Exhaustion

I forgot how exhausting being academic is. I got up at 7:30am today and was studying by 8:30. Meaning I was pretty successful at eating half my fridge (why, Rachel, why?) and stopping studying by 11am. Total studying time: probably about 6-7 hours. Which actually feels like more than I actually did.. hmm.

My final actually went okay though! I was pleased. There were only a couple things I didn't know so I felt pretty good about the whole thing. However, an hour and a half after killing my brain, going through every crevice to pull out every possibly applicable fact (and a few unimportant ones for good measure) I was completely and totally exhausted.

I went to my friend Emily's flat to get my coat and give her $45 I owed her for gas money from our Northland trip and ended up sitting and talking to her for a long time. We talked about university and how neither of us were that impressed with the courses that we took. Intro level classes kind of skip the "intro" part and just assume that you already know it. Which is frustrating. And the grading system? You'd think it's be easier than the States, but I feel like in some regards it's harder. But, for the amount of effort I put into my schoolwork this semester my grades are much higher than they should be. I don't know.

I came home, made a very carb-licious dinner of rice and potatoes (starving college kid diet? maybe not starving, just college kid diet?) and then Meagan, Maddi, and Caitlyn came over and we just hung out. We were planning on going all out and going to town, but by 9:30 I was wiped. They left a bit ago to go to town, and while I'm slightly bummed that I'm not with them, I simply do not have enough energy to go to bars until early hours of the night, with loud music being blasted, while it is cold outside and I'm wearing shoes that give me blisters. So instead I'm blogging and talking to my friend Chelsea on facebook and going to bed soon. Maybe after I watch some Dexter. It may be my last Saturday night here (YEAH! In a week I will be in Aussie as long as that stupid Chilean ash cloud doesn't interfere) but I'm okay with it being low key. The last time I went to town was a few weeks ago and it was really fun, and I'm okay with that. I got to spend some time tonight with my friends and I'm so exhausted that I don't think I'd be able to fully appreciate town anyway.

I saw this on someone else's blog, so I'm going to do it too. I have 18 days until I return home (7 days till Aussie!), so here are 18 fun facts about Rachel that you may or may not know:

1. I wear my contacts more in New Zealand than I do in the States, and am hoping that that will continue because it's nice to have variety.
   
2. I hate getting advice but do not restrain giving it. Hypocrite? Only slightly.
3. On my desk right now: a half-eaten bar of chocolate, a bar of tissues, my New Zealand phone, a mirror, shells from Whitianga, my flash drive, my camera, wool from a sheep at Hobbiton, a drink jar I took from Rarotonga, tweezers, $10NZD, and my keys to my flat.
4. I am currently wearing a dress in bare legs because I legitimately do not have any clean or dry pants. That's how badly I need to do laundry.
5. I love Adele.
6. Souvenir shopping for other people is actually really fun.
7. I am looking at dance classes to take at Xenon this summer when I get home and I'm actually really excited.
8. The concept of actually packing all of my things up intimidates me because I've bought fragile things and don't want them to break - so how to pack them is the question.
9. A lot of people hate Auckland, but I don't. I like it.
10. Minneapolis is still probably my favorite city. So no worries, my 612 pride hasn't changed.
11. Speaking of pride, YEAH NEW YORK for legalizing gay marriage!! It's a big thing that such a big state legalized it. Now I'm just waiting on Minnesota.. come on guys, love knows no gender, there is not enough love in the world so why are some people trying to stop it, and marriage is not based upon reproductive body parts so let's legalize it already!
12. I really like bangs (or fringe as they call it here). Why did it take me so long to figure out they're awesome?
13. I think the worst part about flying home will be landing in LAX and knowing there's nine hours till I'll land in Minneapolis still. Stupid flying to Dallas and having layovers.
14. I love pilates. I like yoga, but love pilates.
15. So You Think You Can Dance has been really good this season. I love that even though I'm abroad I can still watch it - I just have to wait a few hours for someone to upload the most recent episode.
16. I'm a junior in college. WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN
17. Harry Potter comes out so soon! Nostalgia about a chapter of my childhood ending!
18. I'm a total co-op girl but I doubt I'll be able to afford grocery shopping at the co-op every week when I get back home. Did you know that in New Zealand they don't have co-ops? I don't think they need them because their food is already generally better - they don't use high fructose corn syrup or a lot of preservatives, and their animals aren't overall treated as poorly as many are in the States.

THAT'S ALL FOR NOW FOLKS. Look forward to next posts "fun facts about Rachel"!

After tomorrow, I will be academically free

Can I just say I'm looking forward to that?

