Ahhh December!

So I was checking in for my flight back to Sydney today when I realized... its December! Where has time gone? Oh yea, and I made it home safely. I have so many stories and experiences to tell about (and 224 pictures to prove them). I'm on cloud nine right now... or ten if possible. I had the most amazing weekend in New Zealand. Absolutely phenomenal. From Sydney airport to Sydney airport, the trip was only 72 hours. We packed each day full of adventure, and crashed each night. More details and pictures to come later... maybe even another few posts, I have a lot to say.

A little background... we (Melissa and I) booked this flight mid October already. We picked Auckland because it had the cheapest flight, no other reason. I planned our itinerary on Wednesday and we just kinda went with it. I didn't have too many expectations, people say New Zealand is beautiful, but I just wanted to get out of Manly, away from ICMS and homework and finals. Well it is beautiful, I did get away, I never once looked at homework... and it exceeded all expectations.

Friday night our flight was scheduled for 6:45pm. We left school by 3pm because we weren't quite sure how long public transportation would take and wanted to be there in plenty of time for our flight. Well we checked in and found out our flight was delayed an hour so there was a lot of sitting and waiting. Weather threatened to delay us even more, but luckily we were able to get out before the next storm came into the vicinity. Except for a little turbulance it was a good flight and we got in at 12:30am. Got through customs in no time and were on our way to the hostel. Both Sydney and Auckland airports are incredibly clean and calm. People are very friendly... complete opposite of my experiences with LAX. It was 2 am Auckland time before we got settled in our room and we went to bed. Our first adventure began at 9:30am!

Saturday morning we woke up at 8:30 and headed out for our canyoning trip. We stopped for breakfast at Starbucks (original, right?) and looked around a bit before meeting our ride. While waiting I saw a man in a Minnesota Twins jacket and hat. Then we met a girl, also waiting for canyoning (different company), from Bird Island, Minnesota! What are the odds that the first person I meet in New Zealand of all places, grew up less than an hour from my hometown. Her name was Kate. Our ride came and it was 40 minutes to Piha Beach (see below) and the canyons we were going to abseil.

Canyoning sounded like fun, but honestly I had no idea what we were getting into. First we got suited up in full body wetsuits, booties, shoes, harness, and a helmet. Then we walked 20 minutes on a trail uphill through the forest. Its a good thing I've been walking and going to the gym here, otherwise I would have died on the walk alone. Along the way Tony, our guide, pulled some leaves off a tree and had us try them. Supposedly they're good for toothaches... some herbal remedy. They tasted all right. We finally reached the top and went through the basic technique of rapelling down a cliff. Jump in a cold river, walk down a ways before getting to a 25 meter cliff. Tony tied the rope to a hook on the rock and makes the loop for the first guy in our group. Before I could think twice it was my turn. I started inching back until I got to the ledge and then looked down. There was a waterfall running next to me and yes, I was supposed to trust my life to rope and harness to lower myself down the vertical cliff. Once I started going, I realized it wasn't scary at all, and I didn't pay much attention to the actual rapelling part... I was too busy looking around. The waterfalls, forest, canyon... most beautiful place I've ever been. I hit the bottom and couldn't wait for the next one. It was only 10 meters and we landed in the water. Next was the 50 meter cliff. Waterfall beside (you can see in the back of our group photo.)

Our group after making it down our largest cliff

It was so nuts... we all made it to the bottom and had some lunch before the real fun began. Our final abseil was only 15 meters but it was cut into the canyon and we were in the waterfall. This one was my favorite.

Getting reading to decend

I wasn't kidding when I said I was in the waterfall

We got to the bottom and had to squeeze through a hole, swim over to an island and then jumped rocks until we got to a dead end. So we jumped. It looked like a tight squeeze but in hindsight it wasn't too bad. 15 foot drop to the water. 4 of the 8 made it (the others wimped out and walked around). Then we were at another waterfall, this one was a more shallow slope and we got to ride down on our backs holding onto a rope. After that was another hole we wiggled through head first and a 20 foot jump that was wide open. We continued walking through the canyon and eventually wound up where we started off. It was intense, but SO much fun. You're all thinking "This doesn't sound like something you would have picked out." But hey, when in New Zealand, do as the Kiwis do. (I said "New Zealander" to a guy in our group and he corrected me, they're "kiwis") The adventure itself was a blast, but our group made it even more fun. We had a couple from Auckland, a couple from China, and two students from an ESL school- one Finnish and the other Swiss.

We made a pitstop at Piha Beach on our way home. It has black sand because it's volcanic. I made the mistake of trying to take my shoes off.. turns out volcanic sand is really hot, especially on hot days. Did I mention the weather? The weather was perfect. We could not have asked for a better day. We made our way back to Auckland. Lots of sheep farms on the way. New Zealand has a larger sheep population than human. After showering and a short nap in the hostel, Melissa and I went down for dinner. The hostel provided a "free meal" which was actually just a sandwich that tasted so bad we couldn't finish it. Instead we found a kebab place (they are as popular in NZ as they are here) and walked around the city a bit. We grabbed a beer at the hostel bar but it was really loud and obnoxious. The day had worn us out and I was sleeping by midnight.

Me at Piha Beach

Piha Beach from above

I'll save day 2 and 3 for tomorrow. This got to be pretty long already. Although there are a few more things I'd like to say:

-I love traveling. Even more than before. For the first time I didn't feel anxious or worried about anything. I feel confident finding my way through unknown cities and meeting random people to find out what to do and where to go.
-I love New Zealand. I won't say I regret studying in Australia, my adventure abroad is not about regrets. But I think I would have enjoyed New Zealand a great deal. I plan on going back some day, especially to see South Island. Everyone in Auckland said it is even more scenic and fun. That can't happen until...
-I have a new goal. I am going to make it to all 6 livable continents before my passport expires on January 8, 2018. That gives me 10 years and I've already got two down.
-No matter how much fun I have traveling, I love hearing other people's stories and adventures to find out what else is out there. I caught up on all my friends' blogs before even checking facebook when I got back.
-I have an idea of what I am going to do when I graduate... more on that later maybe

Ok and finally... some NZ vocab/things:
kiwi=someone from New Zealand, also a bird found there
lid=helmet
lift=elevator (same as Australia)
Double Happy=fast food chain serving European and Chinese cuisines
Burger King... its not Hungry Jacks like Australia

There are/will be ridiculous amounts of pictures on Flickr if you'd like to see more!