Wednesday was a really laid back day here in Auckland. We didn't do much of anything, which was nice because we've been running around quite a bit. I got to talk to Jordan for the first time since I've been here, which was great. I also finally practiced my clarinet. It seemed a bit mad that I had been neglecting it but we made up very quickly. In the evening, I walked down to the Auckland Domain with Eric, Chris, Lorissa, Amanda, and Kevin. It's a really nice park. We felt the need to climb some of the cooler trees. There were also a ton of people playing cricket on this gigantic set of fields. I really think there were a few hundred people there playing cricket. I don't know if there was a tournament or what. We also tried to go to the wintergardens and the museum in the park but they were closed. Sad day. Later that night we were hanging out in Kevin and Eric's apartment and a bunch of girls were knocking on people's doors. So we met some new people. There was a Norweigan, three girls from Hong Kong, a Brit, and a Canadian. I have forgotten all of their names because I was tired but they were all really nice.
Thursday morning was another day of trying to figure out my classes. Very frustrating. I did, however get my internet up and running and was able to communicate by Skype. Yay! In the afternoon, we went back to the Auckland Domain to see the museum and the wintergardens. The gardens were beautiful and I now have about a million pictures of colorful flowers. The museum was cool too. It went through New Zealand's history, starting with Maori and other Pacific Islanders and working it's way through WWII. One of the more frightening things that I learned is that there are a large number of volcanoes (mostly underwater) that could go off any day now and completely destroy Auckland. We would probably only have about 8 hours warning. Scientists expect that one will go off sometime in the next 5000 years. I'm going to hope that it does not happen in the next five months.
There was one exhibit of really old instruments donated by this rich Auckland family. Some of these instruments don't even really exsist anymore. Like, there was this one that looked sort of like a cross between a saxophone and a trombone. It was the lowest instrument in the band once upon a time and wa replaced by the tuba. There were also two clarinets in C and two B-flat clarinets but they were all on the simple system. The B-flat clarinets only had two right hand pinky keys and they had rollers on them like a saxophone. There was also an octavia! It was so cool! It's sort of like a clarinet that shaped like a bassoon. It's about half the height of a normal clarinet but it's double bored and it was so cool! I wanted to break the glass and play it. I kind of sat there staring at it for a long time. But it was so cool! I would love to get to try playing an octavia!
Okay, nerdiness over.
That night we all met to talk about planning our Coromandel trip. In the end, the planning basically went, "Do you guys just want to wing it?" "Okay sure." "Meet tomorrow at 4:30 to catch the ferry." Sadly enough the trip was cancelled due to bad weather. There are apparantly cyclones surrounding the North Island. We have been getting a ton of wind and rain. On Coromandel they were supposed to be getting something like 15 mm of rain an hour. So we'll go on a nicer weekend.
Later that night, me, Lorissa, Chris, and Eric went on an ice cream search. Turns out there are not very many ice cream places open in downtown Auckland at 10:30 at night. We ended up going on a nice stroll around the harbour. We admired all the boats and contemplated how hard it would be to hyjack one. We decided it would be very difficult as the entire harbour is surrounded by downtown Auckland. Eventually, we gave in and got ice cream at McDonald's. (We wanted the ice cream very badly.) It turns out that a soft serve cone there is only $.50. We like it cheap.
Friday began with yet another trip to the international student office to work out my schedule. This time I was successful! My timetable is all worked out and everything. It was a big relief. From there I headed to the music building for the department orientation. Basically I got to meet some of the faculty. There were also some helpful hints for how things work in the music department. I also got a list of concerts and other seminars happening within the department. There is some great stuff, including to woodwind masterclasses. One is with flautist Leone Buyse and clarinetist Michael Webster (both from the States) and one is with clarinetist Kari Kriikku from Finland. I really lucked out with the masterclasses this semester. I'm totally psyched. All of these events are free for me too, which is a big plus.
In the afternoon, we went to Devonport. We were going to stay for the night but didn't think we'd have anything to do the next day if we did. We climbed up to the summit of Mt. Victoria. It is only about 100 meters high but we took the short way up. It was this beaten path up the mountain that was at a 60 degree or so angle. Very steep. But the view at the top was great. We stayed up there for quite a while. There were these metallic mushroom-looking things sticking out of the ground in one area. They were reminescent of Mario and we all had the theme song stuck in our head. Justine teaches yoga and we decided it would be a great place for her to give us a lesson. It detriorated quickly due to the wind pushing us over. Then we sat at the top of the mountain playing mofia for about an hour. We hiked back down and had dinner in town at this Greek restaurant. It was very good. I had an incredibly spicy pasta dish. I had to take some home and they gave me this really nice tupperware thing. So now I have tupperware. Very handy.
