Mid-Semester Break

Kia Ora!

I write this on the Monday post-break and it has been wonderful to sit and regroup from a long week. I started my break by going up to Oamaru (a little over an hour north of Dunedin) to see the Blue Penguin Colony. These little guys are the smallest types of penguins in existence and man were they adorable! We were fortunate to see over 80 penguins come home from their day of fishing. After leaving on my walk back to my hostel for the night, I actually ran into a few of the little guys on the pathway up against the water and got a pretty up close view of them!

After returning from Oamaru, I had a few days to rest before leaving on my trip up to the North Island. The rest of my flatmates had already left on their break adventures so it was wonderful downtime to watch some Netflix and clean up before I left for mine.

When Tuesday came, I was on my flight up to Auckland and I was very excited to be in a bigger city again! It was extremely comforting being in an environment that is similar to what I grew up with in Chicago. I got to meet up with my flatmate and go to dinner in the Skycity Tower with her and her parents which was extremely cool as the dining area spun slowly in a circle so you got to view Auckland in 360 degrees! I also got to meet up with a friend I met at orientation with TEAN and it was wonderful to compare our experiences during our semester so far!

The next day I took a bus down to Waitomo Glow Worm Caves and despite my excitement, I was unfortunately a little underwhelmed with the caves. The worms (which are actually maggots and merely called worms for the aesthetic) are quite sensitive to sound and light and I am wondering if a group before mine had disturbed them and therefore, affected their vibrancy. When I returned to Auckland, I spent the rest of the day simply walking around the city and enjoying the essence that bigger cities have. I found comfort in the cement buildings and found great spots in parks, coffee shops and the harbors.

Thursday morning I was on my way to Rotorua where I went to Waimangu Volcanic Valley! This place was a great walk through that I enjoyed looking at all the flora and fauna with the hot pools spread throughout. I may have felt like walking through a sort of jungle and found myself singing The Lion Sleeps Tonight from The Lion King the entire time, but I’m not ashamed. The only downside is my clothing did not cover my ankles and led to sandflies absolutely attacking me to the point where I now look like I have chicken pox on a solid 10 inches of skin!

My stay in Rotorua was brief and on Friday morning, I was on my way further south to Paraparaumu (about 50 min north of Wellington). I stayed the night in Paraparaumu so that on Saturday morning, I could experience Kapiti Island! This island is home to many endangered birds in New Zealand and some of the birds you could only see on the island! The environment is absolutely breathtaking and alive with all the songs of the birds. Although very few of them sat still for pictures, this island was by far my favorite experience of the break and it was great to get out for a 2 hour hike up to the top!

After returning from the island, I made my way down to Wellington for the night and flew back to Dunedin on Sunday morning. I was happy to be back and around my flatmates again and worked to get ready for school the next day. Like my entire time so far in New Zealand, my mid-semester break was full of ups and downs. I enjoyed everything I saw and experienced, but I have the experience now to know that I don’t quite enjoy going on solo trips. I don’t regret this break one bit, but it is key information for the future to always bring a buddy along!

Here are some of my favorite photos I took during my break!