Piritahi Marae on Waiheke

Friday, March 21st
When the 20 of us arrived at the ferry on Waiheke islan, we were greeted by a Maori woman who had a tattoo covering her mouth. We loaded up our luggage into the vans and headed off to the Marae. When we arrived at the camp we were instructed to sit down so we could recieve instructions on the ceremony which was going to take place. We practiced singing a song in their language (I butchered every word) and then we were ready to go! The horn was sounded and all of us girls walked first. We were greeted by another Maori lady and the ladies sang back and forth. We then proceeded to sit for the ceremony. I thought that we were going to have loads of half-naked Maori people covered in crazy tattoos but there wasn't a tribe in sight. The women sit in the back and the men sit in the front. The Maori man looked a lot like Ricky Martin-Maori version and his daughter who was about 5 or 6 sat next to him. The Maori man spoke for a very long time until Dave spoke on behalf of our group. Then to end the ceremony we did the Hongi where you touch noses to share your soul with the other people. We then went to set up our beds in the Wharenui otherwise known as the meeting house. All of us were in the room and it ended up being one huge slumber party! We were instructed that no food, drink or shoes were allowed in the Wharenui because it is a sacred place and we weren't allowed to take pictures of the ancesestors. After dinner we did a Whakawhanaungatanga in the Wharenui where everyone got up and shared information out themselves. It was really eye-opening to learn so many new things about the people I've been with for a month. Afterwards we were shipped off to a local bar..thanks Maori people haha

Saturday, March 22nd
Wake up was 7:30am so we could have breakfast. My group had to clean dishes and it was gross. We then went to the Ostend Waiheke Island Market. This is a market filled with arts and crafts, fresh local fruit and vege, plants, Waiheke-made produce including olive oil, bread and preserves, local food stalls with an international flavour, Waiheke-made organic skincare, jewellery, new and secondhand clothing. I bought a really cool pair of pants. Then we headed off to Cable Bay Vineyard for a wine tasting. We tried 5 types of wine: Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2013, Pinot Gris Waiheke Island 2013, Single Vineyard Viognier Waiheke Island 2012, Malbec Merlot Syrah Waiheke Island 2011 and Syrah Waiheke Island 2012. I ended up buy the first one. We then got to hang out on the vineyard and either lounge on the bean bags or explore the vines. After heading back to the Marae for lunch, we got split into groups for two activities. The first was flax weaving where we made flowers. We were instructed that only the grandparent flax leaves could be used because they were dying. Fun fact: during flax weaving there was a giant spider on my arm. After flax weaving my group headed down to the beach where we got to go kayaking around the island.
The day was coming to a close so we grabbed some dinner, headed out to a local bar and when we came home we all hung out on the beach.

Sunday, March 23rd 
We woke up and had breakfast. My group was then instructed to head outside for martial arts. We had run around the camp barefoot. m pretty sure tears and blood were almost drawn because there were so many rocks. Noa, our instructer was a stickler. She claimed to be a level 22 but she wouldn't show us any cool moves. We had to do stretching and practice saying words. Then we practiced with the stick to learn some moves. Noa had us shout OITZ when we struck. Then we went around practicing defense and offense against each other. It was very important to be gentle otherwise you could definielty hurt someone. Then switched activities and my group went to town. We got to shop around a little and then we went on a tour of the island. There were some nice view points that we stopped off at. Some of the million dollar houses we saw people vaction in only for 4 weeks! Then wewent back and had lunch. They were boiled hotdogs. Gross. I wanted to puke. And then I was instructed to clean the bathroom. Gross. After the Poroporoaki (official farewell from the people at the marae) we headed out to a coastal walkway that would take us to the ferry. The view was amazing and I was so sleep deprived I almost fell off the trail. Thankfully I had a nice nap on the ferry ride home.

Goat Island

No Goats in Sight, Only Seaweed

Thursday, March 20th
Once again a group of us (Maggie, Jenna, Ryan, Dave, Pat, Mickey, Avery) rented a mini van and headed off to Goat Island. We were all excited to spend the day snorkeling with the fish, however, when we arrived an hour later we were informed that the water was too murky and there was too much seaweed to have any visibility. We climbed onto the rocks and stinky seaweed to check it out ourselves but we had no luck. As the boys kept swimming around searching for fish, Jenna and I headed back to the car. This man named Martin, a local kiwi, had us take photos of him. We kept talking with him for awhile and he suggested that we check out Pakiri Beach just down the road. The sand at this beach was super soft and felt like beaches back home. It was the warmest water we had swam in too! The scenery of the beach was beautiful and when the sun started to set we climbed on top of the dunes. To make the day a little more surreal, there was a horseback rider along the water. After riding home with basically an empty tank of gas (the gas light was on for at least half the ride) we stopped off at Pizza Hut. All 8 of us sat in the mini van each with our own box of pizza (one of the most ratchet things to be seen) and headed home after an exhausting, but exciting day.

Piha

No plan is a plan right?

