So as the title states, its starting to get crazy. I don't know what I was expecting from orientation. I certainly didn't think I was going to be doing things every day, all day. We have had a lectures every day about the differences between the New Zealand english and the American english. Another lecture was about the politics of New Zealand, which was long but definitely useful information. Some time between all these lectures, we managed to go to a Maori cultural show at the Auckland museum, went to a botanical garden, and played capture the flag. That doesn't even include going out every night. I will admit, being that most of us are not 21, this is our first experience with being able to go out and we are taking full advantage of that. Its exhausting, but really, how many opportunities like this will I have?
Today was one of the most exciting days. It began early after a very late night out with a couple of friends, kiwis (what people from New Zealand are called), and an Australian. We traveled to the island of Tiritiri Matangi known for having a unique amount of endangered birds. It also is one of the homes of the blue penguin, which is one of the smallest penguin species. We took a ferry from Auckland for an hour and a half and arrived at a beautiful, tropical island. The ocean was the perfect blue and so clear you could even see the algae at the bottom. We then took a guided tour of the island, had lunch at the top by the lighthouse, and then headed for the beach. The beach consisted of smooth black stones and a huge variety of seashells. Since it was a nature reserve, nobody could remove the shells so it had built up quite a collection. It was really nice to just be in the water and have a second summer knowing back home it was pouring rain. Theres something unbelievably amazing about floating among sailboats and looking up at a cliffside filled with so much green that the paths are completely hidden. There's trees hanging off the side shading the beach and looking like any second they may release their hold of the mountainside. It is a scene I will forever treasure and be so thankful for the opportunity to experience a place out of another world. Since tonight is Saturday night and we don't have a morning session tomorrow, I think all us EAP kids are going out. It's going to be a long night.
Heres a link for the Facebook pics Ive been taking. These are the beginning of the trip so far.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=154153&id=665896295&l=bcc3a9c1d8
And this is the link to the album for Tiritiri Matangi.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=154708&id=665896295&l=c36068f98c
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