Days before Wellington...

Kiaora (a New Zealand Maori welcome),
Here is a run down of what I did during the first few days of being in New Zealand...

*Flying
Well I hate flying but I knew in the end it would all be worth it, and it deffinetly was. After a nine hour layover in LA it took 12 hours to fly to Auckland, NZ. We completly missed Fri the 24th, flew right over it!!! But I'm not gonna lie the attractive Australian Flight Attendants and their accents did make the duration "fly" by a little faster, hehe! I also sat by three other US kids going to my university and it was a relief right away to meet nice and friendly people.

*Orientation
The next four days were filled with culture shock presentations and outdoor activites. We drove form Auckland to Rotorua and stayed at a youth hostel, Kiwi Paka. It had a naturally heated hot tub...hmm it was nice.

The first night there I saw my first rugby game ever. I fell in love, seriously it is exciting and one of the guys with us plays back home so he explained the rules to me. I caught on pretty quick!!

On the first full day we drove to Waitomo to go absailing (repelling) down into limestone caves. We had to wear wet suits and gum boots because the entire two hours spent underground we were navigating under and through natural waterfalls...it was a rush! There were little glow worms in the cave that showed up like little x-mas lights all over the walls, and at one point we had to turn off our lights and walk in the dark...I was a little creeped out.
After the caves I saw the strangest thing ever. The group watched as an angora rabbit was strapped into stirrups and flipped over like a rotisery chicken and then sheared of its fur!!! I didn't know that anyone actually did it and the lady who did seemed to enjoy it a little to much, haha.
That night we went to The Lava Bar in Rotorua. It is a popular local and backpackers hangout. My first legal experience...not to bad I'd have to say.

The third day we went to the Agrodome show and saw every type of sheep that lives in NZ. We also saw the equivalent to a NZ hick...the muscle shirt and love handles just weren't doing it for me :) He FULLY enjoyed squirting the audience with milk straight from a cows udder.
Next we got to go Zorbing. It is a quirky sport originating in Rotorua. You get into a huge rubber ball along with other people and some water and then get pushed down a steep hill...it was crazy. I deffinetly reccomend it!
That night we had an authentic Maori experience. (They are the original settelers of the island) It was really interesting to get a run down of how the island's history, and the food was very different but really good too.

The fourth day came and I was so excited to finally get to Wellington. My friend Shelly got to fly in the cockpit during the landing so I have some awesome pics of the amazing landscape. Yeah no more fields...finally water and elevation, haha.

The first night in Wellington Shelly, me and some of the guys went out to the Courtney Arms Pub and played darts. We made friends with the bartender and he told us all the best places to go...got the inside scoop the first night!!!

There is so much to see and do it is almost overwhelming, but I'm gonna do my best to conquer the 'Island of the White Cloud',
in the months that I'm here!! Wish me luck!!
Luv,
Rachel

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