As I’m sure many of you know, I spent my Easter break in New Zealand. It was INCREDIBLE! I had so many awesome adventures and fun experiences. This blog will be posted in sections as I find time to write about all the cool things Camille and I did throughout the week.
Day 1 (Sat. April 23rd)
I traveled with my housemate and friend, Camille - she is the one from London. We left around 8am for the airport as it takes awhile to get there on public transport. We flew out of Melbourne mid-day. I had a great flight (watched a movie) and we made it to Auckland without any problems. It was strange, though, going through the airports, as I’d forgotten that New Zealand was its own country. It may sound ridiculous, but in my mind, they’re always associated and so I hadn’t even thought about how we’d have to go through customs and security a million times. But it was simple – they only took my apple. We flew into Auckland as the sun was setting and it was GORGEOUS. I decided about 3 minutes before our plan touched down that I loved New Zealand and I didn’t want to ever leave. Clearly, I did… but still, it was really beautifulJ. We took a bus from the airport to our hostel, put our stuff down and then decided to explore a bit. We saw a sign for free pizza at the hostel, so took advantage of that for dinner. After we walked around and just took in the city. A few things I noticed right away is that 1. There are many more indigenous people in New Zealand than I’ve ever seen in Australia. It was really cool. They actually have Maori language on many of the signs. 2. There are many more American stores in New Zealand than in Australia. I saw Dunkin Donuts, Wendy’s, Denny’s, Starbucks, The Body Shop, etc. It was comfortingJ. After walking around for a while, we decided to go to the Skytower and view the city all lit up. It was an incredible view! It was really similar to the Space Needle, except higher. After we finished there, we found a place with coffee and free wifi so that I could email my parents and let them know I’d made it safely. After that, we headed back to the hostel for bed.
Day 2 (Sun. April 24th)
On Sunday, we woke up and went to church for Easter. The church I’d found was St. Matthews and it was very close to our hostel in the city. It was a progressive Christian congregation and an incredibly interesting experience. It was formal, similar to a Catholic service, but the pastor preached a much more liberal message than I was used to hearing. The congregation was very small, but incredibly diverse – Maori people, homeless people, elderly people, teenagers, families – an incredible mix. One thing that was tough was that the hymnals were printed in both English and Maori language. It took me awhile to realize what was happening with that… a sweet old lady had to keep helping me turn the page to where I needed to be… a little embarrassing, but I eventually figured it outJ. Once I did, I realized how cool it was that both languages were represented and how it created a sense of inclusion. I do not know how common Maori language is within New Zealand, but it is neat to know that it is being preserved, at least within Christian hymnals. After church, Camille and I went to Denny’s for our Easter breakfast. Camille was SO excited about this. She’d never been to a Denny’s before and couldn’t wait to experience it. Her Dad is from Pennsylvania and she is very familiar with American things, but hasn’t experienced a lot of it on her limited visits to the States. Initially, I wasn’t super stoked about our “special Easter breakfast” being at Denny’s, but her enthusiasm was contagious and her smile was enough to convince me that this was the best way to celebrateJ. It was interesting to note the differences in the menu – my traditional breakfast came with cooked mushrooms and tomatoes as well as the typical American hash browns and eggs. Don’t get me wrong, I love vegetables, but it’s still just a bit strange to see them on my breakfast plate. After breakfast, we began our exploration of Auckland. We wandered around the waterfront, through the central business district and through some of their parks. After hours of walking around, we decided to take a break and went and saw the movie “Limitless”. It was fun to go to a movie – it’s been awhile since I’ve watched any – and it was nice to have a break for our tired feet. After the movie, we set out to find dinner and ended up at a restaurant on the waterfront. It was beautiful and had delicious food. Following dinner we found hot chocolate and pulled out my trusty deck of cards for a few games of rummy before calling it a night. On our way back to the hostel, we stopped to get a snack for breakfast the next day and they had cheap bananas!! I was SO excited. Because of the cyclone in Queensland earlier this year and the mass destruction of Australia’s crop, bananas are SO expensive here. I have been missing them tons. It was such a treat to indulge in them throughout the week in New Zealand. The rest of that night was spent getting caught up on emails, showering and then sleeping! J.
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