Hey all,
It's been pretty great here so far. I've climbed an extinct volcano, walked on an active volcanic island, spent the night with the natives, adopted a kiwi, jumped backwards off a waterfall in the dark, lost my watch to the sea, fell on my bottom countless times climbing up and down almost every hill in New Zealand, and tried some of the best food I have ever tasted. I wish a lot of you were here to enjoy all of it with me. I know some of you would take drastic measures to take my place if you could. I've taken lots of pictures, and will show everyone all the breath-taking scenery that the pictures can't do justice for. I love and miss all of you; especially you, Sweet Pea. Although this place is so amazing that there are no words, I still miss home and can't wait to get back to the States to share my experiences.
Pepper
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Thursday, May 27th
May 27, 2010
Yesterday we stayed at the Maori village. We got to see an amazing dances and songs from the native people. Anita was our guide for the day. She taught all of us girls how to make a Poi and even a dance to use it. The dance we learned was actually a dance that they teach to their preschool children. It teaches them good wrist movement as well as improving their wrists strength for weaponry. This was great so that when the young boys started being taught how to fight at the age of 9 they would already have the strength and style to use the weapons properly. The dances that used the Poi also took much practice and grace. You could use one to four Poi at one time. Looked easy at first, but we later learned that looks can be deceiving. We also got to see how they make their traditional dancing skirts from flax as well as their baskets and other utensils. They even had their local tattoo artist come and tell us how they make their tattoos as well as their significance. They actually carve the pattern into the skin then apply the dye. Their designs tell their family history and the accomplishments they have made in their lifetime. This allows anyone they come into contact with to know everything about them without ever even speaking to them. Then today we woke up bright and early, had breakfast, and hit the road. We arrived at Palmerston today at our lovely supreme lodge.
Halee Burrow
Kia ora y’all!
Kia ora, as someone might have wrote before, is a Maori greeting. We learned from the Whakarewarewa village that it means “good health to all.” We spent all of yesterday afternoon and night at Whakarewarewa- which is an actual thermal village where around 25 Maori families reside. Today we got up at 5:30 a.m.. At the Marae, we experienced the Maori culture first hand. I really enjoyed learning the beliefs, customs, and everyday activities of the tribe.
Anita, our guide during our stay, was the person that taught us the most. She showed the ladies on the trip how to make pois, which translates to mean “ball on string.” Like the name suggests, a poi is literally a ball on a string. Pois were originally used as weapons, but are now used for decorative props during the Maori dances. While the ladies made pois, the young men were taught a Maori Haka dance. Hakas were done as an act of defiance, used to intimidate their enemies before battle. I was a bit jealous, because I wanted to learn the infamous Haka as well.
During our tour of the village, Anita showed us many geothermal hot pools. They villagers use these hot pools for many purposes like cooking, facials, and for hot water. Anita said that most folks that live in the village don’t have access to hot water other than the geothermal pools. For the 10 minutes I stood beside one of the pools, I definitely got a facial. My face felt smooth and clean when I walked away. J
Dinner was one of my favorites! The food was cooked in pressure/hot boxed made from the geothermal ground. Everything on my plate was DELICIOUS! (and healthy) Then the guys had to clear the table and the girls had to wipe the table. Also, it is a Maori custom for the guests to give the cooks a show after a big meal, so the guys finally showed us their Haka dance. I’m not gonna lie, it was pretty awesome! I was pretty intimidated, partly because it was dark and partly because the guys did a good job shouting and war dancing.
The last thing we did for the night was learn a poi dance. The dance was very fun and easy to learn. The words of the dance are:
E RERE TAKU POI
E RERE TAKU POI
KI RUNGA (2X)
E RERE TAKU POI
E RERE TAKU POI
KI RARO (2X)
E RERE RUNGA, E RERE RARO
E RERE ROTO, E RERE WAHO
E RERE TAKU POI
E RERE TAKU POI
KI RUNGA
This morning, all of us ladies did the dance for the cooks after breakfast. I really enjoyed singing for the cooks and for Anita. Anita also gave us pois she made. I was very excited and grateful to her.
Currently we are in Palmerston North. On the way here, we took many stops. A lot of members of our group went bungy jumping in Taupo. I was definitely excited and nervous for everyone who went. We also saw Huka Falls and Mount Ngauruhoe. Mt. Ngauruhoe was Mt. Doom on Lord of the Rings. It had snow on the top and was very beautiful!
I definitely saw a change in landscape as we travel to Wellington. The vegetation changed from tall tree ferns to production pine forests to low vegetation and bush. Peter, our bus driver, said the low flora is due to high winds. Also the really tall mountains cause their own atmosphere. How interesting.
Day 17 is over and 4 more days left in New Zealand. Wow! I can hardly believe it! Hope these next 4 days are packed with activities because I for sure am not ready to leave!
With love,
Venusa Phomakay
New Photos
Posing with our gas masks at White Island... a very active volcanic island near Ohope.
The waterfall at the Buried Village outside of Rotorua.
The meeting/ceremony house where we all stayed during our Maori visit.
Once the men mastered the Haka they performed it after dinner to thank the cooks.
Today we visited one of the two functional Maori villages left in the world, Whakarewarewa, which is actually the short name. It is located in a very thermally active area. The use the extremely hot water and steam to cook their food. It’s a natural spa, If you want a free facial or to clean out your lungs its the place to be. To say the least, these people have given us quite the experience so far and its yet to be over. We learned the Haka and preformed for the ladies in our group with Dr. Swanson as our leader. It was epic to say the least. Haka is a traditional war dance designed to prepare their mind and bodies for war. It is also supposed to be effective in scaring the enemies off. For dinner we ate a traditionally prepared dinner which reminded me of my grama’s good home cooking. We learned about their customs such as their food, their cultural symbology, which comes in many forms such as carvings and tattoos. They hold their family history, Whakapapa, very high as a way of identifying themselves to other tribes .it was a very educational experience. I can’t wait to wake up bright and early at 5:30.
DK out
Cultural immersion was the theme of the day today with an overnight visit to a working Maori village called Whakawerawera. Upon arrival, they immediately began teaching us about native culture and customs beginning with a traditional greeting demonstration that included native song and dance. One of the traditional war dances that was performed for us was called the Haka which the men were later taught in detail for a public performance for the women. The Haka consists of rhythmic dance accompanied by hand motions and lyrics that read:
Ka Mate Ka Mate
Ka Ora Ka Ora
Ka Mate Ka Mate
Ka Ora Ka Ora
Tenei Te Tangata
Puhuru Puhuru
Nana I Tiki Mai
Whaka Whiti Te Ra
Hupane Hupane
Hupane Kupane
Whiti Te Ra
Hei
It was incredibly enjoyable and educational to take part in a culture that I was previously not familiar with but now have extreme reverence and respect for. They truly made me feel like I was part of their family. Erik Sowell
Today we took the bus to Whakawerawera, which is Maori village located on the outskirts of Rotorua. Although we had already been to a similar Maori community, we are actually staying the night at this village. When we arrived, some of the Maori people performed a cultural display for us and even pulled some of us out of the audience to participate in the show. After the display, the guys were taught the “haka” and the girls learned how to make “poi”. After that, another Maori showed us a couple of traditional Maori instruments. Both were long straight horns made of wood, and when he blew into them they produced a loud noise that would have been heard before battles or in special times of peace. This is the first time on the trip that our entire group will be sleeping in the same room. The building where we are staying is made to symbolize the body of Maori elders. On the roof is a figure of a Maori man that serves as the buildings head. Coming out from the head are the arms that act as the sides of the roof. The legs come down from the roof and are, as everything else in the building, carved with special images. Inside the building, the ceilings supports symbolize the ribs, the windows are the eyes, the door is the mouth, and a column coming down from the ceiling in the middle of the room is the heart. The walls of the room are home to a number of different carvings that depict the elders themselves. So far, this Maori village has been great and I’m sure that tomorrow will be even better.
