So this will be my final post about New Zealand (I know I've been home for a week now, but I'm just now getting around to it!) I have to go back in time from my previous post to when Courtney was still here. On her last Friday, Shaina and I drove wanted to take her to Auckland since she had never been. We were able to take Petro's car, so we left on Friday after school. We got to our hostel at the YMCA (after getting lost in the city for a bit) and were told that we didn't have a booking with them. Shaina and Courtney went back through their emails, but neither of them could find a confirmation email. Luckily we asked if there were other hostels around and we were able to find one right up the street. It could have been really bad since it was a Friday night, so we were lucky to find a booking so close. We checked into that hostel and then headed out down the main street in the city, Queen Street. We had asked some people what to do in Auckland, and we were told it was worth checking out the Viaduct Harbor. Since we didn't want to drive, we decided to walk there. It took us awhile since we had to go all the way to the end of the street to the harbor, but we made it in about half hour. It was a neat place because there were a ton of restaurants right on the water.
We chose to go to a sports bar where we got some appetizers. We ended up watching some rugby (for the first time since being in NZ which is crazy since rugby is huge there). We spent a lot of time trying to figure out what was going on and what the point of some things were. Personally, I thought it seemed pretty boring. It was just a bunch of guys rolling around on the floor and pushing each other...not my thing. After dinner (which we didn't get to until about 9) we decided to just walk back to our hostel. We didn't know what else there was to do at night, and we had big plans for the next day.
On Saturday morning we wanted to go to a farmer's market. We had looked online to try and find one close to us and ended up finding one called "Blockhouse Bay". We went to find it and when we got there, we realized that it wasn't really a farmer's market but more of large garage sale. It wasn't really what we were looking for, but I did find a cool necklace, so I was happy. After the market, we decided to head to the Skytower. The Skytower is the tallest building in Auckland, and you can go up in it and even jump off of it. Since we already went bungee jumping, we didn't do the Skyjump, but we did go up into it.
Once inside, we got to go up to the 53rd or so floor. They had glass where you could stand on and look down to the ground which was pretty cool. I didn't think it was that scary looking down, but there were some people who were getting really freaked out which was fun to watch.
It was cool because they gave you a panorama pamphlet with the skyline to show people what everything was in the distance and other attractions in Auckland. We got to see One Tree Hill, the museum, the university, Mount Eden, Mount Rangitoto, and we could even see the Coromandel Peninsula in the distance. It was fun being able to find things in the distance from the map.
After we were on the 53rd floor, we got to take another elevator up to the 60th floor. The view was really pretty and it was cool that you could walk all the way around and really look at everything. We stayed up there for quite some time. You were also able to watch people to the Skyjump. They had a little monitor that says when the next person is jumping and then you can go to a certain part and all of a sudden the skyjumper would just fall right in front of your face down to the ground. It looked pretty fun, but you don't bounce up and down like you do in a bungee because you could hit the tower or another building.
Eventually, it was time to head to the airport. It was really sad saying goodbye. Although we were only together for 6 weeks, it's crazy how much we did together. We were all constantly together while traveling, at school, and at home, so it was weird thinking that we had to say goodbye. After we dropped her off we headed back to Thames for one final week in NZ.
We didn't do much my final week in Thames. I had one final week of teaching left, so I was able to get some closure with my classes. It was book week at the school, so they had a bunch of competitions for the students and teachers regarding books and authors. On Wednesday, they had dress up day, so Roopu's had to coordinate their outfits according to a book and then they had a competition for the best dressed Roopu. My Roopu couldn't decide what they wanted to go as. At first it was Marvel characters, then just superheroes in general, then it was villains as well, and then it basically just became heroes because someone wanted to go as Harry Potter and Gandalf. We were kind of all over the place. Naturally, I went as Captain America.
We didn't win the competition, unfortunately. For Year 9, the Roopu that dressed up as Bible characters won (I actually thought it was super clever, so I wasn't even mad) and Petro's Roopu won with dressing up as Peter Pan characters. They all looked super legit, but they were missing a Wendy. My personal favorite was a class that dressed up as the character's from Holes. That is one of my favorite movies and books, so I thought it was super awesome!
On Wednesday night, we wanted to say thank you to Petro, Gary, Zac, and Karien for all that they had done for us, so we decided to make them dinner. We made chicken Alfredo with mushrooms, spinach, and roasted tomatoes with a salad and bread. It ended up turning out pretty nice which we were happy with. Gary made a Pavlova for dessert. I don't really know how to describe it, but apparently they are a pretty big deal in NZ. Other than dinner on Wednesday night, we did the Windows walk on Thursday (which I wrote about in a different post) and then we had a Roopu Feed on Friday. This meant that students brought in food to our Roopu time and we just got to feast. I made puppy chow since my students loved it the first time they had it, and one of my students made me a delicious chocolate cake! We also had other cookies, chips, and candy. It was really good, and it was a nice way to say goodbye to my students.
