Windy Wellington
Thursday, March 27th & Friday, March 28th
A group of us opted to take a bus to Wellington instead of flying. The bus departed at 8:00pm, when we checked in at 7:55pm we got a stern talking to by the bus driver. Caroline almost got hit in the face by the door, Katie got a bag chucked at her, Marco couldn't bring his burger aboard so it had to sit underneath until the first stop (yum). The moment I sat down I knew this was going to be the worst 10 hours of my life.The bus driver went into a whole lecture about not eating on the bus because of religious reasons. Also, number 1 movements were allowed on the bus but number 2 movements were prohibited. Did you know that if one person gets motion sickness it'll have chain reaction on the bus?..According to our looney bus driver that's what happens. Some of us chose to sit in the back row all together which was a huge mistake because those seats didn't recline. Thankfully, I had a window seat and just got to look at the cool stars. The bus stopped maybe 6 times (we had two 30minute rest stops) and every time the bus driver let people on and off he turned on the bright lights. The bus driver loved to blast the heat to the point where you were melting and then blast the air conditioning. By the time we arrived in Wellington my whole body was cramped from shivering. As we got off the glorious bus we strolled into McDonalds at 6:30am. The McDonald's are pretty fancy here, they sell macaroons! We hung out in McDonalds until more businesses and restaurants opened up and we went to breakfast at The Green Man. I ordered eggs benedict and it was great (nothing like Dads though). After our tummies were filled with yummy goodness we hiked on over to the hostel to meet up with the rest of the group who arrived the day before. We weren't allowed to check in until 2pm so I got to spend the day looking like disheveled Yah! Off we went to the Te Papa Museum where we got to learn about earthquakes and animals like a giant squid. After the museum all the girls went out for lunch. Jenna and I split a pizza and a sandwich I almost fell asleep in my pizza. Finally I was allowed to check into the hostel where I took a killer nap on the top bunk (every time I moved it squeaked). The hostel was in an awesome location so that night we got to bop around all over the place.
Saturday, March 29th
After such a long day of traveling and lack of sleep we got a very late start to the day. Our indecisiveness kicked in and we couldn't decide what to eat for breakfast (but now it was lunch). I made my own wrap which had avocado, lettuce, tomato and feta. Mmmm mmm. We then walked to the Botanic Gardens to meet up with the group. I made the unfortunate mistake to wear a sweater and the walk was entirely uphill. At the Botanic Gardens there were all these birds that I got to feed. Sometimes they would bite my fingertips and I didn't like it. I got a lovely coffee for the walk to the Cable Car. The Cable Car was a short ride down the hill where we were able to see some amazing views of the New Zealand's capital. Afterwards, I shopped around a bit with Maggie, Caroline and Taylor before heading back to the hostel for another nap and a night of fun.
Sunday, March 3oth
We had to check out at 10 am so it was an early morning for all of us. After stripping down the beds and packing up we all went to breakfast down the street. I splurged an extra $2 and got bacon and sausage (hey dad guess what? I was in the clean plate club). I then headed off to Starbucks to use the free wifi to catch up with the rest of the world. Some of the group went to hike Mount Victoria and some of us went to the Wellington Zoo. As we walked to the zoo Dave found a street called "Arney" so we made a C to make it Carney! The suburb we were walking in was Newtown too! At the zoo I saw some animals I've never seen before like a Tasmanian devil and the infamous kiwi bird! The monkey's were my favorite and I loved watching the baby chimpanzees. I also loved jumping on the trampoline after watching the kangaroos openly bounce around the zoo. After the zoo we went to Burgerfuel and hung out in the hostel until the dreaded bus ride. This time we left more room to get on the bus so we ended up being the first in line. I chose a seat that reclined, we purchased melatonin and Caroline and I watched Frozen. I learned in the middle of the night that my seat was broken but overall it was a wild weekend in Windy Wellington!
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.
