I know it's been quite some time since I have uploaded anything on here, but I have finally finished my video for Australia and New Zealand. Just follow the link below and it will take you to YouTube where my video is posted!
LINK: https://youtu.be/mJ3m-nYfkm0
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Friday, 14 October - Sunday, 16 October
Friday, 14 October 2016
The past few Friday nights Ryan, Tamara, Amy, and I have all been going out to get dessert. It's become some sort of ritualistic thing. This past Friday Tamara told Ryan and I that were were going to be doing something active, but wouldn't let us know what we were doing! So, we all piled in the car, along with Tristan, who is from Malaysia, and drove to The Green Trampoline. We got there and other people from Weerona showed up and it was a large trampoline gym. So, we ran and jumped around racing each other on the trampolines, playing games, and pushing each other around. Fun, tiring, and wasn't dessert, but we didn't mind.
Saturday, 15 October 2016
Saturday was actually pretty boring.....did some homework and hung out with people at night. Not much to report.
Sunday, 16 October 2016
Located about 15 minutes from Weerona is the Southern Hemisphere's largest Buddhist Temple, Nan Tien Temple. I don't really have too many photos because we were not allowed to take pictures inside the buildings. I enjoy being able to step out and experience a different culture than I am used to.
A few people from Weerona went, but I did not know them very well and there was another American named Sandra who I have talked with at dinner and in passing and we walked around the temple together. We walked in the Pagoda, the main Temple, and climbed this large hill at the back of the property.
When we started to climb the hill we expected something to be up there or a really pretty view, but there wasn't. There were bushes in the way and not much of a view in any direction.
I am currently having trouble getting photos off of my phone so I'll try to upload later!
We got back to Weerona and went to the BBQ for lunch. Many people were going to the beach because it was a nice hot day, but I think I left my swimsuit in New Zealand so I couldn't go. Instead Harry, Jess and I went to Max Brenner, which is like a coffee shop but it's focused on chocolate, and pretended it was my birthday to see if we could get a free brownie. It didn't work and we ended up having a little fondue plate to split.
Wednesday, 19 October 2016
Harry and I were messing around last week acting like we were a band in his room and the joke spiraled into something real.
It all started when Harry transformed his room into "Weerona Goon Bar" and plated some classy jazz with his computer simulating a fireplace. I picked up Harry's bass guitar and started acting like I was playing bass in the song. Harry followed suit and picked up the guitar and we started to act like a band.
Harry came up with the name which was TimTam and Jaffa because Tim Tams are brown and Harry has brown hair and Jaffas are red candies and I have red hair. Not much thought into it, but it stuck
The next day Harry wanted to jam so I came over and he taught me a few bass riffs and we came up with the idea to play a show in his room.We learned a couple songs and played a gig last night! I have never done something like that before! It was really cool to have people show up and be energetic and excited to watch you perform. We played in Harry's room and stood on the bed while Jess (Harry's girlfriend) played the drum pad and sang in the corner because there was no space. It was really fun to play, but everyone was singing so loud that I could barely hear what Harry was playing on the guitar, what Jess was singing, and I could not hear what I was playing at all! Everyone who came seemed to enjoy themselves....so maybe it'll happen again?
The past few Friday nights Ryan, Tamara, Amy, and I have all been going out to get dessert. It's become some sort of ritualistic thing. This past Friday Tamara told Ryan and I that were were going to be doing something active, but wouldn't let us know what we were doing! So, we all piled in the car, along with Tristan, who is from Malaysia, and drove to The Green Trampoline. We got there and other people from Weerona showed up and it was a large trampoline gym. So, we ran and jumped around racing each other on the trampolines, playing games, and pushing each other around. Fun, tiring, and wasn't dessert, but we didn't mind.
Saturday, 15 October 2016
Saturday was actually pretty boring.....did some homework and hung out with people at night. Not much to report.
Sunday, 16 October 2016
Located about 15 minutes from Weerona is the Southern Hemisphere's largest Buddhist Temple, Nan Tien Temple. I don't really have too many photos because we were not allowed to take pictures inside the buildings. I enjoy being able to step out and experience a different culture than I am used to.
