The first full week is down! But wow it
feels like I've been here a month hahahaha. Which isn't a bad thing! We've
been going and going and it's finally catching up to us and we are feeling worn
out. This past week we had class only 3 times, an hour or an hour and a half
each. So that is pretttty nice! Buuut we do do work, I promise! The
majority of the projects we have to do is literally going out into New
Zealand, talking to people and telling their stories, then sharing those
stories through mini documentaries and blog posts. But as far as class goes,
the first day we got into our groups. The second day, we learned about all the
fun equipment that is in our backpacks (cam corder, a bunch of different mics,
booms, etc.) and how to manage our social media sites - both sections taught by
our fellow students. Finally, the third day of class we learned about blogs and
blog posts.
Last week I left off on Monday which
was such a fun day, and the rest of the week was just as amazing.
Tuesday was a rainy, relaxing day. We
went out to eat at our favorite healthy delicious restaurant called Tank and
shopped at Cotton On. 'Holiday' just
ended here so there were big post-holiday sales going on everywhere and we got
some good stuff!
The sun came out on Wednesday and
almost the whole groups bussed out to Mission Bay for a beach day. It was
beautiful! We swam, laid, and had lunch. And then repeated, allll day. We were
so exhausted after the whole day playing in the sun so when we got home we just
relaxed and ate Tim Tams. Tim Tams are LIFE! So yummy. I eat way too many Tim
Tams. I need a Tim Tam allowance hahaha.
Then. Then it was Thursday. Thursday
was the day of HOBBITON. And it was epic. :) And the drive- although it was
about 2 hours to the middle of nowhere- was absolutely gorgeous. Rolling grassy
hills, with dense foresty trees, sheep grazing, and occasionally patches of
these beautiful purple flowers. We then got on a Hobbiton tour bus and drove
through the large, open property for a few minutes to get to the Hobbiton tour
area. I haven't seen all the movies but I saw most of the first. Our tour
guide mentioned some of the scenes in the movie and I actually knew what she
was talking about so that was neat! Haha I was glad I watched as least some of
it. Because now I am a huge Lord of the
Rings fan ;) We were ALL taking pictures and videos left and right so it was
pretty well documented. This is why I LOVE traveling with a bunch of other
people who love and value this stuff because then I don't feel so bad being
particular about documenting everything haha. I think the tour guide got a
little frustrated with us because we were a little slow - I mean there are a
LOT of us who ALL want the perfect pictures and videos of it so we felt rushed
and she thought we were slow pokes. First we went through and walked past all
the cute little round doors and learned about how they were able to film to
make the Hobbits look like.. Hobbits! Then we went to the brewery and got a
complimentary beverage and got to drink it in this stunning area by a lake and
cool looking buildings. It was AWESOME! As all the BYU students were going
through the brewery, of course we all ordered Ginger Beer which the only
non-alcoholic drink, and the lady got confused and frustrated and said "Is
ANYONE getting an alcoholic drink, ANYONE?!?!" Hahaha! Anyways, tons of
fun :) We felt like it was a little short but it was magical. Felt like we were
in this fake place. Like we were in a movie.. OH WAIT! Ha! Nah but it was
amazing. On our way back, we were
starving! We stopped in a little town
and got some mediocre food. It felt like
a classic rest-stop town... I kinda felt like we were back in the US - in the
middle of Montana or something. Beautiful classic little rest stop, hahah.
Check out my collection of pictures:
Jason Murray, one my study abroad mates,
made an excellent blog post and video of our journey to the Hobbiton. You can kinda get the idea of it! And I’m even
in it, haha! http://jasonmurray.me/2016/01/14/gandalf-walked-here-backpack-hobbiton-vlogs/
Friday a big group of us headed to
Rangitoto Island, which is a volcanic island about 3.4 miles long. There is
nowhere to buy food or water; it’s pretty desolate. There were a handful of
little family houses that we passed, but that was it. We explored some volcanic
caves, and met an Anglican monk from Australia who goes to caves everywhere and
prays in them. Another group got to film him so we enjoyed hearing his story.
We then went to the summit - it was an amazing view with the gorgeous water,
the city in the distance, and a few other islands around us. It was so
beautiful on this island because the volcanic rock was black and stunning
against the luscious green trees and sparkling blue water. We headed down from
the summit a different way and we walked & walked & walked & walked
forever and finally came to a beach which was the most beautiful beach I've
ever seen. It doesn't have much traffic so it is a NICE one. Unfortunately we
could only stay for a few minutes because we had to catch the last ferry back,
or else we'd have to sleep there until the next ferry came in the morning! The
walk back to the dock was even LONGER but when we had glimpses of the water, it
was incredible. I didn't even want to take pictures because it was so STUNNING
and pictures didn't do justice. It was amazing. At one point we went over a
bridge and it felt like we were going over a mermaid Laguna. It was a
dream.
That evening a group of us girls met up
with a few people from the YSA ward and hit up a Rock Bar & Karaoke place
on Queen's Street. That was a BLAST hahahaha!
We were asked to sing a song in church
so Sunday morning we all got together and practiced different parts to Nearer
My God To Thee. I must say it turned out really well; I rather enjoyed it!
After church we were able to go to our friends' house and interview some of them who are
Maori. We even had them say at the end, "I'm a Maori and I'm a
Mormon" haha. Speaking of which, we may be doing some work for the church
which will be an amazing experience.
Well, I've written so much, y'all
probably won’t want to read this. I'm sorry to overload you. But there’s so
much to say! Things are awesome here and
I hope things are awesome back at home as well! Tell the snow I miss it. Jk I
don't :)
No comments:
Post a Comment