The storm was starting to come in when we got on the ferry. It was super windy and we walked back to the apartments in light rain. We decided it might be better to stay in for the night considering the incoming storm so we all go in our PJ's and watched the first Lord of the Rings. We never finished. We were all falling asleep by the time the fellowship got to Moria so we decided to call it a night.
I am officially caught up. Go me.
Peace.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Waiheke Island
Tuesday morning started with what was supposed to be a quick stop by the international student office but quickly turned into everyone getting all their stuff together. We all ended up splitting up, which was probably better because it turns out that we had a lot of things to take care of. I had my schedule to work out, which was a complete mess. After several days and multiple visits to the international student office, I finally have things figured out. I will be taking Management 101, Communications in a Multicultural Society, Choir, and Performance, which is basically an applied lesson plus a studio class all rolled into the equivalent of about 4 credits. It took a while to put it together because of audition requirements that I didn't find out about until late in the game and so forth. However, to my great relief it is worked out, so I can stop stressing about that. I also have internet in my room now, which is very exciting and convinient.
The afternoon was definately better than the morning. A group of AustraLearn students took a ferry to Waiheke Island and spent the after noon at the beach. It was tops. The group got split up and I ended up with Lorissa, Justine, Scott, Chris, and Eric plus a girl we met on the ferry named Hazel. She has been backpacking solo around New Zealand for about a month. Meeting her really made me want to backpack Europe when I graduate.
Anywho... We ended up in this great little cove off of one of the bigger beaches. It was very peaceful. We stayed there for several hours alternately swimming and laying in the sun. The view was absolutely gorgeous. It started getting cooler when the sun started going down so we packed up and went onto a little strip right off the beach. We went to this fish and chips place and everyone got, what do you know, fish and chips. Except me. I got the best veggie burger I have ever had. We went and ate on the beach while watching the sun set. Very relaxing. The sunset was really cool. There were lots of streaks of orange more than any other colors. Some pretty purples too. And it all reflected into the water, which itself is a gorgeous teal color.
We were contemplating finding a hostel and staying the night but figured we might freeze if we did since we only had togs, shorts, and t-shirts with us. Plus we realized quickly that there is absolutely no night life in Waiheke. Everything closes around 8:00. So back to Auckland we went.
I was completely knackered when we got back around 10:30 but when I got to my apartment, I found my roommates and various others, including a few Kiwis, hanging out and drinking. They insisted that I hang out with them, which I did gladly. I was up until past midnight or so talking to everyone. It was fun to get to meet some new people. I got to here some interesting things from the locals.
I am currently trying to figure out how to post pictures. For anyone who has Facebook, I already have some posted there. I want to put them here so other people can see but can't figure it out for the life of me. So if anyone has used blogger before and knows how to do that, let me know.
Peace.
The afternoon was definately better than the morning. A group of AustraLearn students took a ferry to Waiheke Island and spent the after noon at the beach. It was tops. The group got split up and I ended up with Lorissa, Justine, Scott, Chris, and Eric plus a girl we met on the ferry named Hazel. She has been backpacking solo around New Zealand for about a month. Meeting her really made me want to backpack Europe when I graduate.
Anywho... We ended up in this great little cove off of one of the bigger beaches. It was very peaceful. We stayed there for several hours alternately swimming and laying in the sun. The view was absolutely gorgeous. It started getting cooler when the sun started going down so we packed up and went onto a little strip right off the beach. We went to this fish and chips place and everyone got, what do you know, fish and chips. Except me. I got the best veggie burger I have ever had. We went and ate on the beach while watching the sun set. Very relaxing. The sunset was really cool. There were lots of streaks of orange more than any other colors. Some pretty purples too. And it all reflected into the water, which itself is a gorgeous teal color.
We were contemplating finding a hostel and staying the night but figured we might freeze if we did since we only had togs, shorts, and t-shirts with us. Plus we realized quickly that there is absolutely no night life in Waiheke. Everything closes around 8:00. So back to Auckland we went.
I was completely knackered when we got back around 10:30 but when I got to my apartment, I found my roommates and various others, including a few Kiwis, hanging out and drinking. They insisted that I hang out with them, which I did gladly. I was up until past midnight or so talking to everyone. It was fun to get to meet some new people. I got to here some interesting things from the locals.
I am currently trying to figure out how to post pictures. For anyone who has Facebook, I already have some posted there. I want to put them here so other people can see but can't figure it out for the life of me. So if anyone has used blogger before and knows how to do that, let me know.
Peace.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Epic Cell Phone/Food Shopping Day
Monday was another productive day of everyone trying to get settled. I'm getting there slowly but surely.
