Mid Semester Break

*WARNING* LONG BLOG POST AHEAD:

So here's my super long post on my two week, mid semester break. We called it spring break, but it's fall here so that's pretty inaccurate haha.

Thursday, April 2, 2015 - DAY ONE: So Holly and I were scheduled to leave Christchurch at 8:50pm for Auckland, Erin's plane came in the day after. So Holly and I brought our bags to the dining hall with us, ate dinner, then caught the bus to the airport. We got into Auckland around 10:30pm, and go to pick up our car keys to our rental car. Since our flight was an after hours flight, we got an email (Ace rentals) that we were to pick it up at the information desk in the international terminal. Well that desk was closed. No keys. We were given a number to call, it goes straight to voicemail. So after consulting three airport staff, we're told we have to wait until 6am when the information desk opens. Airport sleeping: night one.

DAY TWO: We wake up at like 4:30am because we can't sleep, and hang out until 6am and go to the information desk. The info desk informs us they don't have our key and have no idea where it would be. So we call the phone number again, and they tell us they are located off site, about 3.5 km away (~2.3 miles?). Well, we walk the 3.5 km in the dark, along a busy highway, and finally get there. They inform us there's a free shuttle that goes to the airport every ten minutes or so, well THANKS ACE RENTALS. Well we finally get our car, and drive it to a parking lot to defrost. Battery dies. We have to call the car company to come jump us, then we're finally on our way. We went to Muriwai Beach, on the west coast of the North Island. We went horseback riding, which was super fun, then headed back to Auckland to pick up Erin. By the way, the car was dubbed Bobby Flay.

We took a slight detour to do a short hike to Fairy Falls, so that was fun :)

We picked Erin up, then headed over to the University of Auckland to stay with my friend Meredith who is studying there. The parking garage said full, but there were like two cars there so we parked anyway and went up to her apartment. We were kind of running because the door was shutting and we didn't have a key, turns out we forgot our car key in our trunk. Well we stayed the night on her couches (thanks Mere!!) and go to sort out our key problem in the morning.

DAY THREE: $65 parking ticket sitting on our windshield. We spend an hour trying to pop our trunk while Erin pays the ticket, and find out that the trunk can only be opened via car key. SO we call Ace and have to pay $65 for them to come and take our backseat out so we can get our car key. FINALLY we're on the road. We head over to the Coromandel Peninsula, our next stop. We ended up taking a slight two hour detour through dirt roads and loose pigs, but finally make it to Hahei (by Whitianga), get delicious ice creams, and make the 45 minute walk to Cathedral Cove. This is a beach used in Prince Caspian! Well we stayed overnight (I slept on a rock), and "fell asleep" (LOL) to the world's brightest moon. Oh, we also went skinny dipping. You only live once, right?

DAY FOUR: We woke up to the most spectacular Easter morning sunrise!! One of the highlights from the trip. We were the only ones there, and all you could hear was waves crashing against the rocks! Totally unreal.

We headed into Hahei for Easter church, and arrived an hour early. We forgot about the time change. But this was a plus, because we got to go get an AMAZING brunch at the local cafe! So good. We finally went to church, which was interesting because it was an extension that came from Whitianga. So it wasn't a weekly service with a loyal congregation, they only came in for Easter and Christmas basically. But it was an Anglican church service, and held in the library's big hall. Very interesting to say the least :)

We went back to the beach after church, and hung around there until dinner time, when we drove over to our next stop of Matamata (Hobbiton!). We took a shower at a campground, stole some free wifi, and found a park to spend the night in. Three people in a little five seater is quite cramped, let me tell you...

DAY FIVE: Hobbiton!! SO COOL. We had nothing to do in the morning, so we just came to Hobbiton early and they put us on an earlier tour. We were all in charter busses, and they drive your through the farmer's sheep farm on the way to the movie set. They found the farm while doing an aerial search, and he allowed them to build on his land. They did not, however, use his sheep because the director didn't like their look. He had sheep imported from America to take their places hahaha! Well anyway we had a really nice tour of the movie set (44 hobbit holes?) and took some great pictures, then at the end we all got a free drink from the Green Dragon! I got a cider. The beer and cider served there are unique, they're not sold anywhere else!