Mitchell Adams
DK out
Cultural immersion was the theme of the day today with an overnight visit to a working Maori village called Whakawerawera. Upon arrival, they immediately began teaching us about native culture and customs beginning with a traditional greeting demonstration that included native song and dance. One of the traditional war dances that was performed for us was called the Haka which the men were later taught in detail for a public performance for the women. The Haka consists of rhythmic dance accompanied by hand motions and lyrics that read:
Ka Mate Ka Mate
Ka Ora Ka Ora
Ka Mate Ka Mate
Ka Ora Ka Ora
Tenei Te Tangata
Puhuru Puhuru
Nana I Tiki Mai
Whaka Whiti Te Ra
Hupane Hupane
Hupane Kupane
Whiti Te Ra
Hei
It was incredibly enjoyable and educational to take part in a culture that I was previously not familiar with but now have extreme reverence and respect for. They truly made me feel like I was part of their family. Erik Sowell
Today we took the bus to Whakawerawera, which is Maori village located on the outskirts of Rotorua. Although we had already been to a similar Maori community, we are actually staying the night at this village. When we arrived, some of the Maori people performed a cultural display for us and even pulled some of us out of the audience to participate in the show. After the display, the guys were taught the “haka” and the girls learned how to make “poi”. After that, another Maori showed us a couple of traditional Maori instruments. Both were long straight horns made of wood, and when he blew into them they produced a loud noise that would have been heard before battles or in special times of peace. This is the first time on the trip that our entire group will be sleeping in the same room. The building where we are staying is made to symbolize the body of Maori elders. On the roof is a figure of a Maori man that serves as the buildings head. Coming out from the head are the arms that act as the sides of the roof. The legs come down from the roof and are, as everything else in the building, carved with special images. Inside the building, the ceilings supports symbolize the ribs, the windows are the eyes, the door is the mouth, and a column coming down from the ceiling in the middle of the room is the heart. The walls of the room are home to a number of different carvings that depict the elders themselves. So far, this Maori village has been great and I’m sure that tomorrow will be even better.
Mitchell Adams
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Elizabeth Dourlain- New Zealand
New Zealand has been lots of fun and very educational so far. We have visited many places that are affected daily by the impacts of the introduced species and people. When we visited Rangitoto, the ferry made sure we had no bugs or animals with us. They did this to ensure the native species on the island would not be killed by rats or insects that they had no defenses for. We also learned at Rainbow Springs that the kiwi population is declining by half every year. If something isn’t done to save the kiwis from introduced predators, they will be extinct by 2015. So they are trying to help increase the kiwi population by breeding and saving eggs. They bring the eggs to their resort, hatch the kiwis, and take care of them until they are old and strong enough to fend for themselves. After that age is reached, they release them back into the wild. This ensures that the kiwis are not killed at birth and still allows them to leave in their natural habitat.
We are also learning about the geography of New Zealand. We went to White Island, a volcanic marine island. There we learned about the sulfur deposits and steam being emitted from the volcano. Due to its activity many holes or pools are formed on the island. These are really hot and can usually be accompanied by boiling mud or water. The steam being emitted from the vents are very acidic. They smell really bad and can make your eyes water if you are not careful! Also, back in the day, companies went to the island to mine for sulfur. The first few experiences turned out catastrophic and the volcano “erupted” and killed everyone except for the cat.
Right now we are in Rotorua. It has many hot thermal springs. The springs are caused due to magma being only 5 to 10 km below the surface. Some hot pools are good for the skin because they have mineral deposits in them. Some are good for sore muscles because they are acidic. These pools may only be 5 or 20 feet away from each other and still have such different characteristics due to the limestone around them.
So far this trip has been amazing. We have gone to so many places that are full crazy things that I’m glad I’m getting to see. I am learning a lot about the environment and how everything here is so connected. All the geography is connected to the biology of the environment. Many of the native animals here wouldn’t have been able to exist if it wasn’t for the volcanic activity and seclusion of New Zealand from other continents. Flightless birds are some of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen and the Tuatara lizard is fascinating as well. I can’t believe it has been around for 200 million years.
Madeleine Rickert
So far this trip has been fantastic! Even though it is labeled as a Biology trip, I have had so many days where my inner geography nerd comes out! Last Thursday we went to White Island, an active volcano! My image of what this would be was a big crater with magma and lava visibly seen. It wasn’t anything like that. It almost felt like I was on another planet! There is no vegetation on White Island due to the acidic environment. The smell of the sulfur was intense…much like rotten eggs and we were given gas masks in case it was too hard to breathe. Vents or fumaroles hissed and bubbled with sulfuric steam…they roared as the steam filled the sky. The volcano is considered an alert level 1, because it is always active and steaming.
The night before we visited White Island, we were staying in a Holiday Park…much like U.S.’s camping areas…in Ohope right on the Pacific beach. The rooms weren’t bad; however, my room had 8 girls including myself. Around 2:48 a.m. May 20th, I woke up because my top bunk was shaking side to side and I could hear drinking glasses rattling in the kitchen cabinet! I was feeling an earthquake for the first time! Around 4 a.m. I felt another, more subtle quake. From what seismologists say, the first quake was a 4.2 magnitude, with the following being a 3.2 magnitude. There were 7 earthquakes that morning that were considered bigger than ‘normal’ for this normally active area. On the White Island Tour our guide told us that there is a seismograph monitoring seismic activity on the island. Usually there are 5-10 seismic episodes per day. May 19 - May 20 had 40-50 episodes!! And I felt 2 of them!
New Zealand’s beautiful landscape is all due to movement between the Pacific Plate and the Australian Plate. This activity has pushed land up to create the mountains and rolling hills as well as create thermal areas. Thermal areas have warm water pushing to the surface creating hot pools or boiling mud pools. Today, May 23rd, we went to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. The water was colored differently due to different minerals. There were also many collapsed craters, geysers, and fumaroles.
New Zealand is proof that there is so much activity occurring beneath us in the depths of the earth! As a Geography major, I have had several haydays!
On a random note, the people in New Zealand are very polite and friendly. New Zealand is a lot like the U.S. with a few more quirks. For instance, there are 2 buttons on toilets, Coca-Cola is made with cane sugar, instead of saying ‘cool’ people say ‘sweet as’, and instead of ‘thank you’ some merchants say ‘cheers’. The land reminds me of Arkansas…only bigger! If you take Arkansas’ mountains and make them hills, then switch out some trees to look more ‘tropical’, you’d have New Zealand! So far, so great!
New Zealand has been lots of fun and very educational so far. We have visited many places that are affected daily by the impacts of the introduced species and people. When we visited Rangitoto, the ferry made sure we had no bugs or animals with us. They did this to ensure the native species on the island would not be killed by rats or insects that they had no defenses for. We also learned at Rainbow Springs that the kiwi population is declining by half every year. If something isn’t done to save the kiwis from introduced predators, they will be extinct by 2015. So they are trying to help increase the kiwi population by breeding and saving eggs. They bring the eggs to their resort, hatch the kiwis, and take care of them until they are old and strong enough to fend for themselves. After that age is reached, they release them back into the wild. This ensures that the kiwis are not killed at birth and still allows them to leave in their natural habitat.
