So we had our first real weekend off this past weekend! Our program is only 25 people, so it's pretty easy for us to split up when doing things on our time off or coordinate bigger trips. For this first weekend, there was actually a national holiday in New Zealand called Waitangi day. It's a holiday that commemorates the first signing of the treaty between the native Maori people and pakeha (white men).. We went to the festival that was happening in Manukau (a subsection of Auckland). It wasn't really what I expected, although to be fair, I didn't really know what to expect. It was in a big open field, and there was a huge stage at one end where musical performances and other big events happened. The rest of the field had open space for the crowd, a section of food/craft tents, and at the back was the HUGEST COLLECTION OF MOON BOUNCES & FRIENDS that I've ever seen! It was a kid's paradise. Anyhow, we had stopped at a local market nearby before we went to the festival, just to check out some day to day NZ life, and I like that just as much!
They had tons of fresh produce and some fried foods, and lots of tents with clothes, crafts, and other random stuff.. not unlike a flea-market, but with more culture than I've ever seen. I bought an awesome picture frame from a Kiwi (typically refers to a white/European New Zealander), and a few other things from this really sweet Maori woman. But there were also a great deal of Indians, Samoans, and other Asians walking around the market and the festival. We saw a group of fully dressed middle-eastern men as well as some Buddhist monks at the festival! It was really great, just to experience day-to-day culture in this country. We spend a lot of time studying the environment, so getting some genuine time with ordinary people was nice. And New Zealand certainly has more diversity than I expected.
I was also able to buy LOTS of souveniers :)
We stayed at the festival for a few hours, where we saw a lot of different versions of the NZ flag. The country has actually been considering changing their flag recently, so I think people were particularly paying attention to the flags that those around them were choosing to fly. For instance, recently a new flag (tino rangatiratanga) was designed to represent the Maori culture and people, and that was being flown by many people, while some maintained the current national flag... the host on stage made it a point to encourage people to fly whatever flag they chose and insisted that there would be no reprecussions or bad tensions from doing so. I did notice a little bit of tension here and there though. More than a few actually chose to fly one of NZ's old national flags, which I really liked and would like to buy. It was the flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand, and tends to have connections to both Maori and the British.
The performances at the festival were pretty good... they had some traditional Maori singers and polynesian dancers perform, modern popular New Zealand music, all-girl hip hop dancers, and even the guy who won Australian Idol last year.. Stan something. He's actually a Maori guy, and hes got a pretty good voice.
So after we spent a few hours at the festival, we hopped on a bus into Auckland city. We got there by mid-afternoon so we had all evening and night to explore. Our hostel (which was my first one, and was very nice!), our transportation station, and our ferry pier for the next day were all within blocks of eachother, which was great! We got to do some walking along the piers in the afternoon, do some shopping and ice cream eating, and take plenty of pictures. We had a bit to eat at our hostel and then I got my first official order of fish and chips at this restaurant on the pier haha. It wasnt bad! We then went to this ice bar, which is basically a small bar that is completely made of ice! You have to pay a pretty high cover fee, but they give you a huge coat and mittens to wear, and you go in and the bar and walls and benches are all covered in ice, and there are ice sculptures everywhere. You basically get to spend about half an hour in there, and they give you a complementary cocktail in a glass completely of ice... the best part was when people would walk by outside and look in the window and be totttally surprised. It was definitely an interesting experience! Cool stuff..