A few people from Weerona went, but I did not know them very well and there was another American named Sandra who I have talked with at dinner and in passing and we walked around the temple together. We walked in the Pagoda, the main Temple, and climbed this large hill at the back of the property.
When we started to climb the hill we expected something to be up there or a really pretty view, but there wasn't. There were bushes in the way and not much of a view in any direction.
I am currently having trouble getting photos off of my phone so I'll try to upload later!
We got back to Weerona and went to the BBQ for lunch. Many people were going to the beach because it was a nice hot day, but I think I left my swimsuit in New Zealand so I couldn't go. Instead Harry, Jess and I went to Max Brenner, which is like a coffee shop but it's focused on chocolate, and pretended it was my birthday to see if we could get a free brownie. It didn't work and we ended up having a little fondue plate to split.
Wednesday, 19 October 2016
It all started when Harry transformed his room into "Weerona Goon Bar" and plated some classy jazz with his computer simulating a fireplace. I picked up Harry's bass guitar and started acting like I was playing bass in the song. Harry followed suit and picked up the guitar and we started to act like a band.
Harry came up with the name which was TimTam and Jaffa because Tim Tams are brown and Harry has brown hair and Jaffas are red candies and I have red hair. Not much thought into it, but it stuck
The next day Harry wanted to jam so I came over and he taught me a few bass riffs and we came up with the idea to play a show in his room.We learned a couple songs and played a gig last night! I have never done something like that before! It was really cool to have people show up and be energetic and excited to watch you perform. We played in Harry's room and stood on the bed while Jess (Harry's girlfriend) played the drum pad and sang in the corner because there was no space. It was really fun to play, but everyone was singing so loud that I could barely hear what Harry was playing on the guitar, what Jess was singing, and I could not hear what I was playing at all! Everyone who came seemed to enjoy themselves....so maybe it'll happen again?
Here's a photo someone took from our gig.
We used this photo and the one below to promote the show.
Another promotional photo we posted on the Weerona Facebook Page
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Sunday, October 9: Bondi Breakdown
There was a party I was supposed to go to today that pretty much all of Weerona was going to, but I bailed out and asked Tamara and Amy if they wanted to go to Bondi Beach instead because it was one place I still had yet to go.
We started our journey at 930 to the train station and upon arriving we saw that the trains were closed and they had replacement buses to the city. No problem right? Yes, big annoying problem. The buses stopped at every train station up to Sydney and took surface roads all the way into the city. We then got on a train to Bondi Junction. If you take the train from Wollongong to Sydney the trip is about an hour and a half and that'll give you an idea how long this bus trip took.
Now Tamara lives in Sydney and we were joking about her being our tour guide and she lead the way to Bondi Beach.....but lead us the wrong way for maybe 20-30 minutes? We stopped in a park and asked for directions and then had to walk up to the bus station to take a bus to the beach. It was either a 40 minute walk or walk back up to the bus station and take a short bus ride. When we walked into the bus station there was a really long line to get on the bus and we barely made it on the bus. Halfway to the beach the bus broke down and we had to walk the rest of the way there. We didn't arrive at the beach until about 2 pm.
We got lunch at Moo which is a burger place and I got a burger with a milkshake that had Snickers, caramel, chocolate sauce, and crushed nuts.
We then walked up and down Bondi Beach, which was a better beach than I was expecting. Everyone told me that it's not that great of a beach. I thought the waves were good and it was pretty big which was nice. I can see the flip side though because it is a very touristy beach with a ton of tourists there, it's crowded, and the multitudes of surfers take all the waves.
After Tamaranda Beach we took a quick bus ride back to Bondi where we struggled to get on a bus and when we finally got on a bus that was going to take us back into the city it broke down! We couldn't believe it twice in one day a bus broke down! Since it was a Sunday all of the buses were full and we had to walk back a couple stops to catch another bus!
When we got into the city we took a train to central station and then took a direct bus to Wollongong Station.
As we were driving down into Wollongong I looked out the window and thought "Home." Which surprised me, but then I thought about it and it made sense. This past week I have realized I have become more comfortable here and I feel like I have been more of myself. Not that I haven't been myself, but I just feel more comfortable here. This is also the longest and farthest I have ever been from home and its nice to know that I can feel comfortable 15,000 miles away from home and call wherever I am home.