Coromandel

After sunrise, we took this gravel road (the 309 Road) from Coromandel Town to Whitianga. We stopped to see Wairu Falls and a Siamese Kauri. The Siamese Kauri tree(s?) was so cool! We walked through this Kauri forest, and Kauri are these massive trees that are just straight up beautiful and tall and old and I think they're not found many places in the world but they're in New Zealand. The Siamese Kauri were actually two separate trees growing right next to each other, and as they grew bigger and taller, they actually combined to become one conjoined tree. Cool, right? I thought so. You can kind of see it in the picture.

Then we went to a couple lookout points, which were pretty. Honestly though, being in New Zealand so long, lookout points where you can see the beach and the ocean start to look the same. Always beautiful, but the same. I think it's because I've been traveling so much the past few weeks that they all blend in. Anyway.

It was still relatively early, so after stopping at Cook's Beach we decided to head to Cathedral Cove, even though low tide wouldn't be for a few more hours. It was the last thing on our to-do list, and as it was overcast, slightly cold, and sporadically rainy (as it is in New Zealand in winter) we didn't have anything else planned for the day and Joe and I both had finals to start studying for. After falling down the slippery wooden steps to get to the path for Coromandel (seriously, my camera flew out of my hand and into some bushes and I slid down like three steps. It hurt! But also was hilarious.), we trekked our way to the cove. We made a brief stop, in which we realized that it wasn't a brilliant idea to not bring our raincoats with us. We decided to keep walking to Cathedral Cove, talking about our majors and whatever else we talked about.

Cathedral Cove was pretty cool. It's this giant rock area where the waves have beaten it down. See pictures below. It was basically pouring when we were walking there and sitting there. Which means, of course, as soon as we walked up the 200 steps back to the path the sun finally came out. That would be our luck. Blue sky, sunny, beautiful. Yeah, whatever New Zealand weather.

you can't tell but it's raining

Cathedral Cove!

seriously so pretty when we were walking back... hmm

We took the Pacific Highway back to Thames, which was actually gorgeous. We drove along the water! Also, note: I have learned the art of falling asleep with my chin on my chest in New Zealand. I have no idea how this has happened, but it's happened on multiple trips. Hmm.
I got coffee in Thames and since Maddi was going to sleep, I played DJ from Thames to Auckland. We also sat in Auckland traffic.. not fun. I forgot how boring traffic is. And drove past a car that was on fire? Which was scary. We dropped Joe off at his homestay about forty minutes out of the city, and then I drove back to Auckland. Stopped at Countdown (last trip to the grocery store in New Zealand probably?) and dropped Maddi off at IH. Came back to my flat, watched SYTYCD (love this show), studied a bit, went to bed.

In the morning I got to return this SWEET AS dirty car (thank you 309 Road) to JUCY, the car rental company. It was odd to drive down Parnell Road, a road that I often walk down or take the bus down. It's farther down to the Strand, the main road, than I thought. Hmm.

But that about sums up my Coromandel trip. Today I spent some time studying, eating, watching the results show of SYTYCD, and not doing anything. AKA being a model student. :)

My final exam for sociology is tomorrow afternoon. I hope I'll do okay. I figured out what percentage I need to get credit from IES at the bare minimum (40% on the exam) and I'm pretty confident I can at least do that. I'm going to go study with a PSV neighbor to make myself actually study soon.

SO excited to be done with the school part of study abroad. Then I just have a week in Auckland, then nine days in Aussie, then one day, then HOME in nineteen days! What a perfect ending to studying abroad! Also, note: do not listen to local Minneapolis radio stations such as the Current. It will make you wish you were going home a little bit on Tuesday (like everyone else), in 4 days, instead of in 19. Why am I still listening to the Current then? Because it's awesome!

Hobbiton and Hot Water Beach

So, my trip was fun! Short, but well-worth it.

Joe and I picked up the car at 8am on Wednesday and headed off to Matamata. He said he wasn't too confident with giving directions, so I let him drive and became the designated map-reader. The drive to Matamata was filled with green, rolling hills dotted with sheep. It's so strange how something so simple can actually be so beautiful.

We got into Matamata and headed for the iSITE, where we arrived just in time to get on Gandalf, the big white Hobbiton bus. The drive out Matamata was again filled with beautiful green rolling hills and dotted with sheep while the mountains in the distance gave a subtle hedge above the hills. Now, I had to sign a confidentiality waiver saying that I would not mention anything to friends and family about what I saw and heard at Hobbiton, so that's about all I can tell you. I don't want to get sued. I can tell you though: not even being a huge LOTR nerd, it was really cool. I wish I could post pictures! Ah well. I have them for me to remember what I saw.