The next day, Sunday morning, we got up and headed back to the pier to catch a ferry to Rangitoto island. It's about a 20 minute ferry ride and it takes you to an island with a really young volcano.. I think it's less than 1,000 years old, but its pretty small and hasn't been outright active in a very long time. But it was really awesome. We hiked a trail up to the summit and stopped to climb through lava caves along the way... my first real cave experiences! I got to test out that headlamp finally, in a real situation! It was awesome, the caves were often really small and crowded and took some real maneuvering, but then some of them opened up into these big caverns. Some had no exits and some went on for about 100 feet before reaching a steep climb and small opening that brought us back out into the daylight. When we reached the summit, the views were amazing. They had a whole deck up there and you could basically get 360 degree views. It was only a 20 min ride from Auckland city, so you could see the whole city obviously. Auckland has a nice but small downtown area... for the most part its a sprawling land of crowded houses... Almost a third of NZ's population is all located in Auckland, so its a pretty big deal. Anyway, the views were great. Our way back to the ferry wharf was less eventful... we tried to take a different track back that stopped by a beach, but we didn't have time to swim, so we ended up going on a rather boring 5-6 km detour in the open and blazing sun. Not so much fun! But that whole road was surrounded by that island's typical mix of huge areas and rivers of jagged black and barren volcanic rock and random patches and large areas of trees mixed in. It was so strange... you'd have just tons of jagged black with no life growing, and then a whole stream of trees in the middle of it randomly. It was interesting...
Anyhow, that was my weekend!
Tomorrow morning (tuesday) we're leaving to spend 4 days in Opoutere, which is on the east side of the Coromandel peninsula (see the map up there). We'll be staying in a hostel the entire time, and studying the estuary there, looking at the different sub-ecosystems and potential management plans I believe. We're going to get kayak training (finally! then we'll be able to use kayaks when we're at our home base) so we can do some learning and observing via kayak while we're there. It will still be a lot of work though, and long days, since we'll be waiting for different tide conditions...compared to the weather the states are getting though, this week sounds awesome to me! Friday afternoon we'll be dropped off in the town of Thames for our weekend off, where we'll grab rental cars and head off on another adventure!
This is the exciting part! Friday night a group of us will be driving back to the east coast of the coromandel where we're hoping to reach Hot Water Beach by nightfall, which is this beach where you literally dig a hole in the sand and it fills with hot water.. this basically means you can dig your own sauna/hot tub! It's supposed to be awesome to do at night, so that should be fun. We'll camp near the area and Saturday we'll spend the day hiking and beach bumming at cathedral cove, which is this beautiful beach that is known for the gigantic natural stone arch way that hovers over the entrance to the beach... its supposed to be an amazing site, and apparently there are some good hikes that we can do in the area, which will hopefully end in some secluded beaches where we can just enjoy the privacy of a beautiful beach for a day. Then Saturday night we'll be camping somewhere thats on the way to New Chums beach, which is our destination for Sunday morning. This is a beach that seems to be pretty much in the middle of nowhere (we couldnt even find any camping sites remotely nearby) but its supposed to be one of the top 10 beaches of the world!!! So I'll be having a nice and hopefully relaxing and beautiful weekend! Our drive back to Ecoquest Sunday evening will basically take us through the rest of the Coromandel peninsula, which is full of mountain ranges and some pretty scenery, so even the drive back should be nice.
Hopefully this week will all go according to plan! But even if it doesnt, I know we'll have a great time. Speaking of time, its time for bed! Until next time, :)
Monday, February 8, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
First Week In New Zealand!
So our first week here in New Zealand was great! I'm at the point now where I wake up in the morning and I don't really think, "oh my gosh, I'm in New Zealand".. Now its more along the lines of "...Another beautiful morning in this place I love...". It's really starting to feel like home. I haven't had a bad day yet.
Last Saturday we went our first day-long hike... the forest here was totally different from the one back home. There were some breaks of pasture in it, just like at home, but in the actual forest, the plant life was so much more dense. There were ferns everywhere! Our field leaders claimed that we were climbing hills, but trust me, these were MOUNTAINS. Haha. I guess I'm biased being from the flat plains of the midwest... but we did a LOT of climbing and maneuvering down hill. It was about a 12 km hike, and there were some pretty intense climbing moments, but the views were GORGEOUS.
The next day we got to relax a little bit more... We actually went to a regional park and had class on a white sand beach. It was really our first day that was mostly cloudy and we had a few spots of rain, but it was really quite calming. We didn't really do any swimming, but our class was mostly about self-reflection and getting to know one another on a more personal level, so it was truly a relaxing time. Not to mention the fact that we climbed over some gorgeous rock formations to get to the beach. So that was another great day!
