Rugby, Train Rides, and First days of school

Hey All,

Last I updated you all, I was just lazing about and thinking of going to see Alex and her roommates. I had some fantastic adventures this week, and more planned! 

Monday – I eventually went down to see Alex but it took awhile. Greg said that they were going into town in about an hour or so and that I could tag along. But, Devon was especially tired that day and didn’t wake up until a while later. So, I made my way down into town and needed to purchase an umbrella (because I realize that every day you need to be prepared for every time of weather you can think of…well, except for snow). So, I purchased an umbrella and went to go meet Alex. Her roommates had moved in since I had last slept over so I met Matt (a true Texan), Matthew (I forget what State he is from) and Brie (who is also from the US). I was only there for a bit because I wanted to get home for supper so I met and then said goodbye for the day after making plans to attempt surfing for the next day.  

Tuesday- I woke up to it being freezing cold! So, I texted Alex asking if they were still going surfing but they didn’t and decided to try a tour the Cadbury factory. So, we all gathered up at Alex’s and I met a few more people (Blake who went to school at Western with Alex, and Mark his roommate).  Alex had also invited her friend Katie (who also goes to Western) but we had forgotten about her so Alex and I turned around to find Katie and meet up with the others at the Cadbury factory. We found Katie pretty quickly and went to the factory to not find the people we went with there. We asked the people at the desk for a tour anyways, but found out that you have to book ahead of time for a tour. So, that plan failed and we went off to do errands. I found out Katie is originally from St. Catharines and went to the same high school as some people from Mishewah, and later found out she, herself went to Mishewah and goes to Bethany Church in St. Catharines when she’s home. So, we are currently trying to figure out a church group/bible study to go to. It really is a small world.

Wednesday – Had International Orientation, which was basically what I had already knew, and then Alex, Matthew and I wanted to get tickets to go on the Taieri Gorge train ride which almost all the international students went on, so we got Matthew to sign us up for extra tickets, which we got! So, we walked down to the train station in Dunedin, which is gorgeous! One of the oldest buildings in Dunedin, which is kept up nicely! Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of it, but I will some other day. It’s only a 10 minute walk from Alex’s house, so it’ll be easy enough in the next few months to go down and take another picture of it! So, we got on the train which goes through the NZ countryside and up into the mountains to a little town in the middle of the mountains, conveniently named Middleton. The whole trip there, Brie, Alex, Kristen and I took millions of pictures (probably literally, if you add all the pictures together). We just chatted and enjoyed the gorgeous country side, tunnels, gorge, rivers, sheep, cows and many other sights. We stood outside of the train (on the little outside part in between cars). It was a lot of fun. A little chilly that day but with a little windbreaker, it was pleasant. Once we got to Middleton, we had a BBQ which was delicious! So much meat though, like it was ridiculous! This town of Middleton only really contained one street with a bar/hotel, ice cream shop/liquor store, and bike shop. There was also a little horse and carriage you could ride on for a certain cost. I think we were there for about an hour or so, but as mentioned above, there wasn’t much to do. So, Kristen, Brie, Alex and I just kind of hung around, explored the buildings, but not much else. It also started raining for a bit which it does quite regularly here, just off and on. I know understand why the Maori (the indigenous group in New Zealand) called this country “the land of the long white cloud” because literally it is ALWAYS cloudy here, and somewhat humid (which really doesn’t do much for my hair…). On the way home, us girls decided to nap, so considering we spent 3 hours on the way there looking at the same scenery, it was nice to relax. When we got home, we were exhausted so we (Brie, Alex, Katie and I) decided to watch Glee and go to bed (which was Alex’s couch).