Finally, I had to say goodbye to Thames and the Jagers. After school we went home and finished packing up our stuff. We went to a cafe and had bought one last pie and ate it back home, so we did that, and Petro made her beet root salad one last time. After our little snack, we loaded up the car and headed to Auckland.
I ended up talking with my grandma's cousin, Dave, who lives in NZ in Avondale (part of Auckland), so Petro and Gary took us there. When we got there, Margaret and Dave were really excited to see us. They were very enthusiastic and were asking Petro and Gary if they wanted to come in for a bit. They said no, we hugged, and then they were gone. I wish I could have had a better goodbye than that, but it was just really chaotic when we got there, so we didn't have the time or space. The Jagers did so much for us, so I really hope I can go to NZ and see them again some day!
Margaret set us up on the couch with some snacks and beverages, and then we talked to them while dinner was getting ready. We ended up eating pumpkin soup and chicken sandwiches that night. Their grandson, Jess, was staying with them as well (who is like my fifth cousin something removed, I don't know), so he helped us set up a movie, Hunger Games: Catching Fire, before going to bed. We hadn't been planning on staying there all weekend, but they had thought that we were, so we ended up canceling our hostel for Sunday night (not Saturday) and were going to come back again. It ended up being really handy since we could leave all of our stuff there.
On Saturday, we woke up and Dave brought us to go and get a rental car. Shaina was having her mom, friend, and brother out to NZ to do two weeks of traveling, so she needed a car to run back and forth from the airport. We said our goodbyes to Dave and then went to the airport to get her friend Leigh. Then we went to a Sushi place where I tried Sushi for the first time ever! I kind of cheated a bit because I got it with chicken inside. I was told since I'm not a huge seafood person that I would probably never want to eat it again if I got raw fish in it the first time. I was a little skeptical at first, but I really didn't mind it. I thought it was good, but I don't see myself eating it very often. Since it was Leigh's first night, we knew she would be tired. We checked into our hostel. the YMCA which we actually had a booking for this time, and then headed out to Queen Street to do some shopping. We went and did a sensory maze which was fun. There were 13 different rooms where you had to use different senses to get through. For example they had a mirror room, an infinity room, and a super dark room where you had to feel your way around. My favorite was the room with a ton of exercise balls filled to the top that you just got to bounce around in. It wasn't my favorite thing we did, but it was definitely different! We ended up eating dinner in a little side alley off the street with a few restaurants on it. It was a nice and quiet place where we got to enjoy being outside. Then we headed back to our hostel for the night.
On Sunday night, we headed back over to Margaret and Dave's. They made us pancakes and then had plans to take us to some sight seeing places in Auckland. The first place we went was to a place called One Tree Hill. Apparently there was a tree here that got cut down, so they planted another one that also got cut down. They have plans to plant another I think, but they haven't done it yet.
The grass was super green and the view was pretty cool. I remember having spotted it way in the distance the previous weekend while in the Skytower, so it was cool looking at the Skytower now from that spot. There were so many people in the park it was crazy. A lot of people were walking up the hill, running through the park, and just enjoying the outdoors. If I lived anywhere near this place I would probably spend a lot of time there.
At the top of the hill there is a monument. This monument is honoring all of the Mauri people I believe. We weren't quite sure exactly, but it had something to do with them.
Now, there are a lot of sheep in NZ, but this park had TONS! They weren't fenced in at all; they were just roaming around the grass and walking across the street. We tried getting our picture taken with them, but they kept running away every time you would walk towards them, so I got one from a distance.
The next place on the agenda was Mt. Eden. Again, I'm really not sure what the purpose of this place was. It was some sort of memorial and it had a really nice view. I thought this would be a good place to take a picture with Dave and Margaret.
After Mt. Eden, we drove to Mission Bay. We didn't get out or anything, but they just wanted to show us a place we could go the following day where there were plenty of restaurants along the ocean. After this, there was one more place they wanted to take us. There are really good beaches in the area, so they took us to a place called Piha. It was about a half hour drive through the woods along a windy road to get to the beach, but it was worth it! It was a black sand beach and the view was really pretty. There were a lot of surfers in the water and the waves were pretty decent. It did seem like a fun beach to be at (when it is summertime of course!)
There is a large rock going into the water called Lion Rock. You can't really tell in the picture, but it kind of looks like a lion lying down, hence the name. You used to be able to climb all the way to the top of it, but now because of safety, you can only go so far up it.
We decided to go up as far as we could. It was really neat seeing the beach from that height and then looking out and seeing the city. I can only imagine living there. It would be it's own paradise considering it takes at least half hour to get back to any other sort of civilization.
We climbed back down and spent a little bit more time just walking around on the beach. Eventually it was time to head back in. Since it was Dave and Margaret's daughter's husband's birthday, we stopped over at their house. I got to meet Jess's brother and sister, Brooke and Alex. They are all related to me somehow, but I really don't know what it would be called. We had a quick drink and then they were headed to dinner. The kids were great. They had so much energy and they thought it was so fun meeting us. I wish we could have spent more time with them.