We had Monday off, which I took to relax and catch up with things a little bit.. We did some local stuff, some bike riding and walking along the beach. Sunday night our whole group of 25 had gone in to town together to sing karaoke(!) so getting to sleep in Monday was a treat. We've been getting up around 7am most days.. funnily enough though, I never really wake up tired.
And finally, yesterday, we took an unexpected field trip that turned out to be really awesome. We were planning to go Wednesday or Thursday to the local Marae (sacred/gathering place of the Maori), but they unexpectedly needed to plant a tangi (funeral) over these days. In Maori culture, a funeral ceremony lasts three days, with the main ceremony and burial on the third and final day. The first two days, the body of the deceased remains in the Marae and is always guarded/accompanied by atleast two others. We did not find out about the tangi until Tuesday morning (the second day of the funeral), but the community leader at the Marae agreed to let us come to the Marae that day to do our powhiri (official welcoming ceremony) and learn more about the culture and the funeral proceedings. We originally were supposed to go Wednesday, which would have been the day of the main ceremony, but by going a day earlier, we were able to pay our respects to the man who had died and really learn about their culture first hand.
There were no shows, no intimidating men dressed as warriors or challenges--this was real life for the Maori... what they experience day to day, and the memories and culture they still carry with them.
However, there was a catch. During the powhiri, the visitors that are entering the Marae traditionally sing a waiata (a song that is sung as sign of respect, thanks, and warm feelings to the Maori). A waiata CAN be sung in English... if it is, it is traditionally a song that represents one's home culture and ancestry that the guest is bringing onto the Marae... something like our national anthem, or This Land Is My Land. But the waiata can also be a traditional Maori song... we decided this would be much cooler both for us and the Maori. So we learned two in about two hours! And trust me, this was no easy feat! Haha.
Here are the words to one:
E harra i te mea
No nainei te aroha
No nga tupuna
Tuku iho tuku iho
It really is a beautiful language.. but really hard to articulate at first.. it takes some getting used to. But the welcome ceremony was really nice.. the local Marae was actually fairly small. We've been spending a lot of time learning about the history of the Maori this first week, along with the traditions and cultural rules. We are fortunate to be with Ecoquest, because this organization's leaders and the program in general has a very good relationship with the local sub-tribes, and they were so willing to open their doors to us, even in a time of mourning, to teach us.
It was extremely touching to know their willingness to welcome us, and you could certainly feel the spirituality of the culture. I think that is one of the most attractive things to me about the Maori culture... the prominence of spirituality and the deep connections they have to their roots and especially their ancestry. They have these magnificent carvings incorporated into the structure and decor of the building that honor their ancestors... and they were just beautiful. Some of them were quite huge, and all of them were so intricately done. I wish I could have taken some pictures, but there was certainly no way I would have brought a camera onto or into the Marae. It was a great experience though.
So this weekend we'll be heading to Auckland! Its our first full weekend off, and we can do whatever we want really.. so a group of 8 of us are going to the Waitangi day festival, which honors the treaty that was first formed between the Maori and the pakeha (white men).. there are still mixed sentiments about this treaty, but its sure to be a pretty cultural event.. there's actually going to be a live debate about the treaty I think. Not to mention lots of music, crafts, foods, and other events... it should be fun. We're going into the actualy city of Auckland Saturday night and staying at a hostel, and Sunday morning we're going to visit one of the islands that's off of the city of Auckland. Auckland's on the water--its known as the city of sails actually.
One of the islands actually has a former volcano, which you can climb (!) and the other has a wildlife/bird sanctuary which is supposed to be awesome. So we get to explore the city, get the great views from the ferry ride, and then get to do some hiking and nature walking... we've got the best of all worlds! Should be fun!