The morning started with the international student orientation. It awnsered a lot of my questions so that I don't feel so panicky about the specifics of things. It was cool to see how many international students there are here. They said there were 5000 this semester. That's twice as big as Adrian and that's only international students. The orientation happened to be in one of the lecture halls where a couple of my business classes will be taking place. To give you an idea, it seats more people than Dawson Auditorium and almost as many as Laurie Auditorium. That will take some getting used to.
The afternoon turned into an adventure. I was with nine other AustraLearn students getting things sorted out. Our first stop was to the phone store. It took a lot of questions and confused looks but we were all able to purchase a cell phone and plan for a good price. We all got the same phone. We're going to have to decorate them so that we don't mix them up. They cost $75 NZ. That is about $40 US. Phones are very expensive here. We found some of the cheapest phones in the city. Generally, they range from $200-$800 NZ (about $100-$400 US). And that's without a phone plan to go along. My plan is $.89 per minute for local and international calls and 2000 texts for $10 per month. This is the basic plan that most people get here. No one really calls in New Zealand because it is so expensive. Most everybody just texts to communicate. We all exchanged phone numbers so that we have a way to communicate with each other instead of walking around the city trying to find each other.
After that, it was grocery shopping time. There is a store at the end of Queen St. called Food World. It has great prices. I got a lot of basic food items for $35 NZ. Not bad. The only downside about Food World is that it is a 20 minute walk from campus. Not fun when you're carrying heavy plasic bags. We ended up taking the bus. We were planning on taking the free bus that makes a circuit by the university but we got there 10 minutes after it stopped running. Drat. Eventually, we were able to figure out which other bus to take back to the university. It was only $.50 so I will have to keep that in mind for later travels. Next time I go food shopping I am definitely taking a backpack to put my stuff in. The hike up the hill to our apartment was kind of rough.
When we got back to the apartments we decided that we were all going to make our own dinners and then meet in one of the flats to eat together. I successfully made myself spaggetti. I was very proud. No one found it quite as exciting as I did though. We all gathered in Chris's apartment to eat and hang out. It was highly enjoyable. I'm glad that I've found some people to spend time with while we all get settled. I was a bit worried that I'd be doing this all on my own. It's much more fun as a group.
I'm almost caught up with my blogging! Yay! I'm only a day behind now.
Peace.
The morning started with the international student orientation. It awnsered a lot of my questions so that I don't feel so panicky about the specifics of things. It was cool to see how many international students there are here. They said there were 5000 this semester. That's twice as big as Adrian and that's only international students. The orientation happened to be in one of the lecture halls where a couple of my business classes will be taking place. To give you an idea, it seats more people than Dawson Auditorium and almost as many as Laurie Auditorium. That will take some getting used to.
The afternoon turned into an adventure. I was with nine other AustraLearn students getting things sorted out. Our first stop was to the phone store. It took a lot of questions and confused looks but we were all able to purchase a cell phone and plan for a good price. We all got the same phone. We're going to have to decorate them so that we don't mix them up. They cost $75 NZ. That is about $40 US. Phones are very expensive here. We found some of the cheapest phones in the city. Generally, they range from $200-$800 NZ (about $100-$400 US). And that's without a phone plan to go along. My plan is $.89 per minute for local and international calls and 2000 texts for $10 per month. This is the basic plan that most people get here. No one really calls in New Zealand because it is so expensive. Most everybody just texts to communicate. We all exchanged phone numbers so that we have a way to communicate with each other instead of walking around the city trying to find each other.
After that, it was grocery shopping time. There is a store at the end of Queen St. called Food World. It has great prices. I got a lot of basic food items for $35 NZ. Not bad. The only downside about Food World is that it is a 20 minute walk from campus. Not fun when you're carrying heavy plasic bags. We ended up taking the bus. We were planning on taking the free bus that makes a circuit by the university but we got there 10 minutes after it stopped running. Drat. Eventually, we were able to figure out which other bus to take back to the university. It was only $.50 so I will have to keep that in mind for later travels. Next time I go food shopping I am definitely taking a backpack to put my stuff in. The hike up the hill to our apartment was kind of rough.
When we got back to the apartments we decided that we were all going to make our own dinners and then meet in one of the flats to eat together. I successfully made myself spaggetti. I was very proud. No one found it quite as exciting as I did though. We all gathered in Chris's apartment to eat and hang out. It was highly enjoyable. I'm glad that I've found some people to spend time with while we all get settled. I was a bit worried that I'd be doing this all on my own. It's much more fun as a group.
I'm almost caught up with my blogging! Yay! I'm only a day behind now.
Peace.
First Day in Auckland
Sunday was my very first day in Auckland. We got to our seperate universities and moved into our apartments. It was all pretty choatic and confusing. I felt like I was being completely overwhelmed with infor mation. Most of it has all worked itself out but it was incredibly stressful at the time.
