Cleland Park and Granite Island

Today was amazing! I signed up for a trip through the International Student Services Unit to go to Mt. Lofty, Cleland Wildlife Park, and Granite Island. I've become friendly with a girl from California and a bunch of other students (mostly from Sweden and Norway, but a few from South Korea and Indonesia as well) and they came on the trip too, which made it even better. First we went up to Mt. Lofty, which isn't really a mountain, but is still the highest point in the Adelaide region. From the top we had fantastic views of the city and the ocean, and the drive took us through eucalyptus forests where we saw lots of wild koalas just hanging out in the trees. It was very exciting because we passed by a sign that said "Koala crossing next 35 km" and had a picture of a koala walking on FOUR LEGS, because that's how koalas walk, Rick. We only spent twenty minutes there, and afterwards we headed to Cleland Wildlife Park, which I think is the coolest place EVER.

This wildlife park only has animals from South Australia. You enter and they give you this big bag of food and tell you that you can feed any free-roaming animal. The enclosures are really just huuuge grassy pastures with lots of eucalyptus trees and animals lounging around. The first area we went to had tons of grey and red kangaroos, all of whom looked very relaxed.


As you approach the kangaroos, they sort of reluctantly heft themselves up and hop over to you, expecting food. They were like big rabbits and were incredibly, unbelievably soft. I want one. After they finished whatever was in your hand, they would become very interested in the bag. I also got a few tugs on my jacket sleeve. This little guy also put his front paws on my leg and stuck his face in mine while I was busy trying to get another handful of food out.



Me petting one of the smaller red kangaroos. There were some really big guys, but I didn't really feel like seeing what it would be like to bother one. There was a funny moment where a little kid, maybe five or six, ran past us, chasing a big red kangaroo who was hopping away as if this happened all the time.


These shaggy-haired kangaroos are found only on Kangaroo Island. They were much shier than the other roos. I can't wait to go to KI and see them in the wild!


There were also wallabies around, but they were very flighty. They are way too cute not to include here, though!

The waterbirds were incredible, and I really like the way this one's neck is curved around.


And the highlight of the park: I got to hold a koala!!! His name was Osmond. He was very heavy and fluffly and soft, and in order to keep him placated, the woman kept feeding him leaves. For a few minutes he was chewing them very loudly right in my face and wouldn't look at the camera, and I got a faceful of eucalyptus leaves. Eventually we got him to look at the camera. I considered attempting to run out the door while he was in my arms, but that probably wouldn't have gone over well. So I have apprehended a koala, fed it a leaf, and pet it on the back of its head. It was awesome. The picture is much better in real life, but I don't have a scanner here so I had to take a picture of the picture.

Some of the enclosures had emus wandering around, which I appreciated. I liked this one's hair. After I took this picture one of my friends tried to touch it and it sort of reared up really high and ran away, which was terrifying.


There were also dingoes!! They pretty much look like the most beautiful dogs ever. I want one of these, too.

After the park, we drove to Victor Harbor, which I would love to visit in the summer. The drive was absolutely gorgeous, through eucalyptus forests (more koala sightings there) and hills dotted with gum trees. The sun was setting and we kept getting glimpses of the ocean as the sky turned all sorts of colors and the hills turned deep orange. It was amazing. Victor Harbor was a very cute little town, too, with lots of restaurants and pubs situated on the waterfront. We walked across a long bridge to Granite Island, where the smallest penguins in the world, Little Blue Penguins, come ashore at night. There we met up with a tour guide who took us around the island. We saw tons of penguins!! They are SO cute, and they really are blue. White light bothers them, so I had to take pictures using the red light of the flashlight, so they turned out really badly. I can't believe I saw penguins in the wild.


Now it's late and I'm getting ready to go to sleep. I want to read more Harry Potter, though! I am woefully behind.

BIRDS.

It's a beautiful day today, and this morning I took the zoom lens out to take some pictures of birds. I couldn't find any Galahs or Cockatoos, and the Rainbow lorikeets were hidden in the leaves, but I did get some pictures of another type of lorikeet, the Eastern Rosella. I'm kind of proud of these pictures, even if they are a bit dark. The normal-looking birds are Crested Pigeons, which always look as if they're surprised, the black and white bird is an Australian Magpie, and I have no idea what the flying bird is; I was just happy I got the shot.