Until next time, don't miss me too much! :)
Last Saturday we went our first day-long hike... the forest here was totally different from the one back home. There were some breaks of pasture in it, just like at home, but in the actual forest, the plant life was so much more dense. There were ferns everywhere! Our field leaders claimed that we were climbing hills, but trust me, these were MOUNTAINS. Haha. I guess I'm biased being from the flat plains of the midwest... but we did a LOT of climbing and maneuvering down hill. It was about a 12 km hike, and there were some pretty intense climbing moments, but the views were GORGEOUS.
The next day we got to relax a little bit more... We actually went to a regional park and had class on a white sand beach. It was really our first day that was mostly cloudy and we had a few spots of rain, but it was really quite calming. We didn't really do any swimming, but our class was mostly about self-reflection and getting to know one another on a more personal level, so it was truly a relaxing time. Not to mention the fact that we climbed over some gorgeous rock formations to get to the beach. So that was another great day!
We had Monday off, which I took to relax and catch up with things a little bit.. We did some local stuff, some bike riding and walking along the beach. Sunday night our whole group of 25 had gone in to town together to sing karaoke(!) so getting to sleep in Monday was a treat. We've been getting up around 7am most days.. funnily enough though, I never really wake up tired.
And finally, yesterday, we took an unexpected field trip that turned out to be really awesome. We were planning to go Wednesday or Thursday to the local Marae (sacred/gathering place of the Maori), but they unexpectedly needed to plant a tangi (funeral) over these days. In Maori culture, a funeral ceremony lasts three days, with the main ceremony and burial on the third and final day. The first two days, the body of the deceased remains in the Marae and is always guarded/accompanied by atleast two others. We did not find out about the tangi until Tuesday morning (the second day of the funeral), but the community leader at the Marae agreed to let us come to the Marae that day to do our powhiri (official welcoming ceremony) and learn more about the culture and the funeral proceedings. We originally were supposed to go Wednesday, which would have been the day of the main ceremony, but by going a day earlier, we were able to pay our respects to the man who had died and really learn about their culture first hand.
There were no shows, no intimidating men dressed as warriors or challenges--this was real life for the Maori... what they experience day to day, and the memories and culture they still carry with them.
However, there was a catch. During the powhiri, the visitors that are entering the Marae traditionally sing a waiata (a song that is sung as sign of respect, thanks, and warm feelings to the Maori). A waiata CAN be sung in English... if it is, it is traditionally a song that represents one's home culture and ancestry that the guest is bringing onto the Marae... something like our national anthem, or This Land Is My Land. But the waiata can also be a traditional Maori song... we decided this would be much cooler both for us and the Maori. So we learned two in about two hours! And trust me, this was no easy feat! Haha.
Here are the words to one:
E harra i te mea
No nainei te aroha
No nga tupuna
Tuku iho tuku iho
It really is a beautiful language.. but really hard to articulate at first.. it takes some getting used to. But the welcome ceremony was really nice.. the local Marae was actually fairly small. We've been spending a lot of time learning about the history of the Maori this first week, along with the traditions and cultural rules. We are fortunate to be with Ecoquest, because this organization's leaders and the program in general has a very good relationship with the local sub-tribes, and they were so willing to open their doors to us, even in a time of mourning, to teach us.
It was extremely touching to know their willingness to welcome us, and you could certainly feel the spirituality of the culture. I think that is one of the most attractive things to me about the Maori culture... the prominence of spirituality and the deep connections they have to their roots and especially their ancestry. They have these magnificent carvings incorporated into the structure and decor of the building that honor their ancestors... and they were just beautiful. Some of them were quite huge, and all of them were so intricately done. I wish I could have taken some pictures, but there was certainly no way I would have brought a camera onto or into the Marae. It was a great experience though.
So this weekend we'll be heading to Auckland! Its our first full weekend off, and we can do whatever we want really.. so a group of 8 of us are going to the Waitangi day festival, which honors the treaty that was first formed between the Maori and the pakeha (white men).. there are still mixed sentiments about this treaty, but its sure to be a pretty cultural event.. there's actually going to be a live debate about the treaty I think. Not to mention lots of music, crafts, foods, and other events... it should be fun. We're going into the actualy city of Auckland Saturday night and staying at a hostel, and Sunday morning we're going to visit one of the islands that's off of the city of Auckland. Auckland's on the water--its known as the city of sails actually.
