First Official Entry!

Cheers all!
Welcome to my first (read: extremely long) blog post of the trip! Today is February 6th, which means I have already spent five days traveling and doing exciting stuff! It seems right to try to remember everything from each day, so bear with me! Sorry this entry is so long, I will try to shorten them up!

Feb 1: Today I got to the airport around 10:00 a.m. or so, and got ready to depart to Los Angeles! Got my last Caribou Coffee fix for the next 5 months, and we got on our first plane out of 4. Emily was traveling with me at this point, and we met up with a couple friends from our study abroad group, Matt and Gavin, on the US leg of our trip. We traveled down to PHX, which was about a 3.5 hour flight if I recall, and then onto Los Angeles. We almost missed our connection because de-icing took so long at MSP, but go figure. We forgot that we would be missing lunch, so we got something real quick in the airport in PHX and power-walked to make our flight to LAX. Once we got to LA, there was some amazing weather. We ended up walking two terminals over because it felt so good! Here is where I will mention that we finally hit summer weather, which will continue for me until fall hits back at CSB/SJU, so a continuous 7 months of summer heat. We parted ways with our study abroad friends, and met up with our traveling partner, Amy, for our journey onto our V Australia flight.

Feb 2: I will put the Australia flight here, because we spent all of Feb 2 in the air (this is a hard concept to imagine, but we traveled over the International Date Line, and so we never saw Feb 2 at all). We boarded our flight, and the plane was really great, especially because we would be on it for 15 HOURS. There were some cool lights along the top of the plane that changed colors, and we immediately got to work playing with our video screens (we refers to Emily and I). I ended up watching four movies on the flight, which include Red, Toy Story 3, Life as We Know It, and the Social Network. I think Life as We Know It was my favorite, but I am a sucker for romantic comedies. I think I slept about 4 hours or so on the whole plane ride, because my internal clock was so confused and there was so many fun things to do! We got served dinner and breakfast on the plane, but neither were very exceptional. The flight attendants were all really great and seemed to be enjoying their work (contrary to many I’m sure you have experienced). Not to mention that there were many male flight attendants, who smelled amazing and weren’t too hard on the eyes. Once we deplaned, we wanted nothing but to stand up for a long time: our legs were sore and so were our behinds . We left at about 9:45ish LAX time, and landed around 7:00 a.m. Melbourne time.

This is our V Australia plane!

Feb 3: After landing in Melbourne, we (now refers to Amy as well) did an international transfer to our flight to Christchurch, which is the first leg of our traveling journey. We had to go through security again, and then walk through a bunch of duty-free shops before finally finding our gate. They ended up switching almost every flight’s gate number in the terminal which was a little confusing but we made it. This flight may have been the hardest, because we were all exhausted and there were two women behind us that talked the whole 3 hour flight rather loudly. I slept for a little and read some Lord of the Rings. We were late taking off from Melbourne, and finally got out to our shuttle around 4:30 p.m. Next, I had to become acquainted with driving on the other side of the road, because it is a hard concept to wrap your mind around. We got to our hostel, and after being booked into a room with many different people of both genders in it, we finally got our private room. I am sitting in it typing this blog, and we have 8 beds instead of the 4 we originally booked, but it is a big room so no complaining from me (except maybe a window would be nice). Our hostel is located very close to the beach, and therefore isn’t too close to the hustle and bustle of the city (good and bad). We ate dinner at Subway because we didn’t feel very adventurous and were so tired. We went to bed after taking a well-deserved shower.

