After a never ending 23 hour flying process to New Zealand, I can now say that I am walking on the land of the hobbits and it is B-E-A-UTIFUL!!!! I cant believe I am finally here after talking about this trip for so long!
I will begin by saying that a direct 13 hour flight is definitely not a fun thing to do... but luckily for me I had the window seat and there was no one sitting next to me so I got to curl up into a ball without touching someone else which was very nice. But still not all that great. I did surprisingly kind of sleep for 8 hours of that flight which was shocking to me but probably thanks to the sleepy time meds.
But it was all worth it when we landed in Auckland! And going through customs here was surprisingly not bad at all. I started taking off my shoes and the guy just looked at me and was like "what are you doing? You can keep those on" and I was like whhhaat??? AND they did not even make me dump out my half drank water bottle! How weird is that??
I will begin by saying that a direct 13 hour flight is definitely not a fun thing to do... but luckily for me I had the window seat and there was no one sitting next to me so I got to curl up into a ball without touching someone else which was very nice. But still not all that great. I did surprisingly kind of sleep for 8 hours of that flight which was shocking to me but probably thanks to the sleepy time meds.
But it was all worth it when we landed in Auckland! And going through customs here was surprisingly not bad at all. I started taking off my shoes and the guy just looked at me and was like "what are you doing? You can keep those on" and I was like whhhaat??? AND they did not even make me dump out my half drank water bottle! How weird is that??
So yea the stereotype about New Zealand being one of the most friendliest countries is definitely a real thing. I learned this again when I repeatedly failed again and again to trying to properly swipe my credit card to buy some food. The girl was so nice to me and kept telling me what to do, whereas in America the clerk probably would have looked at me like can you please just swipe your card like a normal person!!!
But enough about that, lets get to the good stuff! Like the view!!! Look at this!! These were taken flying from Auckland to Queenstown and the pictures does not even do it justice.
But enough about that, lets get to the good stuff! Like the view!!! Look at this!! These were taken flying from Auckland to Queenstown and the pictures does not even do it justice.
So we are now in Queenstown and have just finished our orientation for the Expedition part of this trip. And for those of you that don't know, my study abroad trip is split into two parts. The first two weeks is an expedition across the entire country, the south island to the north island, and the last four weeks is in Internship in the Hawkes Bay area. I will get more to the internship later. But the two week expedition is going to be awesome, we get to go to a sheep farm, tour wineries, hike the Franz Josef glacier valley, explore the Tongariro National Park (home of Mt. Doom!) and experience the Maori culture. There will be more to come on this. |
Queenstown is a cool little town. Again the view is amazing with mountains all surrounding you. We even saw sheep climbing down them in the distance, it was so cute! I got to eat my first meal in New Zealand. Now before I tell you what I had, I must say that we asked one of the kiwis what the best place to eat in town is and he told us Fergburger. So yes, I did eat a burger.... but oh my goodness it was one of the best burgers I have ever eaten, so I am not even mad. Even though it's an american thing, let me tell you that america is doin somethin wrong! After that we got to walk around and see the bay and met some friendly ducks :) |
P.S. I didnt take the above Fergburger pictures, those are from the internet. But I just wanted to show how awesome this place is! |
Anyways we have a full day packed of adventures for tomorrow and I gotta get to bed to recover from the serious jetlag I am suffering from. It is very strange that I am 16 hours ahead of all you people still in the mitten.
Until next time, E noho rā!
Until next time, E noho rā!