One of the islands actually has a former volcano, which you can climb (!) and the other has a wildlife/bird sanctuary which is supposed to be awesome. So we get to explore the city, get the great views from the ferry ride, and then get to do some hiking and nature walking... we've got the best of all worlds! Should be fun!
Until next time, don't miss me too much! :)
Thursday, January 28, 2010
I Could Live Here
First and foremost, this country is BEAUTIFUL. From the first drive to the Ecoquest center from the airport during sunrise, I was sold. I know I haven't gotten any pictures up yet... we've been doing a bunch of orientation... but picture this:
My base camp is this campus with a few bigger house/buildings for the staff quarters n offices.. we have one building where we cook, eat, and have classes. It's interesting because we sort of cook our own food, but we get major help from some kitchen staff, so we still get really awesome food. Haha. Four of us are in charge of kitchen duty every day, but they pre-make a lot of fresh stuff for us to put in.. like last night, we had potatoes, these awesome veggie and bacon quiches, and 3 or 4 amazing veggie or fruit salads. A ton of the stuff is gotten locally... the meat and eggs for the most part are, and we have fruit trees (plums, limes, apples, passionfruit, oranges, etc) on campus along with a big vegetable garden. It's sweet. The 25 of us live in about 10 small 2-3 person cabins, and each one is different and unique... theyre really small, maybe 10x15 feet or something.. but theyre nice.
Of course my roommate (Alexa) and I got the slightly ghetto one. Haha. Well, let's just say it has some old charm.
Everyone else has like brand new windows, some floor to ceiling, and these awesome brand new porches.. and we have none of that. Butttt thats alright. I'm new Zealand, I can't complain.
We have plenty of open grounds to do whatever we want in free time, and we basically have a beach in our backyard! We're on the firth (bay) of Thames.. it's not a great swimming beach because it has a ton of rocks and shells (MILLIONS OF SHELLS, they're EVERYWHERE) but its beautiful to walk on, and the sun rises over the water and the mountains that are across the bay (they consider them to just be hills here, but trust me, theyre mountains haha... especially to someone from Illinois). Its beautiful.
The air is just so much fresher here.. to be outside and have the wind blowing in your face is just so refreshing. They weren't kidding about the New Zealand sun though.. I already look like Zorro because of the pattern of sunburn on my face haha
But hopefully thatll go away soon.. I've begun wearing sunscreen religiously so hopefully that'll help. But there's huge rolling hills of pastures everywhere dotted with sheep and cattle, and mountains of forests, and views of the ocean, and the sides of the roads and houses have beautiful colorful flowers.
Even the downtown shopping areas here are awesome.. every single shop is bright and colorful and unique in its own way... its almost like walking through a shop area in an amusement park. It was sweet.
I'll have to tell you more about everything later cause I have to be somewhere in 10 minutes.. but until then,
Peace and love!
My base camp is this campus with a few bigger house/buildings for the staff quarters n offices.. we have one building where we cook, eat, and have classes. It's interesting because we sort of cook our own food, but we get major help from some kitchen staff, so we still get really awesome food. Haha. Four of us are in charge of kitchen duty every day, but they pre-make a lot of fresh stuff for us to put in.. like last night, we had potatoes, these awesome veggie and bacon quiches, and 3 or 4 amazing veggie or fruit salads. A ton of the stuff is gotten locally... the meat and eggs for the most part are, and we have fruit trees (plums, limes, apples, passionfruit, oranges, etc) on campus along with a big vegetable garden. It's sweet. The 25 of us live in about 10 small 2-3 person cabins, and each one is different and unique... theyre really small, maybe 10x15 feet or something.. but theyre nice.
Of course my roommate (Alexa) and I got the slightly ghetto one. Haha. Well, let's just say it has some old charm.
