The Final Blog Post from New Zealand

I'm sitting now in my empty apartment in my empty room writing this blog post. It's weird that my study abroad semester in New Zealand is basically over. Even so, we took advantage of our last day in Auckland before going to Australia to something extremely fun and touristy. Kavitha and I went to the top of the SkyTower, which is the tallest man-made structure in New Zealand! It was a very spontaneous decision, but it ended up being such a great thing to do on our last day. We went up to the highest observation deck and were able to see a panoramic view of Auckland. It was absolutely stunning. We could see the beautiful harbor, all the surrounding islands, the port, our universities, UniLodge....It was also a wonderful sunny day, so we couldn't have chosen a better day to go. Here are some photos from the top of the SkyTower.





I have had so many new and exciting experiences over the last four months with a group of people that have become good friends. I have also learned a great deal about New Zealand, a country I knew nothing about four months ago. Overall, it was an incredible semester spent living, working, studying and traveling in New Zealand. Throughout my time here I have compiled a list of things I love about New Zealand:

1. It’s acceptable to walk around in public barefoot—everyone does it.
2. Maori culture is a big part of the New Zealand culture.
3. There are way more sheep than people (9 sheep to 1 person)!
4. Local New Zealand wine is absolutely wonderful!
5. The fact that morning and afternoon teatime exist.
6. It’s so easy to just rent a car and drive somewhere beautiful.
7. The Maori accent.
8. You can buy a kilogram of kiwifruit for 0.09 cents!
9. Fish and chip shops are everywhere.
10. Glaciers, mountains, beaches, volcanoes, lakes, fiords…..enough said.
11. The strong Asian and Pacific Island influence.
12. New Zealanders are called kiwi's!
13. You can experience every kind of Asian cuisine nearly everywhere in Auckland.
14. Kahurangi Tibble.
15. You can do crazy things like bungee jumping and skydiving everywhere.
16. There are rainbows almost daily.
17. Kiwi slang like “Sweet as, bro!”

I will definitely miss you New Zealand. Now on to my Australian adventure!

Love, Dafna