After Hobbiton we spontaneously decided to drive to Hamilton and stay the night there! I wimped out of yet another night without a bed, so I bought myself a room at a cheap motel.

DAY SIX: We left Hamilton around 10:30am, and headed to Waitomo caves for our glowworm cave tour! We got a tour of a bunch of caves leading up to the glowworm caves, then sat silently in boats as we glided through thousands of glowworms. It was SO cool. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures, because it disturbs the glowworms. After our tour we took a short hike to a lookout, then headed out for some lunch! We basically survived the weeks on PB&J and apples. We drove to Rotorua where I had a REALLY nice hostel booked, and planned out the next day.

DAY SEVEN: Holly and Erin paid to get into a geothermal park in Rotorua, but since I have done Yellowstone, and wanted to save some money for my hostels, I stayed behind. When they got back we set off for Lake Taupo and spent the evening exploring the town! We tried skydiving, but it was too cloudy. We ended up hitting up Haka Honey for some mead and honey tasting, then took a hike to Haka Falls and the hot springs!

We hung out at the hostel, which had it's own bar, and went to bed early.

DAY EIGHT: Skydiving still wasn't happening, so we decided to go white water rafting instead! That was in Turangi, so made the drive over there and got to spend two hours on the water (in the rain). We were very wet. I got to take my GoPro, so that was pretty fun! All the footage is going up in a video, once I can figure out how to get iMovie to cooperate. :)

We were originally going to spend the night in the Tongariro Crossing area, but the weather was horrid for the next day, so we took a three hour drive south to Feilding. Erin is a pig farmer, and was in contact with a pig farmer there and he graciously hosted us for a night! He put us up in a SUPER NICE hotel, and wouldn't let us pay a thing.

DAY NINE: We ate breakfast with Neil and Yvonne in the morning, then he took us on a tour of his pig farm. We got to hold piglets, which were SO cute and SO warm, and saw his feed plant thing which was super cool. He gets leftover or expired food products from local companies, and has a program that tells him how much of each he can add to his pig feed. So he cuts his feed costs in half, while also helping these local businesses do something useful which their leftovers! We had lunch with them, then headed BACK up north to Turangi and spent the night there.

DAY TEN: We woke up early, and started the Tongariro Alpine Crossing! This is a 19.4 km (~11.5 mile) hike into Mordor. Well, where they filmed much of it anyway. It took us just over 6 hours to complete, and we made sure to take a cool photo with Bobby Flay at the end.

We were due to drop our car in Wellington at 10:30pm, so we headed straight from the crossing to the Wellington airport! We dropped off our car, then settled down for night two in the airport. We got woken up at 1:30am by security because we weren't supposed to sleep there, but he let it slide :)

DAY ELEVEN: Field tour begins! We were picked up at 8:30am from the airport by the charter busses that were to take us around the southern half of the North Island. This was a mandatory trip for my management class. We stopped by a deer farm in Masterton, and a sheep farm in Eketahuna, then were dropped off in a parking lot in Pahiatua. The teachers called out students and matched them to our billets (homestay families). They were all part of the rotary club. A kiwi girl, Celia, and I stayed with a cute old couple and had a nice wine and cheese appetiser before dinner. For dinner they served us homemade schnitzel, potatoes, green beans, and peaches and ice cream for dessert! It was all scrumptious. We shared a room upstairs, and both went to bed early.

