In Foreign Parts

Tomorrow my first class starts. I’m a bit nervous, as I expect it to be quite different from what I’m used to – quite hard work, too, because this summer course is only one month long and will have fewer students. Wish me luck! 🙂

Other than that I’m pretty ready for my time here. I had to buy some more stuff for my studio, but now I think I’ve got all I need. I also got a wireless internet connection with flatrate installed this morning, which gives me much more freedom than the ‘pay-as-you-go’ set up my accomodation offers. But I’ve also found time to play: Denise and three of her kids (Jack, Ben and Maddie) are visiting her mom near Wellington for a long weekend, and I’ve been to the zoo (yesterday, with Denise’s younger sister Ari and her partner) and to the Botanical Gardens (this afternoon, without Ben) with them. It’s really nice to be able to spend time with Denise – we’ve stayed in touch since meeting in California in 1999, which is a pretty long time for a travel friendship, at least for me.

Now I’ve got to head back out for a moment – I forgot to buy cereal for breakfast tomorrow. Luckily I’ve got a little convenience store right across the street.

The four of us (Kathrin, Silva, Masumi and I) had an awesome time together. New Zealand is simply too beautiful – we saw so many breathtaking landscapes on our way north to Rotorua, it’s hard to believe. I’ll get Wireless installed on Monday, so hopefully I’ll be able to share my photos once I don’t have to pay by usage anymore…

But here’s a quick run-down of what we did the past three days:
– Wednesday: Picked up car, failed to meet the fifth girl who wanted to come along (she’d given us a wrong mobile number), then headed 6 1/2 hours north. Kathrin and Silva are luckily both very experienced drivers, and everyone was kind enough to let me ride in front the whole time, making my motion sickness a non-issue (I only drove for about half an hour on the third day). Among other things we drove passed the Tongariro National Park, which is dominated by breathtaking snow-capped mountains. Then we finally reached Lake Taupo, the biggest lake in NZ and simply gorgeous, especially in the lovely weather that contrasted very agreably with the cold, wind and rain in Wellington… In the evening we reached Rotorua, where we stayed at a backpackers’ hostel. We rounded off the day with a trip to the nearby Polynesian spa, where we enjoyed the hot springs that give the air in Rotorua its sulphuric taste.

– Thursday: Spent the morning in Te Whakarewarewa, the functioning village of a local Maori hapu (sub-tribe), where we had the chance to see a cultural show and take a guided tour through the village with its many thermal attractions (and about 60 remaining inhabitants, from 6 months to 97 years of age). These ranged from boiling pits over natural steam cookers, communal baths and healthy mud holes to two impressive geysirs. Our guide, Rangi, is the third female generation to lead tourists through the village, and she was very proud of what the hapu had accomplished after the government-run Te Puia “Maori culture and geothermal visitor experience” tried to monopolize the area. I also used the opportunity to buy some locally made Christmas gifts… 🙂
The afternoon we drove around the area for a bit, with the idea of visiting another one of the many geothermal attractions. But the insane prices (they’d almost doubled since my last visit only four years ago) made us reconsider, so instead we spent some time at the lake front in town. Me and Masumi ended the day in the hot tub at the hostel, together with a German girl we’d met. Lovely!

– Friday: Our first stop was Kerosene Creek, a bit off the beaten path. It’s a lovely river running with hot water – and although it was raining, we were tempted to go in. In the end we didn’t, though, because it would have meant driving on wet and dirty. Still, will definitely keep this spot in mind!
After that we drove further south towards Taupo, to the Aratiatia Rapids. These are behind a big dam and can only be admired 3 or 4 times a day, when they open the floodgates for half an hour. We were right on time and enjoyed the spectacle of the almost-dry gorge turning into wild rapids enormously.
We then proceeded further along the Waikato river and to the Huka Falls, where we went for a hike along the riverside, through lovely forest, bringing us to another creek filled with hot water. Here we took off our shoes and enjoyed a little rest before heading back to the falls. We hadn’t planned on this excursion, having gone off the wrong way in search of the Falls at first, but it was totally worth the two hours walking!
However, the day wasn’t over yet! Kathrin had seen a postcard of Maori rock carvings on Lake Taupo, so we took a 2-hour boat trip once we reached Taupo. It was awesome – the water was calm, the sun came out, and we could hardly believe our luck! Afterwards we drove along the lake to Turangi, where we spent the night.