In the end we took 6 buses, 2 of which broke down, 2 trains, and 8 hours of travel time when on a normal day it would have only taken 4 for a round trip to Bondi. But in the end we all enjoyed the day and had fun on our weird little adventure
We started our journey at 930 to the train station and upon arriving we saw that the trains were closed and they had replacement buses to the city. No problem right? Yes, big annoying problem. The buses stopped at every train station up to Sydney and took surface roads all the way into the city. We then got on a train to Bondi Junction. If you take the train from Wollongong to Sydney the trip is about an hour and a half and that'll give you an idea how long this bus trip took.
Now Tamara lives in Sydney and we were joking about her being our tour guide and she lead the way to Bondi Beach.....but lead us the wrong way for maybe 20-30 minutes? We stopped in a park and asked for directions and then had to walk up to the bus station to take a bus to the beach. It was either a 40 minute walk or walk back up to the bus station and take a short bus ride. When we walked into the bus station there was a really long line to get on the bus and we barely made it on the bus. Halfway to the beach the bus broke down and we had to walk the rest of the way there. We didn't arrive at the beach until about 2 pm.
We got lunch at Moo which is a burger place and I got a burger with a milkshake that had Snickers, caramel, chocolate sauce, and crushed nuts.
After walking up and down the beach we walked to Tamaranda Beach and followed a nice path that also had many tourists and walkers on it.
On the edge of the beach there was a pool (that I think was filled with seawater?) so you could swim laps in or have a more controlled swim area.
Amy dared me to go to the edge of the cliff
This is Tamara and Amy. (Amy and Tamara if you are reading this you should have expected me to do something with those photos you took!)
When we got into the city we took a train to central station and then took a direct bus to Wollongong Station.
As we were driving down into Wollongong I looked out the window and thought "Home." Which surprised me, but then I thought about it and it made sense. This past week I have realized I have become more comfortable here and I feel like I have been more of myself. Not that I haven't been myself, but I just feel more comfortable here. This is also the longest and farthest I have ever been from home and its nice to know that I can feel comfortable 15,000 miles away from home and call wherever I am home.
In the end we took 6 buses, 2 of which broke down, 2 trains, and 8 hours of travel time when on a normal day it would have only taken 4 for a round trip to Bondi. But in the end we all enjoyed the day and had fun on our weird little adventure
Sunday, October 9, 2016
September 27 - October 3rd: New Zealand!!!!! Part 2
Wednesday, September 28
We woke up, made breakfast, and then hopped on a little bus to Wai-O-Tapu which is a geothermal site. The first stop was some mud pools and then we went off to see Lady Knox Geyser.
After the mud pool we went to see the Lady Knox Geyser go off.
After the geyser we got back on the bus and walked around Wai-O-Tapu. Wai-O-Tapu is a park with a whole bunch of hot pools and other natural features.
We only had about 1 hour and 15 minutes to go through until our bus left again. We raced around the entire park due to our time restraint. We would get to one feature stop and admire for about five minutes and then would race off to the next spot.
After walking around we got back on the bus and got off at Waimangu which is another thermal site. It is a valley that you hike down into and walk next to the hot river, pools, and craters. We hiked to the end and waited on the lake for a bus to take us up to the top so we could catch our bus.
We got back to our hostel made dinner and then just hung around our hostel playing pool. Everything in Rotorua closes at either 8 or 10 so there's not much for us to do at night unfortunately.
Thursday, September 29
We woke up and bought ponchos. It had been raining on and off pretty much the whole time we've been in New Zealand and we were definitely going to need them because we were going mountain biking in the Whakarewarewa Redwood Forest! We rented road bikes from the bike place next to our hostel and rode them on the road and on some muddy trails to their shop at the forest to trade them in for mountain bikes. This ride was a little scary because the bikes were not made for some of the trails we had to take to get our mountain bikes so our back tires skidded a little at certain points.
We traded in our road bikes for the mountain bikes and rode up to the redwoods. The trails in the forest were so much fun! They were single tracks with walls to ride up on, slopes to gain speed, and lots and lots of mud. It rained while we were out here, but it didn't stop us. We did some trails that took us right into the bush (which I don't know if it's considered a rain forest or the bush?) that was loaded with really, really lush green plants and ferns everywhere. It was very cool to ride around these tracks.
