Weekend Trip to Rotorua!

This past weekend the entire group went on our second BU organized trip of the semester to Rotorua, a town in the northern central region of the North Island. Rotorua is famous for its geothermal activity and strong Maori presence. We left Auckland on Friday morning and drove the 3 hours to our first stop of the day, the original zorbing place. For all those who don't know what zorbing is, its basically rolling down a giant hill inside of a large hamster wheel. It's a strange activity, but it was really fun to watch a few people in our group try it. After lunch we headed to the Skyline Gondola and Luge. We took a cable car up to the top of a mountain where we had the most amazing view of Rotorua and the surrounding lakes and mountains. Once we made it to the top we began our luge adventure! There were 3 different tracks that we could luge down: scenic, intermediate, and expert. All of us started on the scenic track where there were lots of twists and turns. It was so much fun! We were flying down the mountain. To get back to the top we had to get on a chair lift so that we could continue luging. The expert track was definitely the most fun because it was wider, a lot steeper, and included jumps! I was smiling and screaming the whole way down the mountain! Afterwards we checked into our hostel and had a big BBQ with tons of food. It's always so much fun when the whole group is together and having fun. This is a picture of Maya and I on the chair lift.


We started early on Saturday and our first stop was the Blue Lakes. We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was gorgeous outside! At the Blue Lakes we were introduced to several GOOT challenges, including running, kayaking and eating races. Two of the guys in the group, Zach and Max, decided to combine all of the challenges into one: the Triple Threat. They were going to run around Blue Lake (around 5.5 km), kayak across the lake and back, and eat 3 meat pies enclosed in a hollowed out loaf of bread. It was the most intense challenge and they both actually completed it in around 2-3 hours. While they were doing that, the rest of us just went kayaking, which was so much fun!



After that, we drove to the Waiotapu Geothermal Wonderland. It was basically an area with walking paths surrounding tons of geothermal pools, craters, and springs. It was amazing, but extremely smelly due to the high amounts of sulphur.


In the afternoon, after a relaxing lunch beside a lake, we headed to Mt. Tarawera for a guided 4WD/Hike tour. Mt. Tawawera is a volcano that was responsible for New Zealand's largest eruption in history, which occurred in 1886. We took a 4WD bus up to the volcano and then continued hiking up to the summit. It was the most incredible view from the top of the volcano. We could see for miles and miles in all directions. Then, we walked down to the bottom of the crater, where our guide explained all about the eruption and volcanoes. It was really interesting to learn about the eruption while sitting within the volcano.


Following our exciting hike through the volcano we drove to some natural hot springs. Just off the side of the road was a river that is heated through geothermal activity, so it was as hot as a jacuzzi. We all sat and relaxed in the river for a while to relax our bodies after the strenuous hike. At night, we had a banquet dinner at a Thai Restaurant in Rotorua to celebrate everyone being together for the last time before everyone's separate travels. We had an incredible dinner and everyone had so much fun!

In the morning all of us headed to the Kaituna River, which has some of the best whitewater rafting in the world! We were all outfitted with fleeces, wet suits, life jackets and helmets. Our guides taught us the basics of white water rafting and paddling and we were off! We went down several small waterfalls and intense rapids before going down the most famous Tutea Falls, which is the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world! We got completely soaked! It was so much fun, but unfortunately my roommate Ali broke her nose during the trip. Even so, it was such a great experience! There's me on the left side in the blue fleece.



It was such an amazing weekend, definitely one of the best I've had all semester. Now with only 3 weeks left in New Zealand I am trying to enjoy every day! I hope everyone is doing well back home!

Love, Dafna

Only One Month Left in NZ!

The number of weekends left to spend in New Zealand is slowly dwindling, but we are still doing so many fun things! On Friday Laura's internship placement was having a gallery opening on K Road to feature a local artist. It was such a unique exhibit and the wine and cheese platter was definitely a good perk! There happened to be another art gallery across the street that was having an event so we got to see that as well. Straight from there a few of us went to a concert. The bands were Kids of 88 and The Naked and Famous, which are currently two of the top New Zealand bands. I didn't really know the music very well, but it was so much fun! The picture shows the lead singer of Kids of 88.


On Saturday we started off by walking to the Auckland Farmer's Market, which takes place every Saturday near the Harbor. They have so many good things to buy like fresh fruits, vegetables, pastries, homemade pasta, hummus, olive oil, honey, fish and meats. All of the food looked so good! It was such a beautiful day so we had to spend it outside. When we got back, UniLodge was hosting a big barbecue for all its residents. We all sat by the pool in the warmth and sunshine enjoying a free BBQ. We ended up staying outside by the pool for the rest of the afternoon talking and relaxing. It was such a wonderful day!

A few of us decided its important to experience the cuisine of Auckland before we leave. A majority of Auckland's population has come from different countries in Asia, so authentic and delicious Asian food is literally everywhere! We started our Asian tour of Auckland officially last weekend when we went to a Korean restaurant. I had the most delicious sweet beef with rice that came with a whole bunch of Korean side dishes like kim chee. This weekend we decided to go to this Malaysian restaurant on K Road. I had never eaten Malaysian cuisine so I was open to pretty much anything. I got Mee Goreng, which is a fried noodle dish kind of like pad thai. It was delicious! Next stop on our list is a Chinese hot pot restaurant...

