Week 7: The Penultimate Week

Hello all!

Overall, I did fewer activities this week compared to last week. On Wednesday, a couple of the classes at my placement school took a field trip to Vero Water Park, where they have tubing, kayaking, and white water rafting, all on a man-made river. We did the tubing activity, which was fun! At one point, we tried to link multiple tubes together, which went about as well as it sounds it would go. No one was injured, but we didn't stick together for long.

The water park we went to

This weekend, I took a trip to Rotorua. I started on a tour bus coming from Auckland, which took us to Waiatapu Geothermal Park, where I got to see some neat geothermal spots, including tons of steam and a bright green pond. Then, the bus dropped us off at a place called Skyline, which has a zipline, luge, dirt biking, and other activities. There are five different luge tracks, three of which I went down. It was a really fun experience, as I had not gone on a luge before. After this, I checked in to my hostel and then made the trek to Te Puia, where I enjoyed a traditional Māori buffet and cultural performance. The southern hemisphere's largest geyser is at Te Puia, and I was hoping to see it erupt while I was there. Sadly it did not. I went back again for a tour of Te Puia in the morning, where I got to see a kiwi bird once again (albeit in better lighting than at the zoo), the schools that teach traditional Māori art forms, and attempted to see the geyser erupt again. Once again, it did not erupt while I was there. After this, I finished off my journey by visiting the Buried Village, a place near Rangitoto that was once covered completely by an eruption in the 1880s, but has now been excavated. There was a really neat waterfall there as well. Then, I took the bus back to Auckland, exhausted and ready for bed.

Looking back at some of my photos, I realize I've gotten the chance to do so many new things and have made the most of my time here! It's still wild to me that I've gotten to experience so much in such a short amount of time. I still have a few places in town I'd like to visit before I leave, but overall, I'm quite satisfied with my experience up to this point. I do look forward to seeing my friends again once I'm back in town, especially my cat Luma. The weather? Not so much.

Bye for now!