Rarotonga

Mid-semester break sneaked up on us so fast!  I cannot believe I am already halfway through my study abroad experience!  I have just returned from our IES field trip to Rarotonga.

Rarotonga ... the best way to define this trip in one word is: paradise.  Rarotonga is the capital island of the Cook Islands.  It is a volcano surrounded by a lagoon which extends several hundred yards to a reef and then slopes steeply to deep water.  "Raro" means "down" and "tonga" means "south."

 Rarotonga

Vara's Acoomodation

Flying over New Zealand mountains

We left early Saturday, August 21 and arrived Friday afternoon, August 20.  Crazy right??  We crossed the international date line and jumped back a day.  This was the first time in my life I said on the plane, "Hey look guys ... it's almost yesterday!"  When we arrived it was incredibly warm, we had dinner, and went to our accommodation called "Vara's."  We lived in two nice apartments overlooking Muri Beach.  On our balcony we watched the most incredible lightening storm ever!  A man who had lived there most of his life told us we will probably only see this once in our life times because it only happens rarely and on islands in the South Pacific.  He had never even seen it before!  The stars twinkled so brightly above us and the epic clouds loomed above the sea.  I swear Mufasa was about to emerge from them!  The sky in front of us lit up and bolts shot from the clouds.  However it was very silent, there was no thunder.  Lindsay thoughtfully said, "sometimes silence sounds like thunder."  We sat there for hours watching it in awe and a few of us walked down to the shore and continued to watch it silently contemplating how awesome our lives are under the intense spotlight of the moon. 

Drinking coconut milk at the taro farm

Saturday, August 21:  The next day was so beautiful and HOT like everyday would be.  We went to a marketplace filled with food, clothes, and jewelry including Rarotongan black pearls.  I got a pretty green tunic, a shell/black pearl necklace, and pumpkin hummus.  We then went to a house to spray paint sarongs and play rugby with the kids.  They all turned out really pretty!  Then we walked to the taro plantation where we learned about and planted taros and had a coconut husking competition.  The natives could husk coconuts with their teeth!  It was so crazy!  We also made plates and hair pieces made out of fern leaves.  The girls learned a Tahitian dance and the boys learned a Tahitian haka!  At dinner, we ate off our leave plates ads we were entertained by Tahitian music and dance.  When then  performed our dances we learned that day and had a dance competition - Mike and Jess won!  After dinner we walked to the beach where Cathy and I made grass skirts out of leaves we found and we all relaxed by the water.

Looking pretty with our homemade sarongs, grass skirts, and grass plates

Sunday, August 22:  Today we attended a Christian church service - Rarotonga style.  They talked mostly in Cook Island Maori.  It was a cool cultural experience.  Then we went snorkeling in the lagoon!!  The reef is beautiful!  There were so many fish because nobody is allowed to eat them here due to a poisonous algae they eat.  This was one of the nicest places I have ever snorkeled!  We had a delicious buffet dinner that night on the beach.

Monday, August 23:  We had an 8 am lecture today.  It was tough waking up for it but it was a really interesting talk about whales.  The woman lived an amazing life - she raised her kids on a yot and traveled the world studying whales.  When we look out past the reef in Rarotonga we almost always see a whale, or two, or three pop out of the water.  It is so cool!!  We then had a lecture about the politics and history of Rarotonga.

Amazing kids :)

Rocking my sunglasses

Then the funnest part of the trip happened - we went to a school and played with the kids!  Steph and I got to play with the 2-4 year olds.  I LOVE THEM!  We played with blocks, read books, and ran around on the playground with them.  I turned three years old again and got lost in the moment, completely disconnected from real life.  I spent hours running around away from "monsters" and "tigers" and being monkeys swinging across the jungle.  I never wanted to leave!
After I snapped back to real adult life, we had a lecture on sea voyaging.  Then we swam out to and explored a voyager boat.  Dinner was so much fun!  We took a bus to three different homes where we had three different courses.  They were all home cooked and every ingredient was from their garden/farm.  It was incredibly delicious.

Koru

Tuesday, August 24:  I completed the most intense hike of my life!!!!!  The cross-island "walk" was really a strenuous trek.  We scrambled through tropical rainforest, across streams, and up tree root and the way to the top of the island, 413 meters, to the needle called Te Rua Manga.

Te Rua Manga

It was a perfect day and we could see amazing views of the whole island.  We were the first IES group ever to scale the side of the rock.  We had to use chains and ropes and there was a sheer drop two feet away!  It was so dangerous but I felt so legit.  The climb down was just as intense and we all jumped in a Papua Waterfall at the end.

View from the top

The rest of the day we had free time so we all ended up at the shore where we walked/swam out to a little island in the lagoon.  We also visited the Matutu Brewery - a small family run brewery with beer you can only get in Rarotonga!  We had another great dinner on the beach.  I love our group we are getting so close!