We are also learning about the geography of New Zealand. We went to White Island, a volcanic marine island. There we learned about the sulfur deposits and steam being emitted from the volcano. Due to its activity many holes or pools are formed on the island. These are really hot and can usually be accompanied by boiling mud or water. The steam being emitted from the vents are very acidic. They smell really bad and can make your eyes water if you are not careful! Also, back in the day, companies went to the island to mine for sulfur. The first few experiences turned out catastrophic and the volcano “erupted” and killed everyone except for the cat.
Right now we are in Rotorua. It has many hot thermal springs. The springs are caused due to magma being only 5 to 10 km below the surface. Some hot pools are good for the skin because they have mineral deposits in them. Some are good for sore muscles because they are acidic. These pools may only be 5 or 20 feet away from each other and still have such different characteristics due to the limestone around them.
So far this trip has been amazing. We have gone to so many places that are full crazy things that I’m glad I’m getting to see. I am learning a lot about the environment and how everything here is so connected. All the geography is connected to the biology of the environment. Many of the native animals here wouldn’t have been able to exist if it wasn’t for the volcanic activity and seclusion of New Zealand from other continents. Flightless birds are some of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen and the Tuatara lizard is fascinating as well. I can’t believe it has been around for 200 million years.
Madeleine Rickert
So far this trip has been fantastic! Even though it is labeled as a Biology trip, I have had so many days where my inner geography nerd comes out! Last Thursday we went to White Island, an active volcano! My image of what this would be was a big crater with magma and lava visibly seen. It wasn’t anything like that. It almost felt like I was on another planet! There is no vegetation on White Island due to the acidic environment. The smell of the sulfur was intense…much like rotten eggs and we were given gas masks in case it was too hard to breathe. Vents or fumaroles hissed and bubbled with sulfuric steam…they roared as the steam filled the sky. The volcano is considered an alert level 1, because it is always active and steaming.
The night before we visited White Island, we were staying in a Holiday Park…much like U.S.’s camping areas…in Ohope right on the Pacific beach. The rooms weren’t bad; however, my room had 8 girls including myself. Around 2:48 a.m. May 20th, I woke up because my top bunk was shaking side to side and I could hear drinking glasses rattling in the kitchen cabinet! I was feeling an earthquake for the first time! Around 4 a.m. I felt another, more subtle quake. From what seismologists say, the first quake was a 4.2 magnitude, with the following being a 3.2 magnitude. There were 7 earthquakes that morning that were considered bigger than ‘normal’ for this normally active area. On the White Island Tour our guide told us that there is a seismograph monitoring seismic activity on the island. Usually there are 5-10 seismic episodes per day. May 19 - May 20 had 40-50 episodes!! And I felt 2 of them!
New Zealand’s beautiful landscape is all due to movement between the Pacific Plate and the Australian Plate. This activity has pushed land up to create the mountains and rolling hills as well as create thermal areas. Thermal areas have warm water pushing to the surface creating hot pools or boiling mud pools. Today, May 23rd, we went to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. The water was colored differently due to different minerals. There were also many collapsed craters, geysers, and fumaroles.
New Zealand is proof that there is so much activity occurring beneath us in the depths of the earth! As a Geography major, I have had several haydays!
On a random note, the people in New Zealand are very polite and friendly. New Zealand is a lot like the U.S. with a few more quirks. For instance, there are 2 buttons on toilets, Coca-Cola is made with cane sugar, instead of saying ‘cool’ people say ‘sweet as’, and instead of ‘thank you’ some merchants say ‘cheers’. The land reminds me of Arkansas…only bigger! If you take Arkansas’ mountains and make them hills, then switch out some trees to look more ‘tropical’, you’d have New Zealand! So far, so great!
The Farm
I really love to travel because I think it's interesting to see and experience different cultures. Two days ago we got to see how a typical New Zealand farm operates. The first thing I noticed about how different the farm was from farms back home, was the fact that there were so many hills! When I think of farms, I think of large flat pastures, but this farm had it's highest point at 2000 meters above sea level. From the top we could see all of Rotorua, old volcanic sites, and the lakes that surrounded it.
We also learned about what used to be one of the biggest exports in New Zealand, wool. They contracted people to come in twice a year to shear the sheep. These contractors were real professionals, they could shear one entire sheep in under two minutes!!! Now that synthetics are so popular, the price of wool has decreased greatly, and the farmers have had to look into other goods.
One thing they're currently in the process of growing are truffles. Truffles are a fungus that grow from nodules on the roots of trees. It's a very tricky process, which the French have kept very secretive for many years. The New Zealand farmers were hoping to make these an export during the off-season in France, since truffles are harvested in the winter, and New Zealand and France have opposing seasons.
My favorite part of the farm was the two sheep dogs, Cloud and Scotty. With just a few short calls and whistles from the sheep herder, the dogs shot off into the pasture and rounded up some rams so that we could see. They always work in pairs and are very intelligent. With one dog on either side, they were able to herd the sheep and keep them closely together in a pack. If one sheep tried to stray from the pack, Cloud and Scotty were quick to round them all back up. It was like watching the movie "Babe"!
Hien Tran
Sunday, May 23, 2010
New Zealand is so amazing! EVERYthing is so beautiful here! We've been learning about the flora and fauna, as promised, but also having some really amazing experiences. Meeting new people on this trip has definitely been the best part, by far! I've met some really cool people and it makes the whole trip even better. I've also learned so much about the world and how America is so different than everyone else. This trip has been a great eye-opener so far, and I'm only half-way through!
This past Thursday we toured an active volcano! We rode the bus over to the dock and all loaded a yacht for it to take us 90 minutes across the open ocean to White Island. As we left the port, the captain pointed out that we might see dolphins and if we were lucky, whales--so I kept my eyes pealed, but no luck until we docked back at the port. On our small tour across the Southern Pacific a few of us slept, while the rest of us looked out the front, getting soaked from the rather large waves splashing us. When we finally arrived at White Island, we noticed there was no dock...only steps...and smoke coming up from the middle of the island. Then, the crew started passing out hard hats and gas masks! After we ancored near the shore, they started loading us on a small dingy at the back of the boat..group by group we were ushered over to the island and finally, when it was out turn...the boat puttered out!..Yep, it just decided it was time to break--so we (Shawn and Alec) had to paddle us back to the big boat! It was so hilarious! After a small repair, we were on our way back to White Island and to take out amazing tour of a live volcano!! I had never been anywhere near a volcano before this trip, now Ive hiked up about 3 and walked on an active one! When we arrived to the island of about 2.5 Km long, we all immediately noticed the rotten egg-smell...sulfer... in the air and that the ground was warm! And there was a small stream nearby of milky water running into the ocean..and as we started our tour, the tourguides told us of all the amazing formations on the island--from the former eruptions and gases forming vents on the land everyday. (And the night before all of this, we had 6 small (3-4 on the richter scale) earthquakes between 2-4am that morning, so we were all a little nervous of an explosion or another earthquake, but we made it out fine, thankfully!) But we walked all over the island, checking out the vents, where we had to wear our gas masks, and the pools--with a ph of 0!--and the various other small bubblies and formations that were very cool! The whole island had weird rocks too..all colors, from bright yellow and purple to silver and red. When we passed one of the small streams, the tourguide mentioned we could feel and taste it if we wanted--I didn't, but I hear it was very warm and tasted like metal. After our amazing tour of the volcano, we had lunch on the yacht and rode around the southern side of the island, where we saw amazing greenry and seals! Then we headed back across the rough ocean to the port (no seasickness from me!)--where, when we arrived, had a dolphin swimming along behind us! Very cool experience! Thank you everyone who helped plan this event, great choice!