The first three pictures are fantails from New Zealand. I loved these birds and these are my favorite pictures. I particularly like the second one, where you can see the insect the bird is chasing.

(I have signed up for my classes, too, but I will write more on that later. Now that I am at school, there aren't as many exciting things happening.)

Look at these in full size!!

I love Ron

Today I explored campus. I will admit that the buildings are really ugly, but the campus itself is beautiful. It takes me about five minutes to walk to the main campus from the dorms, but it is through eucalyptus forest that turns into pine forest and across a bridge with fantastic views of the ocean. There are also hiking trails that wind all around the forested areas of campus; I think they would be good for running in the mornings and I am excited to explore them.

There is also a lake in the middle of campus that has ducks and this large, blue water bird with a red beak and forehead (click here to see one). There are also parrots everywhere!! Aside from the lorikeets that live outside my window (and pretty much everywhere else), there are also Galahs , my favorite, and even Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos !! It's crazy that these birds are just flying around everywhere. They are very loud.

So... after wandering around a very empty campus (it is still winter break here), I decided to go to the mall. There is a big one about a five minute bus ride away, and I had a very good time. In the bookstore, one of the employees had the same taste in books as me and recommended a ton of things. I bought two of the books she recommended that looked good, and now I have a list of even more that I need to read. I got a card for the store so I get very good discounts on certain days of the week. Also, it gives me a place to buy Harry Potter when it comes out!

Speaking of Harry Potter, I also saw the movie while I was at the mall. Movies are expensive here, but I get a decent student discount and on Tuesdays the movies are like $5. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It probably helped that this was the only book that I only read once, and I don't really remember it because it was all in one sitting on an airplane, so I didn't notice anything missing. I am in love with Ron. And Fred and George.

I am going to go make myself dinner now. Here are some pictures of campus! The first is the view when I step out of my dorm, and you get two pictures of lorikeets because they are pretty and I like them.


ALSO! If you want my address or phone number, let me know!!

In Australia!

I am finally in Australia! You can tell by the change in flag.

There really isn't much to say. My dorm is all right; I have my own room, which is bigger than my shared room at Graham-Greenlee was. It is connected to a hallway with six other rooms, and we have a shared bathroom, lounge area, and kitchen. In the lounge is a Christmas tree with empty bottles of vodka and beer strung from it, so I'm not quite sure what to think.

There is only one other person here right now, a very nice guy from Singapore. Everyone else is away and probably won't come back until school starts in a week.

I haven't explored the main campus yet (I will do that today), but we do have a beautiful view from the dorms. The Hall is situated on a hill that looks out over the city to one side and the ocean to the other. From my desk I can see the water, which is a nice change. There is also a huge gum tree outside my window, and in it right now is a huge flock of lorikeets. It is amazing to see these parrots just flying around! Between the lorikeets and the eucalyptus, I might as well be in San Diego. When we were driving in, we saw rosy cockatoos just wandering around on someone's lawn. It was very cool.

Although I am happy to be here, I do have to say that I am pretty lonely. I hope that things will get better as more people arrive. I miss everyone so much!

I am in love

I am totally in love with New Zealand (En Zed) and may never, ever want to leave. I am actually sad that I am leaving for Australia tomorrow!

Today I went canyoning and it was completely incredible. I was picked up at the Sky Tower by our wonderfully nice guide named Cam, and we also picked up a girl a few years older than me from Manchester; her name is Elizabeth. We had a lot in common and exchanged e-mails; she told me about this pub that has live music and is right on the harbor, so I am going there after I write this to have dinner.

We drove to Piha, this little community right on the Tasman Sea in the Waitakere mountain ranges, about forty minutes west of Auckland. There we joined up with an Australian couple from Melbourne who also came on our tour. The beach was incredibly beautiful black sand and after our adventure Cam let Elizabeth and I just explore.

After we got suited up in our wetsuits, we drove to the trailhead and began our hike. After a steep, long climb (on the way stopped to rest and got juice and chocolate, so it wasn't that grueling), we ended up at the top of a waterfall that we rappelled (they call it abseiling, which is ridiculous) down in three parts. Here is me rappelling and all of us at the bottom after the third stretch.

