1st Prize

 For our study abroad group we entered our pictures into a photo contest on the places that we have gone in New Zealand through the AIFS group. I entered some of my photos and won 1st place! I do not know what the prize is..probably a gift certificate to the movies, but I will take it!  Here is the News letter that was sent to us which I found quiet funny. Our advisor here has a great sense of humor and always makes fun of me for being from NE. "Do you ride your horse to school? Your team is called the corn huskers and you detassled when you were younger..makes sense"..etc. :)
AIFS Victoria Newsletter

Dear Students,

Today marks two months to the day since you stepped foot on our fair
shores. Congratulations! Some small part of you has probably already
become Kiwi. It is probably the part from whence that deep happiness
you feel is welling up . Or, it might just be that weta bite on your leg.
Either way, don’t worry, it’s a very good thing, something that will stand
you in good stead all your days.

After a slightly shaky start, if you will excuse the pun, you have no doubt
passed two engrossing and industrious months.  (he is talking about the earthquakes)

Obviously you completed orientation and received my personal tour
Wellington in all its summery glory. You have begun your study in a wide
range areas including: Pacific and Maori Studies; Music; Theatre;
Literature; Marketing; Sociology; Media; Management; Psychology;
International Relations; Earth Sciences; Art History; History; Politics;
Philosophy; Statistics. We have enjoyed field trips to the Wairarapa and
to Rotorua, a night tour at the Zealandia Sanctuary, not to mention
being present, on the halfway line no less, for the Hurricanes solitary win
of the season!
I would also like to take this opportunity to announce the winner of the
photo competition. This was judged by an objective panel of
colleagues/judges. The winning photo was this effort by Megan:

Congratulations Megan! Hannah will present you with your prize next
time.

Sunday April 24th, Easter!

This morning Cortland and I woke up and went to the 11am mass at St. Mary's of Angeles Catholic church, for Easter mass. The mass here in New Zealand is quite similar to Lincoln's mass but instead of saying "The Lord be with you...and also with you", they say, "The Lord be with you...and also with your spirit". I definitely sounded out of place when the crowd recited this. The priest during the homily talked about how he felt about businesses wanting to be open during good Friday and how people rather have rugby games playing than pray and spend time thinking about why Jesus died for us. He seemed rather disturbed by it.
     After mass Cortland and I headed home to start preparing our Easter dinner. Cortland and I made a fruit salad, deviled eggs, pigs in a blanket, steamed vegetables, and mashed potatoes. The boys made chicken and sausages. The food was very good and we probably made enough food for a month we had so much left over! The people that joined us in our Easter celebration was Cortland, Stephen, Toby, and me. Unfortunately, Jay and Dominique had to go to church with their families and had Easter dinner with their families as well...so I suppose they have good excuses : ) Luckily enough they joined us later that night to play cards and hang out.

 This is the Church we went to, which is in the middle of the city so it sticks out like a sore thumb. It is quite beautiful on the inside though.

 The choir that sang the songs were in the back of the church on a balcony. They sang all the songs in Latin and sounded like the medieval monks. It was very old fashioned but pretty to hear.

 Front of the alter. The stain glass was vary pretty and surrounded the church

.

Cortland in the kitchen cooking while Toby goofs around

 

 Our finished fruit salad and yes I helped make it!

 Cortland making the deviled eggs

Yes folks while Cortland made eggs, Toby was making water balloons...unsuccessfully

 Making of the pigs in a blanket, while the boys chowed on the dip and chips.

 Toby decides to join in on the fun!

 Stephen looks super focused on cooking..it's probably why he got burnt by the grease about 3 times

 Toby was in love with the dip we made...we said it was a secret recipe (aka sour cream and onion soup mix)

First try go at the foreign food...and they loved them! Both boys had never had deviled eggs and they fell in love with them. They told us we needed to give them the recipe or show them how to make them. We had half of them eaten before we started dinner.

 Stephen and Cortland

 Me and Toby enjoying a deviled egg!

 The chicken and sausages the boys were preparing. The chicken was delicious and had some special sauce they put on it!

Cortland's view from her living room which I am very jealous of.

 A rainy and cloudy Autumn Easter

 Toby singing while he makes the special sauce for the chicken

 Now time to reveal our secret bunnies and get our Easter basket!

 I had Stephen and this is what I bought him

Cortland had me and she was very generous! After two months of no candy this basket made me very happy!

The "Upset Toby" face I believe from Stephen forgetting to buy him candy. Haha

 Cortland eats some candy after dinner while Stephen lies down with a stomach ache from being too full.

Toby in a food coma while Stephen looks at his burns from neglecting the cooking sausages. What a funny bunch!

The rest of the night we watched movies and when Cortland and I got bored we took a ketchup bottle cap and connected it to the sink to fill up water balloons to launch them at the guys room and also the guys when they came outside to chase after us. I scared Jay so bad that he almost fell down the steps. We ended the night playing cards, listening to music and sharing laughs.

It was a great Easter! I am so blessed to have had God put me in such a beautiful place surrounded by caring, generous people, who share my same values and made this Easter away from home such a great one! 

"Death could not hold Him, the grave could not keep Him from rising again...