Stephanie Dunn
White Island
White Island is an active volcano about 30 miles off the east coast of the North Island, near the town of Whakatane, the most active marine volcano in New Zealand. We rose early to catch PeeJay 5 for a 90 minute cruise out to White Island. As the island grew on the horizon, steam being emitted from inside and slowly rising out the top started to become visible. On the yacht we were issued gas masks and hard hats for the tour. The hard hats may have been overkill, but the gas masks would soon prove indispensable. Upon arrival at the island, the yacht parked offshore a bit and we were (supposed to be) ferried to shore on a small inflatable dinghy, but as soon as we pushed off the boat for shore, the motor on our dinghy gave out. I, of course, was sitting on the front of the dinghy and got the privilege of paddling us back to the boat once we'd drifted away. No easy feat, mind you, considering we were fighting the wind and waves and loaded down with people.
Dinghy fixed and back on schedule, we bounced onshore and were greeted by bleak, otherworldy surroundings. I dug into the beach with bare hands and the sand became almost too hot to touch within six inches. A milky stream flowed past into the ocean. The overwhelming smell of sulfur flooded my nose, and steam was hissing from vents all around. It was powerful, and impossible to be completely at ease standing on such unstable earth, especially considering it had been an unusually seismically active morning. (The previous night we experienced 6 "feelable" quakes, but I only felt one.) We started our walk to the biggest steam vent and on the way saw bubbling mud pools and earth stained bright yellow from crystalline sulphur deposits. As we approached the vent, the the roar became deafening. The vent spat out incredibly hot steam at such an amazing rate. It was mesmorizing to stand and watch the angry earth spew out such massive volumes. At the vents the gases became intolerable and I was thankful for the gas mask. The fumes stung my eyes and nose and caused coughing fits. A short walk west of the vent led us to the central crater lake, an ethereal green lake of extreme acidity and temperature. At times hot enough to boil, and more acidic than hydrochloric acid (the pH is actually negative sometimes), it wasn't the greatest place to take a quick dip. Back down from the central crater onto the flats created by the most recent eruption and subsequent lahar, we stopped for a quick photo at some more of the bubbling mud pools then ended our visit to one of the creepiest yet amazing places I've ever been by climbing through the ruins of the sulfur mining factory that was destroyed by an eruption about 100 years ago.
ALEC WATSON
Dinghy fixed and back on schedule, we bounced onshore and were greeted by bleak, otherworldy surroundings. I dug into the beach with bare hands and the sand became almost too hot to touch within six inches. A milky stream flowed past into the ocean. The overwhelming smell of sulfur flooded my nose, and steam was hissing from vents all around. It was powerful, and impossible to be completely at ease standing on such unstable earth, especially considering it had been an unusually seismically active morning. (The previous night we experienced 6 "feelable" quakes, but I only felt one.) We started our walk to the biggest steam vent and on the way saw bubbling mud pools and earth stained bright yellow from crystalline sulphur deposits. As we approached the vent, the the roar became deafening. The vent spat out incredibly hot steam at such an amazing rate. It was mesmorizing to stand and watch the angry earth spew out such massive volumes. At the vents the gases became intolerable and I was thankful for the gas mask. The fumes stung my eyes and nose and caused coughing fits. A short walk west of the vent led us to the central crater lake, an ethereal green lake of extreme acidity and temperature. At times hot enough to boil, and more acidic than hydrochloric acid (the pH is actually negative sometimes), it wasn't the greatest place to take a quick dip. Back down from the central crater onto the flats created by the most recent eruption and subsequent lahar, we stopped for a quick photo at some more of the bubbling mud pools then ended our visit to one of the creepiest yet amazing places I've ever been by climbing through the ruins of the sulfur mining factory that was destroyed by an eruption about 100 years ago.
ALEC WATSON
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
May 19, 2010
Yesterday we went to Ragland to the black sand beaches. The sand was black because of the iron content. It was also velvety smooth to the touch. We just had an awesome day just soaking up the sun and sea shell hunting. The shells were everywhere! I took a purple and tiger striped one back with me. Then we went back to the bunks to rest for the next day so we had to get up so early, however, we stayed up all night talking as usual. Who cares though it was awesome bonding time!
Today we packed up and left for Waitomo to go Black Water Rafting. Me and the other Hayley were terrified to death about the description in the brochure. It said the trip had many twist, turns, and leaps of faith. Sounds very extreme to me! We definitely worked ourselves up over nothing, because the experience was unforgettable. The walk down was hard because the floor of the cave was very uneven and most of the time the water was cloudy from previous people so that you could not see where the rocks were. Then there was these awesome glow worms everywhere that we got to see after we got to relax in the tubes and we floated through the cave. We learned that the glow worms were not glow worms, because they do not exist. They are instead the poop of magnet larve. They produce bioluminescence light when they excrete their waste. The best part of the ride was the waterfall. As scared as I was I turned around backwards, held the tube to my bum, and got pushed off the 6 foot drop off. Mostly because I did not have the guts to jump myself, but it was so much fun. I would do it again in a heartbeat!
Then we went for lunch and headed for Ohope, which was a long four hour drive. We have a beach front cabin now that is literally a 2 minute walk from the ocean. Later we barbequed sausages and wrote in our journals and just hung out. Well that’s all for today
Halee Burrow
Today was great! It was an early morning and the activity was freezing, but it was so worth everything. So, what did we do? We went black water rafting, one of the most fun thrills you can do. We shoved ourselves into wet suits. Actually, we girls took to a team effort of lifting the wet suit up our comrade into her second skin. After getting into our suits, we fit our butts to some tubes and then plunged into freezing cold water. Well, that’s an exaggeration, the water wasn’t THAT cold, but it was cold enough to get complementary tomato soup afterwards.
So, on to the fun stuff. We went to the town of Waitomo, which means “water hole” in Maori, and set out to explore the cave of Ranui. Down into a dark tunnel and over some carved limestone, we turned our headlights on and trekked through stalactites, stalagmites, and cave coral following a stream to the main cave river. There were two waterfalls, at the highest six feet high, that we jumped off backwards. All of this to take a leisurely float in the dark with glow worms lighting our way.
We learned some interesting stuff about these little natural wonders. As Hayley said, they are actually larva of a fly. The lifestyle of this bug is spending most of its life glowing and faking mosquitoes and other insects that that light is a way out. These bugs then get caught in little sticky strands that the larva hang down like fishing lines and become the larva’s gourmet meal. For nine months, these larva get to eat and shine, but after that, they turn into their fly selves with no mouth or digestive track. The flies unfortunately only get to live for two days; their only purpose is to make babies. 200 eggs are laid, but only 20 will hatch, and the cycle starts all over again.
I have never experienced something like this before and definitely had a blast. This beautiful country keeps amazing me, and we still have a long way to go!
Amanda Hickman
Hey Friends!
Our 9th day in New Zealand was pretty adventurous- black water rafting in a cave. It was pretty awesome! The cave was in Waitomo. “Wai” means water and “tomo” means hole in Maori. So, as Amanda says, Waitomo means “water hole.” The actual name of the cave is Ranui.
When we get to the office, we split up into 3 groups with 10 people per group. I was in the first group that went at 8:15 am. Rafting in a cave at 8 a.m., not a bad way to start off the morning, huh? They first had us get into these super think, tight, and hard to get into wet suits. It took us forever to get into them. Then they gave us boots and helmets with headlamps attached to them. After we got all of our gear on, they took us to a river and taught us how to jump off a dock using our inner-tubes. The jump wasn’t that high off the river, but it was still terrifying.
Finally, we were all ready to head inside the caves. In the caves, we saw many stalactite and stalagmite formations. We had to be careful not to hit our helmets on the formations . Our guide said that it takes 100 years for the formations to grow one cubic centimeters. ONE cubic CENTIMETER! That’s a long time. Although it was really cold in the caves, and the water was freezing, our wet suits kept us warm. The best part was jumping off the waterfalls. I was definitely scared, but glad I did it. It’s not every day that you jump backwards off a waterfall in a dark cave. It was a once in a lifetime chance and I had to seize it!