The first bump of the day was getting up to my room and finding out that a lot of stuff that they promised would be provided by the housing was not. So a bunch of us went out to buy sheets and pillows and all sorts of other items. We went to this store on Queen Street called the Warehouse. It's basically Auckland's Walmart. It had pretty much anything you could ever need. One of the things I had to buy there was a blanket for my bed. I was looking for something cheap and the cheapest thing there was appeared to be a simple black blanket. When I got home I opened it up to discover that this blanket actually has a design on it. I am happy to report that I am now the proud owner of a Jim Beam blanket. Oddly enough, we didn't get lost on our way to the Warehouse but we got completely turned around coming back. We attempted to take a short cut that ended up being a very long cut. Auckland's streets are kind of hard to manuever around at first because they tend to look like they're going one way and then suddenly turn and be going a direction you didn't want to go and then you have to backtrack.
That pretty much ate up the afternoon. We all just wanted to crash after that. I think we were all still kind of jet lagged. I got my room all set up and everything. My apartment is fantastic. I have a nice-sized room all to myself. The living room is large and comfortable with lots of windows (we're in a corner apartment). My roommates are very friendly but all Americans so far. I was kind of hoping that I would be rooming with people from other countries. But they're still nice. We may still have one more roommate moving in later in the week but we don't know yet.
Hopefully I will get to post pictures soon. I can't really post here in the computer lab because the internet is pretty slow and there's no where to upload them to. I should have internet in my apartment any day now. Knock on wood.
Peace.
The first bump of the day was getting up to my room and finding out that a lot of stuff that they promised would be provided by the housing was not. So a bunch of us went out to buy sheets and pillows and all sorts of other items. We went to this store on Queen Street called the Warehouse. It's basically Auckland's Walmart. It had pretty much anything you could ever need. One of the things I had to buy there was a blanket for my bed. I was looking for something cheap and the cheapest thing there was appeared to be a simple black blanket. When I got home I opened it up to discover that this blanket actually has a design on it. I am happy to report that I am now the proud owner of a Jim Beam blanket. Oddly enough, we didn't get lost on our way to the Warehouse but we got completely turned around coming back. We attempted to take a short cut that ended up being a very long cut. Auckland's streets are kind of hard to manuever around at first because they tend to look like they're going one way and then suddenly turn and be going a direction you didn't want to go and then you have to backtrack.
That pretty much ate up the afternoon. We all just wanted to crash after that. I think we were all still kind of jet lagged. I got my room all set up and everything. My apartment is fantastic. I have a nice-sized room all to myself. The living room is large and comfortable with lots of windows (we're in a corner apartment). My roommates are very friendly but all Americans so far. I was kind of hoping that I would be rooming with people from other countries. But they're still nice. We may still have one more roommate moving in later in the week but we don't know yet.
Hopefully I will get to post pictures soon. I can't really post here in the computer lab because the internet is pretty slow and there's no where to upload them to. I should have internet in my apartment any day now. Knock on wood.
Peace.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Hodge Podge
Saturday was a kind of interesting days with some very contrasting events.
It started out with a session about how some of the things at our university would be working. Of course, they could only give us vague ideas of what was going to happen. I am very anxious to have details and understand exactly what is going on. I want to have a schedule and assurance that I will be able to take music classes and so on. It's all making me very nervous. I had to keep chanting my mantra to myself. Go with the flow. It will all work itself out.
Forunately the day went uphill from there and I got to do some cool stuff and forget about fretting like I so frequently do. We started out with going to the Agrodome for a sheep show. It's very similar to a dog show, only with sheep. I felt very touristy, which I strongly dislike. But we got to pet sheep and they were adorable. It made me feel sad that some of them would be barbeque soon enough. As part of the show, they actually sheared a sheep in front of us. It was amazingly fast, only took about a minute. I know it doesn't hurt them but I still felt bad for the sheep. I thought it looked kind of scared.
In the afternoon, we went zorbing. It was sweet as. Basically, zorbing is when you get into a gigantic plastic ball filled with some water and roll down a big hill. It was so much fun. You're sloshing all around with the other person in the ball and trying not to kick them. It's impossible to tell where you are and it's surprisingly fast. It was awesome. I can't even portray the level of awesomeness. And it just sounds kind of funny. "Yeah, when I was in New Zealand I got to roll down a hill in a gigantic ball." I wanted to go for a second ride but I didn't want to pay for it again.
