So after saying goodbye to my Mom and Steven at Chicago, O'Hare airport (only a few tears) I successfully got to my plane, to LA, switched gates, hopped on my second plane, flew 13 hours overseas, and arrived in Auckland! I will admit that I had a little hassle getting through customs.g on a 2 month vacation so I had to pull out the letter from Dr. Delano (thank you!) and show the authorities. They took my passport and id's and told me to go get my luggage then come back for them. I was so very worried but did as I was told. Mind you as soon as I walked away all I could think was I'm never going to get out of this airport and how will I ever contact Rachel or my mom! However I got my luggage, and was handed back my passport with a smile so all is well. I met Rachel and she is wonderful!
Driving on the left hand side wasn't quite as strange as I thought it'd be, the real strange image was seeing speed limit signs with 80 and 100 printed on them. I had to remind myself they were in Kilometers!
We came home and I met David, my host brother, he's great as well. Very friendly and funny, I believe we will get on very well. I also met Ken, Rachel's partner. He and I have had many great chats about America and politics. I also walked down the road to meet Sarah and her host family. She's living with a family from the school so it is she, her host mum, Jan, and Jan's 6 year old son, Cory. Sarah and I get on well and are hoping to plan many weekend trips all around New Zealand!
Sunday I went with Sarah and her host family to Orewa, a town nearby. We went to the beach which had a great view of the whole Whangaparaoa Peninsula.
Driving on the left hand side wasn't quite as strange as I thought it'd be, the real strange image was seeing speed limit signs with 80 and 100 printed on them. I had to remind myself they were in Kilometers!
We came home and I met David, my host brother, he's great as well. Very friendly and funny, I believe we will get on very well. I also met Ken, Rachel's partner. He and I have had many great chats about America and politics. I also walked down the road to meet Sarah and her host family. She's living with a family from the school so it is she, her host mum, Jan, and Jan's 6 year old son, Cory. Sarah and I get on well and are hoping to plan many weekend trips all around New Zealand!
Sunday I went with Sarah and her host family to Orewa, a town nearby. We went to the beach which had a great view of the whole Whangaparaoa Peninsula.
Me standing on a very windy day in front of Orewa Beach, part of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula
We also played on the playground with Cory, it was lots of fun! It was very windy so we came home with lots of sand everywhere! That afternoon Rach and I went grocery shopping and then made dinner. Jan, Sarah, and Cory were coming over for dinner so it was a nice big feast. We had lamb, potatoes, pumpkin, broccoli, and pilaf for dessert. Pilaf is similar to meringue. Sarah, David, and I tried to plan some places we'd like to go to travel around. Cory is so much fun too, he put on a concert for us with David's guitar and found David to be the coolest older brother. We're sure he'll be riding his bike down the road everyday to see if David can play.
Cory and I spinning on this crazy contraption at the park! I was soooo dizzy!
Today, Monday, was Labour Day so no school for us. Rachel, Sarah, and I went on a bush walk up Pukematakaeo. Pukematakaeo is a Maori word. Each part of a word in Maori will mean something, for example Puke means hill. So there will be many places named with the beginning "Puke" (pronounced poo kay). The hike was actually decently strenuous with most of the hike being straight uphill. After the hike we went to Bethels Beach. Jamie has told me about how beautiful Bethels Beach is, so I am really looking forward to going back there often. It is on the "Wild" west coast and has black sand beaches. The black sand is because of iron deposits and its called the wild west because the west has a much rougher current as well as rocky shores. We were nearly blown away by the wind trying to walk out to the beach!
Sarah and I being blown away on Bethels Beach!
A view of the wild west coast at Bethels Beach
It has been unbelievably windy all three days I've been here. After returning home David took me on a walk around a 5K loop which will make a great daily run.
One of the many beautiful views on my run!
There were fabulous lookouts there as well, I seem to find the landscape breathtaking everywhere! You can actually see the city skyline from the walk but today was too cloudy to photograph it.
Tomorrow I meet my teacher, Rebecca, and my class! I am so excited!
Cory and I spinning on this crazy contraption at the park! I was soooo dizzy!
Today, Monday, was Labour Day so no school for us. Rachel, Sarah, and I went on a bush walk up Pukematakaeo. Pukematakaeo is a Maori word. Each part of a word in Maori will mean something, for example Puke means hill. So there will be many places named with the beginning "Puke" (pronounced poo kay). The hike was actually decently strenuous with most of the hike being straight uphill. After the hike we went to Bethels Beach. Jamie has told me about how beautiful Bethels Beach is, so I am really looking forward to going back there often. It is on the "Wild" west coast and has black sand beaches. The black sand is because of iron deposits and its called the wild west because the west has a much rougher current as well as rocky shores. We were nearly blown away by the wind trying to walk out to the beach!
Sarah and I being blown away on Bethels Beach!
A view of the wild west coast at Bethels Beach
It has been unbelievably windy all three days I've been here. After returning home David took me on a walk around a 5K loop which will make a great daily run.
One of the many beautiful views on my run!
There were fabulous lookouts there as well, I seem to find the landscape breathtaking everywhere! You can actually see the city skyline from the walk but today was too cloudy to photograph it.
Tomorrow I meet my teacher, Rebecca, and my class! I am so excited!
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