Gollum and me are besties

Gandalf, the big white bus

see guys? this is why I can't say anything about the Shire

After Hobbiton we stopped at the Shire's Cafe, where I saw a sheep getting sheared and bottle fed a baby lamb! I'm pretty sure I can post a picture of the lamb/tell you about that part because it doesn't have anything to do with the movie. Anyway, I took a bit of wool and fell in love with the little wooly babies. So cute.Joe and I returned to the iSITE at Matamata and then continued towards Thames, where we were meeting Maddi that afternoon. We stopped in Paeroa - got an L&P "world famous in New Zealand", which is a lemony soda actually produced by Coca-Cola - for a few minutes but besides that we drove to Thames and got Maddi. Maddi had gotten a lot of information from the iSITE people in Thames about things to do in Coromandel, so as it was about 3:30pm, we left straight away and headed to Hot Water Beach.

Hot Water Beach is this beach (obviously) where you can dig holes in the sand and the water is really hot! Obviously... We got there just as sun was setting so we got to dig our pool with little light but it was fun. It was crazy because some of the water was scorching hot, other were lukewarm, and others were cold. Regardless, Joe and I got our hands in the sand and dug out a small hole. However, the tide was starting to come in so it didn't last long. Also, I love the beach at night. Fact.
Since it's winter, the sun sets just after 5pm, so there's not much to do after the sun goes down. We stopped at New World for some food and cheap wine, parked at a picnic site just off the highway, and hung out in the car until we fell asleep. Sleeping was not the greatest - I was in the passenger seat and I swear I woke up every half hour. It was easy to wake up at 7am and get started with the rest of the day. We even saw the end of sunrise at the beach!

Embarking on another trip tomorrow!

So yesterday, Monday, I booked all of my flights to Australia! I'm spending three days in Cairns, three days in Sydney, and three days in Melbourne. I fly back to Auckland at 5am on the 12th, so I have a day before the long journey home to hang out in Auckland and repack all of my stuff and whatnot. And that is all booked! Whew. It was a hit to my bank account, but it will hopefully be 1000% worth it. And today I booked my hostels. I think the best one will be in Cairns because in Sydney and Melbourne I just booked the cheapest ones I could get that weren't holes - which means I will probably be sleeping with my passport on me and using my earplugs and out of the hostel by 8am. It's fine. I'm on a student's budget and as long as I don't get bed bugs or things stolen, I can deal. My earplugs will drown out the bumpin' bar music below me.

These past couple days have been pretty uneventful. I called my dads and grandpas yesterday for American Father's Day, took a Zumba class last night (pretty fun, though I definitely prefer taking an actual dance class), watched SYTYCD today - SO GOOD, and actually starting preparing my things to go home. I have 11 days until I leave for Australia and 22 days until I fly home, but many of my friends have started doing the same and it feels normal to do. Plus, starting to pack will actually help clear up some space in the closet that is my room.

When I was cleaning, I found a bunch of paperwork way back from orientation. It was so weird, reading the "helpful tips about Auckland" pamphlets, like where the grocery store is and the campus map. I also came across my departure pamphlet. It's strange to think how long ago that was and how far I've come from knowing nothing to knowing enough that this is home and I give directions when tourists ask. (Because I'm not a tourist in Auckland anymore. I have a grocery store card and a university ID and keys to a flat and tuna in my cupboard that I bought two months ago.) But the whole nostalgic/reflective on study abroad post will come later, so I won't do that now.

Tomorrow Joe (another IESer) and I leave for Matamata, where I will finally visit Hobbiton - where the Shire is set in LOTR. I'm not hugely into LOTR but I'm excited nonetheless and feel it's an essential when being in New Zealand. Plus, there will be green rolling hills and sheep. Mmm. Maddi is meeting us in Thames in the Coromandel region (she's already been to Hobbiton and wanted to sleep in - Joe and I are picking up the car at 8am..) and we'll be in Coromandel somewhere until Thursday night. I'd love to stay longer, but Joe and I both have finals on Saturday that we really should start studying for. I hope I'm making you all proud with my newfound [nonexistant] study skills. Travel > study. Fact. And if you were abroad, I hope you'd feel the same way. I will whip my butt back into academic shape in September. :)

But yeah. So that's where I'm off to. Pretty excited! Hobbiton, Coromandel, one day of cramming, then my sociology final, then FREEDOM. Aka a few days to hang out with some of my abroad besties and then off to Australia! My life. Man. I would not trade it for anything right now. Well, besides the final. I would love to trade that.

Flying solo: Wellington

Some information about Wellington: it is the capital of New Zealand. There are tons of cafes and cute little stores everywhere, and it sits on the harbor. It's a very cute place, I liked it a lot.

