Anissa

This past weekend I took a mini trip up north to Paihia, Bay of Islands with a friend. When we left we didn't have anything planned, just ideas of things we would like to do. It was more of a relaxing getting away so we didn't want to have to follow a schedule. We took the Naked Bus to get there which took almost four hours. Once we got there we ate at a cute little restaurant called Titos and then basically went to bed because it was late. The next morning we walked along the beach and explored a little bit on the rocks as we decided what we wanted to do for the day. Then we took the ferry to Russell which was a cute little town right by Paihia. We walked and saw ... read more

For my mid-semester break I decided to spend the first week in Australia. Seeing as it's such a big country I only went to Sydney. I flew over by myself and met a friend from my AustraLearn program. Day 1: The flight was about three hours, but since there was a two hours time difference I gained more time. I took a shuttle to the hostel where I met my friend. Since she got there before me she actually, randomly, met two australian girls. These two were at our hostel and we all spent the night together. They took us to eat at a Thai restaurant next to our hostel. It was delicious, especially since I didn't eat anything for 10 hours before that. We then went to get transportation passes for the week. I'm glad ... read more

This past week I went to my first rugby game! It was between the Auckland Blues and the Wellington Hurricanes. Unfortunately the Blues lost 25-26 right at the end of the game. It was very interesting watching the game seeing as I don't know all the rules. Even so, it was highly entertaining and I had a blast! Before the game Diamond and tried to buy some blue face paint for the occasion, but we couldn't find any. At the game we saw a younger girl (about 12) with some so we went to ask her if she bought that at the stadium. (In Mt. Eden) She did not but she did offer us some of hers, so we ended up getting face paint afterall! This little girl was really nice and we talked to her ... read more

I went to the Pacifika Festival this weekend in Auckland. This year was the celebration of 20 years. There was music, food, arts, and dance from 10 different cultures (Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Cook Islands, Tokelau, Niue, Tahiti, Kiribati, Tuvalu, and Aotearoa ). When we got there I was not expecting it to be as big as it was. It was spread out throughout the entire park. We were there for abour 4 hours. We saw many performances in each of the different culture locations. Along with many vibrant art tents, jewlery tents, and delicious smelling food tents. While I was there I bought watermelon ice cream. Which is simply a half of watermelon with a few scopes of ice cream on the top. (see picture) They also had the same thing with a pineapple as well. ... read more

I got through my first week of classes!! WHOA!!! The first week wasn't bad at all because the professors just went over the assessment process and what to expect. They did start lecturing a little bit, however. I only have papers three days a week so that's an added bonus!! I will have to use my long weekends to study/read/work on my projects and assignments though because I'm taking legit classes. I've also been preoccupied this week with trying to figure out when and where I'm going to take little weekend trips. I want to go to Wellington, Coromandel Penninsula, Tongariro Nation Park (To see lake Emerald for my uncle {and myself}), and Bay of Islands. I actually booked my transportation to Bay of Islands already so that trip is set! For spring break I'm planning ... read more