Feb 4: Today was our first scheduled excursion day but it wasn’t until the night. We decided to go and explore the City Central area of Christchurch, but we decided to get some breakfast first. The day before we saw a fruit market called “The Funky Pumpkin” and decided that we would go get some breakfast there. I ended up buying about 7 apples of differing varieties, some that are typical US brands and some that definitely were not. So far I have eaten four of them, and they are quite delicious. I also bought some chocolate milk, which is quite heavy on the chocolate part and extremely tasty. We then decided to try our hand at the bus system, and boarded a public bus to the inner city area. The bus costs $3.20 New Zealand dollars for a one-way ticket, which we paid and got going into the city. Once we got there, it was definitely a new experience. Many tourists were around however so we didn’t feel too out of place. They have many busy streets with tons of shops and restaurants to browse through. We ate lunch in a food court area right next to where all the buses drop off, at a place called Pure. I had a pesto chicken salad sandwich which had some yummy avocados, and Emily ate this meat lover’s pizza slice with BBQ sauce. Both were really good, and we also bought a cookie and muffin from Muffin Break. We found our first historical monument, the Bridge of Remembrance, which I believe was for WWII victims, and that is where our first videoblog is recorded (check out our YouTube channel, vlogaustralia). We then walked around a bit more, and made our way to Cathedral Square. They have a really big cathedral here (no duh) and it was really cool to walk around in. We found where all of our shuttles would be taking off, and then we continued to walk around. We made our way down Worcester Street and found a street performer, who was entertaining but a little creepy. One thing that you must know about this region of the world is that they are very 9-5. This means that all the shops are pretty much open these hours only, and a lot of the restaurants close after lunchtime. They have little marketplaces that pack up and are completely vanished by 6 at the latest, too. We continued walking and found our way to the Arts Centre, which had many different artistic shops. I ended up buying two books there, one mystery novel and another that is on my list of books to read. We walked farther and ran into the Botanical Gardens. These are very pretty and so far the best gardens I have ever seen. The trees here are enormous, too! We went to the rose garden, and by this time we were so exhausted we headed back to the bus to get back to our hostel in time for our excursion. When we got back we had a note saying to call the excursion, which had been cancelled, which was a bit of a bummer. However, we decided to go to a really nice restaurant, called Salt on the Pier. I had surf and turf, and it was really delicious. We walked out on the really long pier, but it was so incredibly windy and kind-of cold, we probably should’ve waited to do that a different day. We got back and didn’t do much but shower and go to sleep, getting ready for our first excursions the next day.

Feb 5: We got up this morning and ate some of our breakfast from Funky Pumpkin, and caught a bus out to the city around 10:30-11:00. We were quite hungry after getting there, and so decided to grab lunch. We went to a place called the Pita Pit, which I believe has a store in MOA, and it was really good. We jumped on the bus, headed for the Antarctic Centre, our first excursion, around 12:00. When we arrived there was plenty to do. We experienced an Antarctic storm, which really reminded me of Minnesota and waiting in the bus lines at SJU in the wintertime. This really wasn’t so bad, except for the fact that I was wearing shorts (they gave us jackets so my top half was pretty warm). We then went to a 4D movie, which was pretty cool. This movie had the water effects, snow, and the moving seats which was cool. The only bad part is that they surprised sprayed us in the face 7 times, when 4 was definitely more than enough . After the movie, we walked around a bit more, learning more about the International Antarctic program. Almost all the Antarctic programs worldwide leave from Christchurch International airport. We saw a few of the US Air Force planes that fly back and forth to there each day, and one of the guides said that the planes sink into the ice on Antarctica and can’t stay over there too long. We saw some of the equipment that people used over there when they first journeyed over, and some more modern things as well. We then went to the penguin feeding which was really great! I believe they have 24 penguins in their enclosure there, and all of these penguins were rescued because of a condition they have. Some had been hit by boats, some had paralyzed fins, and many were blind. One penguin had on purple booties and the keeper said this particular penguin was so lazy that it started developing hard parts on its feet, and so the booties helped to protect its feet from hurting when it walked. They fed them in the water and we got to see some of them swim. One of the penguins that I felt bad for was named Elvis, and this particular penguin was blind in both eyes, so the keepers had to shake the bucket to let him know they were there. Next, Emily and I went on this Hagglund ride, which is the vehicles they use in Antarctica on the ice. Calling these things all-terrain vehicles does not even begin to classify them. They have wheels that run along tread-tracks, and they can move pretty quick, I think we may have gotten up to 30 or 40 km/h. This ride was really adventurous, and there were a bunch of hills we went up and down quickly, almost like roller coaster hills. We did a lot of intense turns, and then we went into the water, and submerged our vehicle halfway in it. This was a little scary because it seemed like the water was about to come crashing in. This wild and crazy ride was really fun and I am glad we got to do that. We got back from the Antarctic Centre, and immediately caught a ride out to the Christchurch gondola. This was a really cool experience, we went up to the top and could see all of Christchurch and a town called Littleton. This is a harbor town near Christchurch, and people used to walk over the huge mountains in order to get to Christchurch until two tunnels were made. Here is where I advise checking out our second vlog on the YouTube channel mentioned previously, or at the link at the bottom I will include. This vlog was taken on one of the mountains with Christchurch in the background. We journeyed back down, and saw many sheep on the mountain, as well as the damage that the Christchurch earthquake did to this rock formation on one of the other mountains (they may be just hills, but they were mountains to me).