Thursday - Since I was on Alex’s couch the night before, I got woken up to a man knocking on the door to change all the blinds in their house. The night we had made a “Bucket List” for New Zealand (or at least started one) and had decided that we were going to discover Tunnel Beach. So, once the man changing the blinds left, we started to get ready to leave. As we had already discovered, it takes a while for us to actually get ready. Alex and Brie wanted to go to the Clubs fair that day so we went and they signed up for some clubs while I went to go get rugby tickets for the next day.  We finished that and realized that it was REALLY warm out so we went back to Alex’s and they got dressed and I stripped off a few layers. Once we finally got ready, we only had a little bit of time to get to the bus (if we wanted to catch the early one) but we decided to wait for the next one, because Matthew was running late, and Kristen wanted to come as well. So, we caught the bus and were on our way. The bus didn’t go all the way to Tunnel Beach, so we had to walk some, which wasn’t bad, except for the fact that I was in jeans, because it was ridiculously cold out in the morning. So, I was a little bit hot. We finally got to the sign of Tunnel Beach after walking through some farmland and saw some horses, and of course, sheep. Matthew ran down ahead while us girls took, once again, millions of pictures. It probably took us half an hour to get down because everything was just so beautiful that we had to take pictures of it. The first corner we turned to get down to the beach, we were speechless (or at least I was), it was exactly like the picture in my travel book (which I always assume are photoshopped, and changed to look more beautiful, but no! This was exactly like the picture). It was absolutely amazing. We climbed out to the rock and saw Matthew in the water jumping in the waves. After many more pictures, we decided to actually go down the tunnel. It was longer then I suspected and as Alex said it seemed like we were walking through a whale’s intestine. Once we got down there, I was sick of my pants! Luckily, I had brought my bathing suit along and there was a little cave that I got Kristen to stand guard at the entrance so I could change into it. So, I then joined Matthew in wave jumping which was crazy fun! It was freezing cold water, as well as salt water (which is pretty gross when you get a wave full in your mouth) but overall it was pretty awesome. We then realized a bus was coming soon and we should probably get back to the bus stop. So, we packed up our things and made the journey (because it was a real journey) up to the road again. Once on the road, we passed Blake and Mark going to the Tunnel and stopped to say ‘hello’ but realized we really needed to keep going if we were going to catch the bus. Our walk turned into a jog and quickly into a run, and we got to the bus stop at 4:05, when the bus said it was coming at 4:06. Well, we waited, and waited, and contemplated walking back, but then, the bus came! And we were relieved… (or at least I was!).In Dunedin, I quickly learned that busses are most often late!  So, we took the bus back to the Octagon (pronounced Octagin, in New Zealand, which is the centre of town) and from there I split ways with Alex and the gang and went back to G&Cs and had a relaxing evening.

Friday- There were preliminary lectures on Friday morning and I had one of all four of my classes. So, I went to them, and they were kind of informative. They told me where/when my classes were but not much else. After them I went over to Alex’s because I had nothing much to do, but they actually all had different things, so I was by myself in their house, which I don’t really mind (I think they think of me as another flatmate so it’s all good!). I went out to do some errands myself so it wasn’t like I was just sitting in their house alone. That night was the rugby game! I was pretty excited because this would be the first game I would see in New Zealand (where rugby is like Canada’s hockey). It was the Otago Highlanders (the province team) against the Something Chiefs. (It really doesn’t matter where they are from! Haha).  So, we planned on getting yellow and blue clothes and dressing up, but again, we ran out of time and ran to the Bar (where buses were picking us up!). It was a really really great game! We were behind almost the entire game and most points were actually scored on kicks, and not tries, but we WON! And that’s really the important part. SIDE NOTE: There was VERY interesting parts to the game to like a very drunk guy in front of us who decided it would be a good idea to pee on everyone in front of home, and a streaker decided to make an appearance as well. Let’s just say New Zealanders are more comfortable with their bodies? We got home from the game very excited and decided it would be a good night to go out and dance! So, we got all dressed up (some of us changed a few times!) and went out! It was a really fun night. A lot of the people I’m with have boyfriends/girlfriends back home so it’s really just about crazy dancing and just having fun! So, overall it was a GREAT night! We went back to the flat and went to bed!

Saturday- All of us, slept in pretty late which was much needed from a night of dancing. Alex and I decided to get pizza in a little place in the Octagon (It was delicious!) and walked back to her flat (stopping in different stores, if something caught our eye). We were invited to go to a Rugby 7’s game at the Highlanders game the night before (by the captain and Scrum half of the University team) so we met up with Katie and went to that. It’s been fun trying to explain the game to people because I actually know what’s going on (most of the time). I then called Greg to come and pick me up because no buses run on weekends, and he told me to phone him for a ride anytime. So, it’s been good! We went to get groceries and went home for the night.

Sunday- The next morning Celia was leaving for work in Australia, so we didn’t end up going to church but had a relaxing day at home, watching movies/tv and playing with Devon! I also wanted to write this blog then, but I was too distracted!  Haha!