All throughout the journey through the cave, we say glow warms! Except, today we learned that glow worms are actually maggot larvae- pretty interesting. They glow because they emit a bioluminescence light after they burn off their food for energy. So basically, the light we were seeing was glowing poop-gross, yet very intriguing.
After we got done, we got complimentary soup and bagels. Man, the tomato soup sure warmed me up real fast! Currently we are in Ohope. Tomorrow we will go to White Island where there is an active volcano. Black water rafting, active volcanoes, gorgeous coves- New Zealand is turning out to be trip of a lifetime!
With love,
Venusa Phomakay
Yesterday we went to Ragland to the black sand beaches. The sand was black because of the iron content. It was also velvety smooth to the touch. We just had an awesome day just soaking up the sun and sea shell hunting. The shells were everywhere! I took a purple and tiger striped one back with me. Then we went back to the bunks to rest for the next day so we had to get up so early, however, we stayed up all night talking as usual. Who cares though it was awesome bonding time!
Today we packed up and left for Waitomo to go Black Water Rafting. Me and the other Hayley were terrified to death about the description in the brochure. It said the trip had many twist, turns, and leaps of faith. Sounds very extreme to me! We definitely worked ourselves up over nothing, because the experience was unforgettable. The walk down was hard because the floor of the cave was very uneven and most of the time the water was cloudy from previous people so that you could not see where the rocks were. Then there was these awesome glow worms everywhere that we got to see after we got to relax in the tubes and we floated through the cave. We learned that the glow worms were not glow worms, because they do not exist. They are instead the poop of magnet larve. They produce bioluminescence light when they excrete their waste. The best part of the ride was the waterfall. As scared as I was I turned around backwards, held the tube to my bum, and got pushed off the 6 foot drop off. Mostly because I did not have the guts to jump myself, but it was so much fun. I would do it again in a heartbeat!
Then we went for lunch and headed for Ohope, which was a long four hour drive. We have a beach front cabin now that is literally a 2 minute walk from the ocean. Later we barbequed sausages and wrote in our journals and just hung out. Well that’s all for today
Halee Burrow
Today was great! It was an early morning and the activity was freezing, but it was so worth everything. So, what did we do? We went black water rafting, one of the most fun thrills you can do. We shoved ourselves into wet suits. Actually, we girls took to a team effort of lifting the wet suit up our comrade into her second skin. After getting into our suits, we fit our butts to some tubes and then plunged into freezing cold water. Well, that’s an exaggeration, the water wasn’t THAT cold, but it was cold enough to get complementary tomato soup afterwards.
So, on to the fun stuff. We went to the town of Waitomo, which means “water hole” in Maori, and set out to explore the cave of Ranui. Down into a dark tunnel and over some carved limestone, we turned our headlights on and trekked through stalactites, stalagmites, and cave coral following a stream to the main cave river. There were two waterfalls, at the highest six feet high, that we jumped off backwards. All of this to take a leisurely float in the dark with glow worms lighting our way.
We learned some interesting stuff about these little natural wonders. As Hayley said, they are actually larva of a fly. The lifestyle of this bug is spending most of its life glowing and faking mosquitoes and other insects that that light is a way out. These bugs then get caught in little sticky strands that the larva hang down like fishing lines and become the larva’s gourmet meal. For nine months, these larva get to eat and shine, but after that, they turn into their fly selves with no mouth or digestive track. The flies unfortunately only get to live for two days; their only purpose is to make babies. 200 eggs are laid, but only 20 will hatch, and the cycle starts all over again.
I have never experienced something like this before and definitely had a blast. This beautiful country keeps amazing me, and we still have a long way to go!
Amanda Hickman
Hey Friends!
Our 9th day in New Zealand was pretty adventurous- black water rafting in a cave. It was pretty awesome! The cave was in Waitomo. “Wai” means water and “tomo” means hole in Maori. So, as Amanda says, Waitomo means “water hole.” The actual name of the cave is Ranui.
When we get to the office, we split up into 3 groups with 10 people per group. I was in the first group that went at 8:15 am. Rafting in a cave at 8 a.m., not a bad way to start off the morning, huh? They first had us get into these super think, tight, and hard to get into wet suits. It took us forever to get into them. Then they gave us boots and helmets with headlamps attached to them. After we got all of our gear on, they took us to a river and taught us how to jump off a dock using our inner-tubes. The jump wasn’t that high off the river, but it was still terrifying.
Finally, we were all ready to head inside the caves. In the caves, we saw many stalactite and stalagmite formations. We had to be careful not to hit our helmets on the formations . Our guide said that it takes 100 years for the formations to grow one cubic centimeters. ONE cubic CENTIMETER! That’s a long time. Although it was really cold in the caves, and the water was freezing, our wet suits kept us warm. The best part was jumping off the waterfalls. I was definitely scared, but glad I did it. It’s not every day that you jump backwards off a waterfall in a dark cave. It was a once in a lifetime chance and I had to seize it!
All throughout the journey through the cave, we say glow warms! Except, today we learned that glow worms are actually maggot larvae- pretty interesting. They glow because they emit a bioluminescence light after they burn off their food for energy. So basically, the light we were seeing was glowing poop-gross, yet very intriguing.
After we got done, we got complimentary soup and bagels. Man, the tomato soup sure warmed me up real fast! Currently we are in Ohope. Tomorrow we will go to White Island where there is an active volcano. Black water rafting, active volcanoes, gorgeous coves- New Zealand is turning out to be trip of a lifetime!
With love,
Venusa Phomakay
May 16
Sunday May 16th, 2010
I woke up today at 7:30 and got ready to leave. Right before we left the lodge took a picture of our group. They said they were about to redo there website and they would love to put a picture of us on there. It will be fun to see on a New Zealand site. We left the lodge at 9:00am and we headed down to Cook's beach. (We were suppose to go to Cook's Beach yesterday but it was raining and we decided not to go.)
Our bus driver, Peter, had a friend, John, that lives near Haiha. John is a environmental manger. We picked him up and went to Ferry Lodge Landing. He gave a us a little lecture about the area. It was interesting. He taught us about how the Maori lived.
(Some of this may not be correct, I'm trying to remember exactly what he said). Originally they never fought one another. Then times got bad and food got scarce and they started fighting over food. The place we went to was a perfect area for defense. If they saw other people coming down the river they would run into the bush and it was very narrow so there were only a few places people could pass. They could protect the area's with a few people and be fairly safe.
After that we went to take a peek at Cook's Beach. The area had a lot of holiday homes, and it was very easy to see why. The place was beautiful.
---Cook's beach got it's name from Captain Cook. He was the second European to come to New Zealand. His job was to map out New Zealand and they say he did a great job.
After leaving Cook's Beach we started heading toward Hamilton. It was about a 2 and a half hour drive. Getting out of the Coromandal Peninsula was a mess for me. I took a Dramamine and it helped a lot, but I had to keep my eyes on the road the whole time. I thought I was going to get sick. (Dr. Swanson was right, the road are small and very curvy).
We stopped in Paeroa, which is the place where the Lemon and Paeroa (L&P) drink was started, and we ate lunch. Then we got back in the bus to finish our trip to Hamilton, we had about an hour left to go.
When we got to Hamilton we went to a place called The Garden. It was really cool. They had different gardens that were from all over the world. The American one wasn't so good. It resembled the west coast and was dull. The Chinese, Japanese, and Indian gardens were really neat to see. They even had gardens that were just herbs. And gardens that were all vegetables. We spent an hour there but I think we all could have stayed longer.