Wednesday, August 25:  Today we had more lectures about Rarotongan economy and health.  Then Steph, Courtney, Cathy, Andrew, and I rented electric bikes.  We rode into town and explored.  I got some sweet Rarontongan money - they use New Zealand currency but they do have few native coins.  The bus system is funny.  Since there is only one road that makes one big circle around the island, there is one bus that says "clockwise" and one bus that says "anticlockwise."  When we returned, the whole group went out-rigger canoeing.  We took out two boats and raced.  My group - Ryan, Courtney, Cathy, Jess, Mike, and I - won!!  We then rushed off to another amazing restaurant on the water.  It was a really nice last meal.  We had to leave at midnight to catch our 2 am flight.  I can't believe how fast the time flew!  If it weren't for IES, I may have never come here or even heard of this amazing little island.  What is great is it feels like I am returning home from a vacation, but really I am returning to New Zealand (now my second home) where more amazing adventures await!

Abel Tasman Hiking Trip

Tuesday, August 10:  It was a beautiful day today so I ran to Hagley Park.  It is a huge park and I got lost inside it!  I ended up running for over an hour but couldn't stop running because I had to get back for class!  It was a nice run but I miss my running buddy and best friend, Teadie.

Thursday, August 12:  Jess, Courtney, Stephanie, Will, Connor, and I went to the beach called Taylor's Mistake at night and hung out by our campfire.  This beach is really nice and I want to come back in the daylight!

Abel Tasman Coastal Track

Friday the 13th!! :  I went to the store this morning to buy food and supplies for our hiking trip along the Abel Tasman Coast Track.  At 22,530 hectares Abel Tasman is New Zealand's smallest national park and is located as the top of the South Island.  The Coast Track is 54.4 km in total and would take 3 to 5 days to complete but we just did the first section.  Courtney, Stephanie, Lindsay, Cathy, and Sarah drove in the Jucy rental car and Jess, Max, Andrew, and I drove in Max's car.  It took about 5 and a half hours to get to Nelson.  We made it to our hostel (Youth Hostel Association) just in time!!  If we were seven minutes later, they would have closed up for the night and we would have been stranded!  We were very lucky.  We checked in and got dinner in town at the Noodle Canteen.  We ended up at a local bar with an amazing live band and then went back early to get a good night sleep for the start of our hike.

Anchorage

Saturday, August 14:  We woke up the next morning and went straight to the huge farmers market in the parking lot outside our hostel.  I got an amazing lime honey and raspberry crepe for breakfast.  We then drove an hour to Kaiteriteri - the gateway to the Abel Tasman National Park.  We began our hike at Marahau and headed toward Anchorage.  We had 12.4 km ahead of us for the day!  The four hour hike was epic.  We walked through rainforest and had spectacular views of beaches, waterfalls, and mountains.  I even saw many silver ferns and a giant koru.  My shoulders hurt so bad by the end because of my pack but I didn't care because I felt like I was in a dream.  Near the end, on top of the mountain where we could see our hut in the distance, we had the most amazing view I have ever seen in my life.  Stephanie and I fell behind the group as we took in the moment.  You know that feeling when you realize how lucky you are to be living and a part of something so beautiful and too big to comprehend that you get an overwhelming urge to cry because you don't know what else to do?  I had one of those moments at the top of that mountain overlooking Anchorage.

Anchorage Beach

We eventually made our way down to the hut which was on an amazing beach.  The whole time it felt like we were on the set of LOST.  We ate some pb & j on the beach and listened to music as the sun set.  We hung out on the beach all night.  At one point I went off by myself and sat by the shore and just listened to the waves and the forest.  It was very meditative and peaceful.  I love life.  This trip also made me appreciate light because the hut didn't have any lights and I didn't have a flashlight.  The hut was cool and interesting.  It had a nice kitchen area and two rooms for sleeping.  The rooms had something like a giant bunk bed and you had to sleep right next to strangers!  Luckily I was able to borrow a sleeping bag.

At the start, Lindsay, Stephanie, Max, and I decided to sleep on the beach.  We got all cozy in our sleeping bags but then it started to drizzle.  We reluctantly gathered our stuff to go back to the hut and as we were walking Max stopped us.  He asked us, "am I hallucinating or do you guys see this too?"  He was shuffling his feet and it looked like he was creating sparks in the sand!  We all freaked out and kicked the sand with him.  It was magical!  I literally didn't know if I was dreaming or if I was awake.  Then we looked at the waves and they were lighting up too as they crashed on the shore!  Max picked up a log and threw it in the water and the water sparkled!  This was hands down the greatest moment I've had in New Zealand, and one of the greatest moments of my life.  I was awestruck and dumbfounded and a little scared!  We pretended that we were the first to discover this phenomenon and that it would never happen again.  Later I researched it and apparently "The sparkling effect is the result of millions of one-celled organisms that emit light when pressure is applied to the cell wall." Our preferred explanation is NZ magic. 