We came back after 4 hours of riding When we dropped off our bikes the guys at the shop told us about some night market that was taking place that night so we figured we should check them
out later.
When we got back into our hostel everyone in our room was new and they saw how muddy our legs were and looked at us as if we were crazy. They asked us if we were okay and what we had done. We assured them we didn't do anything crazy....but going mountain biking in the rain wasn't one our brightest ideas, so it really was crazy.
We made a luxurious dinner of nachos and hung out a little bit and went out to the night markets. The markets were cool but kinda small and not a whole lot going on so we just got some dumplings.
We wanted to do something else so we decided to go to the Polynesian Spa down the road from our hostel. It's actually one of the top ten spas in the world I guess.....but really we just went because we wanted to check out the hot springs there. We sat in pools ranging from 100 to 107 degrees. The spa was cool because there was one pool that was located right on the lakefront so we sat there for quite a while and enjoyed the view.
Friday, September 29
We slept in a little and caught a bus out to Ogo. Ogo is so much fun because you jump in a giant inflatable ball filled with water and roll down a hill! They filled the ball up for us with warm (luckily) and we jumped in and rolled down the track that had switchbacks. Since there was warm water we could really see outside, but we were sliding all over. It's kind of like a water slide, but you are falling over the person you are riding with.
We walked back towards town and came across Rainbow Springs and Ryan wanted to see kiwis because it seemed kind of wrong to come to New Zealand and not see a kiwi. So we walked around Rainbow Springs which has some animals but mainly birds and fish. So we saw a bird show, rode on a little water ride they had there (and got more wet than we were expecting), and saw kiwis! I can't post any pictures the kiwis though because they wouldn't allow any photography in the kiwi enclosure.
After dinner of Mecca Kebabs we hung out with some Germans and a Danish guy from our room and watched The Hobbit for a little and went to bed.
Saturday, October 1
We woke up early and jumped in a van to go white water rafting on the Kaituna River. The journey down the river seemed quite short but the rapids were pretty constant and we went down a 3 meter waterfall and a 7 meter waterfall! It's the world's highest commercially rafted waterfall. We flipped after the big waterfall....so we kinda made it over. The guides told us that 26 tons of water go over the fall each second!
The river itself was really pretty. We were in a canyon that had greenery all around and actually got pretty narrow.
After rafting and lunch we went to the Rotorua Museum. We found out it used to be a bath house and spent way too long in the bath house section of the museum because the other half was all about the Maori and their background. It was way more interesting than the Auckland Museum so we spent too much time in there and the museum closed and the docents had to come find us to get us to leave.
Sunday, October 2
We woke up and went to Skyline Rotorua and went luging! We had to take a gondola up the mountain because that's where all of the activities are.
Now this isn't the luge that you see in the Olympics but they are like little scooters that you sit down on and go down a hill. When you get to the bottom of the hill you jump on a ski lift to the top of the luge run.
We woke up, made breakfast, and then hopped on a little bus to Wai-O-Tapu which is a geothermal site. The first stop was some mud pools and then we went off to see Lady Knox Geyser.
After the mud pool we went to see the Lady Knox Geyser go off.
This is the only photo I have of it. I took a video of it going off that I will try to upload it a later.
We only had about 1 hour and 15 minutes to go through until our bus left again. We raced around the entire park due to our time restraint. We would get to one feature stop and admire for about five minutes and then would race off to the next spot.
Standing in front of this pool was quite hot and uncomfortable.
We found the world's largest pool of Mountain Dew
After walking around we got back on the bus and got off at Waimangu which is another thermal site. It is a valley that you hike down into and walk next to the hot river, pools, and craters. We hiked to the end and waited on the lake for a bus to take us up to the top so we could catch our bus.
Top of the valley
This was a cool pool because I had never seen a liquid this blue before. We also came to this pool at a good time, because it is only this color after some sort of rare activity.
We found some frogs swimming in the water on our hike. Can you spot one?
We got back to our hostel made dinner and then just hung around our hostel playing pool. Everything in Rotorua closes at either 8 or 10 so there's not much for us to do at night unfortunately.