Monday - The first day of school! I was supposed to have two classes, one tutorial and one lecture, but because it was the first week of school, I only had the lecture. I wasn’t sure if the tutorial was running so I went to that class anyways, but it was obviously not running so, I had two hours to spare! I went to the library where I checked facebook, and did a whole bunch of other things to try and take up time until my next class. Finally, it is 2 o’clock and the lecture is pretty interesting. It’s all about families and how the family is changing. It seems like it’s going to be a good class! After class, I decided that I would just go home and watch PS. I love you because everyone in Canada had watched it the night before and I just really wanted to! Hahah! So, I had a relaxing night once again.

Today is Tuesday, and I have not done much of anything. Just basically have showered and decided to write this ridiculously long post! So, I might go down and go to the gym or something. I feel pretty lazy and want to do something active.

This weekend, a bunch of people are going down to Queenstown (which is the adventure capital of New Zealand (maybe even the world!)) and I’m going down with them which will be sweet! We are going to stay in a hostel and do a whole lot of adventure-y things! J Greg says to empty my camera so I will have lots of space to take pictures with! Who knows, by this time next week, I might have zip-lined the New Zealand terrain, jumped out of an airplane, or rolled down a hill in a big ball! Who knows!!!

That’s all for now,

Love to all,

KB

Here are a few pictures: 

The Train Trip:

 This was the view that was exactly like the travel book!

 At Tunnel Beach

 Same

 Rugby Game

First Week in NZ

The last I updated you was Wednesday of last week, so I thought it would be a good thing to update you once more.

Wednesday - After I wrote my blog, Greg took me out walking in their "backyard", which there are conveniently hiking/walking trails. We went on one named Ross Creek and it was a lovely walk. The NZ wilderness is not MUCH different then ours except that there is nothing that can kill you (except for the weather, because it changes so quickly that you could get disoriented and get lost). There isn't any poison ivy or oak either, so you can't even get a rash! So, I feel much safer when I walk in the woods alone. I'll just have my cell on me and everything will be fine! So, Greg walked me by this reservoir which is beautiful. It is surrounded by rolling hills, had ducks floating on it and well, see for yourself!

(I actually took this the next time I walked down there, but that's coming!). So, Greg and I walked this trail and it was beautiful! There was a HUGE tree right when you get on the trail. It's probably the size of an Ent. Haha! Or what I think one would look like. There is also ruins of a old house of some kind, just a small little fort or something, but it's pretty neat too! So, after our hike, Greg and I went down to the Uni and he showed me around, and I know kind of where things are now. But, I still get confused where the bus stop is...(that's another story!).The rest of Wednesday, I just lazed and put up pictures, and "Karenized" my room, so it's nice and homey now. I ate supper with Celia and Greg and watched TV and then went to bed pretty early again.


Thursday - I decided that I wanted to figure out my courses and all the things for school, because I still had no idea what was going on with any of that. So, I took the bus down to school, which is only 15 minutes (shorter than the one I have to take in St. Catharines!). So, I easily took the bus down and found my way to the international office, which I was proud of myself for! So, I signed myself in, and got all the registration details. Found out that I had to go to a different building to get a course registration form (because all students have to go to each department to get courses signed off so they are actually in the course. I think it's a very weird system!). So, I go to this new building and get in line, go up to the desk and find out that I have to wait 24 hours to get my registration finalized because I didn't get my passport approved (signed) before I sent it off. (I don't know what they couldn't have sent me something in the 4 months they had it before I got there, telling me to send another one, but they waited until I got there!). The only problem with this is that ALL Otago Students (or 'scarfies') would have to register on Friday through Tuesday, and if I had gotten my course registration sheet Thursday, I wouldn't have to stand in long lines. Unfortunately, I had to wait until the next day, so by this time it was 12:45ish, so I went back to the International Office to sign up for a campus tour (but the next one was at 2). So, I waited around for a while, and walked around campus to try and figure my own way around (still getting lost a few times). I quickly got bored of that so I decided to find where Alex lived (we had been facebooking back and forth to figure out when we could see each other, but neither of us had a cell phone to text when we weren't on our computers. I hadn't heard from her this morning so I decided just to see where she lived so I could know for next time we wanted to hang out). Just as I was going past her house, I see Alex walking towards me, so she invites me inside and shows me her house. (She's living in a student flat with 4 other international students (all American).) Anyways, we decided that we wanted to go to the beach, just to see it, so we stopped in at an ice cream store and asked directions. The friendly ice cream guy said that it was a 45 minute walk, straight down the road. So, we started walking. We stopped a few places to ask if we were still on track, and everyone said we were. so we continued walking. Finally, we see what COULD be a beach, we walked through a children's playground and up a grassy hill, and sure enough, A HUGE WHITE beach, and beautiful scenery. Take a look yourself:

So, we walk down to the beach and enjoy the amazing scenery and then decided we wanted to explore a huge cliff on the other side of the beach. It didn't look TOO far so we could easily walk there (Our feet were starting to hurt after the walk from the ice cream shop to the beach in jandals (flip flops)). The cliff was definitely farther then what we thought but we got there, and realized there was a bit of the cliff off in the water, so we decided to climb it! It was just a little out in the water so we got our feet wet (in the freezing pacific) and climbed the little rock. So, once we were done with that we walked up the grassy hill towards the cliff and found a road on top of the cliff leading right to the top. It was convenient and nice after we have had bursts of sand hitting us on the walk on the beach. So we made it to the top and it had the most marvelous view! It was actually breathtaking!! So, we decided to walk back to the street and take the bus back. On the way, we heard some guys asking where there was a bus to take as well, and actually made friends with them later. They were American who came on exchange this semester as well! It fun talking to them as we made the bus trip back to the octagon (basically the city center). Alex had to pick up some things so we parted ways with these friendly Americans and bought some things. I had already missed my bus back up to Greg and Celia's so Alex kindly invited me to sleep over at her place! (The bus only runs until 6pm on weekdays and doesn't run on weekends!). Alex has a few of her school friends down here and they were going out that night so I tagged along and met some more international students, we went to a bar named "The Bog" and it was pretty average. haha! I just had water, and after a hot day in the sun, I was pretty tired! Alex was feeling sick so we left early and decided to watch a movie at her house. I slept on her couch and hurt the entire night because I was burnt to a crisp.

Friday - I got up early at Alex's because I wanted to be ahead of the crowd at registration. I was so I quickly went through the lines and got everything signed. I then got my student ID (which I am incredibly burnt in) and went on my way to find my bus stop. Now, I am usually pretty good at directions, and because the bus had dropped me off I figured I could find it easily. But no, I managed to take the furthest route possible to my bus stop but got there JUST in time for the bus. I got back in G&C's place at around noon and did NOTHING but sleep and eat for the rest of the day. I was totally zonked.

Saturday - I really didn't do much either, slept some and just lazed. I was still so sore from my sunburn and totally exhausted. I don't think I was totally adjusted to the timezone yet!

Sunday - I went to church with G&C and it was a different experience. Not bad, just not what I'm used too. They go to a small church where people dance and shout out and fun things like that! There are not many people my age, so I might try another church, we'll see. Next Sunday, we are taking Celia to the airport because she is going to Australia for a week for work. So it will just be Greg and I that week. I went for a walk Sunday afternoon down to Ross Creek again, and that was fun! I went by myself but it was nice and relaxing! And then I just relaxed for the rest of the day.

Monday - Now onto O-week, which should be exciting! I'm going down to Alex's later today! Devon`s in now visiting me in my room (G&C's little 10 month year old girl!).

That's all for now.
Love to all!
KB

Planes, Waits and Dunedin

Hello All,

As I write this to you, I am currently sitting on my double bed that I will be sleeping in for 5 months! I have quickly gotten settled, and have been told to 'RELAX' by Greg (the husband of the family that I am living with!). So, I have unpacked everything, but have not decorated yet, still need to hang the pictures that I have brought and to make the room "Karenized". But, before I rant on about the room and decore, I will first have to tell you the story of how I got to be in this beautiful land.

Sunday - All the rest of the family (besides Heather) came to drop me off at the airport. It was exciting to know that I was the one leaving, instead of Heather, as that has been the case the last few times I have gone to the airport. So, went to the bathroom before checking in my bags, but before I could check in my bags, who do I see walking down towards me? My housemates from St.Catharines! What a surprise! (Or lack of surprise, because unfortunately my subletter had let the cat out of the bag the night before when he was saying goodbye). Oh well, still amazing to see them before I left! :) They eventually left because they had school work to do, which is totally understandable, and then it was only my family and I left. We had lunch and waiting for a bit, and then I decided that it was time to say "Goodbye" and be on my way. So, after only a few tears (surprisingly) I made my way through security (which I did not get stopped at!) and made my way to the gate that my plane was leaving from. Sat down, and got to go on the internet to update people about the status of my trip before I spotted the perfect present for the family I was going to stay with. Right to my left was a store with Canadian Maple Syrup in a Maple Leaf glass container. I quickly bought that and was just waiting for boarding. Once they called my section, I got up and got into line, and into the plane with great ease. On the plane ride to Vancouver, I sat beside this lovely girl about the same age as me, but we didn't talk much. Basically just a "hello" and "Can I please get by you because I need to use the bathroom". The plane ride felt long, but that was because I didn't bring my headphones in my purse and my backpack (where they were) was in the compartment above the seats. So, I read Beth's plane letter for me which was soooo funny and did some Sudoku's before I had to go to the bathroom and then retrieved my headphones from my backpack. That is the problem with being in a window seat, you have to be the one who needs to say excuse me, and such.  So, that plane ride was good once I got my headphones and could watch some movies/listen to some music.