DAY TWELVE: After breakfast we dropped off in the parking lot, and headed over to Ruawhata for a dairy farm tour (in the POURING rain), and a hill country farm in Hunterville. We were all freezing cold and soaked through, it was quite miserable. Well my billets for the night (in Marton) were absolutely AWESOME. They were also rotary club members, but a bit younger. This time I was by myself, but they immediately let me take a hot shower and get warm. Their shower was one of those awesome ones that feels like a waterfall. Well we also had wine, and they wouldn't stop filling my glass! Haha, the wife and I finished a bottle between the two of us. She made this INCREDIBLE Moroccan food for dinner, and lemon glazed cake for dessert. Probably the best food I've had in months. I stayed up late talking to them, because they were so interesting. They have three kids, one dating a Brazilian, one married a Japanese, and one's a professional chef. So they're really well traveled and had a lot of cool stories! They let me do laundry, and I got to sleep in a big bed with a bottom AND top sheet that were heated! Woah.

DAY THIRTEEN: We had a nice breakfast of fruit and yoghurt, and I tried my first feijoa, and first golden kiwifruit! The feijoa is a fruit with a rind, and it tastes like flowers. The golden kiwifruit was amazing <3 I'm hooked now!! Well they dropped me off and both gave me hugs, and we were off again. We went to a sheep farm in Parewanui, and a dairy farm in the Levin area. I was with Celia again for the night, and we stayed with a single lady in Levin. She had an awesome house, and even let us use her hot tub! We had classic kiwi food for dinner (bacon and egg pie with side dishes), and we stayed up talking. She was really interesting and had a super precious cat named George.

DAY FOURTEEN: Our last day of the tour! We went to a sharemilking farm in the Levin area, and a market garden, then headed back to the Wellington airport and train station. I stayed at a hostel across from the train station, and spent the evening talking to my roommates for the night. It was me and three guys in the room, but they were all super cool! One was a tall guy from the Netherlands, and he was shirtless because he had just showered. We were talking about hiking, and one of our other roommates comes in, first thing he asks is if we were together. So awkward. But they were all great and I stayed up late talking to them.

DAY FIFTEEN: I woke up at 5am to catch my shuttle to the airport. My flight for Queenstown left at 6:50am, but it was hands down the most beautiful flight I have ever taken. Ever.

Perfect day for flying <3 Well I landed around 10am, and checked into my hostel where I met up with Christian and Meredith. We pretty much laid low and used wifi, I FaceTimed the family, then we were off for some adventuring. Christian and Meredith went horseback riding in Glenorchy, and I went bungy jumping off the Kawarau Bridge! SO COOL BUT SO SCARY. 100x scarier than skydiving for sure. It was crazy fun though! I got dunked in the water, which is why my shirt is all wet. I promise it's not sweat! Hahaha.

After I got all tidied up and showered back at the hostel, Meredith, Christian and I got Ferg Burger. It's this super popular burger joint in Queenstown and is super popular. It was giant but really good! We got some cider to drink with it, and chatted pretty late.

DAY SIXTEEN: I got up early to catch my bus for a Milford Sound tour and cruise, and had a beautiful, but long, drive to Milford Sound. The bus driver stopped a few times for picture opportunities and short hikes, and then we took a 100 minute boat cruise on the sound. It was really foggy, but still super cool.

We then made the long trip back to Queenstown in which we watched the movie "The World's Fastest Indian" or something like that. It was really cool! It's about a man from Invercargill who fixes up an old Indian (motorcycle) and brings it to the Bonneville salt flats in Utah to have it timed. He ended up breaking the record for whatever category bike his motorcycle fell into, and his record still stands today! So that was pretty neat.

DAY SEVENTEEN: I made the horrid nine hour bus ride back to Christchurch. I got Starbucks in the morning (they have different menus here!) and we stopped in Wanaka and in Tekapo on our way back to Christchurch. Both BEAUTIFUL places to stop.

Made it home safely and immediately loaded my photos on Facebook ;)

DAY EIGHTEEN: Christian and Meredith came and visited me at Lincoln, and we got pies from town. A very relaxed day, and we had perfect weather!! I went grocery shopping and caught up with some friends, and now here I am typing this whole thing up! It was an incredible and unforgettable two weeks, there are absolutely no regrets. <3