Category: New Zealand

Kia Ora Everyone!

My time abroad is flying by and I’ll admit my flatmates and I are in denial that our time together will come to an end. Uniflats hosted a farewell dinner for all international students on the 1 of October even though we still have little over a month left. This made reality really hit us that we have to leave this paradise and our new friends soon. However, my flat is already planning when we’ll come together in the future! We have one week of lectures left and then the month of final exams begins. I have three final exams, on the 24 of October, 31 of October and the 9 of November. I hope to do lots of traveling the two weeks before my first final and studying in between trips.

A couple of weekends ago a group of 11 of us went to Mount Cook National Park. It was the most beautiful place I’ve been so far! We did lots of tramping and I was continually amazed at the views! We left Friday afternoon and drove 3 and 1/2 hours to get there. Along the way, we listened to lots of good music and made a couple of stops at the blue lakes. The water was SO blue, none of us had ever seen anything like it!

When we got to Aoraki/Mount Cook the first thing we did was hike to the Tasman Glacier, only about a 1-hour roundtrip. As we left we watched the clouds and the mountain peaks turn pink from the sunset. We went to our hostel to check-in and make dinner. The next morning we woke up at 4:30 to do the Hooker Valley track for sunrise. We started our tramp in the dark while using our phone flashlights to see the trail. It was so amazing to watch the mountain peaks rise out of the dark and the clouds and watch the valley transform with the sunrise. The valley and clouds turned pink and the views were breathtaking! We made many stops along the way and took lots of pictures. When we made it to the glacier lake at the end of the track we sat for a while and just took in the views.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We slowly made our way back to the hostel not wanting to leave the beautiful valley and made breakfast. I would definitely recommend doing the Hooker Valley track for sunrise since it was beautiful and other people weren’t out yet. The Hooker track is the most popular tramp and very easy, so everyone does it. When we were leaving so many people were just starting the track and we were very thankful for getting to enjoy the valley by ourselves.

After breakfast, we were all really tired so we took a two-hour nap before our next tramp. After napping we made our way to the Red Tarns Car Park. This hike was a steady climb uphill and had views overlooking the Mount Cook Town and valley. This hike was kind of a let down since the tarn wasn’t red and the views weren’t the best ones. We went back to the hostel after hiking down and made spaghetti for dinner. When we got to the hostel we discovered three other girls from my complex were sharing a room with us! That night we played games and prepared for the challenging hike the next morning. We were taking on Sealy Tarns, known as the stairway to heaven due to the 2,200 steps to the top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sealy Tarns was very difficult but absolutely beautiful! The entire climb to the top is overlooking the Hooker Valley and the surrounding mountains. It was my favorite tramp even though it was difficult. When we made it to the top we ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and took in the views. We stayed on top for about an hour until others began making their way up. The way down was so steep and everyone’s legs were shaking by the time we got to the bottom. We rested and stretched our legs before making the journey back to Dunedin with a short stop at a Cafe for dinner along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This last weekend we got to spend in Dunedin. Friday night we decided to go camping at Long Beach in the caves. It was so much fun making s’mores and sleeping with the penguins. We got to the beach late and set up our two tents in the dark and started a fire to warm up. Once again we had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner along with some other snacks like s’mores with Tim Tams and belVita crackers. Halfway through the night, we saw a penguin run to the back of the cave where they sleep. We also went out to the beach and admired the stars and their reflection in the wet sand. We could also see the bioluminescence in the sand when you touched it! After the fire went out we climbed into our sleeping bags in our tents and went to sleep. Throughout the night you could hear the penguins screeching until they left for the water early in the morning. We woke up early enough to watch the sunrise through our tent window turning the inside of the cave and the water an orange tint. We then packed everything up and made our way home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next night, we went to the Fleetwood Mac concert as a spur of the moment decision. We bought the tickets half an hour before the show started, and I’m so glad we did! The concert was in the school stadium and it was packed since one of the band members is from New Zealand. The concert was so good and totally worth it! One of my favorite songs is Landslide, and they performed that one and many other good ones.

Sincerely,

Caitlyn

Kia Ora!