From The Garden we made our way to downtown Hamilton and we went down Victoria, it's the main vein through Hamilton I think. We unloaded the bus and got everyone situated in our rooms. I spilt a unit with Alec once again. We share the sink, toilet, and shower, but we have our own rooms. They have twin size beds and a little TV and then just enough room to walk, they are very small but nice.
Once we got all situated most of us headed down Victoria street. We went to a store called The warehouse, which is like a Wal-Mart but doesn't sell food, and I bought two t-shirts and a rain jacket. From there the night got very fun. We went to Burgerfuel, a pretty good burger place and ate. It was probably only 4:30 or 5:00 but we were starving and it was great. It was a very fun and relaxing day. (Which I needed very much.)
Taylor Bowers
I woke up today at 7:30 and got ready to leave. Right before we left the lodge took a picture of our group. They said they were about to redo there website and they would love to put a picture of us on there. It will be fun to see on a New Zealand site. We left the lodge at 9:00am and we headed down to Cook's beach. (We were suppose to go to Cook's Beach yesterday but it was raining and we decided not to go.)
Our bus driver, Peter, had a friend, John, that lives near Haiha. John is a environmental manger. We picked him up and went to Ferry Lodge Landing. He gave a us a little lecture about the area. It was interesting. He taught us about how the Maori lived.
(Some of this may not be correct, I'm trying to remember exactly what he said). Originally they never fought one another. Then times got bad and food got scarce and they started fighting over food. The place we went to was a perfect area for defense. If they saw other people coming down the river they would run into the bush and it was very narrow so there were only a few places people could pass. They could protect the area's with a few people and be fairly safe.
After that we went to take a peek at Cook's Beach. The area had a lot of holiday homes, and it was very easy to see why. The place was beautiful.
---Cook's beach got it's name from Captain Cook. He was the second European to come to New Zealand. His job was to map out New Zealand and they say he did a great job.
After leaving Cook's Beach we started heading toward Hamilton. It was about a 2 and a half hour drive. Getting out of the Coromandal Peninsula was a mess for me. I took a Dramamine and it helped a lot, but I had to keep my eyes on the road the whole time. I thought I was going to get sick. (Dr. Swanson was right, the road are small and very curvy).
We stopped in Paeroa, which is the place where the Lemon and Paeroa (L&P) drink was started, and we ate lunch. Then we got back in the bus to finish our trip to Hamilton, we had about an hour left to go.
When we got to Hamilton we went to a place called The Garden. It was really cool. They had different gardens that were from all over the world. The American one wasn't so good. It resembled the west coast and was dull. The Chinese, Japanese, and Indian gardens were really neat to see. They even had gardens that were just herbs. And gardens that were all vegetables. We spent an hour there but I think we all could have stayed longer.
From The Garden we made our way to downtown Hamilton and we went down Victoria, it's the main vein through Hamilton I think. We unloaded the bus and got everyone situated in our rooms. I spilt a unit with Alec once again. We share the sink, toilet, and shower, but we have our own rooms. They have twin size beds and a little TV and then just enough room to walk, they are very small but nice.
Once we got all situated most of us headed down Victoria street. We went to a store called The warehouse, which is like a Wal-Mart but doesn't sell food, and I bought two t-shirts and a rain jacket. From there the night got very fun. We went to Burgerfuel, a pretty good burger place and ate. It was probably only 4:30 or 5:00 but we were starving and it was great. It was a very fun and relaxing day. (Which I needed very much.)
Taylor Bowers
Monday, May 17, 2010
Here are a few photos of the trip so far...
Sky Tower in Auckland
The awesome penguins at Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World
Rangitoto, the epic volcano we climbed
The whole group made it to the top of Rangitoto!
A view of Auckland from the top of Rangitoto
Sunrise at Hahei
Another view of the sunrise at Hahei... Possibly the best sunrise ever.
Cathedral Cove: Everyone's new favorite beach.
Salt in your wound?
Salt in your wound? No, honey. Manuka honey to be specific. Professor Peter Molan at University of Waikoto in Hamilton has been researching the effects of this honey on treating infections. The honey comes from Manuka trees (surprisingly) which can grow pretty much everywhere, including places with poor soil. It has antibacterial properties that have proven more effective than conventional remedies in a number of different cases.
Honey is the oldest known medicine, used mainly for wounds and diseases. What makes manuka honey so special? In Molan’s presentation to us about his research, he described an experiment in which catalase was used to break down the hydrogen peroxide present in a variety of different honeys. The results showed that manuka honey still held antibacterial properties after the break down of hydrogen peroxide whereas the other honeys did not. This makes manuka honey great for treating infection. How exactly does it do this? Inflammation begins with phagocytosis, the ingestion of solids by cells. The ingestion induces redness and swelling, what we know as inflammation. What the honey does is inhibit the phagocytosis from happening in the first place.
Professor Molan shared with us his personal experience with manuka honey. He has used manuka honey dressings on his own wounds and been astonished by the quick and effective results.It greatly reduces scarring in addition to its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties Other cases where no other antibiotic treatment has worked, manuka honey has proven to be effective. This honey treatment is on the market in a few countries, and is slowly becoming more prevalent. Treatments have evolved from basic “spread the honey your wound” to honey infused dressing. He says it is only a matter of weeks until the FDA approves the latest manuka honey treatment.
Sweet.
This was just one of the many things we learned today at Waikato. A professor from Southern California talked to us about hydrothermal vents and his many travels around the world diving deep in to the ocean. He spends half his time in New Zealand and half in time in the States. After lunch we toured the University and fantasized about how we would all come back to this university to study and get a higher degree. We toured around and saw the hi-tech laboratories used for freshmen level biology class, lucky bastards! We talked with a few others involved with research at the University. The idea of New Zealand being an island nation and concerning themselves with the conservation of native species is constantly being brought up. We learned about the clover root weevil threatening clover population which in turns effects cow feeding and milk—dairy export makes up 25% of New Zealand’s GDP. Conservationists have been hard at work introducing a parasitic wasp to control the eradicate the weevil population. So far it seems to be working. Another big research program at Waikato is bovine cloning. They look for favorable traits such as high protein/low fat milk composition to try and breed. We got to see the cows up close and personal as well as go into the lab to see the instruments used in the cloning process.
It was a long day at school, but I guess we signed up for that along with the water-rafting and base-jumping. We all learned a great deal, but at the end of the day we were all ready to head back to the Microtel and buy our own jar of manuka honey!
Jenny England
Honey is the oldest known medicine, used mainly for wounds and diseases. What makes manuka honey so special? In Molan’s presentation to us about his research, he described an experiment in which catalase was used to break down the hydrogen peroxide present in a variety of different honeys. The results showed that manuka honey still held antibacterial properties after the break down of hydrogen peroxide whereas the other honeys did not. This makes manuka honey great for treating infection. How exactly does it do this? Inflammation begins with phagocytosis, the ingestion of solids by cells. The ingestion induces redness and swelling, what we know as inflammation. What the honey does is inhibit the phagocytosis from happening in the first place.
Professor Molan shared with us his personal experience with manuka honey. He has used manuka honey dressings on his own wounds and been astonished by the quick and effective results.It greatly reduces scarring in addition to its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties Other cases where no other antibiotic treatment has worked, manuka honey has proven to be effective. This honey treatment is on the market in a few countries, and is slowly becoming more prevalent. Treatments have evolved from basic “spread the honey your wound” to honey infused dressing. He says it is only a matter of weeks until the FDA approves the latest manuka honey treatment.
Sweet.
