Hamilton Gardens

Why I didn't go here in the summer? I have no idea!

One of the American girls studying here (Jenn) got a surprise visit from her mom, so naturally she wanted to do the tourist thing, and I had nothing better to do that day, so I tagged along with my roommate Betty.

The Hamilton Gardens are really quite beautiful even in the winter, and free to the public! Unfortunately many of the flowers were not in bloom, but this place was way more than I expected it to be. The architecture alone was just beautiful, and there were so many different themed gardens, which I also did not expect.

Here's me and Betty on our way to the first Garden.

The Renaissance Garden was by far my most favorite! Such a dreamy courtyard!

This was the Chinese Scholar Garden...

Us girls were in a posey mood.

Outside of the Maori Garden was a tree LOADED with cocoons and caterpillars! I saw just one at first, but after taking another look, I realized that there were more caterpillars on this tree than flowers!

This was the Japanese Garden...

The picture was taken from a cute little tea house and there was a zen rock garden on the opposite side of the pond.

The Indian Garden was the only one almost fully in bloom and had a beautiful palace-like building.

We would have liked to check out more of the Gardens, but the sun was going down fast, and it was getting cold. There is a Fantasy Garden, which we really wanted to check out, but it was closed for construction. Good thing the gardens are close by, and I can come back again in the spring and see it in its full glory.

Waitomo Caves

On May 19th, a big group of us living in Orchard Park travelled to the Waitomo Caves to go black water rafting (tubing) and see the glow worms. It was an amazing experience and one of the most exciting adventures I had ever taken in my life.

We started off with a glow worm tour that took us into the caves and reminded me a lot of the Thurston lava tubes in the Volcanoes National Park back home. These cave were huge though, and in some places had water running through them. Unfortunately we couldn't take any photos in the caves, but when we got to the areas where the lights were out it was a magnificent view. It was as if you were looking up at the stars. I even found myself forgetting that they were actually glow worms as I attempted to look for recognizable constellations. Our tour (which was more intended for young audiences - the guide was talking to elementary school students and had us sing twinkle twinkle) ended with a boat ride through the dark, which totally made me feel like I was in The Phantom of the Opera. I even sang a bit of the title song in the dark, it was fun.

After the tour we got ready to go black water rafting!

They had us change into wet suits that they provided, but were SOAKING WET from the groups that went before us. The suits were so cold and heavy, and so hard to get on, and they stayed that way throughout the hour and a half tour. Once we were suited up, they drove us up to the entrance site and the training area where we practices eeling up (I think that's what they called it) and jumping backwards into the water to prep for the short waterfalls that we would be jumping backwards off of in the dark cave.

That's us eeling up.

Once we were in the cave it was just amazing! A bit scary at times, not knowing if you were going to lose your footing, but the caves were so beautiful, with just the right amount of extreme adventuring for my not so sensation-seeking personality. In the end we turned off our head lamps and had to find our way out of the cave in the dark by following the water. This was definitely one of my favorite adventures in New Zealand so far!

Auckland, Meh... Father Ted's, THE BEST!

My Norwegian friends wanted to go to Auckland to celebrate their national day (May 17th) with all the other Norwegian kids studying abroad in NZ. I had been meaning to hit the big city at some point, so I thought it would be a good time to go. The event was for Norwegians and their friends, but I wasn't too keen on the idea of being that one awkward brown girl stuck in a room full of people that would be speaking a language that I cannot understand. So naturally, I enlisted my Danish friend Niels to join us and keep me company while the other folks got their Norway on. Who better to avoid a room full of Norwegians celebrating their freedom from Denmark?

In total, there were five of us going on the trip, but two of the boys had a group project they were working on, so they could only go for one day, while the other three of us stayed for two nights. Niels, my roommate Marte, and I left for Auckland bright and early on Wed, May 16th via bus and when we got to the city, it was rainy and cold... not a good way to start. Not quite ready for the weather to get us down, we walked to our hostel to drop off our luggage (it was still to early to check in) and got ready to do some shopping.

I was surprised by how small the city actually was. It only took us half the day before we had walked up and down the entire main strip, and there wasn't very much shopping to be done either. But we did find a random asian flea market type thing, where I saw this awesome stuffed animal, but sadly could not bring it home with me since I knew I wouldn't have room for it when I fly back to the States.

We decided that it was time to go back to find a bar to chill at for a bit. We walked back up from the harbor in the direction of our hostel and only passed by one bar! It wasn't quite the pub type that we were looking for, but we thought we might as well give it a shot as it didn't look like we'd be finding much else. I ordered a Guiness, and was horribly disappointed to find that my beer tasted rather skunky, yuck!

After only on drink, we were over it and decided to check in to our hostel. When we got there and checked in, we had to get our bags from the storage closet, which was behind another courtesy desk. The guy at the main desk told us to wait there and he'd be over to unlock the storage for us. We waited at the desk (which was literally just around the corner) for about 15 minutes and the guy still hadn't come by, so Marte went back to the main desk to ask if anyone was coming. When she came back she said that the guy was just sitting there eating a bag of chips and when she asked about our luggage he told her that he forgot. We finally got our bags and took our stuff up to our 6-person room, which already had two guys in it, and another person's luggage claiming the three bottom bunks. Not wanting to spend the evening in a room with strangers, we decided to go out for dinner and a movie.