Later on in the afternoon, we were taught a verse of the Maori haka. It is a war chant that they use to indimidate their enemies. We learned all of the words and movements and then got to dress up in traditional clothing and war paint. The girls had these long dresses but the guys only had loincloths. They all had to roll up their boxers so they wouldn't stick out. It was at least a little bit funny. One guy suggested switching outfits with the girls. He got mixed reactions. Putz.
Then at night we went to a Maori village. Or, it was imitating a Maori village. It was pretty cool. They performed a traditional welcome ceremony and then we were able to roam around the camp for a bit. They were doing different demostrations. The actors were amazingly good at staying in character the whole time. They kept doing stuff like asking us what shoes were. Then there was a performance with dancing and singing and, I assume, some sort of storytelling. It was all really well done. Then we had a traditional hangi meal. To cook a hangi meal, you put a bunch of hot volcanic rocks into a pit in the ground, then put the food in baskets on top of the rocks, cover it with wet cloths and let it sit for several hours. It was delicious. I ate way more than I could handle but it was great.
When we got back to Kiwi Paka from the village, a bunch of our group hung out down at the bar for a while. It was our last night in Rotorua and we were all kind of bummed because were all splitting up to go to our different schools the next day. We've all gotten attached pretty quickly. The kids going to Waikato will probably never see the Auckland kids again. Sad. On the plus side, I ordered my first legal drink. Cheers for the lower drinking age. I have discovered Smirnoff Ice and decided that I like it very much. There is also a drink here (I'm not sure if they have it in the States too) called Vodka Fuse. It is the fruitiest drink I have ever tasted. I had the red flavor and it pretty much just tasted like strawberries. It went down a bit faster than it should have... Yum.
Peace.
It started out with a session about how some of the things at our university would be working. Of course, they could only give us vague ideas of what was going to happen. I am very anxious to have details and understand exactly what is going on. I want to have a schedule and assurance that I will be able to take music classes and so on. It's all making me very nervous. I had to keep chanting my mantra to myself. Go with the flow. It will all work itself out.
Forunately the day went uphill from there and I got to do some cool stuff and forget about fretting like I so frequently do. We started out with going to the Agrodome for a sheep show. It's very similar to a dog show, only with sheep. I felt very touristy, which I strongly dislike. But we got to pet sheep and they were adorable. It made me feel sad that some of them would be barbeque soon enough. As part of the show, they actually sheared a sheep in front of us. It was amazingly fast, only took about a minute. I know it doesn't hurt them but I still felt bad for the sheep. I thought it looked kind of scared.
In the afternoon, we went zorbing. It was sweet as. Basically, zorbing is when you get into a gigantic plastic ball filled with some water and roll down a big hill. It was so much fun. You're sloshing all around with the other person in the ball and trying not to kick them. It's impossible to tell where you are and it's surprisingly fast. It was awesome. I can't even portray the level of awesomeness. And it just sounds kind of funny. "Yeah, when I was in New Zealand I got to roll down a hill in a gigantic ball." I wanted to go for a second ride but I didn't want to pay for it again.
Later on in the afternoon, we were taught a verse of the Maori haka. It is a war chant that they use to indimidate their enemies. We learned all of the words and movements and then got to dress up in traditional clothing and war paint. The girls had these long dresses but the guys only had loincloths. They all had to roll up their boxers so they wouldn't stick out. It was at least a little bit funny. One guy suggested switching outfits with the girls. He got mixed reactions. Putz.
Then at night we went to a Maori village. Or, it was imitating a Maori village. It was pretty cool. They performed a traditional welcome ceremony and then we were able to roam around the camp for a bit. They were doing different demostrations. The actors were amazingly good at staying in character the whole time. They kept doing stuff like asking us what shoes were. Then there was a performance with dancing and singing and, I assume, some sort of storytelling. It was all really well done. Then we had a traditional hangi meal. To cook a hangi meal, you put a bunch of hot volcanic rocks into a pit in the ground, then put the food in baskets on top of the rocks, cover it with wet cloths and let it sit for several hours. It was delicious. I ate way more than I could handle but it was great.
When we got back to Kiwi Paka from the village, a bunch of our group hung out down at the bar for a while. It was our last night in Rotorua and we were all kind of bummed because were all splitting up to go to our different schools the next day. We've all gotten attached pretty quickly. The kids going to Waikato will probably never see the Auckland kids again. Sad. On the plus side, I ordered my first legal drink. Cheers for the lower drinking age. I have discovered Smirnoff Ice and decided that I like it very much. There is also a drink here (I'm not sure if they have it in the States too) called Vodka Fuse. It is the fruitiest drink I have ever tasted. I had the red flavor and it pretty much just tasted like strawberries. It went down a bit faster than it should have... Yum.
