I had a few days after finals were over and I had not visited Australia. I really wanted to visit my awesome friend Shelly over my semester break, but plans had to change. It was my last week and I needed to have one last adventure. On the night of November 1st, I had bought…
Author: gsoto@rollins.edu
Spring? Anyone?
Don’t be fooled. New Zealand is COLD. Especially for a Floridian, and ESPECIALLY in the South Island, in Dunedin. Way too close to the South Pole for my comfort zone. I thought it would be okay, three layers a day for half the time here, not bad. Just last week, it snowed on the Kepler…
Finals are going to happen
So finals are spread out over a month after classes end. It’s pretty easy to fall into a blanket of false security if your finals are like mine and all at the end of the month. So with so much time what to do? Travel! If you play your cards right, you can get a…
The Great Walks and Tramping
New Zealand – home of The Great Walks. It’s no mystery why Peter Jackson choose New Zealand to film the famous series The Lord of the Rings. It’s surreal with mountains on one side and beaches on the other. Volcanic structures everywhere, it can’t not impress you. So if you are into hiking (tramping here),…
Dive into the culture!
Get involved!!! There are countless opportunities to travel on weekends and sometimes during the week, but you are in a new community. Embrace it. Learn about the people who live there. Join some clubs(Tramping…). Trivia nights (not only good for free drinks) taught me a lot about New Zealand. Go to random events(plenty are free). Sign…
Secret Kaikoura
There are so many great places to visit in New Zealand. Everywhere you turn, the photo opportunity is unreal. The pictures you take of the mountains and beaches will probably look like the perfect vacation destinations Microsoft has for backgrounds. The problem is where to go? So many places so little time. I was lucky…
Sorry Mom….
This one is for you adrenaline junkies(you know who you are). Wanaka and Queenstown. You’ll find your way over there. Probably more than once. Let’s start with bungy jumping. I had 2 rules. One. Dive when you jump. Other jumps are probably much more uncomfortable and possibly more dangerous. Two. Once you are finished falling,…
And the adventure begins…
When I signed up for a semester abroad in Dunedin, New Zealand, I had no idea of what I was getting into. We leave Fiji to arrive in Auckland and explore city life. Our “orientation” consists of the Auckland Sky Tower and White Water Rafting over the world’s highest commercially rafted waterfall, at 21 feet….
Bula Fiji!
I choose to study a semester abroad in New Zealand at the University of Otago. Nothing has solidified my decision more than sitting with this new group of friends, who were all strangers just a few hours ago. We found some reasonably priced food in the international terminal(which looks nicer than most malls). When you…