I got into Wellington with enough to check into my hostel before meeting Kathryn, an IES girl who was also in Wellington, for dinner. I got a burrito and a cocktail - definitely a change from soup the past couple nights! We decided to hit up Te Papa - the museum in Wellington and known as the best in NZ - since it's open late on Thursday nights. We went around the second floor, which is about how New Zealand was formed as well as the animals that inhabit (or used to inhabit) NZ. After the museum, we decided to part ways and go off to bed since the next day was to be an early one.I had a really awful night's sleep that night, so I was eager to get up and out of my room by 7:30am. Kathryn and I weren't meeting until 8:30am, so I sat in a cafe with my muffin and cappuccino until we caught the bus to Weta Cave.

Weta Cave is not exactly as I was expecting it. Weta has been a huge factor in many movies - the most well known being LOTR and King Kong. It's in a house though; I was expecting a museum. However, there were lots of figures and models up, including good ol' Golem. Also, did I mention we were there so early that we had to wait for it to open at 9am? Yeah. We also got to watch a video about Weta which was cool.


After Weta we took the bus back to the city and went to the rest of Te Papa. We learned all about how humans have impacted New Zealand even though people have only lived here for like 800 years? And about Maori and non-Maori culture, and contemporary New Zealand art. With only a short lunch break, four and a half hours later we were definitely museum-ed out and went to cafe and talked for a while. Then we explored some secondhand book shops (which seriously reminded me of the library in Beauty and the Beast) and ate free dinner of questionable mac and cheese at my hostel. We ate with a girl who slept above me last night, and wound up going for gelato with her. Ohmygoodness it was so good. ugh. I want some now. Then I went back to the hostel and went to bed after talking to more of my dormmates. Very exciting.

Kathryn went home on Saturday, so I was solo again! I was planning on going up to Mount Victoria but it was raining, so I sat in cafe for most of the morning and read Water for Elephants - which was excellent, if I do say so myself. I then wandered to Frank Kitt's Underground market by the harbor and browsed through all of the crafts that they sell there. I bought several souvenir gifts for people there too. :) I had a crêpe and a BLT before stopping at the grocery store and my hostel. Then headed to the rest of my day!

I took the Cable Car up to the Botanic Gardens. The Cable Car pretty much takes you up the huge hill in Wellington, it's a historic thing. They have a whole museum on it, but I didn't go in it. The Cable Car was cool. I was happy because being a NZ student gives me so many discounts.. only $2 round trip. Cheaper than the bus!

I walked around the Botanic Gardens for a while. Since it's winter, not many flowers were visible, but the plants were very green since it had been raining. I particularly enjoyed the cactus garden - besides getting poked in the face when I got too close. Hmm.
I also stopped in the cafe near the rose gardens at the bottom of the hill and got the best Chai Latte ever. So delicious.Then I walked back up the hill to the Carter Observatory. Which is basically the planetarium. I don't think I've been to the planetarium since about fifth grade, but I was really excited to go. There was lots of basic information about the universe and galaxies and planets - but it was cool because there were all sorts of Maori influence in the observatory. The Maori used the stars to navigate around the Pacific, so there were Maori constellations, as well as Maori names for things and Maori myths about how the universe was created - including more about Papa-tu-a-nuku and Ranganui! Seriously, like review of Kapa Haka all over the place. The observatory was small but quaint. I really enjoyed it. There was a presentation after I looked around and learned how to find Matariki. Matariki marks the Maori new year and is only visible early to mid-June. The guide showed us how to find it, but I don't really remember anymore. it was cool to learn about though.After the observatory I made my way back down the Cable Car and to my hostel. I ate my free dinner and then didn't really know what to do. I wound up talking to a Canadian in my hostel for like five hours. It was interesting.. he was an exchange student in Melbourne. And basically hates Americans. Really started my thinking about how Americans take the blame for so much which is our fault as a whole but not always individually; you can't confuse people with politics. Because this person totally did. He told me he hates America because of our politics and our political system. Just because I'm American, doesn't mean I'm suppressing poor people and social programs and having the "**** yeah, America is the best country ever" attitude and don't care about the world. And it's so unfair that no matter what, I'm associated with that. I've encountered more American distaste than I thought I would. Maybe it's because I'm a tree-hugging feminist who believes in things like universal healthcare, gay marriage (no, not civil unions, marriage), being culturally tolerant, and trying to overcome prejudices, but the amount of blame put on me from others because I am American astonishes me. I don't really perpetuate the negative American archetype. It's sad that as an American, I constantly have to apologize for my culture and the people from America. I'm taught that I shouldn't be proud of my culture and nationality because as a whole, we don't always do the right thing. But you know something? Studying abroad has actually made me more proud of where I come from and who I am. I can't help where I was born; all I can do it support and rally for positive changes. I don't assume every Middle Eastern person is a terrorist or that all Mexicans are "stealing American jobs" as some do. It's not true. People are not politics, and differing individuals make up cultures; it is unfair to assume things about people because of where they come from. I am proud of the arts, such as dance and music, and quality of healthcare in America. Anyway. I'm going to stop on this tangent before I keep repeating myself.

