Claire goes to New Zealand

My Kiwi Experience Part 1

2008-04-05T20:45:00.000-07:00

I just back from a 10 tour of the South Island. I travelled with a company called Kiwi Experience; it is a backpacking 'tour' that lets you chose your route and how long you want to stay in each place you visit. I went alone, and I was nervous about traveling for that long alone, but I think it ended up being for the best. I met some amazing people on my bus; including three Danish girls and two girls from New York who I spent most of my time with. There were also a lot of really fun British people on the bus. They were truly beautiful people.

I started my trip in Christchurch and then headed west towards the coast. My first day on the tour, I went jet boating, which is basically like a speed boat but the motor isn't underwater, so the boat can go really fast in really shallow water. It was fun and really beautiful. That night, we stayed in Westport, a little, cute town, and the girls made dinner and watched a movie together. The next day, we did some traveling and saw some beautiful sights, as usual, and then arrived at our hostel for the night. But before settling in, we went to the Warehouse (NZ's version of WalMart) to prepare for that night's festivities. We had a "P" Party (everyone has to dress up as something that starts with 'p') at the "Poo Pub" (the bar at the hostel that is own by an 81 year old Kiwi man named Les). I dressed up as a penguin, and the other costumes included the Power Puff Girls, the princess and the pea, pixies, Pamala Anderson, a paramedic, and so on. It was a fun night and a good chance to get to know everyone.

Ok, I have to go get some more work done, but way more to come later!

Happy Easter!

2008-03-19T17:46:00.000-07:00

Sorry that it has been a while since I posted; school is keeping me really busy, but I am working on some pretty cool projects including making felt, making a 2 minute film, and an illustration of a metaphor for life. I like my classes more and more, and I am beginning to meet new people almost daily. I went on a wine tasting trip two weeks ago with the international students from my Uni; it was a lot of fun, and I got to see some more beautiful New Zealand scenery. My Easter break starts tomorrow, so I am planning on going on a backpacker’s tour of the southern part of the South Island. It is eight days and hits some really awesome places (or so I hear). Hopefully, I will have some really awesome adventures to post on here in the near future! In the mean time, Happy Easter, and I miss you all!

On the way to the wine tasting...

Susie, Me, Mikael at the wine tasting :)

Classes and Dinner Cruise

2008-02-29T16:37:00.000-08:00

Classes have started! I had a fairly frustrating week as far as classes go because Massey’s design program is organized within majors, and they do not communicate with students outside of that particular program. I think things are sorted now, but I will find out soon enough. I am taking Social Psychology, Textile Technology, Illustration, and Spatial Design Multimedia.

On Friday night, I went on a dinner cruise with the Butler Program. It was so beautiful, and it was nice to catch up with the students I met at orientation because they all go to another university in Wellington. Here are some photos from my evening:

View from the boat.

Me and my friend Sam on the boat.

The Windy City - Wellington!

2008-02-23T16:20:00.001-08:00

So, I was basically dropped off at my flat alone on a Tuesday, and my flat mates were not expected to arrive until the weekend. Luckily, I had made some friends that are going to another university in Wellington, and we had made plans to all meet up that night. I also have a friend, Ken, who has been living in Wellington since July, so I met up with him later that night and met some of his friends. Since then, I have been trying to meet as many people as I can and take advantage of not having classes. My flat mates include: Kelsy – 23, American, engaged; Marie – 20, Swedish; Hammish and Jemma – 18, Kiwi. Hammish and Jemma are from Dunedin (South Island) and know each other from home; they are turning out to be quite the entertaining pair, and I have had a lot of fun getting to know them and their friends. Even though our age difference is definitely obvious sometimes, it has not really been an issue (maybe that is because for the three weeks before I left my only social network was Jessica and her boyfriend and best friend hahaha –what do you think Jess?). I will just give a brief summary of a few of my adventures in Wellington:

Last Sunday, Ken drove me all along the coastline, and it was incredibly beautiful – I took about 100 pictures. We went to Breaker’s Bay, which was probably my favorite stop, and watched a bunch of surfers and boogie boarders catch waves. We also hiked up Mt. Victoria (a huge hill that runs along one side of Wellington), and discovered that we could have driven to the top once we reached it…haha. There were 360 degree views up there – I could even see my flat! It was a really great day; unfortunately, all of my pictures from it some how got deleted, but we plan to go out again sometime this week and hopefully get some of those pictures back! (you can imagine how devastated I was).