Peace.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Caving
Friday was my amazing caving adventure. It was awesome or "sweet as" as the locals say. There were three options for which caving tour we wanted to go on. I opted for the most intense of the three and it lived up to its name. Our guides were these really outdoorsy guys named Dean and Ryan. They were amazing and incredibly strong. I'm pretty sure they could have gone through the whole cave in about 15 minutes. (It took us mortals 4 hours.)
It started with about a 200 foot repel into the cave. The wall was very slippery and I kept almost getting turned around. It turns out that that was like a stroll in the park compared to the rest of the trip. A short hike and we were at our next repel which was down a waterfall. Yes, we were standing in the water that was falling on us and repeling down. We later decided to call this "eating water." It hapened quite frequently. I cannot even descibe how cool I feel to be able to say that I have repeled down a waterfall. Anywho... When I got to the bottom, there was a guy from my group pointing our way ahead. To my dismay, he pointed to a small gap in the cave wall, which also happened to have a ton of water running through it, and said, "Okay, you're going feet first through there." I responded with some mild profanity. (Turns out I wasn't the only one.)
After sliding through the hole, I found myself in a small, almost completely vertical passage with a good deal of white water falling on me. I ended up practically in Dean's lap while he tried to hook me to my safety line, explain what I was supposed to do, and keep me from falling down the rest of the waterfall. I was a bit flustered at this point. That was one of the hardest parts because you're being slammed by water while you try to get your ropes in place and everything. Poor Dean was getting a ton of water right in the face. I successfully managed to repel down that waterfall too. Actually, to more lowered myself down. I couldn't get my feet to stay on the wall, so it wasn't so much repeling.
The next step was down yet another waterfall but this time because of space restrictions, rather than repeling down, we were hooked to a safety line and basically dropped about 20 feet. At the bottom there was a tiny cove about five by five feet. We fit about five people in there at one point. Very cozy. Ryan informed us that our way out of this itty bitty hole was through the waterfall. That was pretty fun. We had to hang onto the person in front of us to get through.
After that was a hike through what quickly became a crawl space. Keep in mind that there is still water. So we were kind of sliding through about a foot of water with only enough room to keep our head above water. We were crawling around for quite a ways, which is much harder when you're wearing galoshes (called gum boots here). At the end of our crawl space we found the other half of our group. We had been seperated in the tiny hole. We hiked through the cave for a while. At one point, Dean had us stop and turn off our lights so that we could see some glow worms on the ceiling. We had our lights out for about five minutes and I got to see what pitch black is actually like. It was completely impossible to know where anything was unless that thing was talking. I kept moving a bit trying to find decent footing and when I turned my light back on I was surprised to find that I was standing awkwardly close to two other people.
Then it was time to begin our ascent out of the cave. There were two rocks climbs to start with. The first was about 30 feet and fairly easy. We were all able to make it up in about two minutes. The second climb was optional. (There was a ladder off to the side.) I decided to go for it because I was feeling a bit of peer pressure. I found out why exactly it was optional about 40 feet up. The reason is this... It was bloody hard. You get to a point where there are almost no holds and water is falling right in your eyes. The ultimate goal is to pull yourself through this crevice and onto a ledge. I got stuck in horrible place where I couldn't move to left leg because it was stuck between to rocks. There was also water going directly into my gum boots, which made it super heavy. I stopped and Ryan, who was belaying me asked if I was okay. I told him that I was fine but that I kept thinking I was going to get to an easy part. He merely laughed at me and said, in a very suck-it-up sort of tone, "There are no easy parts." That's one thing about Kiwis. With things like this they only give you information you absolutely need. Like with all this, they pretty much just showed you how to put your ropes on. Then they just let you go for it. They don't walk you through it or help you out if you're having trouble. You just have to figure it out on your own. It's kind of cool. In the end, I finished the climb. I thought I was going to have to give up a couple of times but really, by then, I was sort of at the point of no return.
After I caught my breath, I was told to follow a rope that ran through a series of tunnels. It sent me through some gaps that I definitely would not have thought to go through if I had been exploring alone. The rest of the way out was fairly smooth but seemed incredibly difficult because of how tired we were. When we got out of the cave we had to walk up a hill to where we could change. You know that you're tired when you can barely breathe after walking up a hill. We all had to take a breather before we could even take of our wetsuits (a challenge in itself).
It's strange because even though the 10 people who went on the tour barely knew each other going into it, we all came out feeling really bonded.
It started with about a 200 foot repel into the cave. The wall was very slippery and I kept almost getting turned around. It turns out that that was like a stroll in the park compared to the rest of the trip. A short hike and we were at our next repel which was down a waterfall. Yes, we were standing in the water that was falling on us and repeling down. We later decided to call this "eating water." It hapened quite frequently. I cannot even descibe how cool I feel to be able to say that I have repeled down a waterfall. Anywho... When I got to the bottom, there was a guy from my group pointing our way ahead. To my dismay, he pointed to a small gap in the cave wall, which also happened to have a ton of water running through it, and said, "Okay, you're going feet first through there." I responded with some mild profanity. (Turns out I wasn't the only one.)