Anyway. Right. So Sunday I got up at 6am to walk to the Railway Station and take the train back to Auckland from Wellington. It was an eleven and a half hour train ride. I probably slept for at least twenty minutes out of every hour of the ride. I was bummed because it was cloudy/rainy for a good part of the trip, so I didn't see any of the mountains in Tongariro National Park. Boo. Also, seeing fat, wooly sheep clumsily gallop away from the train (that wouldn't have touched them anyway) was hilarious. And cows! I'd never seen cows run before.. but yeah. Got back home in Auckland. The train was nice, but I was very happy to get off the train and get back to my flat.
HOORAY finished writing about this trip! :) It was fabulous, and I loved traveling alone for the msot part. I got to do what I wanted, when I wanted. It was nice to meet up with Kathryn for part of Wellington, but the fact that I enjoyed traveling alone makes me excited for Australia..

Flying solo: Abel Tasman and traveling

The second day of my trip I woke up early and got on the bus to do part of the Abel Tasman Cost to Coast walk. It's supposed to be a really pretty walk, and I was doing a relatively easy "holiday" walk. The bus ride to Kaiteriteri was pretty - saw the sun rise just past the mountains. I took a boat around to Anchorage, which was really cool. I met a German guy and an American family of eight who were traveling, though I was the only one to do the exact walk I was doing.

The ferry brought me to Anchorage, which was absolutely gorgeous. Apparently during the summer the bay is filled with yachts because there's not really any waves, but as it was "winter" (aka sunny with need for two light layers of clothing) it was completely deserted. I felt a little alone as the boat pulled away, but started out on my journey towards Marahau. I will admit that I was not expecting it to be a four-hour, 12.4km walk. I thought it would be about half that. The walk up the mountain from the beach was brutal. It was very steep and I stopped for picture breaks (aka catch-my-breath breaks) every few minutes. I was worried that the whole walk would be like that - thankfully, it wasn't. The views of the ocean were incredible. Seriously so beautiful. The rest of the walk, which did take almost four hours of walking, was good. However, I took a few breaks to drop down to the beach, one of which I lay on the sand and read my book. By the end of the walk I was definitely ready to be done - one of my knees hurt. :( But it was an awesome walk. Very peaceful. Also, I didn't see another human for two hours. It was strange.

At the end of the walk, I ended in Marahau. There are these wooden carvings at a shop, whcih I explored for a bit before catching the bus back to the hostel. Then I ate my free soup, talked with a traveler from Seattle, and went to bed by 9pm. It was a good day. Again, traveling solo? Awesome. Get ready for twenty pictures, mostly of scenery from the walk. (I took about 200 pictures on this walk, by the way. Twenty is not many.)

looking cool as always

cute as
Papa-tu-a-nuku and Ranganui

The next morning I took the bus from Nelson to Picton. The bus ride was beautiful. Lots of tree-covered mountains, while I listened to music that matched the road-trip feel. And didn't fall asleep! Probably the only time I was in transport on the trip where I didn't fall asleep. I got to Picton and had a little over an hour to kill, so I explored. Went in some souvenir shops, ate some unfortunately gross fish n chips, and then boarded the Interislander ferry to Wellington!

The ferry ride through the Marlborough Sounds was gorgeous. So many pretty trees on the land coming out of the water. It was rather windy on the deck so I didn't spend too much time there. Not to mention once we got through the sounds - which, again, were beautiful and very peaceful for being on a massive ferry - and reached the Cook Straight.. that was less fun. The crew announced that it was "less than favorable", and less than favorable it was. It was like being on a rollercoaster for two hours, up and down and up and down. Seriously not fun, I felt so seasick. I had my motion sickness bag at the ready but thank goodness I didn't need to use it. I sat in a reclining chair inside and tried to sleep; it kind of worked. My iPod was dead so droning out the very loud man on his cell phone was pretty much impossible..

can tell already that the Cook Straight will be "less than favorable"..

But it ended and I arrived safe and sound in Wellington around 5:30pm. Which I will write about Wellington on my next post!