At 7 am after mid-terms week we finally got to leave for our mid-semester break! Juliet, Juliet’s flatmate Victoria, another girl from their complex and I were finally leaving for the north island for a week off of school. Our flight took about 2 hours to arrive in Auckland which we all slept through since we’ve been busy with mid-terms. When we got to Auckland we took a bus to our Air B&B to check into our room. Our room was in an apartment building and was really nice with a balcony that had views of the city. We then went to pizza for lunch and got groceries for the rest of our time in Auckland. The rest of the day was spent exploring the city and hanging out together.

The next day we went to black sand beaches and waterfalls. Our first stop was the Karekare beach and waterfalls. We walked along the beach for a while admiring the black sand then hiked to the waterfalls. The first waterfall had a little blue pool of water and continued to the next waterfall. The next waterfall was much bigger and beautiful. We were the only ones there for about 20 minutes so we got to enjoy the waterfall and the scenery without others. We then hiked back to the car and made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch with oranges, trail mix and salsa lime chips made in New Zealand.

The next stop was Piha Beach and Lion Rock. It was really windy at Piha but the sun came out and it was beautiful! We walked along the beach to Lion’s Rock and decided to hike up the rock to the top. However, to get to Lion’s Rock we had to cross an inlet of water that was really cold! We all rolled up our pants and removed our shoes to cross but Victoria wouldn’t cross since it was cold so Juliet carried her across the water on her back! The climb to the top was steep but the views were so worth it and we had great views of the black sand.

After Piha Beach, we went to Bethells Beach. We parked in the wrong car park and had to hike through sand dunes and thick brush to actually get to the beach. When we finally got to the beach it started raining and storming. We still walked to the other end of the beach looking for the cave that we were supposed to be able to walk through but realized it was high tide and we couldn’t reach the cave. We stayed long enough to see the sky turn pink and then went back to our Air B&B where we made breakfast burritos for dinner and played cards and watched a movie. For dessert, we went and got rolled ice cream. The ice cream shop also had crapes so I got a strawberry sugar crape with caramel rolled ice cream and whip cream on top!

The next morning we woke up early and drove to the Hobbiton movie set! One of the cheesy reasons I chose to study abroad in New Zealand was because of the Hobbit and Lord of The Rings movies being filmed here. Since they are some of my favorite movies the movie set was a must-see for me. The movie set wasn’t a let down either, it was so much fun!! We had an awesome tour guide who told us all about the filming techniques used and we only had 9 people in our tour giving us lots of time to look around and take pictures. This was a highlight of not only spring break but my whole study abroad experience so far! I would recommend everyone to visit Hobbiton even if you haven’t seen the movies because it is such a New Zealand tourist attraction.

That same day we also did a tour in the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves. The best part of that tour was when we left it was dark outside so the cave walls were covered in glow worms! The next day of our trip we flew to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand.  In Wellington, we visited the zoo and saw a Kiwi bird, the national bird, and kangaroos. While there we also rode the Wellington cable car, walked along Cuba street, went shopping for souvenirs, and ate at a really nice Italian restaurant where I ordered a calzone that was so big and delicious! We stayed in a hostel while at Wellington which was not nearly as nice as our Air B&B. We got two rooms that had bunk beds and the bathrooms were pretty gross so we bought crocs to use as shower shoes.

Our final day of being on the north island we had to get up at 4 a.m. to go to the airport. We flew to Christchurch where we had a 12-hour layover until we flew back to Dunedin. In Christchurch, we went downtown to a coffee shop and explored the botanical gardens. We went back to the airport early and ate dinner there before finally flying back. It felt so nice to sleep in my own bed and sleep in the next morning. The last event our mid-semester break was on Sunday when Juliet ran a half-marathon! We all went to cheer her on at the finish line and then went out to get pizza afterward!

Sincerely,

Caitlyn

Kia Ora Everyone!

It’s time for mid-terms at Otago and everyone is spending lots of time in the library! I had a foundations exam, a 2,000-word essay, and two 1,500-word essays. The exam was for my Maori 101 class and since there are so many students in that class they split the groups into 5 different test locations. My location was for students that had last names starting with A-B and had about 200 students. The exam had 45 multiple choice questions, and the questions were shown on a powerpoint presentation for 30 seconds each. You also had to bring your student ID to prove you were currently attending the University.

