We then drove from there through Rotorua, which is pretty foul smelling. It's a giant thermal area, complete with bubbling mud and thermal lakes. Kels and I had fun walking around the lake, then went and got some lunch afterwards.
I went zorbing, which was fun and just something that I felt I had to do since I was in NZ. It's really something that you will never see in the states. Basically it's a giant ball suspended with rubber bands inside of another giant ball. You superman dive in through the opening, and then they zip it up and roll you down the hill. You can either choose to go straight down or along a curved path. I chose the curved path, and it was quite interesting. Much more fun than you would imagine just watching it.
After that we headed onwards, into Taupo, where we stayed the night in the Tiki backpackers. We got breakfast right near the water of lake Taupo, which is a giant crater. Taupo itself is a big volcano, not active of course. Then we packed up our stuff and started the long drive to Wellington. On the way there we drove through the NZ national park, where Mt. Doom is, and drove up the ski mountain.
We then drove straight through to wellington, where Malcolm and Fritha were there to welcome us.
The next week or so was pretty laid back, we just hung out, watched movies, etc. etc. Kelsi, Frith, and I went to a couple concerts, including one love for Waitangi Day, and the Rhombus concert by the waterfront.
Then on the 11th I flew back up to Auckland and just spent a night walking around the city, exploring it for all it's worth. I stayed in the International YHA (Yes, a hostel, try not to think of the movie) and headed to the airport the next morning to meet my group from Australearn. After meeting up with them, we got on a bus and began our drive down to Rotorua, where we spent the next few days with the group of students going to both Massey U Wellington, Palmerston North, and also Canterbury on the south island. We stayed at the KiwiPaka YHA in Rotorua and had our orientation. It was pretty structured and felt like we were at summer camp, but it gave all of us the opportunity to meet other people and experience things without just being thrown into it all. We had to opportunity to zorbing, street luging, and caving. Street luging was amazing, and a couple of us came close to tipping or actually tipped our cars. A shot off the event's website...
Caving was also fun, we traveled for about 2.5 hours underwater, both a combination of climbing and tubing, in our wetsuits and gumboots. There were heaps of glow worms, and lots of other cool things to see.
Then on the 15th the group went their separate ways. I had booked a flight for cheaper through grabaseat for the 16th, so I stayed another night at the KiwiPaka, then flew out the next day for Wellington again.
So that's the story of my adventure up until now. For the past week or so I have just been hangin out with my flatmates in our apartment. We still have 2 yet to arrive, though I'm not sure why, because classes have already started.
So we've been relaxing, going to the beach as much as possible, and trying to get all our utilities in our apartment sorted out. We still have yet to get internet, but we have a phone and soon will be extending our electricity contract so we won't be cut off. That's always a good thing.
I bought a mountain bike to get out riding some of the trails around here. The first day I went out on the bike I went 60km. Probably a bad idea, but it was just nice to get back on the bike I kept going. My back and shoulder felt it at the end of the day. I'm waiting for my pedals and shoes to get sent over so that I can comfortably get out and mountain bike without having to worry about shredding my shins on my platform pedals.
I had my first class yesterday, and by god, it's a real photo class! I guess coming from a school that doesn't have a whole lot for an art program gives you a greater appreciation for real photography papers (oh, that's the word for courses). It's based around a documentary, where we only have 1 project all year. Since I'm only going to be here for one semester I will be having an altered schedule for the project, but I spoke with the instructor beforehand and it's very doable. But a documentary is exactly what I need for my portfolio, so a class that focuses around it is exactly what I need. In about an hour I have my Photography History and Criticism class, so we'll see how that goes. After that I need to get groceries. All I have left is the NZ form of Ramen. No good. But since my laundry's done and I need food, I should probably get going. I most likely forgot a ton of stuff in this post, but I'll catch up on it later if I remember. Hope everyone's doing well back home, or wherever you may be reading this from.
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