This was just one of the many things we learned today at Waikato. A professor from Southern California talked to us about hydrothermal vents and his many travels around the world diving deep in to the ocean. He spends half his time in New Zealand and half in time in the States. After lunch we toured the University and fantasized about how we would all come back to this university to study and get a higher degree. We toured around and saw the hi-tech laboratories used for freshmen level biology class, lucky bastards! We talked with a few others involved with research at the University. The idea of New Zealand being an island nation and concerning themselves with the conservation of native species is constantly being brought up. We learned about the clover root weevil threatening clover population which in turns effects cow feeding and milk—dairy export makes up 25% of New Zealand’s GDP. Conservationists have been hard at work introducing a parasitic wasp to control the eradicate the weevil population. So far it seems to be working. Another big research program at Waikato is bovine cloning. They look for favorable traits such as high protein/low fat milk composition to try and breed. We got to see the cows up close and personal as well as go into the lab to see the instruments used in the cloning process.
It was a long day at school, but I guess we signed up for that along with the water-rafting and base-jumping. We all learned a great deal, but at the end of the day we were all ready to head back to the Microtel and buy our own jar of manuka honey!
Jenny England
Saturday, May 15, 2010
The Coro, last day...
Today we hiked in the rain. Like, hardcore hiked in a sheet of rain. Swanson offered to let us go back to the bus if we didn't want to get wet. No one left. The group was originally going to walk around only the water race trail, but we decided we wanted to push on to the long mining cave. We were all soaked from head to toe, but still wore a smile when we got to the top, where the cave was. Inside the cave were glow worms. Looking at them was almost unreal. This whole place is unreal. Paradise. The view from every direction is gorgeous. Tomorrow we're going to Cook's beach, which was scheduled for today, but the rain wouldn't let up. We all voted to go in the morning before we head to Hamilton. It'll be a nice fairwell to Hahei.
-Kayla Treece
It has been amazing starting each day doing yoga or karate on the beach. The sunrise is breathtaking!! Even with a rainy day like today, we got to see the most gorgeous places. It was cold and wet but the hike was so fun! We climbed up through a rainforest and then played in a mine shaft with really cool glow worms! I have had a lot of camera problems but it is hard to be bummed out when you know the pictures can't do justice at all! I love New Zealand and do not want to go home!
-Miranda Lisko
-Kayla Treece
It has been amazing starting each day doing yoga or karate on the beach. The sunrise is breathtaking!! Even with a rainy day like today, we got to see the most gorgeous places. It was cold and wet but the hike was so fun! We climbed up through a rainforest and then played in a mine shaft with really cool glow worms! I have had a lot of camera problems but it is hard to be bummed out when you know the pictures can't do justice at all! I love New Zealand and do not want to go home!
-Miranda Lisko
Friday, May 14, 2010
The first post...
Well, ok,ok... we have been here four whole days and no one has posted. But hey, we are doing well and man have we seen some stuff! Here is the first installment! To be honest I am just glad I got 32 people from Central AR to Auckland without 1) loosing anyone 2) all of their luggage arrived! Anyway here we are, in Hahei Coro. enjoy! JD
So here we are at day 4 of our Kiwi expedition. We’ve just been too busy having fun to keep our friends at home posted on our experiences, so I’ll give you a quick run-down of the trip so far. Monday didn’t exist for us, so our journey really started on Tuesday. After the epic plane ride, we hit the ground running when our awesome bus driver, Peter, drove us to the top of Mt. Eden to look out over the glory of Auckland. We saw the crater of the extinct volcano as well as some old Maori ruins. It was breathtaking, but the sites only got better from there. The next day we went to Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater World and got up close and personal with some penguins, fish, and sharks before we went to the Waiwera hot pools. On Thursday we took a ferry to Rangitoto. It really was the climb of a life time to get to the top, but the view was amazing. Standing in the clouds, you could see all of Auckland and the surrounding harbor, so it was well worth the pain and stumbling that many of us endured along the way up the steep, rocky slopes. Perhaps the most amazing part of the hike was the prehistoric-looking forests full of tree ferns like nothing I’ve ever seen and the native fantail birds we encountered at the top. The drive to Hahei after the hike was equally as breathtaking, though much more tame— endless views of rolling, farm-covered hills. Hahei has been great thus far. We walked down to the beach on our first night to see the Southern Cross and countless other stars. Today, Friday, several of us woke up early to see the sunrise over the beach before we drove to Cathedral Cove for an amazing hike. The cove was gorgeous, and we all enjoyed a morning at the beach like non we had ever experienced before. The waves were huge and the surrounding cliffs and rocks were full of life. We also ventured to Hot Water Beach today before returning to Hahei and making a quick hike to Te Pare Point. The highlight of the afternoon was seeing my first blooming New Zealand Christmas tree— the blooms are absolutely amazing! In fact, everything we’ve done so far has been amazing, and I can’t wait for our next stops tomorrow.
Hayley Sebourn
Wow, where to start regarding our safari through the amazing country of New Zealand. We began our trip out of Little Rock, flew to Denver, then to Los Angeles. From L.A., we made a 13 hour flight to Auckland. Jet lag is a pain! Straight out of the airport, we got to experience some of New Zealand’s finest cuisine: the meat pie. This little pastry is a must try when visiting the country. From here, we travelled by bus to Mt. Eden and then to Base, the hostel we would be staying at for two nights. The rest of that day was just to relax and take in the sights. I went with a group of friends and toured the city of Auckland. Later that night, Dr. Swanson (hereby known to us as JD) took us to a pub he knew, as well as the best burger place in town. We probably walked about 3 km to get to this place, when in fact, there was one just up the street from Base. On May 12th (day 3), the group travelled to the port and observed some of the native species of fish that are caught and sold. It was also here that I ate a tuna kabab, which was delicious. From the fish market, we made our way to Savage Memorial. Afterward, we went to Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater World. It was here that we were able to observe some of the native fauna that inhabited the country. Among these were King Penguins, Seven-Gilled Shark, and Stingrays. Next on the agenda for the day was comprised of studying the geological phenomena of the land. Some of these hot pools reached temperatures up to 48°C. That’s hot! We went back to Base, where JD cooked another one of New Zealand’s famous foods: Spaghetti. On May 13th (day 4), we loaded up all our luggage and hit the road. Our first stop consisted of taking a ferry to Rangitoto and climbing the volcano. On the way, I experienced the beautiful calls of some of the native birds, but visibility of poor and I was not able to discern their location. Flora was abundant, and I am almost certain I never saw the same species twice. One of the more memorable plants was a Silver Fern, named for the silver colouring on the underside of the plant leaves. The view from the top of the volcano was spectacular; I was able to see for miles, I mean, kilometers. After returning to the mainland, we hopped on the bus and began our transit to Hahei. On our way, we stopped at a local fish and chips place, which was again delicious. The food over here is definitely better. We continued on and made it to our destination around nightfall. As soon as we got there, the lot of us followed JD to the nearby beach, where I experienced some of the naturally fluorescing seaweed found in these waters. May 14th (day 5) came early for me. I awoke at 6:30am and did yoga with JD on the beach. After that the group made a trek to Cathedral Cove. Along the way, we saw some of the introduced species of fauna, such as sheep and cows. The beach was breathtaking. After this beach, we travelled to another geothermal hotspot, where we encountered hot sand beaches. The last part of the day’s trip, we made our way to an old Maori Pa. It was here that we were able to experience the true power of the ocean. Huge coves were carved out of the mountain. Something equally impressive were some of the trees growing out of the side of the cliff, one was which was a grand Pohutukawa. The trip so far has only lasted four days, but the encounters we have experienced will last forever. New Zealand is really a land of magic.
