Hey Everyone, so right now I am sitting in my own bed, with
my giant sweatpants on…in other words: I got home last night.
The last time I posted we were heading to a barbecue at Bill and Carol's house. It was really delicious and we all had a good time chatting away the evening. The next morning we had Biology presentations, which I hadn't been too excited about but it was just something we had to do. I think my group did really well, we presented on the Beech Forest ecosystem. Friday night we went to the rugby games which was really really fun, I loved the fast paced ness of the game and the energy of the crowd was seriously amazing. Everyone cheered or booed or something, it was never quiet.
Saturday morning Hannah, Ella, Jonny and I left for Queenstown. We got there and immediately were frozen, it wasn't as cold as it is at home, but when we were used to sunburn weather, it was cold. Saturday we ended up napping for a few hours because we were all exhausted and then watched a street performer and actually sat down for a delicious meal of salmon and risotto. Sunday we woke up late and got coffee. We visited an underwater observatory which was really cool because the trout and salmon in the lake are ginormous. We also went on a jet boat ride, which was so fun, we got off looking like we had just gotten out of the shower and Hannah and Ella went parasailing while Jonny and I went hiking with some of the other people in our group. A lot of people arrived on Sunday instead of Saturday. Hiking was really fun; we ran into a German couple that we followed around for awhile and ended up on a goat trail that was very steep.
Monday, Hannah, Stephanie, Cassie and Kristin went to bungy jump while Ella went to do a canyon swing, which she did with Cassie at the same place as the bungy jumping. Apparently after Ella did the swing, she decided that the bungy jumping looked like a lot of fun so she decided to jump too. I think she's crazy but apparently she really liked it. I'll try to post the video for you guys.
While my sister was off being a wild child, Jonny, Kayla and I went hang gliding which was so much fun. It legitimately felt like I was flying!! We went up to Cormorant Peak and jumped off the top near the ski lifts. Apparently in winter, Queenstown is very popular for winter sports. I loved hang gliding, I thought it was a lot of fun - again I'll try to post the video.
Tuesday morning we headed back to Auckland and relaxed most of the day - we went back to Mt. Albert to repack and arrange things in our huge bags before heading to our hostel downtown. So basically we went out every night after this because we only had a few nights left. So, sorry Mom and Dad but I went out clubbing four nights in a row :P
Wednesday morning we got up early and took a bus to Waitomo to go black water rafting in the glowworm caves. We had to wear these ridiculous wetsuits that smelled terrible and were extremely hard to get on. And the water, oh my gosh, the cave water was so cold. We jumped off two water falls, backwards so that we'd land in our inner tubes and then floated peacefully down through the caves looking at the green glowing lights of the glow worms. It was really fun and definitely an experience. Basically the green stuff that's glowing is maggot poop, so that was nice to be floating under...
When we got back to Auckland that night, Jonny, Hannah and I went on a bar crawl because the previous night I had met the manager who got us free drinks at the crawl all night.
Thursday morning we caught a bus to Rotorua, so that we could go Zorbing. Zorbing is basically where you sit (or stand) in a giant hamster ball that has a little water in it and roll down a hill. So essentially it's a giant round water slide, that is absolutely hilarious and amazingly fun. Ella and I rolled around down the hill together, laughing the whole way. Rotorua smells like sulfur due to the hot springs in the area, we didn't see the hot springs but you definitely could smell them.
Friday morning we slept in a little, and I got up and did some souvenir shopping on my own. I ran into the bar manager while out and we ended up getting coffee before I had to meet Ella and Hannah and Cat (the girl from last years trip) at the Greenstone Factory. I ended up meeting them at our hostel and we went together. I bought this really expensive and amazing greenstone necklace that I absolutely love. After that we did a little more shopping in downtown Auckland and in the evening Hannah and Ella went to get dinner while I got dinner with Cassie, Michelle, Jonny, Kim and Stephanie. Hannah and Ella then met up with us in Globe, our favorite bar and we stayed out until four in the morning (that was the latest that I ever stayed out - just saying).
Saturday morning we went back to the Lodge in Mt. Albert, packed and then went to the Pasifika festival, which was really cool but it was so hot that a few of us got sunburns (including me). We had to be back at the Lodge by three o'clock and then at the airport by four. Our plane left at 7:30.
It's so weird to be home, I don't think I understood before how different of a person I was before I left. I feel more in tune with myself now and what I want out of life. This experience was probably the best thing that could have happened for me. I loved it, it was my dream come true; I won't ever forget it.