At a study break one day we went to a rugby game. The game was really fun even though I had no idea what the rules were! It was so impressive to watch them tackle each other without any padding and not get injured. The game was for a trophy between the Otago team and the Southland team. The stadium was pretty full and got really loud with the cheering! The atmosphere was very similar to a professional football game in the U.S.

The weekend before mid-terms my flatmates and some of our other friends went to Te Anau. We left Friday night and drove through a rainstorm to get there. It took about 3 and a half hours and then we checked into the Backpackers Lodge located right in front of the lake. We stayed up playing cards and listening to music before separating into our different rooms to sleep. The next morning we were supposed to go on a cruise through Milford Sound but it got canceled due to weather conditions. Instead, we went to Queenstown, which was beautiful! The drive there was amazing and worth the whole road trip. The road was winding through the mountains and along the river until you pulled into Queenstown where you were surrounded by mountain ranges.

When we got to Queenstown we went to a park along the water and made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. After that, we took a Gondola to the top of Queenstown and rode luges. Luges are similar to a one-person sled with wheels and brakes. It was beautiful to ride the luges down the hill and see the views of the city!

Before heading back to our hostel we got dinner at a really good restaurant in the K-mart parking lot. And when we got back to Te Anau we went to a gas station and got ice cream as dessert. The next morning we got up early and made breakfast in the kitchen before checking out and driving to the Kepler Track. We ended up only hiking for about two hours since it started snowing pretty hard. However, the forest became even more beautiful as it got covered in snow and was totally worth it!

After hiking we went to the grocery store to get more food for lunch and then made the road trip home. When we got back we bargained for who got to shower first and then we all went to bed early that night.

The thing that is getting me and others through mid-terms is knowing mid-semester break is coming! Juliet, some other friends and I are going to the North Island for some warmer weather hopefully!

 

 

Sincerely,

Caitlyn

Kia ora everyone,

It’s my third week of classes at Otago and they’re very different from Linfield! I have one lecture with about 100 people and another with over 300 people. Assignments being turned in only have your student ID number and attendance in tutorials are taken by ID number. My other paper is very fun and I am really enjoying it so far! The paper is about Pacific Health and the culture of the Pacific Islands. The lecturers are from Samoa and very laid back and funny. Last week we learned how to say Hello in Samoa, Tonga, and the Cook Islands. We also learned from a guest lecturer how to do part of the traditional welcome dance in the Cook Islands. All of my papers also have tutorials led by tutors to discuss lecture content and prepare for exams or assignments.

During the first week of school, I signed up for the tramping (hiking) club and the winter sports club. The tramping club has lots of members so to attend a trip you have to put your name into a raffle and people are selected randomly. For the first trip, about 100 people were signed up and only 57 could go. Juliet, some of our other friends, and I were all lucky to get into the Lord of The Rings themed Bushball trip! We left Saturday morning at 6 am on a big bus and drove 4 hours to Wanaka where we ate at Red Star Burgers for lunch. The burger was huge and the best one I’ve had in New Zealand! During the bus ride, we did speed dating where the person in the aisle had to move to another seat for 5 minutes and then move onto another seat. I met lots of new people from Denmark, Norway, New Zealand, and the US. We drove another hour to the car park after lunch where everyone was shuttled to the trailhead. The tramp was about 5.5 miles and only took 3 hours to get to the Mt. Aspiring Hut. Along the way, we played sword limbo and other fun games! When we got to the hut the group leaders made us dinner and the rest of the night was a dance party until 1 am. All the bunk beds were taken so Juliet and I had to sleep on the floor in the main room along with 20 other people. At 8 am the next morning we were woken and ate breakfast before we packed up and cleaned everything. The 3-hour tramp out was beautiful since there were clear skies and no rain like the previous day. We stopped in Wanaka again for dinner and made it back to Dunedin around 9 pm.

