Dear Loyal Readers (Mom),
My sincerest apologies for the long break
since my previous entry! The last four months I’ve been busy living life and
just been too lazy to write about it. Instead of doing my usual lengthy,
detailed story time about it, I’m relating the events in a fashion only someone
with a degree in teaching can do: with a few bullet points and a lot of
pictures. Enjoy!
FEBRUARY
- Chinese Lantern Festival
- Hiked Rangitoto – the volcano is the Auckland harbor’s iconic figure; it was a long, muggy climb (I was with 2 fast-paced English girls), mostly with misty views, but the cover cleared for a bit while we were at the top
- Rangitoto alternate course swim – due to severe winds it was a 3.5k race in the protected Judges and Hobson Bays (instead of a 4.6km race from the volcano across the harbor to a beach); but since they still handed out medals for the Rangi swim, if my grandkids ever find mine and ask about it, I totally did the real thing while escorted by a pod of dolphins
MARCH
- Snorkeling at Goat Island – fantastic! Went with Kelcee and Gina (2 fellow American au pairs), it’s a nature reserve, so the water is clear and the fish are plentiful—we even spotted a ray hiding among the seaweed
- Paihia sailing – an au pair pal befriended a cheerful Kiwi captain, and he sailed us around the Bay of Islands near Paihia
- Mt.Maunganui/Tauranga – went for a “sand to surf” swim race, and thanks to rough weather, ended up doing another alternate course in protected little harbor around boats. That was very disappointing, but I still spent that afternoon and the next morning playing in the huge waves at the beach next to the mount
- Cheltanham swim – entered a short, local race at the last minute, and ended up winning the women’s competition (and the $100 prize!) wearing a regular swim suit whereas everyone else wore buoyant wetsuits
- Blues vs. Highlanders game – finally went to a rugby game! The Blues (an Auckland team) beat the Highlanders (from Dunedin), and even though the game itself was exciting, my favorite part was the over-the-top pyrotechnics that blazed every time the home team scored
- Met a nice Kiwi bloke, James
APRIL
- King of Bays swim – another local swim, but a HUGE event (with around 1600 swimmers); my time was OK, but I didn’t place that well
- Round the Rock swim – challenging but fantastic 2k race in freezing water at a beach in Whangaparoa: the first half was calm but on the return the chop threw me around, I triumphantly sprinted to the finish, passing two male competitors (including my training pal, Frank) and ended as the second-place female (third overall) and claimed the prize of a box of Easter chocolates
- Warriors game – a rugby league (different from rugby union) team—great fun!
- MOTAT (Museum of Transport and Technology) and art museum
- ANZAC Day – it originally commemorated the Australian and NZ Army Corps from WWI (which suffered tremendous casualties at Gallipoli), but now serves as NZ’s memorial day and veterans day all in one
- Rotorua – a town with geothermal activity (and a strong sulfuric aroma) that has long been a tourist destination: I did ZORBing (going down a hill in a giant plastic ball), luging, and disc golfing, and I visited the museum, waterfront, a night market, and Kiwi Valley (an animal sanctuary where visitors can feed animals like llamas and wallabies, and where there are daily opportunities to pet lion cubs)
- Martha’s Backyard – an American store that I visited with Kelsey (a girl from my hometown who now lives with her husband across the harbor from me); I never thought I’d get so excited over Wheat Thins
MAY
- My 24th birthday – got Mexican food, which tastes more like home than anything else I can find in NZ
JUNE
(so far)
- Wellington weekend – I went with Gina and saw all the sights I wanted to see: Te Papa (National Museum, where there’s the body of giant squid and an earthquake room that shakes around), underground market, waterfront, Cuba St (boutiques and a night market), Old St. Paul’s Cathedral, Parliament (A.K.A. The Beehive), Mt. Victoria Lookout
- Queen’s Birthday – national holiday, but few other Commonwealth nations celebrate it
- Sky Tower – I finally went! Amazing views, of course
- All Blacks game – the first of their 3 test matches against England, it was a low-scoring game with a last-minute victory (20-15). Only one try (comparable to a touchdown) was scored the whole game, the rest of the points came from penalty kicks. However, watching the haka (and some of the very attractive players) made up for the game’s lack of excitement
- Cathedral Cove – A “hole in the rock” on the Coromandel Peninsula. Beautiful!
—Lenora