Anchorage Beach

We returned to the hut and fell asleep with the rest of the people staying in Anchorage but were soon rudely awakened by the fire alarm!  Everyone woke up confused.  We couldn't figure out why it was going off so we took the batteries out and tried to get back to sleep.  I had such an awful night sleep because of the alarm, the beds were uncomfortable, I had no pillow, and I was sleeping next to a stranger.  But I'm not complaining because there isn't anywhere else I'd rather be than in the heart of NZ. 

High Tide!

Sunday, August 15:  We woke up and found the drinking water!  I was dehydrated because I was trying to conserve my water.  Water never tasted so good in this moment - I downed two full bottles.  Then I walked out onto the beach.  It was a beautiful morning.  There was not a cloud in the sky and the sun struck the golden sand and deep blue water.  Paradise.  Soon we were off again back down the 12.4 km trail.  We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.  We stopped at a small beach off the path for lunch.  The tide came in by the time we were leaving and we had to scramble over rocks to get back to the trail!  That was so intense!  Long hikes can be both meditative when you walk silently for long periods and social when you have deep conversations with the person next to you.  I love it!

When we reached the end we threw down our bags and jumped up and down in excitement that we made it!  Our drive back took around six or seven hours.  Another amazing weekend <3

Kaikoura and All Blacks

Christchurch

Thursday night we all gathered at Sarah's for a potluck dinner and then made our way to Eunice's house.  It was good to see Eunice and everyone again.  We all sat around and laughed and talked and had some of Eunice's amazing fruit salad.  We also had cake for Andrew's 20th birthday.  Afterward Eunice drove a few of us to the top of a hill somewhere where we could see all of Christchurch at night.  It was amazing!!  When we returned to Ilam, we had a girls movie night in my room and watched Persuasion.

TranzCoastal

The next morning Jessica, Lindsay, Sarah, Cathy, Courtney, Stephanie, and I woke up at 5 am and caught a shuttle to the train station.  We took a 2 and a half hour TranzCoastal trip to Kaikoura.  The views were spectacular!  We saw the sunrise, Kaikoura mountain ranges, and the rugged Pacific Ocean coastline.  Not to mention all the cows, sheep, and baby lambs!  So cute!  There also was an air viewing carriage where we could go outside and take pictures on the train.  Kaikoura is located on a rocky peninsula protruding from rich farmland and snow capped mountains.  Moa Hunters inhabited the peninsula 900 years ago.  In Maori legend, Maui placed his foot on the Kaikoura peninsula to steady himself while he 'fished-up' the North Island. The Maori name Kaikoura translates to 'meal of crayfish' (Kai - food, koura - crayfish), and it is crayfish for which the region has traditionally been famous.  Kaikoura is so epically beautiful.  It is a cute little town and while walking down the street, the mountains just struck me every time I turned around!  We had a coffee in a cafe and I bought a whale bone necklace.  They get the whalebone from beached whales.  We then walked along the shore to the end of the peninsula.  It took forever to get there because we kept stopping along the way to take pictures and take everything in.  We all could not stop talking about how crazy lucky we are to be here.  On the way back we stopped for an ice cream and ate it on the beach.  On the train ride back we watched the sunset and fell asleep.  What an incredible day!

Town of Kaikoura

Saturday, the day I have been waiting for for so long finally came!!  We watched the All Blacks New Zealand rugby team play the Australia Wallabies at Lancaster Park in Christchurch!  We had amazing seats - second row on the field!!!!  I don't know how we got such amazing seats for so cheap.  Awesome.  This game was so exciting and I got to see the All Blacks do the Haka live!!!  We were seated right on the sideline so it was cool seeing the players warm up to go in the game.  The All Blacks won 20-10!  Sweet as.

All Blacks game!!

All Blacks vs. Wallabies

Road Trip to Dunedin

Friday morning (July 29) Max, Ryan, Jessica, and I hopped into Max's car and headed to Dunedin.  It was a nice and scenic ride there - the sun was shining, we were singing songs to my ipod speakers, and we stopped at the beach.  It took approximately 5 hours.  When we arrived we met Ryan's friend Garrett and Jessica's friend Emily who are studying abroad at the University of Otago.  We explored a little of the city and went to an Irish pub called the Bog that night.  The live band was amazing!!  I discovered I really like New Zealand reggae. 

Speights Brewery

The next day we visited the Speights Brewery.  We learned everything there is to know about the history and how they make the beer.  Afterward we drove out on the peninsula which I already went to with my family a while back.  It was amazing again!  We watched the sunset there.

Otago Peninsula

On Sunday we went to Cadbury World!!  I love Cadbury chocolate and the chocolate factory was amazing!  As soon as I walked in there was a mountain of Crunchies.  I thought I was actually in heaven.  We learned about the history and making of the chocolate and then climbed the purple towere where we saw a chocolate waterfall.  It was so magical.  After our awesome chocolate experience, we went to Baldwin Street (the steepest street in the world).  We booked it up the hill in Max's car.  I can't believe we made it up!  We took some cool pictures and then I ran down.  Then we got some ice cream at Rob Roy's and drove home to Christchurch.  This weekend was so much fun :)

Cadbury World Mountain of Crunchies