Yesterday was one of the best days of my life. I realize I keep saying that ____ was the best day of my life but seriously, they keep stacking up. I am such a lucky person. What did I do you ask? Let me extrapolate.
Yesterday, I went backpacking-ish to Raglan. I consider this backpacking because I walked for well over 5 hours with a pack that contained some mediocre camping gear. Which really means some warm clothes, a 15 dollar sleeping bag I bought at a pawn shop, and some snacks.
Woke up at 7:00 a.m, after staying up til 1:30 at the BOCS party downtown, and headed to the bus stop. Drove to Raglan with some of the AustraLearn kids and arrive at about, well...I suppose 11. I tried my luck with surfing! I am pathetic and useless on a surf board, but it will not stop me from trying. I didnt actually stand up; I got on my knees though...uh....ignore your need to make a sexual pun. Its actually a really hard workout. And because I am completely unbalanced and ungraceful it was a bit of a challenge. I also have no upper body strength so I need to work on that one. Going back soon to try again.
Spent the day on the beach til' four when we got a ride back to town with a guy from Virginia. 7 people packed in a stationwagon with 4 huge packs. Great times. Got pissed when we got to a campsite that charges $15 a PERSON to sleep on the ground; said fuck it and went into town. Spent the next two or so hours, barefoot, downtown watching crazy gypsie chicks hoola-hoop dance with their hairy armpits. It was seriously awesome.
We thought we found a cheap campsite and started the hike to find it. See, our original plan was to sleep on the beach but we wanted to avoid the risk of getting a $200 fine and find a campsite. We hiked along the beach for a good hour, watching the sunset. Chris, Heidi, and I ended up leaving the group for a bit to try and find the mystery campsite on our own. Failed miserably, but we got to hike on the road, see some beautiful scenery and a beautiful sunset. Heidi and I figured that since our chances of finding the lost campsite would most likely end in a $200 no matter what we did; we thought it was in our best interest to jump a fence and chase after some good ol' New Zealand sheep. That was fun; midly scary. Sheep give some mean death stares.
After giving up on finding a $5 dollar campsite, we ended up crashing on the beach. Watched the sunset, for real this time. Ate snacks, and talked all night. I find it humorous that people pay for the sound of waves to help them sleep, and there I was. Sleeping out on the beach, listening to the waves crash and watching the stars. I'll say it again: magical.
In the morning we all woke up and watched the sunrise, packed our shit, and headed out. Because we are retarded, we didnt pay attention to the tide and had to walk back to town during high tide. All was well though, it was actually sort of fun.
The reason yesterday was so fun, was because not a single person we were with had ANY idea what we were doing. We all got the bright idea to go into Raglan and figure it out when we got there. It turned out pretty terribly in one sense, but in another it was completely perfect in every way possible. At least for me. I love not having a plan, walking on the open road, the beach, the whatever and just soaking in the scenery. You can't ever get that sensation while driving anywhere in your car.
So despite the fact that I am 80% sure I have third degree burns on my entire body, I am feeling fantastic!
Saturday, February 27
Tuesday, February 23
HOT WATER BEACH AT MIDNIGHT
Let's just talk about last night. Never in my life have I experienced something so cool, I mean it was probably at par with some of the things I saw on GeoJourney; but this was so much more unique.
Last night, around 10 o'clock I left Hamilton with Kirill, Alana, and Sadie and went on an hour or so roadtrip to a hot water beach in Kawhia . Moderately spontaneous, in the fact that I had no idea where we were going or what to expect. See, back home you have curfews on beaches, and even if you didnt, they are so inhabited by crabs that you can't stand on the beach for more than 30 minutes without getting pinched or at least scared. Last night was nothing like this.
One we arrived at the beach we walked, in the dark, up a giant sand dune that basically took the life out of me. Not only because it was extremely steep and I'm hella out of shape, but also added on top of the fact that the roads to the beach we're curvy enough for me to relive my memories of puking in the car as a child.
Continuing, once we got down the the beach it was complete darkness; only the stars and the moon; which was probably the brightest moon I have ever seen in my life, reflecting off the water. You could literally see the reflection of the stars on the sand and on the water. You could barely see the dark outline of the sand dunes and cliffs in the distance, and the clouds covering the sky. We we're the only ones there. The way you can see the Milky Way down here is unbelievable. To top it all off, there was little bits of phosphorous in the water that lit up to a light green color and sparked on the sand and quickly extinguished. It was completely unreal, I felt like I was on another planet.
The idea of the hot water beaches here is that you search around for a hot spot in the sand, dig a giant hole and sit in the hot water. The sand and water is located on top of some geothermal phenomenon; or something like that, where hot water comes from under the sand. Unfortunately, the tide was too high for us to dig a hole, but we actually got to sink our feet into the sand and feel the, sometimes boiling hot, water on our feet. All surrounded by great conversation. We didnt leave until almost 2:30 in the morning, getting back to Hamilton at about 3:45. Needless to say I am exhausted, but every second of last night was totally worth feeling like this today.
