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

Lake Taupo, Tongariro National Park, Gisborne

This past weekend, Rachel, Chrissie, Kelisha and I went on our final weekend trip in New Zealand! There were a few spots in the North Island that we have been wanting to visit, and now since classes are over we had some time for a short road trip in the North Island. We left Auckland on Thursday morning after picking up our rental car, El Cheapo, from Jucy Rentals. Our car was a top of the line Nissan Sunny straight from the 90's that only had a cassette player. We only ride in style. Our first stop was Lake Taupo, about four hours south of Auckland. After checking into our hostel, the Tiki Lodge, we drove out to Huka Falls, one of the main attractions in the Taupo region. Huka Falls are massive waterfalls in the Waikato River that drains into Lake Taupo. It was beautiful! Afterwards, we explored the city and walked around the different shops. We were also able to relax beside the lake before sunset.



The next morning we drove south to Turangi, which is near the Tongariro National Park. Since it was pouring rain and we had planned on hiking we ended up checking into our next hostel and relaxing in a cafe for a while. Luckily, the storm cleared quickly and we headed to Whakapapa Village inside the national park. It was an awesome drive since we were able to see the huge volcanoes that make up Tongariro National Park. The main one is Mt. Ruapehu, which acts as Mt. Doom in the Lord of the Rings series. It turned out to be a surprisingly gorgeous day so we did a hike through the park to reach Taranaki Falls.





After a wonderful day spent outdoors, we headed back to Turangi to spend the evening at our very fun yet eccentric hostel. We spent the evening watching Lord of the Rings, doing puzzles, eating sushi with the hostel owner, lighting sparklers and fireworks for Guy Fawkes Day and roasting marshmallows over a bonfire. It was a random, but awesome day! The next morning we left early to drive to Gisborne, a town on the east coast of the North Island. Our good friend Kahu lives there so we decided to visit him before leaving New Zealand. I am continuously amazed by how gorgeous the New Zealand countryside is. The grass is almost an unnatural shade of beautiful bright green that is spotted with tons of sheep. Also, the color of the water is so pristinely blue it looks fake. So the drive to Gisborne was definitely enjoyable, especially since we made a stop at Osler's Bakery in a small town called Wairoa. Osler's is famous for having the best meat pies in all of New Zealand, so naturally we had to try it out. I had a steak and mushroom pie and absolutely loved it! Here is a photo from the drive to Gisborne...


We had the best time in Gisborne with Kahu. He showed us around the town and we took a nice walk along the river to the beach. Later, we had a huge delicious dinner and watched the New Zealand film "Boy". The next morning we drove north along the coast to Tolaga Bay, which is close to the beach where the movie "Whale Rider" was filmed. It was sad to say goodbye, but we had to make the long drive back to Auckland.


Once again, the drive to back to Auckland was absolutely gorgeous. We drove through the Waioeka Gorge Scenic Reserve and then along the Bay of Plenty beaches. I'll definitely miss the natural beauty that is so common in New Zealand. On the way home we stopped at a place Kahu recommended to us. It was a small shack on the side of the road called Ohiwa Oyster Farm that sold all kinds of fresh seafood. I ate a half dozen oysters that may have been the most delicious oysters I have ever eaten. That definitely says something since I grew up in New Orleans! It was a perfect way to end a wonderful trip!



Overall, it was an awesome weekend. I am definitely sad that I won't be able to explore New Zealand anymore, but I am definitely excited to spend my last week in Auckland and move on to Australia, the next adventure! I hope everyone is doing well!

Love, Dafna

End of the Internship and Diwali Festival

My last day of work at my internship was on Thursday, October 28th. I was sad to be ending my time working at Oranga, but also excited for the things that are coming up. During morning tea, we had a party to commemorate my time working in the classroom. The other Carlson classroom joined us as well. I made brownies and other teachers brought other snacks. Renu, the head teacher, gave a speech about my work in the classroom and thanked me for giving my time while I was in New Zealand. It felt really good that my work was appreciated. I was given several going away cards and a beautiful NZ jade necklace. Here are a few pictures of what I was given.



This past weekend Auckland hosted the festival of Diwali, one of the most important Hindu festivals. We didn't know much about it, except that there would be performances and food stalls. So naturally, we decided to check it out because we all love Indian food. I was so surprised at how big the festival was. They closed down the center of town and it was transformed into a massive street festival with several stages, tons of restaurant stalls, and thousands of people. It was so much fun! I got to try all kinds of Indian dishes that I never had before like masala dosa, dahi puri, samosa, thali, pakora, and chana masala. It was incredible! In the evening there were also fireworks! The following pictures are of one of the stalls, my delicious dinner, and the bhangra dance show.



Also, during the weekend we visited the Auckland City Market, which has all kinds of artists and jewelry sellers. I was able to find a really awesome piece of jade for Mia (hope she likes it!) and a small piece of art for myself. The weather is improving every day and getting so warm! We spend a lot of time outside by the pool relaxing and hanging out. Since it was Halloween weekend, we had to celebrate in some way, so we went to the local video store and rented a bunch of scary movies. We had a horror movie marathon in the Unilodge Movie Theater. We watched Friday the 13th, Boogeyman, Halloween 2, and of course the Disney classic Hocus Pocus. Overall, it was a great weekend. This coming week I am going on a four day trip through the North Island! I hope everyone is doing well!

Love, Dafna

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