We ended up going to our own dinner that Dave and Margaret treated us to. We ate at the RSA which is similar to like a VFW or American Legion. You ordered what kind of meet you wanted and then the rest was buffet style. It was actually pretty good. Then we went downstairs where Dave and I challenged Leigh and Shaina to some pool. We ended up winning because Shaina hit the black ball in (I hate winning like that!) Then we went back to Dave and Margaret's, watched the 20 minute video Shaina had made of our trip, and went to bed.
The following morning, I woke up to my last day in New Zealand. We said goodbye to Dave and Margaret and then headed to the Auckland Zoo. I love going to the zoo, and I really wanted to see a kiwi, so I was glad we had time to go. The zoo was HUGE! I thought we would for sure miss something while walking around, but we did pretty well.
We had wanted to go to the kiwi house first, but we couldn't find it, so we went to the red panda and otter spot. They must of still been in their cages because we got there pretty close to opening time, so we couldn't see them. Then we just started slowly making our way around the zoo. We did get to see lemurs which I think are one of the greatest animals ever!
We kept making our rounds around and got to see all kinds of animals such as crocodiles, different fish, and hippos. It's cool because the zoo is set up in territories or regions depending on where the animals are from. I'm sure most zoos are like this, but it made it really convenient in this huge zoo.
We got to see an elephant from Burma which was neat. I would have loved to interact with her, but all of their animal interaction stuff cost a ton of money that I no longer had at this point in the trip. She seemed really small for an elephant. I think she was only 25 or so and she was the only elephant they had in the zoo.
We did end up going to the kiwi house and we did see a kiwi! I don't have pictures since they keep it dark in the house. We were really luck because apparently most people don't even find the kiwi when they go. We saw it running back and forth behind a little hut thing. It was really exciting for us and we felt accomplished. We went to the safari area which unfortunately was being redone, so we didn't get to see any zebras or rhinos which was upsetting. I did see a giraffe, but it was all fenced in, so it was not the same experience. Those animals are some of my favorite, so I was really bummed we went on a day where we couldn't see them. Eventually we made our way back to the red pandas and otters and they were out! I love both of these animals because they are so cute. We watched them for a little bit and then had to head to the airport to pick up Shaina's brother.
After we got her brother Alex from the airport, we headed to Mission Bay for some lunch. We ended up finding an Indian Restaurant with a good lunch special where we could sit outside on the second floor. It had a really nice view and it was a really enjoyable place to eat lunch. Then we went a few minutes down the street to Sea Life. I have been to Sea Life at the Mall of America before and it was okay, so I was hoping this one would be better.
The first animals we saw were penguins so I was really happy! They were all so friendly and would just come up to the class and stand there, and they all looked like they were having a lot of fun just swimming around.
There was a baby King Penguin that was super fluffy. It looked so ridiculous. I loved it. Eventually all of the adults surrounded it almost like they were protecting it. It was a neat thing to watch.
Then we got to see other animals typical of an aquarium. They had some interactive things to do with the displays, and they had a lot of little boards where you can read about the animals.Apparently this giant squid washed up on the shore of some beach, but it wasn't alive. I'm not sure if one of these has ever been captured alive before.
The whole museum is underground, so it is huge. Before seeing the sharks, they had a bunch of displays that showed you different pictures and information about sharks. It's crazy thinking about how big some of these can get!
Eventually we got to a moving belt/sidewalk thing where you had glass all around you and sharks and fish swimming all around you. It was pretty cool because you didn't have to move at all and would be taken in a loop around this huge aquarium. They had a ton of sharks and a ton of fish.
I always find it interesting to think about whether or not the fish can tell they are enclosed or if they really don't mind. It seems like a pretty big tank, so I don't know if they even notice. The belt takes you in a circle and even though it is all the same tank, it's interesting seeing how similar fish stay in the same areas of the tank whereas some just kind of go all over.
The last area we went to was Seahorse Kingdom. They had about six different kinds of sea horses in this area. My favorite were the ones that glowed purple, pink, and blue inside of them. I have no idea how it works, but they are awesome! They also had a cool video that shows how they got the sea horses from the ocean. Because of their bodies, they have to be brought up in a certain way and they have to watch the pressure and buoyancy or something. It was really interesting.
Then it was time to say good bye to Sea Life. It was pretty cool, and it was something fun to do on my last day there. Since my flight wasn't for a few hours, we went to the YMCA so that Shaina, Leigh, and Alex could get checked in. Then we just hung out there until I was dropped off at the airport. It was sad having to say goodbye to Shaina just like it was sad to say goodbye to Courtney. It was so weird thinking about how I was leaving New Zealand. After being there for two and a half months, everything was starting to seem normal. I definitely want to go back. I had such a wonderful experience and I honestly don't know how it could have gone better...Until next time!\
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