Dunedin

On my 22nd birthday I got on a plane in Rotorua and headed down to Wellington (NZ capital). The plane was much different than the first Air New Zealand flight I was on, much similar to something out of the Ironwood airport.

Our GlobaLinks group traveled together which was really nice. We weren't in Wellington for very long before our final flight into Dunedin. 

Everything went surprisingly smooth and we were each shuttled to our flats (where we live, similar to a town home). It was a strange experience being dropped off at this new place in a new country all by myself. No one was home so I gave myself a tour and started unpacking.

One issue I have is the location of our microwave. Let's remember that I'm 5'1". 

 I first met my kiwi host, someone from NZ that stays with international students. I have four other flatmates, 1 US girl, 1 US guy, 1 Canadian girl, and 1 Brazilian guy. I live pretty close to campus and right next to the river. The area where the students live reminds me of CMU's layout if I lived around Main Street. 

For my first night in Dunedin, a few of us hung out at a fellow GlobaLinkers flat. His kiwi host found out it was my birthday and made me a cake from scratch!! This was my first indication how friendly the kiwis are.

That next week is kind of a blur. There were so many new experiences. We had an orientation session with a quick tour around campus. 

I had my first experience at the grocery store. Needless to say, prices are much higher than I anticipated. I have been thinking of everything in USD so I am pleasantly surprised when I see that I didn't actually spend $8.99 on a box of Fruit Loops. I have actually been eating rolled oats with peanut butter for breakfast because it breaks my heart that cereal and milk are so expensive.

(Milk is around $4/2L which is about $8/gallon or $6.70 USD) ANYWAY, groceries are more than I anticipated as a result of gas being so much. The country is an island so everything needs to be imported. The main ports are in the North Island and I'm in the southern portion of the South Island. I can say however, you can buy the cheapest food here and the quality is much better than the cheap stuff back in the states. Pam's is New Zealand's  "Great Value" brand so she always hooks it up!

I also invested in a brand new phone! Now I can contact everyone in New Zealand with my $8/month call only plan! If anyone in the states would like to reach me and you haven't figured out how, install Viber on your smart phone. It has been working great and I'd recommend it to anyone traveling abroad who has access to wifi.

Dunedin is surrounded by beautiful day hikes. We went up to the reservoir one afternoon. and came across all of these  little gems...

The coast is only about a 20 minute bus ride from the university. These photos were taken at St. Claire Beach.

During O-week (orientation week before classes start) there are events going on everyday. This is of sports day where you can sign up and play touch rugby, soccer, volleyball, and netball. I got a free T-shirt out of it too :)

Dunedin is a beautiful place and mostly a university town. Similar to Mount Pleasant in more ways than I had expected. The people I have met so for are wonderful and the views are never less than breathtaking.(Knox church)

CHEERS!

CA

Last day in the North Island

My last day in the North Island was quite an adventure! We traveled to the Waitomo Glowworm Caves and went through the Haggas Honking Holes. This consisted of  a series of abseils, rock climbs, crawling and cruising as we explored the caves. They were covered with waterfalls and "glowworms" which I found out are actually maggots (but that isn't as marketable). I was excited to bring my GoPro down with me, but unfortunately it wasn't allowed. Here are some pictures that they supplied us with...

After some quick safety and guidelines we were ready to climb into the ground.

This is our group that went down together. Looking at the background it is crazy to think that underneath those rolling green hills is a series of caves and water falls. This is located on the Haggas family's farm and that's where the first half of the name comes from.

Some of the areas we climbed through were extremely tight and the flash of the camera takes away from how dark it actually is in there. All you have are the head lamps, which makes it way better to see the glow worms. At points we would all turn off our lights and just appreciate the beauty below the ground.

This is one of my favorite parts. We rappelled down a waterfall (you can kind of see at the bottom of the photo).

This physically demanding experience was one I will never forget. I learned a lot while I was down there as well.  The glowworms are fly larva, or maggots, that have florescent poop (hence the glowing) to attract insects. The light produced may be one of the most efficient, with around 98% light and 2% heat given off. They also produce these paralyzing silk strands around them, kind of like a spider web. After the "worms" cocoon and turn into flies their instinct is to fly up toward the light. 

A lot of the times they end up getting caught in the silk strands and are eaten by their own kind. 

This was called the honking hole due to a structure in the cave. Men (because of their lower voice) can hum into it and it makes a honking noise that rattles the whole area. Our two guides were also amazing, you could tell they were a couple and entertained us with jokes the whole time. 

After our caving experience we were given lunch at a restaurant nearby and even caught a little bit of the Olympics for the first time. 

During our travel to the Waitomo Caves,  our amazing bus driver pointed out Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari to us. 

It's not the best picture but you can see the outline of the dense trees on top. Around that area is a fence that also goes beneath the ground to keep out all types of pests. This is a type of sanctuary for the native species. New Zealand is fighting a never ending battle with foreign plants and animals that over run the land. Here they are able to preserve some of the native bush and they hope to expand as well. 

For dinner we had burgers from a New Zealand franchise, Burger Fuel. Here is mine...I

It had beets and mango on it, which was surprisingly delicious. 

I can't wait to tell you about Dunedin in my next post :)

CHEERS!

CA