On Saturday night it was Jonah's 22nd birthday so most of us got together to celebrate his birthday. It was so much fun to be with everyone in the group and spend time together.


We have a lot to look forward to this coming week as we're going on an organized BU trip to Rotorua for 3 days. It should be a lot of fun! I hope everyone is doing well!

Love, Dafna

My Relaxing Vacation in Auckland

For the past two weeks I have had a vacation from my internship because of their school break between terms. In the beginning I thought it would be a nice time to travel, but after being here and traveling around New Zealand for about 3 months now, I was in need of some relaxation. I was able to finally sleep in most days and enjoy the beautiful spring weather that Auckland was finally getting. It was warmer and barely rained at all. So with my newfound free time I did some walking around Auckland. First there's K Road, which is a fun part of town that has tons of shops, great nightlife, art galleries, and restaurants. It's such an eclectic area with mostly ethnic restaurants like Japanese, Thai, Korean, Indian, and Chinese. You're always bound to find something good to eat on K Road. Then there's Queen Street, which is always fun to walk around. There's tons of shops to walk into and a huge Borders that I spent time reading in.

Although I had a lot of free time during my vacation, I had a lot of work to do as well. I was working on essays for my classes that are due at the end of the month. For my gastronomy class we had to choose a cuisine and research it. I obviously chose the cuisine that I love and miss the most: Louisiana cuisine! It was so fun to write a paper on the history and influences of Louisiana cuisine. I was able to research some of my favorite dishes like gumbo, red beans and rice, and crawfish etoufee, and see how they came about. It definitely made me hungry though!

Last Thursday a bunch of us went to the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra (APO) as an organized BU affiliated event. The concert was Vivaldi's Four Seasons and it took place at Auckland Town Hall. I didn't know what to expect going into the concert, but I was pleasantly surprised! It was an all strings concert so there were tons of violins, violas, and cellos. The music was beautiful and I really enjoyed it. We were even invited to have wine and cheese with the APO Guild. It was a very classy event and we all had a lot of fun. The picture is of where we were sitting inside the Town Hall before the show while a few people were practicing. We weren't allowed to take pictures during the concert.


Today Rachel and I spent the day at the Auckland Zoo. It was a beautiful zoo with so many interesting animals. We saw elephants, giraffes, rhinos, zebras, hippos, orangutans, otters, baboons, kangaroos, emus, tortoises, sea lions, spider monkeys, tigers, cheetahs, lions, and even the famous kiwi bird! We were also able to see two animal encounters, one with the elephants and one with the orangutans. It turned out to be a warm, sunny day and we had a great time!


Now, my vacation is over and I have to go back to work. I only have three more weeks working at Oranga before it's over. We also only have two more weeks of school. It's crazy how everything is coming to a close. The next few weeks will be spent finishing all my work and planning my upcoming trip to Australia! I hope everyone is doing well!

Love, Dafna

Coromandel, Pinnacles Hike, Cathedral Cove

We were finally able to go to the Coromandel Peninsula this weekend, after our trip was cancelled the first time. The Coromandel is a peninsula to the east of Auckland that is known for its mountain range, and beautiful beaches. It turned out to be amazing weather so I was glad that we ended up going when we did. We started by leaving Auckland and heading to the town of Thames, which is the first town in the Coromandel, and the closest one to our hike. We stuck to our original plan for the weekend, which was to do the Pinnacles Hike. The hike is through the Coromandel Forest Park and basically takes you to the top of the mountain range to the Pinnacles Hut, which is where you can spend the night. 11 of us started the hike at around 1:30PM on Saturday. It was a gorgeous day and the scenery was amazing!



Then, we started hiking progressively uphill over hundreds and hundreds of stairs. It was so incredibly difficult and the stairs never seemed to end. We hiked for over 4 hours continuously uphill. The track was a loop track and it turns out that we went up the long way, which was a whole hour longer than the other route. I was so proud to make it to the Pinnacles Hut, a camping hut in the middle of the mountains that was about 2,650 ft above sea level. Once we got to the Pinnacles Hut we had to make the extra effort to climb to the top of the Pinnacles, which is the peak of the mountain. That was another 1 km of steep hiking over stairs and giant rocks. We took our time and made it to the top at around 6:30PM. It felt great to be at the top of the mountain, with the most incredible views. We could even see all the way to the ocean on the east coast.




Our evening at the hut was spent relaxing and boiling water to drink. There were so many other hikers at the hut that we got to talk to and share experiences with. It was really cool to spend the night in the middle of the mountains. We woke up bright and early on Sunday so we could make it back to town for lunch. The way down the mountain went fairly quickly. We took the short way and made it down in a little over 2 hours. Unfortunately I sprained my ankle on the way down, but it wasn't too bad. We made it to the cars and drove back to Thames to meet up with the rest of our group. The first thing we did in town was eat a delicious lunch! Then we drove to Cathedral Cove, which is on the eastern side of the Coromandel Peninsula. The drive was absolutely beautiful through rolling hills, green pastures, and great ocean views! When we got to the Cathedral Cove carpark, we had to hike down 45 minutes to get to the secluded beach. When we arrived I was stunned--the beach was gorgeous, unlike anything I had ever seen. It was also warm outside so we were able to relax on the sand for a few hours in paradise!





It was such a wonderful weekend and I look forward to other amazing adventures to come! I hope everyone is doing well!

Love, Dafna