We had lunch at the bottom, then hiked a bit through the canyon and rappelled not just down a waterfall, but IN a waterfall. That was extremely intense, but very fun. Cam told us that "if you feel you can't breathe, just tilt your head down and there will be a pocket of air!" I think he was lying, because I never discovered this mysterious air pocket.


That was the last of our rappelling. Afterwards we scrambled through the canyon, squeezing ourselves through caves and jumping off cliffs (sorry Mom!). The canyon was lush and green, the sun was shining (this was incredible luck; it had been raining here for the past few days), and I never wanted to leave. By the way, the thing that looks like a red diaper is actually my harness. No making fun of me.


Now I am back in the city and I love it. I am having the best time and can't believe I have to leave tomorrow. I'm headed out to a bar where everything is made from ice, and then I'm going to have dinner and then come back and pack. I need to be ready to go by 5 in the morning tomorrow!!!

Back in Auckland

I'm back in Auckland! I'm canyoning tomorrow, and then the day after I am off to Australia. It will be nice to have a real place to stay for an extended period of time. Anyway, as you can see, I have added all of the pictures from as far back as the Waitomo caves. Sorry there are so many.

You can click on any of the pictures to enlarge them! Practice with this map showing our route around North Island:

Rotorua!

I hope you liked the geothermal stuff! Not only do you have pictures from Wai-O-Tapu yesterday, now you have pictures from Craters of the Moon, an area near Taupo that is pockmarked with steaming craters. It felt like we were on a different planet, if different planets have steam everywhere. And ducks. There was hissing everywhere and I was afraid that something was going to explode while we were there.

Afterwards, we headed to Rotorua and saw bubbling mud pools (I loved these) and a geyser, and then we went and saw MORE bubbling geothermal areas at Hell’s Gate. All of these thermal pools have names referring to the devil and/or hell, which I think is kind of predictable.

At Hell’s Gate, we had the opportunity to do some Maori carving, which involves chiseling wood. I made a silver fern (this is NZ’s official emblem, not the kiwi, although this should be changed) and I was very proud of my sad-looking result.

After Hell’s Gate we were pretty tired of seeing how New Zealand was always on the verge of blowing up. On our way out of Rotorua, I made Barbara stop so that I could throw out my parent’s money by placing myself in a giant hamster ball (with a bucket of warm water for good measure) and rolling down a hill. That’s right, I went Zorbing!! It was very exciting. I was given a little wetsuit that said “Zorbonaut” on the back, was placed in a giant inflatable ball with some warm water, and pushed down a hill. I opted for the Zig-Zag Zorb, where I got to go down the hill in a zig-zag pattern instead of straight down (look to the right of the big hill in the pictures). It was SO MUCH FUN!!! I tried to run all the way down, but it was nearly impossible to stand up. I give hamsters a lot of credit. Instead I would try to stand and then I just got sloshed around a lot, but it was great. You can do a Zorb with up to three people in a ball at once. Who wants to come to New Zealand and Zorb with me?

Now we are in a hostel in Hamilton, and it is very nice. We are headed back to Auckland tomorrow. I’m going to do some Auckland activities tomorrow, and then I’m canyoning on Thursday, and then I’m off to Australia!

Huka Falls and Wai-O-Tapu

Today we went to Taupo, and we saw some incredible things!! The first was Huka Falls, where a river forces itself through this small chute and so it rushes really, really fast and finally spills out into a larger area. There is A LOT of water, and it is all this incredible light blue color. I have been told that the color is even nicer in the summer/when it is sunny out, but I do not believe it.

After Huka Falls we went to Wai-O-Tapu, an incredible geothermal area. It smells like a fart, but it’s so incredible that it makes up for this easily*. The colors were so intense and amazing and my stupid camera didn’t really capture them. There was this one pool called Devil’s Bath which was a bright, neon-green color that my camera refused to duplicate. Oh well, here are some bad pictures.

*Emily, take note.

Te Urewera Hike

The hike was beautiful and incredible. I have been writing too much in each of my blogs; I think this one will be just pictures. Although it was a beautiful day, the melting snow made it seem as if it was raining for most of the hike, but it was amazing anyway. The first lake is Lake Waikaremoana, which we drove around, and the second is Lake Waikareiti, which we hiked to. It was so incredibly clear and the color was intense. Anyway, here are your pictures.

PS. I discovered how to make panoramic pictures!