So, got off that plane ride and on to the next one. I didn't need to get my baggage because it was automatically transferred to Auckland, so I went all the way around the airport (to the totally opposite side) to catch my next flight. On the way there, I saw the girl who was sitting beside me,  I asked her where she was going and she quickly explained that she was going on exchange to New Zealand, to Otago University. I gasped and told her I was doing the same thing. SO, I had a travel buddy and it came in handy waiting in Auckland for 8 hours. So, we got settled at the next gate and got ready for the next flight to Auckland. The big flight, 13 hours!!! We talked to our moms who were ready with questions about the trip and the next one. We met a nice New Zealand girl who was on high school exchange in Ontario, and we talked to her a bit. A quick 3 hour wait and we were on the next flight. Unfortunately, we did not get to sit beside each other again, but I did sit beside a nice Canadian couple who were on their way to a holiday in New Zealand, so we chatted a bit but nothing too deep and got on our way. The airplane served both dinner and breakfast so we were well feed, but being on the window again it was hard to flag down a stewardess if you wanted  water, or something to drink, so I just waited patiently until one actually took notice of me. The plane ride was overnight so I attempted to sleep for most of it. It was hard to try and get comfy in a little seat, but I got around 6 hours or real sleep, but I attempted for most of the ride to sleep. I got up only twice to go to the bathroom which were nice and close to me, but surprisingly my legs were not very sore after the plane ride.

Monday - was on the 13 hour plane ride. Didn't do much, but sleep! (What a great Valentine's day!) 


Tuesday - I soon caught up with Alex (the girl I sat beside on the first plane) and we got our luggage to go through customs and such with. And that went smoothly too. I changed my shirt and was ready to go again. It was hot and muggy in Auckland! So, with 8 hours to kill, Alex and I decided to walk to the Domestic Terminal and then decide what to do from there. We met a girl who was going to study at another University (or "Varsity" here) so we chatted with her for a while, but her plane left way before ours, so we parted ways from her. We decided that we were going to go see the city for a bit so we walked down to the 'airport shopping centre' and found a little cafe with internet. So, we stopped there to update Canada that we have survived the long overnight trek to New Zealand. So, after that we decided to go back and wait at the airport, which we decided later, that we should have waited until later, because after 2 hours of waiting by our gate, we were deathly bored, and tired, and just saying the most ridiculous things! About 30 minutes to our boarding time I remembered that I had cards and we played Crazy Eights until we asked a person at the airport if we were at the right gate. She told us we weren't, because they had changed gates around, so we managed to find our way to the right gate and take the short 2 hour flight to Dunedin! It was light the entire way so I looked out the window at the mountains and then patchwork fields! It was beautiful! I took pictures, but they didn't show the beauty of them. We got into Dunedin 4pm their time and it was absolutely beautiful! The rolling hills, and the grass so green! It was just plain gorgeous. I got off the plain, and met up with Alex again, got out of the gate and saw Greg and Devon (their 10 month ago girl) waiting there. So, Alex and I met them and then got our bags. Alex and I then parted ways after the journey we had took together.She is just living downtown near the University, so I am sure I will see her often! :)
So, Greg and I packed the car and we drove back into town. Went past the beach where people were surfing and then picked up Celia (Greg's wife) when on the way "home". I got the grand tour of the house and then unpacked and showered. Had a dinner of potatoes and a mish-mash of vegetables (delicious!) and then updated facebook, and went to bed at 9. It was a LONG trip but so worth it. It is now 11:30 on Wednesday and Greg is going to go show me around campus!

This was a ridiculously long post, and I doubt these posts are going to be this long. BUT that is all that is up with me at the moment!

Love to all!