After sliding through the hole, I found myself in a small, almost completely vertical passage with a good deal of white water falling on me. I ended up practically in Dean's lap while he tried to hook me to my safety line, explain what I was supposed to do, and keep me from falling down the rest of the waterfall. I was a bit flustered at this point. That was one of the hardest parts because you're being slammed by water while you try to get your ropes in place and everything. Poor Dean was getting a ton of water right in the face. I successfully managed to repel down that waterfall too. Actually, to more lowered myself down. I couldn't get my feet to stay on the wall, so it wasn't so much repeling.
The next step was down yet another waterfall but this time because of space restrictions, rather than repeling down, we were hooked to a safety line and basically dropped about 20 feet. At the bottom there was a tiny cove about five by five feet. We fit about five people in there at one point. Very cozy. Ryan informed us that our way out of this itty bitty hole was through the waterfall. That was pretty fun. We had to hang onto the person in front of us to get through.
After that was a hike through what quickly became a crawl space. Keep in mind that there is still water. So we were kind of sliding through about a foot of water with only enough room to keep our head above water. We were crawling around for quite a ways, which is much harder when you're wearing galoshes (called gum boots here). At the end of our crawl space we found the other half of our group. We had been seperated in the tiny hole. We hiked through the cave for a while. At one point, Dean had us stop and turn off our lights so that we could see some glow worms on the ceiling. We had our lights out for about five minutes and I got to see what pitch black is actually like. It was completely impossible to know where anything was unless that thing was talking. I kept moving a bit trying to find decent footing and when I turned my light back on I was surprised to find that I was standing awkwardly close to two other people.
Then it was time to begin our ascent out of the cave. There were two rocks climbs to start with. The first was about 30 feet and fairly easy. We were all able to make it up in about two minutes. The second climb was optional. (There was a ladder off to the side.) I decided to go for it because I was feeling a bit of peer pressure. I found out why exactly it was optional about 40 feet up. The reason is this... It was bloody hard. You get to a point where there are almost no holds and water is falling right in your eyes. The ultimate goal is to pull yourself through this crevice and onto a ledge. I got stuck in horrible place where I couldn't move to left leg because it was stuck between to rocks. There was also water going directly into my gum boots, which made it super heavy. I stopped and Ryan, who was belaying me asked if I was okay. I told him that I was fine but that I kept thinking I was going to get to an easy part. He merely laughed at me and said, in a very suck-it-up sort of tone, "There are no easy parts." That's one thing about Kiwis. With things like this they only give you information you absolutely need. Like with all this, they pretty much just showed you how to put your ropes on. Then they just let you go for it. They don't walk you through it or help you out if you're having trouble. You just have to figure it out on your own. It's kind of cool. In the end, I finished the climb. I thought I was going to have to give up a couple of times but really, by then, I was sort of at the point of no return.
After I caught my breath, I was told to follow a rope that ran through a series of tunnels. It sent me through some gaps that I definitely would not have thought to go through if I had been exploring alone. The rest of the way out was fairly smooth but seemed incredibly difficult because of how tired we were. When we got out of the cave we had to walk up a hill to where we could change. You know that you're tired when you can barely breathe after walking up a hill. We all had to take a breather before we could even take of our wetsuits (a challenge in itself).
It's strange because even though the 10 people who went on the tour barely knew each other going into it, we all came out feeling really bonded.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Important Information for Pete Ford
I forgot to mention in my last post... It was requested that I pay attention to which way the water in the toilet spins in both hemispheres. I have done so and my conclusion is this. Location of the toilet does not affect which way the water spins. I have observed the water spinning both ways in each hemisphere. I will therefore assume that the way the water spins has more to do with the function of the particular toilet that you happen to be using.
Finally Arrived
Coming to Auckland has turned out to be one of the longest travel escapades I could have ever imagined. By the time I was in LA I already felt like I had been traveling forever and I still wasn't close to being done. Things were stressful at first but I started feeling better once I got past security. The nerves kept coming in waves. I would get flustered by something and then start feeling nervous again. Like at one point, I was boarding a plane and I got jostled and ended up hitting a guy in the head with my clarinet.
In the LA airport, I found some of the other students who were travelling with AustraLearn. I think it made us all less nervous to see that we were all in the same situation, not exactly knowing what was going on and not knowing anyone else.