We ended up going to Burger King and then finding whatever random movie was playing at the soonest hour, just to kill some time. The movie we ended up watching was Dark Shadows... most random movie ever, but outside there was a little movie set for a photo op.

If you don't see this movie, you're not missing anything. Sorry Tim Burton.

After the movie, we didn't feel quite like going back to the hostel, so we tried to find another bar, fingers crossed it would be a pub. We decided to ask the front desk for a recommendation, and found our old friend the chip guy still on shift. Marte approached the desk and asked if she could ask a question to which the guy replied "no." Thinking it was just some playful banter, she waited for the joke to end, but he continued to ignore her and began a conversation with the other guy behind the desk before returning his attention to the paying customer. We asked for a bar recommendation, preferably a pub or a dive, to which he feigned ignorance before pointing us to the club just downstairs. We had enough of the guy, so we decided to find something ourselves.

We got downstairs and turned the corner past the club, and found another club on the other side. The bouncer asked us for our ID, but I asked him if he knew of a pub nearby. Turns out, there was an Irish pub just around the corner.

When we got to Father Ted's it was like an oasis the the middle of a terrible desert. A wet and rainy concrete jungle of a desert that is. As soon as we got inside, it was packed, but we were able to find three seats at the bar. All the bartenders were actually from Ireland and spoke with the most awesome accents, and there was even a live band playing Irish folk music! It was the best atmosphere ever! Especially after the kind of day I had been having. Niels and I decided that we were gonna spend the entire day the next day at Father Ted's while the rest were celebrating their national day, starting with a proper Irish breakfast.

When we finally left the bar and returned to the hostel, we went straight to our room. The other guys were already sleeping, so we tried to keep quiet while we got ready for bed. As we were getting our stuff together, Marte pointed out to me that there was already a person asleep in the bed that I was just about to climb into! I didn't even notice. There were already four people sleeping in the room, and only two beds left!

Niels went down to the front desk to complain and was told that there was only supposed to be one other person in that room and that they would send security to deal with the problem. We waited in the hallway outside of the room for 15 minutes and no one came to aid us, so we went back downstairs to the front desk. The guy told us that security would come by in 5 minutes, but we told him we had already waited 15 minutes the last time he said they would only be 5. Finally, they offered to put us up in another room. After a less than glamourous day, we definitely intended to spend the day in the only pleasant place that Aukland had to offer (in my opinion).

I was half joking when I made the suggestion, but we ended up doing just that =) We even got to Father Ted's before the doors were opened and saw the same bartender from the night before finishing up his shift. Breakfast was AWESOME! And I even dared to try some black pudding, but just a nibble =P

And of course, don't forget the Guiness!

Such A Slacker

Sorry guys, I've totally been slacking on this blog... big shocker =P but I'm gonna try to be better about it now that finals are over for me.

Best 1/4 Century Birthday Ever - Part 2

On Saturday night, I planned on having some friends get together and drink a bit before we went to town to celebrate my birthday. Me and a friend of mine walked to the shops down the road to our favorite liquor store to prepare for the night. While I was gone, my roommates were fast at work setting up a surprise lu'au themed party for me!

As soon as I walked through the door to my cottage, I was presented with a lei, a cocktail in a coconut, and a giant flower for my hair! The cottage was decorated with streamers and balloons, and some of the guests also wore leis. My roommate Marte, even made Hawaiian pizza, and my cocktail was called beach barbie or something like that.

Betty made this awesome poster for everyone to sign. The perfect decoration for my bulletin board =)

Here's me and the roommates. Our first picture with all of us =)

And the lovely lady that was responsible for organizing the whole thing, Marte. She even called the resident manager to ask if it was okay for us to throw a little party for my birthday.

Notice our mid-party mess in the background =P

At around 10pm, we headed into town to go dancing and continue the festivities. Combined with the zoo, this was absolutely my best birthday yet, and it was all thanks to the wonderful people I've met here in New Zealand!

The next morning, I was pleasantly surprised to wake up with no signs of a hangover... except maybe the pressing need to have a massive breakfast. I invited a few people over, and the roomies and I had some epic omelets and homefries with toast for lunch... mmmmmm.

Now let the 1/4 life crisis begin =P

Hamilton Zoo - Best 1/4 Century Birthday Ever!

I decided to celebrate my 25th birthday a day early and spend that Sunday (my actual birthday) lounging around and recovering if I needed to.

So on Saturday my friends and I went to the Hamilton Zoo. This was by far my favorite zoo I've ever been to, including the Bronx Zoo (although that is a pretty awesome zoo as well). One of the best parts about the Hamilton Zoo is that it is so interactive, and the keepers really make an effort to give the visitors the best experience possible. Here are some pics of the highlights.

 This baby white rhino is only 2 months old and already so huge!