Everyone else has like brand new windows, some floor to ceiling, and these awesome brand new porches.. and we have none of that. Butttt thats alright. I'm new Zealand, I can't complain.
We have plenty of open grounds to do whatever we want in free time, and we basically have a beach in our backyard! We're on the firth (bay) of Thames.. it's not a great swimming beach because it has a ton of rocks and shells (MILLIONS OF SHELLS, they're EVERYWHERE) but its beautiful to walk on, and the sun rises over the water and the mountains that are across the bay (they consider them to just be hills here, but trust me, theyre mountains haha... especially to someone from Illinois). Its beautiful.
The air is just so much fresher here.. to be outside and have the wind blowing in your face is just so refreshing. They weren't kidding about the New Zealand sun though.. I already look like Zorro because of the pattern of sunburn on my face haha
But hopefully thatll go away soon.. I've begun wearing sunscreen religiously so hopefully that'll help. But there's huge rolling hills of pastures everywhere dotted with sheep and cattle, and mountains of forests, and views of the ocean, and the sides of the roads and houses have beautiful colorful flowers.
Even the downtown shopping areas here are awesome.. every single shop is bright and colorful and unique in its own way... its almost like walking through a shop area in an amusement park. It was sweet.
I'll have to tell you more about everything later cause I have to be somewhere in 10 minutes.. but until then,
Peace and love!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Bye Guys!
So it's the Sunday before I leave for my semester in New Zealand... I still have plenty to do and people to say goodbye to before the day is over.. I just hope I don't forget anything. But lets be serious.. I ALWAYS forget something. :) Hopefully its just not too important.
I dont suppose I have a whole lot to say.. I just felt like I should write something before I posted the link for this blog on facebook. Haha. I'm not good at following other peoples blogs, so I'm not sure how great I'll be at keeping one, and if you're reading this, I definitely dont expect you to be following this all while I'm gone.
Honestly, people only like blogs for the pictures anyways.. we're all guilty of reading the first couple of lines of a webpage before getting bored and skipping right to the pictures. It's the best part, after all.
But if there's one thing I AM really good at (usually!), its making sure I take lots of pictures. So I'll try to do that for you.
I expect I'll be learning quite a bit while I'm there as well... I apologize if starfish invaders and kokako breeding doesn't interest you much. You can just skip to the parts where I go camping in beautiful places, bungee jumping off cliffs, sky dive, go jet boating, and spelunking in hidden caves!
Just kidding mom, don't worry. We'll leave off spelunking and jet boating. ;)
Anyway I just want to say thank you to my family and friends for making my month off at home entertaining.. it was definitely NOT boring. Thanks Rach, for my last weekend here. I'll miss you all! Eric, Ash, Caiti, my roommates n everyone in Ann Arbor... but not really that much. :)
Peace and love guys! Talk to ya from the other side of the world..
I dont suppose I have a whole lot to say.. I just felt like I should write something before I posted the link for this blog on facebook. Haha. I'm not good at following other peoples blogs, so I'm not sure how great I'll be at keeping one, and if you're reading this, I definitely dont expect you to be following this all while I'm gone.
Honestly, people only like blogs for the pictures anyways.. we're all guilty of reading the first couple of lines of a webpage before getting bored and skipping right to the pictures. It's the best part, after all.
But if there's one thing I AM really good at (usually!), its making sure I take lots of pictures. So I'll try to do that for you.
I expect I'll be learning quite a bit while I'm there as well... I apologize if starfish invaders and kokako breeding doesn't interest you much. You can just skip to the parts where I go camping in beautiful places, bungee jumping off cliffs, sky dive, go jet boating, and spelunking in hidden caves!
Just kidding mom, don't worry. We'll leave off spelunking and jet boating. ;)
Anyway I just want to say thank you to my family and friends for making my month off at home entertaining.. it was definitely NOT boring. Thanks Rach, for my last weekend here. I'll miss you all! Eric, Ash, Caiti, my roommates n everyone in Ann Arbor... but not really that much. :)
Peace and love guys! Talk to ya from the other side of the world..
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