kiwi country

Rachel, Kirsty, Katie and I all took a trip to New Zealand for our mid-semester/easter/spring break…whatever you want to call it.  Rachel and I flew into Auckland on March 29th and Katie and Kirsty came on the 30th.  Little did we know our phones wouldn't work over there…it was pretty hard to find each other- but eventually we were successful.  Because of the holiday and all of the liquor license laws, the nightlife was more than uneventful.  We got in around 11 and the bars opened up at midnight (they were closed for good Friday but opened again on Saturday).  We sat in a completely empty bar and got a few drinks and then decided to head home.  On Saturday we took a ferry to Waiheke Island.  It was gorgeous and extremely green.

Wine tasting

Saturday night Rachel and I went to a few different bars and we ended up meeting a local named Jade.  He was really nice and showed us around for the whole night.

Jade and his "Bro Mob" shirt…

The next morning the 4 of us left Auckland and headed to Tauranga.  I think that Tauranga was my favorite place that we visited in the North Island of New Zealand.  It reminded me a lot of the little beach towns in Oregon.  We got had a really good dinner at a restaurant/bar next to our hostel and got hit on by 45 year old men…per usual.  When we were getting ready to head out a guy with a huge red fro came over and asked if we wanted to go to the house that he and his "musician friends" were staying at.  It didn't sound like a good idea, but then he mentioned that it was Phil Rudd's (ACDC drummer) old recording studio.  Ginger fro told us that it was "right down the road" so we all thought it was a good idea.  We got in the car and ended up driving for at least 45 minutes!!  Probably not our smartest move…

Anyway, it was a really cool house and the guys played a little jam sesh for us and I got to play the maraca!  The cab ride home ended up being a whopping $120…NOT worth it.

Jammin!

The next day we did a gorgeous hike up Mt. Maunganui which overlooks the Bay of Plenty.  

After Tauranga we went to Rotorua, the geothermal capital of New Zealand. The town smells like sulfur but you get used to it after a while.  We went white water rafting the first day and the second day we went to a Polynesian Geothermal Spa, as well as walked around a park looking at boiling mud baths and natural thermal areas.

We spent our last 2 nights back in Auckland.  We took a hike up Mt. Eden.  It looked like something out of Sound of Music, it was incredible!

And our last night we went to an Ice Bar.  The bar, stools, cups, etc were all made out of ice!  It wasn't worth the cover charge but it was a tourist must-do…

We had a great vacation but I think we are all glad to be back in Australia, and now, I need to go write a paper!!

xx Michelle