 The meerkats were one of my favorites. It was so funny because there was one meerkat that was like the Boss, and he sat at the top of this perch on the lookout as all the other meerkats looked to him for guidance. About three minutes before they knew it was feeding time, the Boss relocated to a higher perch and craned his neck to see over the enclosure wall in the direction that he knew the keeper would be coming from with their treats. As soon as the keeper was visible, all the meerkats ran down to the area where we were standing, anxiously waiting for their food. They all began making these cute little growling noises until the keeper tossed them each their own whole chick! I always thought meerkats just ate bugs and fruit, but those little guys are quite ravenous!

The tiger enclosure was also great. Another thing that I liked so much about the Hamilton Zoo was how clean and spacious all of the enclosures were, nothing was overgrown, and it really looks like the people who manage the zoo take very good care of the animals.

When we went to the tiger enclosure, the keeper was nice enough to put some meat out right where the viewing area was so that we could get a good view and some awesome pics. There are currently two tigers, a male and a female, but they had to be released into the enclosure separately. This is the male tiger.

Now here's a little bit of information about me for those of you who don't know. I LOVE giraffes. Like, really, REALLY love them. Almost obsessively. Just to put it into perspective, whenever anyone gives me a gift, and I open it up, before I even know what it is, as soon as I see giraffe print, I go apeshit. I instantly love whatever it is you just gave me.

Before I get to the best part about my trip to the Hamilton Zoo, here's what I look like when I see giraffes.

Now for the main event... But first, a little back story. My awesome roommate, and everyone else knew how much I love giraffes, and so she e-mailed the zoo beforehand to ask them if there was any chance that we would be able to feed the giraffes. When we got to the zoo, I had mentioned that I heard something about feeding giraffes, and my friends all successfully convinced me that that was something they only do at the Aukland zoo. Still, when we got to the giraffe enclosure, I was as happy as ever to be standing only about two yards away from the giraffes, the closest I had ever stood next to one!

When the keepers came to talk about the giraffes, I was pleasantly surprised... you guessed it! TO FEED THE GIRAFFES!!!! This was clearly the highlight of my life... or if not that, it was definitely the best birthday ever!

 Giraffes love carrots! Who knew?

Look how cute he is! It was so funny when they reached their tongues out and twisted them around the carrots.

There are a total of six giraffes at the Hamilton Zoo, and all of them are male.

Paragliding, Not Quite Skydiving

When we were in Queenstown on our South Island trip, my roommate Betty and I opted to go paragliding while the rest of our group went skydiving. Now, for those of you who know me, you are probably thinking, why in the hell would Kaʻiulani go paragliding? The answer is simple... I have no idea why the hell I ever went paragliding! For those of you who don't know me, I'm the girl at the fair that holds everyones bags while THEY go on the rides.

Nevertheless, I decided to literally run myself off of one of the highest mountains in Queenstown with nothing but a parachute and a strange man strapped to my back keeping me from plummeting to my death. Sounds like a great idea, sign me up!

Once I paid my fee, and we started driving up the mountain, I suddenly regretted what I was about to do. I think I said something to the effect of wanting to cry on the way up to which the guys flying tandem replied, well that's not really a positive outlook.

This was me at the top of the cliff that I was about to run off of. Betty may be posing to make me feel better, but I was really feeling the way my face looks at the moment.

When we were finally at the top, the guys set up the chutes and strapped us in our harnesses so quickly and casually, as per usual when interacting with Kiwis. Once I was connected to the parachute, my tandem briefly explained that we were going to walk swiftly to the edge of the launching point and when he says go, I was to start running until I was no longer on the ground... Okay... The next thing I know, the guy says okay run! What!?! I didn't even have time to absorb the fact that I was standing on the side of a mountain about to meet the bottom before I was running off of it.

Once the initial shock wore off, it was really incredible to take in the view over the back side of Queenstown.

This is me trying to look cool, calm, and collected. Actually, at this point I was thinking, ah, this isn't so bad after all.

Then my tandem surprised me by doing some kind of crazy spiral in the air that took us right up to the side of the mountain making it seem like we were going to hit it. Of course, I screamed and cursed a bit, but then things settled down again and I thought, I dunno why I'm always so worried about these things, this is really not that bad.

As we were getting close to our landing zone, the guy asked me if I wanted to do a bit of acrobatics before the flight ended, and thinking that I made it through the last bit, and hell I'm up here already, I told him, sure why not?

Worst idea ever! I mean it was cool and all, but then once the adrenaline wore off, my legs turned to Jello and I spent the rest of the day nauseated and unable to function. THIS is why I don't do these things. Not because of the fear factor, I find that part exciting, rather, the fear of the aftermath. I know I get terrible motion sickness, and I know that engaging in these types of activities will always result in me feeling like shit for the rest of the day, walking on the line between a headache and wanting to throw up.

All in all, it was an incredible experience and we made it to the ground safe and sound. I'm really glad I did it, if for no other reason than to assure myself that, no, I do not want to go skydiving, and that this is something that I now know I never need to do again.

The rest of my friends ended up skydiving the next day, as the weather conditions postponed their trip. Here's some pictures I took of them at the landing zone.