It feels good to be home after all my traveling. I left Australia on the 14th of June. It was so sad to leave but from there we went to New Zealand for a week to learn about the indigenous Maori culture and I was pretty excited for that. The culture and feel of New Zealand is very different from Australia and it helped with the transition back home to the states.
above: looking out over Davenport and the city of Aucklandbelow: a view of the countryside through the bus window
New Zealand is GORGEOUS!!! The countryside and beaches make you feel like you are in the middle of a movie set! Maori culture is also extremely interesting. We learned a lot about it in the short time we had on the island. All our time was spent on the north island, starting and ending in Auckland- NZ's biggest city. Auckland was kinda cool and I got to go bungee jumping off their harbour bridge, but I much preferred the country.
Our trip included staying one night with an actual Maori community, experiencing a traditional hangi meal, having a couple lectures, going to a Maori cultural show, visiting museums, touring villages, going to see geothermal geysers, hiking around ancient volcanoes that are now grassy mountains... you get the picture.
Well that was last week, and now this week I'm home and enjoying the warmth of summer once again! (It was getting really cold by the time I left Australia and New Zealand was absolutely freezing most of the week!). Culture shock hasn't been too bad (although I did have some issues walking along the wrong side of the sidewalk) and jet-lag is just starting to set in.
While I was in Australia I tried not to spend too much time at my computer so I really didn't do a very complete job of explaining all I did and learned. Now that I have more time, I plan on filling in a bit of the details and sharing more pictures and stories. So stay tuned- this isn't the last post!
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