at all! So we were off to our next town and got ready for more memories and fun times! :)

Waiheke Island: 3-5 September / Auckland: 6-8 September

Carrying my large backpack, small backpack, and messenger bag is quite the task. First it is hard to repack everything and have it fit again when they are all busting at the seams, but I made it work! :) My first ferry ride was great! Love all the different ways of transportation!

So I finally got out of Auckland. I stayed at a very small hostel here called Kina Backpackers. It is run by a husband and wife,  Erin and Luke, who have three children under the age of five. Wow. They were very hospitable and so nice. Luke picked me up from the ferry station and another girl, Dina, who is studying in Auckland who is originally from the Congo but moved to Texas three years ago. Such an amazing person!

Kina Backpackers

The first night, Dina and I went into the Waiheke "downtown." We took a short walk to the bus and took it into town. We had no clue what to expect. We weren't expecting a rainy, windy, cold night though, which it turned out to be! So we were both starving and didn't know the town so we just walked, or ran at times to warm up, up and down the main street and found a place. Some very nice people worked there. We got some good food and drinks to warm up! But then they were closing and they accidentally told us the wrong time the bus came and we had to wait outside in the weather for about 30 minutes. Made it back to Kina though!

This is the view I woke up to in the morning.....

....not bad right? Erin and Luke made fresh homemade bread for the backpackers too, for free! Love free stuff. 

On Saturday, 4 September, Dina and I decided to go to Rocky Bay on the island and go for a hike and go for some wine tasting. The hike was again, not what we expected. All the information a local map gave us was the location of it, not what the terrain was, how difficult, or how long it was. But we still decided to go with it! Since it was raining the whole night before it was quite the muddy trek! It was very hilly and tight, small trails at times. But it was totally worth it!

View from a beach along the trail

It was a very nice, muddy trail, but we made it to the much needed vineyard called Tu Whau! We had a few tastes and then went on our way. After a long morning and mid-afternoon of hiking we went back into town. There we had some much needed food and went to some art galleries. I was getting tired of spending so much on food so I finally purchased some food at a small grocery store. I got some bananas, bread, peanut butter, and jelly! Some good food to make for any meal of the day and easily transportable! I believe I will be living off of this for most of my time here in NZ!

That night we went to a restaurant on the beach close to our hostel. We were right next to the bakery being displayed so we had to get a piece of chocolate cake with some white filling and strawberry sauce on top. Yum. No more needs to be said. :)

The next day, Dina and I walked along the beach and then headed to the Forest and Bird Onetangi Reserve at the end of it. Again, it was a very difficult to read trail. This one wasn't muddy as the one before, but it was for sure harder to navigate. It looked like we were in the jungle! Very hard to tell where the trail went at times. Should of brought a machete. :P

It was a very nice hike though and again we made it out safe! After the hike we caught the bus back to the ferry station and back to Auckland. Dina and I went to her place so I could use the internet, for free because it costs money everywhere you go, and she was nice enough to let me spend the night on the couch there, for free! :) Thanks Dina!!

The morning after I went back to IEP to meet a girl I knew that was coming to NZ from Minnesota, Nicki. I worked with her sister at MPR this summer and she introduced us and we planned on meeting once we were both in NZ! So that day we went to the top of the Sky Tower, the tallest building in the southern hemisphere, and I showered her around the main areas of Auckland. I stayed in a different hostel that night called Nomads because ACB was not for me to say it nicely.

The next day Nicki had IEP orientation and she introduced me to one of her hostel roommates who is also through IEP, Felicitas from Germany! That afternoon we went to a happy hour and met some more people! Needless to say it was a very long night and have many memories; BlueSTONE Room, Globe Bar, cross dressers, tea pots, firemen, more tea pots, Spice Girls. :)

Outside Cassette
 Left to Right: Bastian (Germany), Me, Erik (Norway), Feli (Germany), Bobby (USA),  Nicki (USA)

The next morning, Nicki and I had to be out of our hostels by 10 am. We made it! Troopers! Nicki and I talked earlier about going north of Auckland to go to the Bay of Islands and Bastian and Feli decided to join us too! Best decision ever.

We booked a bus ticket on Naked Bus and that afternoon we were on our way to Paihai in the Bay of Islands!

Auckland: 29 August - 3 September

Kia ora! or "Hello" in Maori! My adventure has finally started! It was a long travel day with flights and layovers, GRB->ORD->LAX->AKL, but I am finally here! So Auckland, New Zealand... the countries largest city with around a third of the population, it is a big city with people walking everywhere, you can cross the intersections diagonally, and all the different types of shops you would find in any big city, from very cheap to expensive.

Everything I brought for a year....not enough or too much?!

Speaking of expensive...WOW! My bank account is not going to like this city. It kind of scared me the first week because of how expensive EVERYTHING is. Good to hear that this is the most expensive city in the country. 

So my first hostel experience was alright, it is called X-Base: ACB. It was kind of a hole and crowded....but the first two nights I have a six bedroom dorm to myself. Pro: easily cured my jetleg and got some much needed rest, Con: hard to meet people. 

My first hostel!

During my orientation at IEP, the organization that is here for help if I need them, I met a girl from New Jersey/Texas, Dana. She was a very nice girl and it was nice to have her around to travel around Auckland with and figure out the bank account, phone situation, what to do next, etc. I spent the next few days with her until she left on Saturday, 4 September.

On Tuesday, 31 August, we took a free tour of Auckland with a bussing company called Kiwi Expereience. It was a great way to get out of the downtown part of Auckland and see the surrounding area. We walked under to the middle of the Auckland Harbour Bridge; yes, it is spelt right :) where this pic was taken...

Then we drove across the bridge and went to a town across the harbor (I'll spell it the US way now) to a town called Devonport. It is a nice small little town and I had my first NZ Fish and Chips! Yum!! This town also houses NZ's Navy, the two boats they have... they also had an old WWII bunker and a large disappearing gun in the ground that would of been used there too. It had some great views of the Pacific Ocean and Rangitoto Island, NZ's newest volcano. From there we went across the harbor again and found a beach to walk along and to another WWII bunker with more amazing views.

The end of the rainbow!

The rest of the week I spent mostly around downtown. On Thursday, 2 September, I went to the Auckland War Memorial Museum, where I learned a lot about the Maori history, the countries WWI and WWII history, and about the land and animals that live/lived on the country. By the weekend I was ready to get out of Auckland and see what the real NZ had to offer. So on Friday, 3 September I took a 35 minute ferry to the Waiheke Island.