I had my first Kiwi grocery shopping experience. It is about a 15 minute walk from my flat, so just imagine carrying groceries to last a week – not fun. However, we did find a mini CostCo-like store closer to our flat, so my flat mates and I plan to make a trip there today.

Ken and his roommate Randy had their birthday party at the bar Randy works at, and the theme was Cowboys and Gangstas (random, I know). Ken told me I had to dress up as a cowgirl because I am from the South, so I bought a cowboy hat from the $2 store (that’s right because everything is more expensive here, that is their version of the dollarstore). I find it quite interesting that my first time wearing a cowboy hat was half way across the world, but I am here for new experiences right?

I also went to a rugby game at the same stadium that the national team, the All Blacks, play at during their season, but the game was between the Wellington team, the Hurricanes, and another national team. It was definitely exciting to see a professional rugby game in person because the only ones I have seen are Brendan’s and Keegan’s games – by the way I am so glad I have two cousins that play so that I was not completely oblivious as to what was happening!

I went to the national museum, Te Papa, yesterday with a couple friends. It is huge! We probably only saw ¼ of it, so we plan to make another trip soon!

Overall, Wellington is a really neat city; you can walk pretty much anywhere you want to go, and even though it is big, I still manage to run into people I know every time I go to town even though I really have not met that many people. There are cafes everywhere you turn, and the two main shopping districts are FULL of shops. There are hills with little houses tucked into them on either side of town, and the harbor is about a 15 minute walk from my house – beautiful! I start classes tomorrow, so I will update soon!

A brief sum up of my first few days here...

2008-02-20T15:15:00.000-08:00

I arrived in Auckland after a 15 hour flight, trucked through customs with my huge bags, and was greeted by the IFSA Butler staff (the program I came here through). About 45 other American students and I loaded onto two buses and we traveled about an hour and a half to the camp site where we were staying. It just so happens that is was a YMCA camp...it followed me around the world. We unpacked, had some kai (food), and then were told to get into togs (bathing suits) and head down to the beach and grab a partner. We went down to find some kyaks and pulled them to the water and hopped it - thats right, I went kyaking in the Pacific Ocean my first day in New Zealand. We speant alot of time eating, getting to know each other, getting oriented, and also preparing for our visit to a marae (a Maori, native peoples, community). We had to learn songs in Maori and gain some further understanding of the culture. It was a really amazing experience and also a very unique one because most people who visit here will only witness a tourist Maori marae, but we were staying at a real marae that only allowed student groups to visit. We went through an official wellcoming session, and then we had the opportunity to see the food come out of the hongi, or earth oven. Dinner was delicious, and then we were taught some traditional songs and dances. About 50 of us all slept is one room; we all shared a bunch of mattresses with a bunch of people we had only known for 2 days - very unique experience. After we settled in, a Maori woman who played a key role in the "civil rights movement of New Zealand" spoke to us about her culture and her experiences fighting to revive it in its native land. Overall, this was an irreplacable experience, and one I will truly treasure. We had an offical goodbye and then headed back to the airport...my adventures in Wellington will follow soon! cheers!

I am so sorry!

2008-02-18T21:08:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!!!! I am here and alive! I am so sorry that I have not posted since I got here. I do not have much time on the internet here, but I get internet at my flat in about a week. I will post a detailed description of my travles as soon as that happens and include some pictures as well! I miss you all!

Pre-Departure Life

2008-01-24T13:51:00.000-08:00

I am about two weeks away from leaving, and I have a feeling that my flight to NZ on the 7th is going to sneak up on me. Right now I am in Charlotte, and I am babysitting and working as much as I can. I just wanted to get this site to everyone before I leave so that if you have questions, I am readily available. You can create an account and post replies if you want, or you can simply read my posts. Hopefully, I will find time to post fairly often and include some pictures. I will not be sending any chain e-mails, so if you want to know what is going on in NZ, check this site or email me at c.clairekeane@yahoo.com! I already miss everyone; keep in touch!