                                                             Living, He loved me,
                                                             Dying, He saved me,
                                                    Buried, He carried my sins far away
                                                       Rising, He justified freely forever
                                                  One day He's coming, Oh glorious day!"
                                                                             -Verse from Casting Crowns

April 16th-20th North Island Fall Break

Instead of celebrating spring break this year, I enjoyed another fall break. Unlike the states I am fortunate enough to have a two week break instead of one so you could say I may have too much time on my hands! This week my friends and I ventured back up north to experience more of the outdoor kiwi experience. The first day we traveled to Taupo where my friend Jill was going to sky dive. Unfortunately, it was very cloudy and rainy the first day so she was unable to jump so we instead traveled to Rotorua where our hostel was and visited the Red Wood forest which was very serene and free! Day 2 we went white water rafting, Zorbing, and Jill finally got to sky dive. The white water rafting was a great experience and I might want to take it up as a hobby and take on some wild rivers when I get back to the States. Zorbing is a New Zeleand thing where you simply put water into a plastic ball, you get in the ball, and then they push you down a hill. Zorbing was a corky, fun, experience but definitely not for people who are claustrophobic. Day 3 we traveled east to Waitomo caves to do some black water rafting. This cave was absolutely astonishing and my description or pictures does not do it justice. We walk through the forest to get to a small opening that we have to slide through to get into the cave which is pitch dark. They show us the creatures we might find such as the cave spiders, eels, and glow worms. Then it is off on a 50 minutes trek under ground in a cave with only our confidence entrusted in our head lights and two instructors we just met. After the caves we traveled up north to Auckland where 25% of the population live in NZ. Unfortunately, for such a large city there was not a lot to do. We spent a day in Auckland and went to the Sky Tower and the Ice bar. We walked along the harbour and then realised we were ready to head back to Wellington; our home.

I got a a little snap happy when I  saw how gorgeous the trees looked! Sorry for all of these pictures!

This is what it looked like when we first got in to Taupo so Jill could not Skydive

However, it did not stop people from fishing in the lake!

At a album store they had CD's on sale...this was one that we found! (Songs on it consist of: "I will survive" "I touch myself" and "Get physical" I love how the cougar is winking at you too!

This was the entrance of the Redwood forest

I love the work ethic here! This was the sign that was on the front desk door of the hostel. Good to know that we can find him at the bar at least!

 Our white water rafting crew! Ranna was our instructor and he was a very cool person to be around. He was hilarious too.

The waters here use to be sacred to the Maori people. You can't see it on the pictures but the whole river is surrounded by cliffs and trees. The Maori use to climb down these canyons to the water's edge to lay to rest chiefs and great warriors. They would lie the body in the water and let the eels strip away their flesh. Usually the chiefs were put into the small caves around the pool where the large waterfall is and the warriors were put further down the river.

 I am in the back left and apparently the only one who listened to instructions, "get down in the raft and tuck your head in"

 this waterfall was about 17ft plus and our instructor wanted us to be one of the first rafts to go down so we could watch the other rafts succeed or fail. He said, "We can watch some carnage!"

 Our raft went all the way under the water

 Success!!!

Time to celebrate and have bragging rights

 Other rafts weren't so lucky

One of the kids from this boat we fished his shoe out of the water for him. Our instructor looked at his boat and how small it was and said, "Wow you are a little wiener foot!" as he threw his shoe back into their raft

 Playing in one of the rapids

 All fun in games until our boat starts to tip over (our instructors face is priceless)

That's the ball that we are put in

That's the hill that we were pushed down

Taupo when it's sunny!

 

 Jill landing from her skydive

 Rotorua at night we decided to walk around and see the sights.

 This was parking lot before we walked to go to the Waitomo caves..I think the country side looked like The Shire from The Lord of the Rings.

I am on the far right. Before we entered the cave they informed us of the creatures we might find inside. They are suppose to be harmless but by the looks of them and the recent River Monsters "Flesh Rippers", I might have second thoughts.

 Practicing our eel! so we can find each other in the dark cave

 We practiced jumping into water but first so we knew what to do when we got to the waterfalls in the cave. I didn't expect the water to be that cold.

 Shows how cramped the caves were...this lady was very spunky and kept up with us with no complaints

 Exiting the cave and into the warm sunlight!

 these are the professional pictures that the Waitomo staff gave us. You can see the glow worms but they were much more magnificent in the dark. These pictures will be lit up but when we were in the cave we only had out head lights leading us.

 Some of the waterfalls we had to jump off of

 First sign of a traffic jamp or a two laner since I have gotten to New Zealand! This is the interstate entering Auckland, New Zealand where 25% of NZ's population resides.

 The view from outside our hostel...This is the Auckland Sky-Tower which is the tallest tower in the Southern Hemisphere.

 Model of the tower inside the sky tower lobby.

 Reflection of the Sky Tower in a building

 Mosiac of the Rainbow Warrior that was sunk by the French when they came in peace

 Playing with the seagull art

 A boat with Maori paintings on it. Stuck out like a sore thumb among all the white boats

View from the Sky Tower

 The line in the middle of the picture is where ppl can base jump off the Sky Tower to a target below.We watched someone jump. It looked scarier than Bungy jumping.

 Looking through a Kaleidoscope

 One of the many malls in Auckland this had 4 floors and 3 of the floors were for the Cinema. With how large the cinema is the actual movie theater was very small.

 A park where families gathered to celebrate their children graduating "graduate" college

 Outside of the mall

 The Ferry building to travel to the other islands in Auckland

 A huge countdown until Rugby World Cup!

 They even showed you where to take the best picture of the count down

 A bar in the hostel building on the 7th floor. I found it funny how they brag about being the 17th highest bar.

Since our room wasn't clean when we got to our hostel they gave us free breakfast vouchers and free drink from their bar. Since their beer wasn't on tap they gave me this bottle.

 Ice bar in Auckland. We got free drinks and parkas to wear while we were inside.

 Picture by the ice kiwi!

 At the end we got to smash our ice glasses.

 On the way back home we traveled through Taupo again where we discovered they had some snow.