Flightless and Fearless

February 5. This morning was incredibly frantic. I woke up at 8:45am and had to shower, have breakfast, and do a little exercise (I have been trying to keep up my girlish figure while I’m here) before we left at 7:15 . Remarkably I did it all before we were on the road for another 2 hours.

 We stopped at a Kiwi farm first. For those of you who don’t know a Kiwi, it is an indigenous bird of New Zealand that is rapidly going extinct. It resembles the characteristics of the Dodo bird, with two legs, short wings, and a heavy flightless body. However, it possesses a long thing beak. So we went through a tour and learned much about these nocturnal animals, while also seeing and learning about other native creatures. The guide ranged from creatures such as lizards to owls. We were also able to hold a Kiwi, which was similar to holding a large and heavy cotton ball. We picnicked right outside the farm for lunch, but we were soon on our way to cave tubing.

We drove another hour to the cave tubing tourist location. The people were very friendly. We were soon suited up with 5mm wetsuits, booties, a helmet, and a tube. We had to drive to the cave site, and all the while I wondered why we needed a 5mm wetsuit (the water had been incredibly warm so far). So we hauled our too heavy bodies out of the bus and walked ¼ a mile to the cave entrance, which was about 5’ high and 2’ wide. We squeezed through the entrance and trekked along the tunnel (the only source of light was our headlamps). The water rushed along our feet, and I realized why we had 5mm wetsuits on. The water had an icy chill that penetrated to your bones. It made for an uncomfortable, but not less exciting, cave tubing experience. We hopped in our rafts and drifted (at a Lazy River speed) for about 10 minutes through a passage where the ceiling was, I kid you not, 1’ 6” high from the water. After the 10 minutes, the cave opened up to a magnificent opening, large enough to fit a cathedral in. We were instructed to turn off our headlamps and look up. What I saw almost made me topple off my tube. There were billions of tiny glowing dots, way up on the ceiling. It was as if the night sky was etched on the cave ceiling. We soon discovered that these green lights were actually maggots, which mixed my awe with slight repulsion. 30 minutes later we came to a 15’ waterfall. We had to dive into the abyss with our tubes pressed against our butts. It was alarming, but we all survived the leap. So we trekked and waded through the cave a bit more, stopping occasionally for photos and chocolate, and finally came out through “light at the end of the tunnel.” I will never forget that experience, I would say it was one of the best so far.

So we got back to the car, after taking more photos and eating bagels, and drove 10 minutes to the nearest hostel. This was even better than the last. Equipped with pool, hot tub, trampoline, and washing machine! We were in heaven. After some pool time, 3 loads of laundry, and an intense rugby pickup game with some locals, we hiked up the pub to have dinner and watch rugby (New Zealand vs. Kenya). After about 3 hours the group started drinking and getting rambunctious, which was my cue to start documenting my day, but now I’m finished and I think I’ll go back to the pub to see how much of a fool everyone has become. Thanks for reading and keep the feedback coming!

All of us hanging off the side of the world class racing boat.

Our group at the top of the mountain after sailing.

Me jumping from the 192 meter platform.

The End of Boundaries

February 4. This morning was particularly uneventful. After waking up at 6am, we drove 6 hours to a desolate farm hostel near the ocean. The hostel was surprisingly comfortable. It possessed many luxuries that most of our group would have taken for granted in U.S. All we had time to do, however, was throw down our stuff and drive to the ocean to surf. In the car Elise asked us if any of us had surfed before. Only a handful of us had, and only 3 of us (including myself) were experienced.

 Upon arriving at the beach, we were greeted by 5 local children. They yelled, jumped on us, and enjoyed our expressions as they picked and poked our unfamiliar faces. What Elise didn’t tell us was that the 3 experienced surfers would be teaching the local children to surf and the rest would be receiving surf lessons. Brian, Ben, and I put on wetsuits, grabbed longboards, and threw the local kids in the water. We played and laughed as we rode the whitewash, appreciating more and more how the children cherish moments like these. Only after 3 hours did we realize that it was dusk, so with no other option, we said our goodbyes and drove home.

The dinner at home was a really enjoyable affair. The awkward boundaries between the group members seemed to have been washed away by the surf. We acted more like a family than ever before. Ben and I tried to fix the hostel’s wifi (with no success) while the girls made rice and stir-fry in the kitchen. The rest of the boys were cooking chicken on the “barbie” and we joined them after an hour of frustrating results with the wifi. After dinner was wolfed down, we sat around the TV and watched Lord of the Rings: Return of the King which was totally sick because the movie was actually filmed in New Zealand (hope we see the location). Afterwards, we crawled into our comfortable beds, with nothing but the call of the Kiwi birds to fall asleep to.