Thursday, September 29
We woke up and bought ponchos. It had been raining on and off pretty much the whole time we've been in New Zealand and we were definitely going to need them because we were going mountain biking in the Whakarewarewa Redwood Forest! We rented road bikes from the bike place next to our hostel and rode them on the road and on some muddy trails to their shop at the forest to trade them in for mountain bikes. This ride was a little scary because the bikes were not made for some of the trails we had to take to get our mountain bikes so our back tires skidded a little at certain points.
We traded in our road bikes for the mountain bikes and rode up to the redwoods. The trails in the forest were so much fun! They were single tracks with walls to ride up on, slopes to gain speed, and lots and lots of mud. It rained while we were out here, but it didn't stop us. We did some trails that took us right into the bush (which I don't know if it's considered a rain forest or the bush?) that was loaded with really, really lush green plants and ferns everywhere. It was very cool to ride around these tracks.
We came back after 4 hours of riding When we dropped off our bikes the guys at the shop told us about some night market that was taking place that night so we figured we should check them
out later.
When we got back into our hostel everyone in our room was new and they saw how muddy our legs were and looked at us as if we were crazy. They asked us if we were okay and what we had done. We assured them we didn't do anything crazy....but going mountain biking in the rain wasn't one our brightest ideas, so it really was crazy.
I thought that I didn't take any photos while biking, but I guess I took this one so this is one of the access roads we were one while in the forest.
This is me trying to look like a hardcore biker after our intense ride...but I just look like a nerd in a blue poncho :)
I regret not taking a better photo but this is my shoes a couple days after biking.
After biking I went to Fat Dog Cafe and got this which is like a lighter and more cakier chocolate fudge with coconut with whipped cream on the side.
We made a luxurious dinner of nachos and hung out a little bit and went out to the night markets. The markets were cool but kinda small and not a whole lot going on so we just got some dumplings.
These are the dumplings with a sweet chili sauce and a per-peri mayonnaise.
We wanted to do something else so we decided to go to the Polynesian Spa down the road from our hostel. It's actually one of the top ten spas in the world I guess.....but really we just went because we wanted to check out the hot springs there. We sat in pools ranging from 100 to 107 degrees. The spa was cool because there was one pool that was located right on the lakefront so we sat there for quite a while and enjoyed the view.
Friday, September 29
We slept in a little and caught a bus out to Ogo. Ogo is so much fun because you jump in a giant inflatable ball filled with water and roll down a hill! They filled the ball up for us with warm (luckily) and we jumped in and rolled down the track that had switchbacks. Since there was warm water we could really see outside, but we were sliding all over. It's kind of like a water slide, but you are falling over the person you are riding with.
This is what an Ogo ball looks like. Inside the entire thing there is a smaller one that you go into and they fill it up with a little water.
We walked back towards town and came across Rainbow Springs and Ryan wanted to see kiwis because it seemed kind of wrong to come to New Zealand and not see a kiwi. So we walked around Rainbow Springs which has some animals but mainly birds and fish. So we saw a bird show, rode on a little water ride they had there (and got more wet than we were expecting), and saw kiwis! I can't post any pictures the kiwis though because they wouldn't allow any photography in the kiwi enclosure.
After dinner of Mecca Kebabs we hung out with some Germans and a Danish guy from our room and watched The Hobbit for a little and went to bed.
Saturday, October 1
We woke up early and jumped in a van to go white water rafting on the Kaituna River. The journey down the river seemed quite short but the rapids were pretty constant and we went down a 3 meter waterfall and a 7 meter waterfall! It's the world's highest commercially rafted waterfall. We flipped after the big waterfall....so we kinda made it over. The guides told us that 26 tons of water go over the fall each second!
The river itself was really pretty. We were in a canyon that had greenery all around and actually got pretty narrow.
After rafting and lunch we went to the Rotorua Museum. We found out it used to be a bath house and spent way too long in the bath house section of the museum because the other half was all about the Maori and their background. It was way more interesting than the Auckland Museum so we spent too much time in there and the museum closed and the docents had to come find us to get us to leave.