Shawn Caudle
Friday, May 14th, 2010
Day #2 in Hahei! I woke up this morning at 6am and reluctantly crawled out of bed hoping that my first sunrise over the ocean would be worth it. We made the trip to the beach in the dark and sat in the sand as the sky grew pinker and the water bluer. Last night I was happy to visit the seaside in the dark, thinking that sight would only build boundaries around an ocean whose parameters were seemingly endless in the black. But the daylight proved only to reaffirm what my senses alluded to last night- the Pacific Ocean (at least from Hahei’s point of view) really is endless.
The morning continued with yoga on the beach…..YOGA on the BEACH! Where else, I mean, who actually gets to do that!? Inhale – exhale- it was hard to even breathe, let alone control it with a view that was literally taking my breath away.
By 9:30, I was swimming. I’ve never been swimming in the ocean and I’m not sure I will again. I just don’t think anything could ever top Cathedral Cove. “Cathedral” Cove. At the time the name didn’t at all seem appropriate. Nothing on that beach in any way resembled a “cathedral” but, I suppose more accurately- cathedrals in no way (try as they may) compare to the stone arches and stained glass skies that towered over me on that beach. By the end, I was covered with salt, sand, and sun. I probably carried a gallon of sea water back in my suit, towel, hair, and shoes but I left behind my land-locked ignorance. I will never again question why people endure hurricanes, screeching seagulls, and sand on every surface to live near the ocean- because after that swim, I’d do anything to be one of them.
Brixey Schimmel
So here we are at day 4 of our Kiwi expedition. We’ve just been too busy having fun to keep our friends at home posted on our experiences, so I’ll give you a quick run-down of the trip so far. Monday didn’t exist for us, so our journey really started on Tuesday. After the epic plane ride, we hit the ground running when our awesome bus driver, Peter, drove us to the top of Mt. Eden to look out over the glory of Auckland. We saw the crater of the extinct volcano as well as some old Maori ruins. It was breathtaking, but the sites only got better from there. The next day we went to Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater World and got up close and personal with some penguins, fish, and sharks before we went to the Waiwera hot pools. On Thursday we took a ferry to Rangitoto. It really was the climb of a life time to get to the top, but the view was amazing. Standing in the clouds, you could see all of Auckland and the surrounding harbor, so it was well worth the pain and stumbling that many of us endured along the way up the steep, rocky slopes. Perhaps the most amazing part of the hike was the prehistoric-looking forests full of tree ferns like nothing I’ve ever seen and the native fantail birds we encountered at the top. The drive to Hahei after the hike was equally as breathtaking, though much more tame— endless views of rolling, farm-covered hills. Hahei has been great thus far. We walked down to the beach on our first night to see the Southern Cross and countless other stars. Today, Friday, several of us woke up early to see the sunrise over the beach before we drove to Cathedral Cove for an amazing hike. The cove was gorgeous, and we all enjoyed a morning at the beach like non we had ever experienced before. The waves were huge and the surrounding cliffs and rocks were full of life. We also ventured to Hot Water Beach today before returning to Hahei and making a quick hike to Te Pare Point. The highlight of the afternoon was seeing my first blooming New Zealand Christmas tree— the blooms are absolutely amazing! In fact, everything we’ve done so far has been amazing, and I can’t wait for our next stops tomorrow.
Hayley Sebourn
Wow, where to start regarding our safari through the amazing country of New Zealand. We began our trip out of Little Rock, flew to Denver, then to Los Angeles. From L.A., we made a 13 hour flight to Auckland. Jet lag is a pain! Straight out of the airport, we got to experience some of New Zealand’s finest cuisine: the meat pie. This little pastry is a must try when visiting the country. From here, we travelled by bus to Mt. Eden and then to Base, the hostel we would be staying at for two nights. The rest of that day was just to relax and take in the sights. I went with a group of friends and toured the city of Auckland. Later that night, Dr. Swanson (hereby known to us as JD) took us to a pub he knew, as well as the best burger place in town. We probably walked about 3 km to get to this place, when in fact, there was one just up the street from Base. On May 12th (day 3), the group travelled to the port and observed some of the native species of fish that are caught and sold. It was also here that I ate a tuna kabab, which was delicious. From the fish market, we made our way to Savage Memorial. Afterward, we went to Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater World. It was here that we were able to observe some of the native fauna that inhabited the country. Among these were King Penguins, Seven-Gilled Shark, and Stingrays. Next on the agenda for the day was comprised of studying the geological phenomena of the land. Some of these hot pools reached temperatures up to 48°C. That’s hot! We went back to Base, where JD cooked another one of New Zealand’s famous foods: Spaghetti. On May 13th (day 4), we loaded up all our luggage and hit the road. Our first stop consisted of taking a ferry to Rangitoto and climbing the volcano. On the way, I experienced the beautiful calls of some of the native birds, but visibility of poor and I was not able to discern their location. Flora was abundant, and I am almost certain I never saw the same species twice. One of the more memorable plants was a Silver Fern, named for the silver colouring on the underside of the plant leaves. The view from the top of the volcano was spectacular; I was able to see for miles, I mean, kilometers. After returning to the mainland, we hopped on the bus and began our transit to Hahei. On our way, we stopped at a local fish and chips place, which was again delicious. The food over here is definitely better. We continued on and made it to our destination around nightfall. As soon as we got there, the lot of us followed JD to the nearby beach, where I experienced some of the naturally fluorescing seaweed found in these waters. May 14th (day 5) came early for me. I awoke at 6:30am and did yoga with JD on the beach. After that the group made a trek to Cathedral Cove. Along the way, we saw some of the introduced species of fauna, such as sheep and cows. The beach was breathtaking. After this beach, we travelled to another geothermal hotspot, where we encountered hot sand beaches. The last part of the day’s trip, we made our way to an old Maori Pa. It was here that we were able to experience the true power of the ocean. Huge coves were carved out of the mountain. Something equally impressive were some of the trees growing out of the side of the cliff, one was which was a grand Pohutukawa. The trip so far has only lasted four days, but the encounters we have experienced will last forever. New Zealand is really a land of magic.
Shawn Caudle
Friday, May 14th, 2010
Day #2 in Hahei! I woke up this morning at 6am and reluctantly crawled out of bed hoping that my first sunrise over the ocean would be worth it. We made the trip to the beach in the dark and sat in the sand as the sky grew pinker and the water bluer. Last night I was happy to visit the seaside in the dark, thinking that sight would only build boundaries around an ocean whose parameters were seemingly endless in the black. But the daylight proved only to reaffirm what my senses alluded to last night- the Pacific Ocean (at least from Hahei’s point of view) really is endless.
The morning continued with yoga on the beach…..YOGA on the BEACH! Where else, I mean, who actually gets to do that!? Inhale – exhale- it was hard to even breathe, let alone control it with a view that was literally taking my breath away.
By 9:30, I was swimming. I’ve never been swimming in the ocean and I’m not sure I will again. I just don’t think anything could ever top Cathedral Cove. “Cathedral” Cove. At the time the name didn’t at all seem appropriate. Nothing on that beach in any way resembled a “cathedral” but, I suppose more accurately- cathedrals in no way (try as they may) compare to the stone arches and stained glass skies that towered over me on that beach. By the end, I was covered with salt, sand, and sun. I probably carried a gallon of sea water back in my suit, towel, hair, and shoes but I left behind my land-locked ignorance. I will never again question why people endure hurricanes, screeching seagulls, and sand on every surface to live near the ocean- because after that swim, I’d do anything to be one of them.
Brixey Schimmel
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Welcome!
This is a blog on our New Zealand Study abroad trip that we are talking between May 9 through to June 8th 2010. I hope you all enjoy following us through our trip.
JD
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