Me at the top of the Christchurch gondola!

We got back to the city, and decided to get something to eat, and headed to a restaurant called Rock Pool. Emily and I got some nachos and some potato wedges, but the potato wedges here all come with this sweet chili sauce which is good but not the greatest on potatoes. We waited here for a while, and then ventured out back into town. We went to a place near the Botanical Gardens called North Hagley Park, where the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra was playing a concert called Classical Sparks. This was really fun, but there were a bajillion people there. It is very similar to Music in Plymouth. This orchestra played Ride of the Valkyries, the first movement of Beethoven’s 5th symphony, and they also played an arranged version of the Final Countdown for choir and orchestra, which was AWESOME. Only in NZ would they do something like that! It rained a little, but luckily tapered off quick. They say in Christchurch that you can experience all four of their seasons in one day, and this day was pretty close to that I’d say. We left the concert to go to an improvised comedy show that was really great and we had a good time at. However, we didn’t get back to our hostel until 12:00 midnight or so, and then we all took showers and got to bed quick around 1:00 a.m.

Feb 6: Today, we ventured to Orana Wildlife Park. I think this may have been one of the best zoos I will ever go to. We woke up at 8:30 and got going with breakfast and getting ready. We ended up getting off the bus shortly and trekked over to our shuttle. This day has been the hottest day I think I will ever experience. There was a nice breeze from the windows on the shuttle but it wasn’t cool at all, just nice to get the hot air circulating. We got off the bus and got our tickets validated and were on our way. This park has many different animals, such as porcupines, otters, meerkats, kiwi birds, tuataras, gibbons, spider monkeys, lemurs, lions, tigers, and cheetahs. They also have rhinoceros, water buffalo, African Wild Dogs, zebra, llamas, emus, ostriches, and plenty more! The first great event we went to was the tiger feeding. At each feeding the keeper explained a bit about what was going on with the animals in the wild, and a little about the animals that were in the park. He had this huge piece of meat on top of this really tall and large stump in the enclosure. He let the tiger out and the tiger walked around and then smelled the meat. He jumped on top of this first stump that was probably 8 feet high, and then leaped across an 8-10 foot gap to reach the stump with the food on it. It was really incredible to see the agility of this awesome cat. Next, we walked around to a few feedings, but we never got to see the kiwi bird, which apparently is very skittish, and the enclosure was so dark it was hard to see. The giraffe feeding was really fun, they gave us branches with leaves on them to feed the giraffes. Nothing is more awesome than watching a giraffe walk toward you, and then eat basically out of your hand. The giraffe I was feeding licked me, which is a little painful because their tongues are pretty hard. They wrap their tongue around the branch and then rip off the leaves with their tongue!

No zoom required for this awesome giraffe experience!

We then walked to a few more exhibits, ate lunch, and wandered off to our first encounter. This was the lemur encounter which was really awesome! The keeper cut up a few bananas, and then we got to go into the lemur exhibit and hand-feed the lemurs banana pieces! This was really an exciting experience, and the lemurs were so gentle with eating the bananas. One of the lemurs was very piggish and ate almost my entire bucket! We talked with the keepers a bit about the lemurs and had a great time feeding them bananas. Next we walked to a few more feedings, but we didn’t see a lot. The lion encounter was next, and it was AWESOME! You should really check out this vlog if you have a chance, you will not be disappointed! Basically, we were taken out in a group of 20 in the back of this truck that had a cage around us. We entered the lion exhibit, and lions immediately started asking for their food. They were doing a lot of growling, and one lion likes to jump on top of the cage, and we had a lion on top of us, which was really cool! Seriously, check out the vlog. After this we caught the shuttle to see some more animals, and went to the rhinoceros feeding, where there was a cute baby rhinoceros. We then saw the cheetah feed, which wasn’t very climactic to say the least. Finally, it was time to head for home, and we got back on the hot shuttle. I swear I sweated off a few pounds today, it was absolutely horrible. Apparently it was around 36 celsius, which transfers to +++ F and it was humid. We got back to our hostel, and grabbed some food at this fish and chips place, and I had chicken nuggets that were similar to McDonald’s, and a ton of chips, which are fries. Now I am writing this blog to all of you lovely people, and that about rounds out the day. More exciting adventures to come in a few days! Thanks for reading, cheers!