Catching the Wind

               February 3rd. Being woken up by some drunken and wild hostile roommates at 6am isn’t fun, but it happens when you’re traveling cheap in New Zealand. Afterwards I had no choice but to shower and have breakfast. At 7:30am we drove for 2 hours to a remote harbor in Russell. I was euphoric to see that we would be sailing a world class racing sailboat to an island for some lunch and a swim, and when I say sail, I mean sail. We got to pull up the main sail, control the jib and we got to steer the boat. I also finally mastered the bowline knot, which I have been having trouble with every day since my 5 years of sailing camp.

We had lunch “on the Barbie” and kayaked to an island with wild sheep. Not surprisingly, there was poop everywhere, but the view more than made up for the smell. We played a little rugby on the hillside and kayaked back, but not before idiotically trying to herd sheep until they were irritated enough to chase us off the island.

When we arrived back at the sailboat we were awed by the appearance of 5 wild dolphins playing with the crewmates. After carefully approaching them we were able to swim alongside the dolphins while they happily danced through the water. After watching them fade into the sunset, throwing their bodies over waves, we were forced to board the ship home.

Back on shore we roamed around town and found a Thai restaurant, which was a must for dinner. Afterwards, we picked up some gelato and crawled home for our hostile in exhaustion. The group was a bit bored at that point, but we found a game of twister that we amused ourselves with for at least an hour. I suspect they would’ve left without playing, but as I wasn’t allowed to go out to the bars they made an effort to keep me entertained and involved.

So they’ve left an hour ago, and I am here in the hostile writing my blog. I don’t mind what so ever. It’s like living the adventure over again, but sharing the experience with the world. It’s invaluable to alleviate myself of all my memories and reflect on how this experience is affecting me. So far it’s hard to notice any difference in my knowledge or maturity, but I will notify you all when I finally come to realize it. Thanks again to all my followers and to those of you who have commented on my blog.

Through Skys and Caves

               After 3 connections and 4 flights, I have finally arrived in New Zealand. Immediately after the flight I met Elise, one of my instructors. She’s kind, funny, and very laidback. As soon as I jumped in the car she told me “Since your 17 you’re not gonna be drinking or going out at night, so look forward to long nights of Uno with me.” I was fine with not drinking or going out, but Uno’s not my thing.

                We drove to the Sky Lounge, a small budget motel, and there I met all my group members. There’s Jade, Caitie, Dave, David, Olivia, Ben, Andrew, Brian, Arianna, Claire and Erik (another counselor). I was a little anxious to meet everyone because they are 19+. I soon found out, however, that they are all awesome. Not one person is an outsider, so I’ve come to the conclusion that only enjoyable people embark on these journeys. Our last 4 hours was spent chillaxing, having dinner, and watching I Love You Man in order to wind down. Before I went to bed I experienced my first pang of homesickness, but I composed myself quickly, reminding myself of what the next few months would bring, which helped calm me down.

                This morning I had no thought of home, which was good, because I realized I had overcome my anxiety. After breakfast we packed up the van and drove to Auckland. I was surprised to see that the city holds many aspects of New York; it even had a china town. We were lead to an enormous tower in china town, and we were surprised to learn that the instructors brought us there to free fall off a 192 meter platform protruding from the tower! I ran to get suited up and we were soon climbing up 192 meters worth of stairs, which is definitely part of the fun. When I got to the top I immediately looked down. When I realized what I was about to do, I almost threw up, but of course being the youngest I was pressured into going first. So they hooked me up to a cable and told me to just jump. I mustered up all my courage and dove through the air towards a target that I could’ve covered with my pinky. It was the most exhilarating and exciting experience of my life (so far). Just when I thought I would smack into the ground, the cable attached to me made me slow down and I floated lightly to the ground.

                After that exhilarating experience we toured Auckland and learned its history, which is quite extensive. For lunch we ate at a kebab stand, which was another new experience. Apparently kebabs are wraps with meat, veggies, humus, and hot chili. I thought they would be assorted foods on sticks, but apparently that’s the American shish-kebabs.

                From there we drove for 3 hours to Paihia, a town found on the Bay of Islands. To wrap up the day, all the guys and I took a 20 minute swim to a small island where we wandered through a cave and leisurely skipped rocks. Back at the hostile we jumped in the hot tub and crashed in our beds. A perfect first day in my book.

                Thanks you to all the followers who have signed up, and thanks so much for the comments, keep them coming! Love to hear feedback. I am definitely going to be putting up pictures, so no worries for those of you who were eager to see some. I’ll post as soon as possible as I have no internet today.