Blog

Day 1: Arrival in Auckland We met our soon-to-be besties, and the journey began… Day 2: Amazing (g)Race (how sweet the sound) Off to the races as we gallivanted around Auckland and explored all of its hidden treasures. We performed on the streets for money, learned a new handshake, and talked to heaps of strangers. Later that night, the majority of the group attended a roller derby match. The halftime show dropped our jaws as a burlesque performer did her thang. Day … Read more

Saturday night was spent watching the Chiefs beat the Crusaders in New Zealand's national sport, Rugby, on a giant screen at a local sports cafe. It was a fantastic experience and was thoroughly enjoyable specially with the added bonus of delicious deserts helping keep us warm. Sunday morning was greeted by an early departure from Nelson, not before a quick visit once again to the local Nelson Markets. Rachel and Kahu from the Pacific Discovery offices, farewelled us and… Read more

No Climbing at CastleRock due to the wild rains, Tommy said he'd never seen it rain for so long (2 days), Becca said it reminded her of summer in England.... We geared up in waterproof clothing and headed out to the crags - Kiwi Doug set the group up with a great abseil (see Russell in photo). As exhilarating as it was, the abseil was no match for the flying fox (zip line) that descended over a distance of more than 900ft. Diane's "Texas" scream was memorable,… Read more

Monday morning saw us ready to leave for Mimiwhangata, a Department of Conservation coastal marine park and working farm. However our departure was happily delayed when we discovered that Becky's bag had arrived in Auckland from Honolulu. Day 3 we packed to head up to the beautiful Bay of Islands for our volunteer week. We were blessed with good weather and stunning views. Chris, the Ranger and his wife Nadine were warmly welcoming. We stayed in ‘the old woodshed’… Read more

Here are a few photos of the second week of volunteer work. [gallery] Read more

This week started off with some free time in Auckland. Diana joined us from Australia, and a few of us went out to the airport to meet her. The next day we travelled from Auckland to Waitomo. In Waitomo we went on a very adventurous caving expedition. We spent about five or six hours in the caves, climbing, repelling, and crawling. After that we went to Castle Rock where we spent the next two days mountain biking and rock climbing, followed by soaking in the hot tub in… Read more

Kia Ora! New Zealand is awesome. Here's the breakdown of what we're done so far... The group met up on Friday and had a great time getting to know each other with a scavenger hunt throughout Auckland before heading north of the Bay of Islands. We started heading to the Bay of Islands on Saturday and stopped at a couple places along the way. One place we went was the Waitangi National Reserve which is where New Zealand's Founding Document was signed. We also got to see … Read more

So we are now in Queenstown at the final station of our journey together before the group starts making their own way to their respective homes. It has been oh too easy to be swept up on this trip with each place offering new experiences and thus a severe neglect of blogging duties...sorry. Here's an attempt to capture the last 2 and a half weeks into a read worthy blog and before the money runs out on the internet! A challenge indeed. From our island of Urupukapuka we … Read more

The New Zealand Program kicked off with a sunrise swim in the Pacific Ocean before breakfast, a briefing then a scavenger hunt across downtown Auckland. The next morning we drove North in pouring rain to the Bay of Islands and a quaint town, Russell, which was once dubbed the 'hell-hole of the Pacific' for its licentious ways! Charles Darwin, on his 'voyage of the Beagle' was so disgusted that he donated money towards the construction of a church, which we visited. In co… Read more