– Saturday: This morning we left at 8am and drove back through the beautiful landscapes to Wellington. We made such good time that we even managed to help Kathrin move into her new dorm room (her first one had been so freezing she’d caught an awful cold) before we had to return the car. Now I’m back, checked my email and am trying to decide whether to cook something or just get a sandwich or something.
Unfortunately a lot of stores already close at 2pm on Saturdays, so I can’t run the errands I should. But luckily I don’t have uni on Monday, so I should be able to get everything done by the time my first class starts. I’m quite nervous about that, btw, but I’m hoping for the best.

Edit: Went out, had a sandwich and peppermint hot chocolate (Subway and Starbucks should be giving me mass discounts!) at the harbour, where I sat for almost 2 hours enjoying the sunshine and a good book. The weather here changes so quickly, one has to make the most of it whenever possible.

Back home I heard a TV going next door, so I knocked and introduced myself to my neighbour, a girl from Malaysia (there are a lot of Malaysian students here, as well as Chinese and Japanese). Unfortunately she’s living in a week, so we won’t have much opportunity to get to know each other.

With half a week to go before uni starts, five of us international students will hire a car and head up to Rotorua for three days. I’m quite exhausted, but it’d be a pity not to make the most of this opportunity. I’ll be back Saturday, until then you can reach me via my NZ mobile if you need to. Hot springs, here I come! 🙂

Yesterday the weather was simply fantastic, which Kathrin (my fellow Victoria International student from Germany) and I really took advantage of: In the morning we took the cable car up to the beautiful Botanical Gardens, together with our dorm mate Claire from the US. Then we walked back to the hostel to get Kathrin’s stuff because she could already move into her residence hall – it was a bit of a shock for her, because the house is a bit run down, but nothing some cleaning and some new bedding and posters can’t fix.

Afterwards the weather beckoned us back out, and we met Heike from our dorm, who took us up Mt. Victoria in her rental car. Gorgeous views! Then we dropped off the stuff we’d bought for Kathrin’s room and headed back into town, for a nice ramble along the harbour back to the hostel, where I spent the evening chatting to the other girls in my dorm room. There’s another Swiss woman now, Liselotte from the Emmental, who offered to let me leave my luggage in the room until I can get it moved into my residence hall later today – that’s very practical indeed, as I’d otherwise have to rent at last two lockers until orientation at uni finishes.

So you see, I’m keeping busy and making friends – I’m a bit nervous about what uni here will be like (it seems to me it’s more like highschool than what I’m used at university, with people telling me exactly what I have to study and very little personal freedom), but I’m mostly just excited that it’ll start soon! I’ll be sure to update once I know what my room’s like – hopefully I can get the internet connected right away, else I can always come back to the hostel… Catch ya later, honeys! 🙂

Had a really good time with Denise, Ross, Ellie, Jack, Ben and Maddie – the kids were all fun to hang out with, especially little Maddie, who’s a cheeky and irresistibly cute little monkey. I looked after her yesterday morning at the children’s playcentre while the boys played, and it reminded me of how much I enjoy taking care of kids – it’s been a while since I had the chance. If I can, I might try to find a babysitting gig or something here in Wellington.

I arrived back here late last night, totally exhausted, the bus being about 40 minutes late. Took a cab to the hostel because I simply couldn’t be bothered trying to figure out which bus would take me to where I needed to go. I was carrying a nice big box filled with cutlery and crockery for my new home, courtesy of Denise – now I’ll definitely have to take a taxi to get all my luggage moved on Monday after the international orientation at Victoria University (which I’ve taken to calling ‘Vic U’ in my head, although I have no idea whether that’s what people call it).

No special plans for this weekend, although I’ve met a German girl who’ll also be studying at Victoria, so we might do something together. I’ll definitely have to do laundry and I might even get around to reply to some of your emails… Please don’t yell at me if I don’t, though! *g*