The Rotorua Museum
The gardens in front of it
We were able to go on the roof and I thought the architecture was interesting because it seems to have Scandinavian influences or something along those lines.
Inside upstairs. It kind of felt like some sort of palace, but I think that's just me being nerdy and envisioning some castle.
Inside the Maori Exhibit.
The building our hostel was in had four floors. The top three was the hostel and the lower half was a basement cinema, bar, and rockwall. The rockwall went all the way up to the top of the building and each floor of the hostel had windows to look out at the climbers. After dinner we went to the basement cinema and saw The Free State of Jones. The theater we were in was very small and had only 13 seats in it and two of which were recliners off to the side with a coffee table. It was a very different theater experience because it was almost a full theater but it could only hold the 4 or 5 individual groups that were in it!
Sunday, October 2
We woke up and went to Skyline Rotorua and went luging! We had to take a gondola up the mountain because that's where all of the activities are.
Now this isn't the luge that you see in the Olympics but they are like little scooters that you sit down on and go down a hill. When you get to the bottom of the hill you jump on a ski lift to the top of the luge run.
This is our confirmation email for when we booked luging but this is what they look like.
Overlooking Rotorua and Lake Rotorua.
This is one of the luge runs and the ski lift.
I don't know why they called it Rotovegas, but it made for a cool photo.
We walked back from Skyline when we were done there and came across this "tree". It is made up of bikes and at night it lights up with green lights on it.
For dinner we went to a Maori tribe! We were bused out to one and we were given strict instructions to not laugh or smile when the Maori arrived in order to not be disrespectful. Now where we were was made to look like a Maori tribe so it wasn't still how the Maori live.
The men, who were the warriors, arrived on a boat with their chief and the women appeared at the front of the tribe. The men got out of the boat and started to wave their spears around and they made the typical Maori face of spitting their tongue out while keeping their eyes wide open. Each bus had to chose a chief and all these actions were directed towards our chiefs because the warriors were trying to sense if we were on their grounds peacefully or as an act of war. After they accepted us they broke us up into different groups and we went to different stations where they told us about training to be warriors, games (which Ryan and I took part in), we were taught how to perform the Haka, and other things about their tribe.
The warriors arriving.
The women over the entrance to the village.
If you look closely you will see how wide open his eyes are.
The Chief addressing us.
At this station she was telling us about what they would use the plant she is holding for weaving.
This is me participating in how they would train warriors. I guess you could say I am a Maori Warrior now.
I asked this guy why they spit their tongues out and he said that it is a warning to other that if you get too close that they will eat you. And yes, the Maori would eat the people they killed believing that if you ate them you would have their spirit in you and you would gain their abilities.
This is the hangi pit where our dinner was prepared.
This is our hangi meal!
After showing us how they prepared our meal they lead us into a large room and performed some songs and dances for us. Then to end it the men performed the haka for us.
For dinner we had lamb, chicken, mussels (which I tried for the first time), potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, and some Maori tea that was really good. Since the food was prepared in a pit in the ground it all had a sort of subtle smoky, earthy flavor to it, and it was pretty good. I wouldn't say I would die for it but I enjoyed a buffet dinner after living the past week on a dime.
For dessert they had sticky date pudding and pavlova. Every time they mentioned pavlova they would say "And we have New Zealand's famous.......pavlova" and everyone would look around at each other and smile and laugh. Ryan and I had no idea what pavlova was and we'd just look at each other and look confused and then shrug it off. Basically what pavlova is like meringue, but not hard but soft and moist. I enjoyed it because it was fruity and something different, but I wasn't too crazy about it.
After dinner we walked back to our hostel and packed to leave for the next morning.
Monday, October 3rd
We went to the Rotorua Airport and it is hands down the smallest airport I've ever flown out of! No security and instead they just ask you questions and only propeller planes fly in and out of it. So we took a 40 minute flight to Auckland and then flew to Sydney.
Our plane!
View of Lake Rotorua and the island in the middle of it from the Rotorua Airport Tarmac.
Thus concludes my New Zealand adventure so far. I want to go back to the south island because I have heard that it is completely different from the north.
I realized I didn't put up a lot of photos for some of my active activities, but don't worry! I am working on a video that I will upload a link to in a future blog post so you can all see what we did!
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