My pathetic attempt to make myself sleep on the plane by staying up late the night before almost worked. I got a couple hours of sleep... But I'm still only operating on about 6 hours of sleep in the past 48 hours. I have never felt this tired in my life. And I didn't get to shower until just recently, making it a good 36 hours or so between bathing. Icky.
But it's worth it, I'm sure. I already love it here. Everything just feels so laid back and comfortable. We were driving around Rotorua today and there were people walking around downtown barefoot. It makes me feel like I'm back at FMC. Unfortunately, so far I haven't had much of a chance to meet many locals because we have been with the group. I don't like how much I feel like a tourist but I'm glad that I'm getting to ease into things. I still feel totally foreign, even though everyone speaks English. I'll be on my own soon enough.
Pretty much immediately after getting off the plane at 5:30 a.m. local time we headed off to the buses. It was about three hours to Rotorua. I found it very difficult to stay awake but I wanted to observe the scenery. All those things that you hear about New Zealand being a picturesque country with incredible landscapes... It's not an exaggeration. It is beautiful here. Everything is greener than I ever thopught possible. There are some really cool looking plants too. There is a type of tree that we saw in Auckland that looks like it hasn't evolved since dinosaur times. It's hard to describe. I will take a picture of one at some point. Oddly enough, I have seen far more cows than sheep...
After dinner today, me and a few girls went to find an ATM. We got very very lost and ended up walking around Rotorua for an hour. We eventually found cash but I'm pretty sure we most of the city in the process.It was good exploring.
I'm already seeing the very dry sense of humor that I was warned about. I like it quite a bit. Basically, everyone just makes fun of each other. It's more commonly called "taking the piss." I think I phrased that correctly. It's really fun learning all of the lingo here. It's interesting that even though there is no language barrier there are still things that you have to watch out for. For example, you shouldn't say that you are rooting for someone or for a team. In New Zealand rooting means to have sex. That could be an awkward confusion. And apparantly you will be laughed at if you use the word swimsuit. The correct term is togs. There are lots of things like that.
Overall it was a good first day. Tomorrow, I go caving. Fun.
Peace.
In the LA airport, I found some of the other students who were travelling with AustraLearn. I think it made us all less nervous to see that we were all in the same situation, not exactly knowing what was going on and not knowing anyone else.
My pathetic attempt to make myself sleep on the plane by staying up late the night before almost worked. I got a couple hours of sleep... But I'm still only operating on about 6 hours of sleep in the past 48 hours. I have never felt this tired in my life. And I didn't get to shower until just recently, making it a good 36 hours or so between bathing. Icky.
But it's worth it, I'm sure. I already love it here. Everything just feels so laid back and comfortable. We were driving around Rotorua today and there were people walking around downtown barefoot. It makes me feel like I'm back at FMC. Unfortunately, so far I haven't had much of a chance to meet many locals because we have been with the group. I don't like how much I feel like a tourist but I'm glad that I'm getting to ease into things. I still feel totally foreign, even though everyone speaks English. I'll be on my own soon enough.
Pretty much immediately after getting off the plane at 5:30 a.m. local time we headed off to the buses. It was about three hours to Rotorua. I found it very difficult to stay awake but I wanted to observe the scenery. All those things that you hear about New Zealand being a picturesque country with incredible landscapes... It's not an exaggeration. It is beautiful here. Everything is greener than I ever thopught possible. There are some really cool looking plants too. There is a type of tree that we saw in Auckland that looks like it hasn't evolved since dinosaur times. It's hard to describe. I will take a picture of one at some point. Oddly enough, I have seen far more cows than sheep...
After dinner today, me and a few girls went to find an ATM. We got very very lost and ended up walking around Rotorua for an hour. We eventually found cash but I'm pretty sure we most of the city in the process.It was good exploring.
I'm already seeing the very dry sense of humor that I was warned about. I like it quite a bit. Basically, everyone just makes fun of each other. It's more commonly called "taking the piss." I think I phrased that correctly. It's really fun learning all of the lingo here. It's interesting that even though there is no language barrier there are still things that you have to watch out for. For example, you shouldn't say that you are rooting for someone or for a team. In New Zealand rooting means to have sex. That could be an awkward confusion. And apparantly you will be laughed at if you use the word swimsuit. The correct term is togs. There are lots of things like that.
Overall it was a good first day. Tomorrow, I go caving. Fun.
Peace.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Testing, Testing, 1...2...3..., Testing
This a test post to begin my blog. A bunch of people have been asking about whether or not I will be keeping some sort of journal that they can follow while I am away in Auckland for my semester abroad. Turns out that I will be. I will (hopefully) keep up with this to let people know of my adventures and such. I'm excited. Right now I don't leave for another 10 days, so it will be a bit before there is anything much written but it will come eventually.
Peace.
Peace.
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