Another trip I’ve done so far is with one of my flatmates and some of her friends to the Catlins. We left Saturday morning and made many scenic stops along the way to Slope Point. Our first stop was at Nugget Point and the sky was still pink from sunrise making it so beautiful! We then went to tunnel hill, Horseshoe Falls, Matai Falls, and Curio Bay. We spent the night at a backpacking hostel on a farm where my flatmate got to feed the sheep! The next morning we went to Slope Point, the furthest southern tip in New Zealand, and almost got blown away from the wind! Next, we went back to Curio Bay and saw the petrified forest and did the penguin walk. Sadly we didn’t see any penguins but it was still a pretty walk. It was raining pretty hard at this point so we decided to head back to Dunedin. We stopped at a cafe along the way and got some really good hot chocolate and lunch to warm us up.

Sincerely,

Caitlyn

Kia Ora Everyone,

I’ve now been in Dunedin for over a week and my semester abroad has already been full of adventure! I arrived in Dunedin on June 29 after almost 20 hours of traveling time. I flew from Spokane to San Francisco to Aukland and finally to Dunedin. When I arrived in Aukland my checked bags were not at the airport and my carry-on was too heavy for the Air New Zealand carry-on weight limit of 7 kg. The airline is very strict about this weight limit so I was forced to check my carry-on. Luckily when I arrived in Dunedin my recently checked bag was there but my other checked luggage was still missing. So I grabbed my carry on, hopped onto the shuttle I had booked through my school, and finally made my way to the University. Luckily it only took two days for me to receive an email from the airline saying my bags were ready to be picked up.

I was the second to arrive at my flat but the other girl was very jet lagged and sleeping. It was a little lonely moving into my flat without others there and very little of my belongings but another flatmate showed up a couple of hours later. We tried going to the store but everything within walking distance was closed so we ordered food to be delivered. I had only gotten a couple of hours of sleep on the plane so I went to bed as late as I could manage and woke up very early the next day. I spent most of the day with Juliet (who also goes to Linfield) exploring Dunedin and the University even though many things are closed on Sunday. When another one of my flatmates arrived we made our way to the grocery store where I barely recognized anything! There was a much larger variety of fruits and vegetables, a small selection of American brands, eggs were not stored in the refrigerated section, and everything was more expensive. I made very little purchases that trip but got the necessary supplies for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!

I spent the rest of the week exploring nearby beaches and meeting lots of new people. We went to Tunnel Beach, Sandfly Bay, Allans Beach, and Long Beach. Tunnel Beach had a really steep walk down but the views were so worth the difficult walk back up. At the bottom of the track, you could walk through a tunnel right to the shore to watch the waves hit the rock cliffs. Sandfly Bay also had a steep walk in sandy dunes to the beach but we got to see Sea Lions! At Long Beach, we went during sunset and I collected lots of small pretty shells. Long Beach also had caves that we explored and plan on camping at in the future! But out of all the beaches I’ve been to so far Allan’s beach was my favorite. We walked for a couple of hours along the shore and watched the biggest waves I’ve ever seen come in and hit the rock cliffs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I finally adjusted to the 19 hour time change after about 4 days but am still trying to get adjusted to sunset being at 4:30. I’m also still adjusting to it being mid-winter and 50 degrees when its nice and sunny at home. My flat is now full of food and all my flatmates are here getting along really well so far! Our living complex has had multiple functions to meet all our neighbors and hopefully, I continue to meet more people and explore the beautiful country!

Sincerely,

Caitlyn Blumenshein

Kia ora!

After seeing the most pristine places along the west coast of the South Island, I felt eager to explore the rest of what the South Island had to offer. I was so excited to return home in Dunedin. It was the first time I realized that I could comfortably call Dunedin home and after being on a bus with fifty other people, sleeping in tents, and jumping from hostel to hostel, I could not wait to be in my own, comfortable, warm apartment. However, my eagerness to be home did not last long and I soon began planning a trip up to the northeast of the South Island to Kaikoura. That Friday, me and a friend I met on the tramping trip started our drive to Kaikoura. The seven-hour drive was accompanied by easy New Zealand tunes, views of sheep (you would not believe how many sheep are actually in New Zealand), and talks of how much we were enjoying our time in Dunedin.