Last night, around 10 o'clock I left Hamilton with Kirill, Alana, and Sadie and went on an hour or so roadtrip to a hot water beach in Kawhia . Moderately spontaneous, in the fact that I had no idea where we were going or what to expect. See, back home you have curfews on beaches, and even if you didnt, they are so inhabited by crabs that you can't stand on the beach for more than 30 minutes without getting pinched or at least scared. Last night was nothing like this.
One we arrived at the beach we walked, in the dark, up a giant sand dune that basically took the life out of me. Not only because it was extremely steep and I'm hella out of shape, but also added on top of the fact that the roads to the beach we're curvy enough for me to relive my memories of puking in the car as a child.
Continuing, once we got down the the beach it was complete darkness; only the stars and the moon; which was probably the brightest moon I have ever seen in my life, reflecting off the water. You could literally see the reflection of the stars on the sand and on the water. You could barely see the dark outline of the sand dunes and cliffs in the distance, and the clouds covering the sky. We we're the only ones there. The way you can see the Milky Way down here is unbelievable. To top it all off, there was little bits of phosphorous in the water that lit up to a light green color and sparked on the sand and quickly extinguished. It was completely unreal, I felt like I was on another planet.
The idea of the hot water beaches here is that you search around for a hot spot in the sand, dig a giant hole and sit in the hot water. The sand and water is located on top of some geothermal phenomenon; or something like that, where hot water comes from under the sand. Unfortunately, the tide was too high for us to dig a hole, but we actually got to sink our feet into the sand and feel the, sometimes boiling hot, water on our feet. All surrounded by great conversation. We didnt leave until almost 2:30 in the morning, getting back to Hamilton at about 3:45. Needless to say I am exhausted, but every second of last night was totally worth feeling like this today.
Monday, February 22
LIFE IS A ROLLERCOASTER
And in this case, my days are a rollercoaster. The strange thing about studying abroad is you are on a constant emotional rollercoaster. One second I feel really depressed and bored, and then I feel guilty for feeling bored while I am here. Then the next second I am meeting people from all over the world, going to beaches, soaking up the sun and enjoying life.
For example, yesterday was just sort of an off day. I felt sort of sad in general, for no particular reason. The campus was a ghost-town the last week and all the realizations of the culture here were sinking in. So I met up with my couchsurfing friend, Kirill and his two friends from Minnesota and drove to Raglan again to go surfing. Well, I didnt surf, I watched. But it was still a fantastic time. I had such a great day, and then I came home, became bored again and got depressed. The best advice I have for myself and for anyone else who wants to study abroad, is force yourself to socialize. It is one of the hardest things I have come to terms with, because being peppy and excited about knowing new people 24 hours a day is something really hard to do; at least for me. Sometimes I just want to kick back and relax.
I have no idea what I have to complain about. New Zealand is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. And the locals have no ideas. My pal was making fun of me for taking pictures of hills, because "they were just raised pieces of ground". HA. I have done something exciting almost every day since I have been here and I somehow feel like I am not doing enough. Tonight I am going to a hot water beach with a few of my newfound friends. The freshman also moved into the dorm today. I am the only American on my floor, and some of the girls approached me; totally fascinated with the fact that I am from America. It's a really amusing and awkward thing to realize that you actually an international student here. I really like the mixture of people from all over the world that live in my building. I was chatting with a fellow from South Africa today; nice guy. (FYI MOM: South Africans are white. Don't get your hopes up just yet.)
In even more exciting news, about 11 of us booked our flights to Christchurch on the South Island for spring break. I am SO FUCKING EXCITED. I cant wait to see where this adventure takes us. It's almost guaranteed to be a fantastic time.
For example, yesterday was just sort of an off day. I felt sort of sad in general, for no particular reason. The campus was a ghost-town the last week and all the realizations of the culture here were sinking in. So I met up with my couchsurfing friend, Kirill and his two friends from Minnesota and drove to Raglan again to go surfing. Well, I didnt surf, I watched. But it was still a fantastic time. I had such a great day, and then I came home, became bored again and got depressed. The best advice I have for myself and for anyone else who wants to study abroad, is force yourself to socialize. It is one of the hardest things I have come to terms with, because being peppy and excited about knowing new people 24 hours a day is something really hard to do; at least for me. Sometimes I just want to kick back and relax.
I have no idea what I have to complain about. New Zealand is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. And the locals have no ideas. My pal was making fun of me for taking pictures of hills, because "they were just raised pieces of ground". HA. I have done something exciting almost every day since I have been here and I somehow feel like I am not doing enough. Tonight I am going to a hot water beach with a few of my newfound friends. The freshman also moved into the dorm today. I am the only American on my floor, and some of the girls approached me; totally fascinated with the fact that I am from America. It's a really amusing and awkward thing to realize that you actually an international student here. I really like the mixture of people from all over the world that live in my building. I was chatting with a fellow from South Africa today; nice guy. (FYI MOM: South Africans are white. Don't get your hopes up just yet.)
In even more exciting news, about 11 of us booked our flights to Christchurch on the South Island for spring break. I am SO FUCKING EXCITED. I cant wait to see where this adventure takes us. It's almost guaranteed to be a fantastic time.
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