Auckland Trip

From the 7th of December until the 13th I had a great time in Auckland. Franzi, Kurumi and I took the intercity bus from Kerikeri to Auckland. It’s actually a coach and you have to book the tickets in the internet. We started early in the morning and after a 5 hours drive we arrived with our heavy backs in the biggest city of New Zealand.

We looked our bags at the bus station and along the Queen Street and did lots of shopping. Later on we went to the harbor and had a nice coffee. We had sushi for dinner and took then the bus to our accommodation. We first had some problems to find the host family but after a up and down walk the streets we finally found the house. We went directly to bed, because we were so tired from getting up so early and the walking the whole day.

 

The next day we went to New Market, a suburb perfect for shopping! The main point why we went there was the General Issue Shop, which is only selling A&F cloths, a paradise for us.
After 2 hours spending in trying and paying and a few bags more we finally left the shop and took the bus back to town. Franzi met a friend from her organization and Kurumi and I had another look at the harbor. In the evening we all went together to the sky tower to enjoy the sunset high over the ground. We had a iced chocolate in the sky tower café, 240 meters over the streets..



Franzi & Kurumi




Kurumi & Me





Franzi & Me




Kurumi & Me

We took the last bus this night, back to our host family. The next day I said goodbye to my friends to make myself on the way to the meeting of my organization.
Franzi and Kurumi took the bus back to Kerikeri and I had to find the house of my leader. It was quiet complicated and the bus driver weren’t friendly at all!! First I had to drive 40 minutes out of town and there I had to change the bus and drive another 20 minutes.
I struggled to find the right bus and I waited 50 minutes at the second bus station, probably missed about 3 buses until I was finally sure to take the right bus. Another problem was the fact to not know where I had to get off the bus. In New Zealand they don’t have names for the bus stops and there not saying any names of streets or anything..
 It was pretty hopeless, but somehow I found the place to get off the bus and the address of the house. A few people from the Introduction days where day and we had a nice GERMAN barbeque.  It was akward to speak german, I had problems with the grammar and needed a few seconds to find the words in my head.

 The next morning we were blessed with a typical German breakfast. We were so excited about the “real” bread. I didn't have anything like that the last 6 months, only toast!

BREAD!!!

A friend of mine and I spent the day in Auckland at the harbor and walked along the Queen Street and had coffee in a Cafe, which had free Internet on Ipads to offer.
In the evening we met with the others and walked together to a field near New Market. Hundred of people came together to listen to the famous Christmasconcert "Xmas in the park".
In the middle of the park was a enormous stage. The crowd was sitting on picnic blankets distributed on the field.
The music was quiet good and the atmosphare was just brillant. At the end of the concert the lights of a monstrous Christmastree in the middle of the park were switched on, it was a breathtaking moment. The crowd startet to leave the place and we walked with the crowd back to Queens Street. It felt liked carneval, we were so many people!! I was happy to get in the car, because I felt quiet uncomfortable in middle of all those people, probably because I'm not used to this amount of people.. We were all tired and went straight to bed, as soon we arrived home.

On the next day was actually planed to go to the beach and having a BBQ in the evening, but the weather was terrible so we visited the museum in Auckland. It was very intressting to learn something about the Maori culture and the New Zealand\Asian History. The exhibition was also about the geografie and flora of New Zealand. The most exicting part for me were the extinct native animals, because I've never heard of those animals before.

I'm smaller than the pinguin.. =P



Kiwi bird



In the evening we had a delicous dinner, which made me feel a little homesick; Raclette. We had a lovely night and after dinner we watched a movie.

On the following day we went to Muriwai for a surf lesson. I surfed already a few times, but I was used to very small waves. At Muriwai beach were gigantic waves and it was very windy. We had good boards and as soon as I got into the water I got on the board. I first thought it would be difficult with these big waves, but I caugh many waves and enjoyed ever second of it.

 After the surf we had a picnic at the beach and drove to a shopping centre spent the rest of the afternoon there.. After dinner we went to town to walk along a famous street in Auckland. "Franklin street" was illuminated with Christmas decoration and each house could have belonged to Disney land.

I had a great time in Auckland and the time ran so fast, the day came to say goodbye again and I took the bus back to Auckland with my heavy bags and waited 3 hours in Starbucks and took then the coach back to Kerikeri and I was pleased to be back "home".

Farewells

The last month I often spent my time at the beach or at Charlie’s rock. It’s a beautiful spot with waterfalls and high rocks from which you can jump in to the water. December was a warm and nice month but a sad month as well because most of the Internationals were leaving and everything changed.

We had a farewell barbeque at the stone store. All of the Internationals came and everyone brought heaps of food and we had a lovely evening in the sun, went swimming and played rugby.

I had a few training weekends in December with the sailing team. We sailed every day from 9 a.m until 5 p.m in rain and cold, but I just loved it! I often was very tired after, but friends slept over and we had movie nights. At “Samichlaustag” Franzi and I made Xmas cookies in shorts and t-shirt and listened to Christmas songs. It was a very awkward feeling and it felt so wrong, not like Christmastime at all! But we tried to make the best out of it and our cookies were delicious.

End-of-the-year-programm

Before the summer holidays had started the big NCEA Exam were on. Year 11, 12 and 13 had their final year exams. Fortunately the International students didn’t have to sit them. While the others were studying for their exam we enjoyed an End-of-the-year program, which was organized by the International Department.

For four days we were instructing the other Internationals in sailing. We were split up in groups and taught them the basics of dinghy sailing. We had a lot of fun and it was nice to see how they were improving their knowledge.. We had some windy days, so a few were more in the water than sailing. But after the 4 days all of them passed the theory test and we were able to organize a funny race. I was supporting them on a motor boat and helped and gave the tips while they were sailing.. I really enjoyed those days on the lake with all the others and it was a great experience to be a coach and not the sailor. After 4 days of sailing we were all very tired after this week of sailing and happy to have a break. The next day we got picked up in a huge bus and drove to Whangerei to an Adventure climbing park. We spent the whole day high over the ground in the trees.. All of us just loved it! Some of us were pretty scared so high over the ground. At the end of the day everyone got safely back home and nobody had any hurts, except of sore hands.

In the second week of our program another surf camp was on. We had 3 fabulous days at Taupo Bay! We were 8 participants and enjoyed every second in the water and of course on the board. After the surfing we watched movies, played rugby or went swimming in the sea or just enjoyed the sun. One morning our surf trainer woke us up at 6 a.m and told us to go straight in our wetsuits and in the water. Hardly awake we got in the water and had a great morning of surfing and a delicious breakfast for our early work. The time ran so quickly and the surf camp was already over and we went back to Kerikeri..