Week 1

Day 1 We finally arrived! The first thing that we did in Auckland was make a trip to Mt Eden and check out the amazing views of the city. I was pretty amazed by the huge crater and the sight of cows in the middle of a city the size of Auckland. We saw lots of cows but no sheep yet! Later that day, we made our way to Rangitoto and toured the island. Looking out at Auckland from Rangitoto, you could see just how many volcanoes surround the city. We climbed on the lava and got our first view of the huge tree ferns.
Day 2 This day was mostly spent watching New Zealand from behind the glass of the bus, much like watching it on TV. We didn't experience much of the New Zealand outdoors, but we did get to experience some Maori culture. I expected the Waitangi treaty house to be one of the less exciting trips during our stay in NZ, but I really enjoyed it. Wil was maybe the most knowledgeable tour guide that I've ever come across. I was surprised to hear that when the British began to settle in New Zealand, the missionaries were viewed by the Maori as good people. After a bad experience with French settlers, the British actually showed that they didn't want to take over the Maori people. Because of this, a generally good relationship has been maintained between the Maori and the British for many years. This is very unlike the situation in the United States with the Native Americans. Even hundreds of years later, there are still fights over land. The New Zealand outdoors that we did get to experience was pretty impressive. We met the massive “Lord of the Forest,” a giant kauri tree. Before we even saw the actual tree, we went to the kauri tree museum and learned about the uses of the wood, and how it was exploited by settlers. I think that something like only 3% of the original kauri forests remain.
Day 3 Today started off on a bad foot, but ended on a good one (in the words of the bus nazi). We took the long bus trip up to the Far North and saw Cape Reinga, which actually isn’t the northernmost point of New Zealand as it was advertised in the guide books. We saw more of the Maori culture at the lighthouse at Cape Reinga. A group of Maori men, women, boys, ad girls performed outside of the lighthouse. Apparently the Maori have been as affected by modern times and technology as the rest of the world. Before they performed they asked that no one video taped their performance, due to copyright. The highlight of today was the trip to the beach at lunch. The beach was surrounded on either side by huge headlands. The water was crystal clear, and you could see right down to the bottom. They warned us about being pulled out to sea by the current, because the closest land mass north of the beach is Russia! We actually did get pulled out pretty far before we even realized that we were drifting away from shore. Sand boarding was the second highlight of the day. The hike up the dune was long and strenuous, but the five second slide down the sand must have been worth it because most of us did it twice. We drove the bus down Ninety Mile Beach, which is actually only about 64 miles long. The differences between Ninety Mile Beach, which is a west coast beach facing the Tasman Sea, and the east coast beaches were immediately obvious. The beach was wide open with no rocks or headlands obstructing the sea. Nothing but sand, shells, and water.
Day 4 Today was the cruise around the Bay of Islands and through the Hole in the Rock. A few dolphins swam alongside the boat, and we saw a couple of them jump straight out of the water. The islands around the bay are all beautiful and completely covered in green. The bus driver from yesterday had about half of the group convinced that the Hole in the Rock is a replica of the one that we saw from Ninety Mile Beach and that it is made out of fiberglass. I was pretty much convinced that it was real as soon as I saw it. The rock is massive, and it definitely wasn’t just floating on top of the water. After our cruise, we walked around Russell, which was once considered the “hell hole of the Pacific.” It is definitely no longer a hell hole with million dollar vacation homes overlooking the water from the tops of hills. Then we made the long trip to Hamilton and checked into our dorms and could FINALLY unpack. This was the part of the day that I was most looking forward to.