Wednesday, March 19th
There's a small group of us who tend to never have a plan. We had the plan to go to Piha and to go hiking but no directions or any idea of where we were going. Normally I'm the type of person who likes to have everything mapped out, however, in New Zealand,  having no plan is the best plan. 7 of us (Caroline, Pat, Taylor, Maggie, Anna and Mickey) rented a mini van for the day and we ventured off to Piha (side note: this mini had a ginormous sun roof so it was actually pretty cool). It was a windy trip and we had to make a couple U-turns but eventually we made it to North Piha beach. The sand was black and it was one of the most majestic beach. We decided to climb Lion Rock which was this rock formation in the middle of the beach. Later when we drove up to a surf shop we were informed that Piha beach is also known as killer beach. Many people have fallen from Lion Rock (but one girl climbed it in heels... r.i.p though). The lady who we met at the surf shop was the sweetest woman in the world. She showed us the newborn baby chicks and the view from her balcony. We even got to tour around the accommodations. It would definitely be fun to come back and stay in the cabins and go surfing for a weekend (shout out: Auntie M for those surf lessons). The woman suggested we hike into KiteKite Falls just down the road. It was a 30 minute hike in and there were wasps everywhere. We swam in the falls that were ice cold but when your body went numb it was somewhat enjoyable. It ended up being a successful day minus the multiple wrong turns on the way home. And to top the day off, we ate at Chilando, a chipotle-like place.

The Typhoon that Never Came

Auckland is weather confused

Friday, March 14th
A group of us ventured off to Okahu Bay Wharf to jump off the pier. It was an overcast day but nonetheless still fun. When we arrived at the end of the pier there were groups of fisherman so needless to say, we were a fisherman's nightmare by disturbing the water. There was also tons of Asian tourists and they ended up becoming our paparazzi. After the pier we kept exploring and ended up at Michael Joseph Savage's Monument. He was the first labor prime minister. It was at this time where I saw a sight that I will never forget (look at the lady dripping in swag, she even had a little swag in her step). We then discovered Mr. Whoopy's which was an ice cream truck. I got the Whoopy Hedgehog which was vanilla ice cream covered in chocolate and rolled in walnuts. This was my first time having ice cream since I left the States and it became a monumental moment of my day. 

Saturday, March 15th
It was finally the day of the anticipated typhoon. Unfortunately, there was very little rain and just a lot of wind. Thankfully we were able to fill our empty goon sacks with water and we hiked on over to the museum to use the ginormous slip n slide that we created the day before. Everyone Everyone except me, took turns holding down the tarp while others lathered up with soap and slid down the slip n slide. I was having too much fun to realize that I had been down the slide one too many times. It was a day filled with laughter and mud. By the time I got back to Carlaw I could wring out my drenched tshirt and my sandals  jandals (kiwi lingo) were covered in mud. I ended up with some nice scratches and bruises all over but it was definitely worth it!

Monday, March 17th
Everyone's Irish on St. Patrick's day! Oh, what a fabulous day to be Irish, especially when it was the warmest St. Patrick's day I've ever celebrated. We went to Father Ted's Pub at night where there was a live band. Moral of the story: My ancestors would be proud.

Bungy Jump off Auckland Bridge

All My Friends Jumped Off a Bridge So I Did Too!

In the days leading up to bungy jumping I was beyond excited. But the moment I woke up Sunday morning the first thought that crossed my mind was "I'm going to die"..but then I realized dying in New Zealand wouldn't be half that bad and at least it would be a cool story? Joking aside though, I had no idea what to expect and that's probably why I was mute as we walked to the bus station. It was arranged that two vans would come pick us up and bring us to the Auckland Bridge. Leo was my van driver and he was the coolest kiwi I've met yet. I even learned a new term: BBW (pronounced bee-bee-double-yew), it means big beautiful woman. I then signed away my life on a piece of paper that I didn't bother to read and got weighed. We were suited up with harnesses and helmets (the helmets for were when we walked under the bridge). During the demo we were told to imagine the cord that attaches us to the bridge as us walking a dog (Shoutout to my favorite ball of fluff Ralphie). When we started ascending staircases I was starting to get a feel for how high 13 stories~40M were. The bungy base is suspended under the bridge and looks like a large gondola. We were told that we were jumping from heaviest to lightest and that when your name is called it's your turn to walk the plank. Music was playing the whole time so we had a lot of fun dancing, watching everyone jump and awaiting our turn. Pre-jump most people looked reserved or had exciting nerves and post-jump people looked like they were drugged on adrenaline. I was the 15th person to jump (Kelley Anne, Kevin & James: shocker right? I bet you guys thought I'd be in the top 5). I sat in the seat and the dude strapped up my ankles and attached the bungy to me. He informed me how to pull the release so I could ride up sitting down versus upside down. I waddled towards the edge of the platform and had to pose for my pictures. I then proceeded to do a beautiful swan dive off the bridge. This was by far the coolest thing I have ever experienced in my life. On March 9th I became a bird for 8 seconds and I can't wait to do it again. There was so much adrenaline rushing through my body that I completely forgot to pull the release so I rode back up to the top upside down, blood rushing to my head the entire time. When I arrived I was shaking from all the energy and Michael Jackson's Black and White was blasting through the speakers. It was awesome.

*my videos are coming soon but here's one that Ryan made:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ptEKF52U6c

Fun Fact: The largest bungy is in Queenstown called the Nevis Bungy which is 143M and I plan on doing this. I also plan on doing a a tandem jump.