Kaikoura is a town located up north from Dunedin where the beaches are scattered with seals, surfers, and paua shells. The town of Kaikoura is a unique one in that an earthquake had caused destruction to roads and other infrastructure in the area back in 2016. The earthquake was so huge that the construction of the roads is still going on today. What’s even more impressive is the seabed rose a few meters above sea level. Given this recent history, the drive there involved multiple construction stops along the way. Though, it gave us a chance to really see the effects of how this earthquake changed the landscape of this town.

Upon arrival, the sun was setting behind the clouds and our friends who we were to be meeting were gathering firewood for the night. After setting up our tent, my friend Miguel proudly showed me his bench that he had made over the past week that he had been there. In reality, it looked like a pile of rocks, but it worked as the perfect place to watch the waves and sit near the warm fire. As the sun went down, we sat around the fire cooking our meals for the evening and sharing drinks.

The next morning, I awoke to the sun shining through my tent and the sound of waves crashing along the shore. That day, my friend Mia and I did a walk along the Kaikoura coast, all while spotting seals along the way. We then decided to explore the town centre which was simply one strip of road filled with knick-knack shops, cafes, and OpShops. I took this time to search for gifts for my family back at home and even snagged a $2 book from an OpShop.

 

The rest of the two days that we were there, we simply sat, lay, and relaxed along the beach reading our books and watching the boys surf. It reminded me that it’s okay to not be constantly doing something when you’re abroad. After talking to other people about this subject, we all seemed to share the same feeling. Because we are abroad and have a limited time in the country that we are studying at, we were constantly feeling that we had to plan trips every moment we could. While spending those relaxing couple of days in Kaikoura, I realized that it was important to take a few days off of exploring and adventuring. During that weekend, I was able to finish the book I had bought and reflect upon my semester abroad thus far.

 

Best,

Mehana

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best,

Mehana

 

Hello!

I have finally adjusted to life here at Otago and have been enjoying every moment of it! The last couple of weeks before mid-semester break was the most stressed I’ve been here because of mid-terms. However, it still did not compare to the stress I feel at Linfield. This was mostly because my mid-terms here were spread out and the beaches here are just a short 10-minute drive from campus which makes for the perfect study break.

Luckily, the mid-semester break occurred right after my mid-terms. Most people took advantage of this break and went on trips to Australia or some of the other Pacific islands such as Fiji or Tonga. Instead of doing this, I decided to do a trip with the tramping club. Tramping is a term they use here in New Zealand to describe backpacking. This mid-semester break, the tramping club planned a five-day trip to the Copland Hot Springs. The trip included transportation, breakfast for all mornings, dinner for most nights, and accommodation at two hostels. All of this only cost about NZ$180. In total, there were about fifty of us. I would highly suggest going on a trip with the tramping club here since it is a mix of both kiwis and international students and you definitely get your money’s worth.

Because the Copland Hot Springs is located on the west coast of the South Island, the drive there made us cross over Haast Pass, one of the most beautiful areas in New Zealand. While driving over the Pass, we stopped at the Blue Pools where some of the braver people jumped in the water and various scenic points.

The first night we camped at Lake Paringa where we were separated into groups for group dinners. My team leader, Kevin, made us Pasta Carbonara. Though we tried not to be biased, everyone in my group believed that we had the best dinner out of everyone at the campsite and from then on, we referred to our group as “Team Carbonara”. The morning after, we awoke under the fly nets to dew on the grass and a wonderful view of the lake. I think one of my most favorite things about camping has been arriving at the campsite when it’s too dark to see anything and then waking up to the morning light and seeing just how beautiful it is.

From Lake Paringa, we then set off to the start of the Copland Track. The Copland Track is about 11 miles one way. This was my first tramping experience and within the first five minutes, my shoulders were already sore from my backpack. We started the track singing to popular tunes until we realized that we were all out breath by the end of “Bohemian Rapsody”. Despite the pain and the 5 hours of walking, the views we saw were worth all of it. What’s more, at the end of the hike we were greeted by the steaming hot pools and a sunset over the mountains.

After the hot springs, we were lucky to stay in a hostel near Mahinapua Beach and lake!!

The tramping trip also included a stop at Franz Josef Glacier and Arthur’s Pass :))

The first part of my mid-semester break was simply breathtaking (literally) and the people on my trip made it worthwhile 🙂

Best,

Mehana 🙂