Aotearoa. Translating to "land of the long white cloud," the word used by the native Maori people to call their home: New Zealand. Before I dive into how absolutely amazing my New Zealand experience was, here is a great story full of miscommunication and confusion. It all started when we arrived to terminal 2 at the Melbourne airport, the international terminal, the terminal for international flights. We check in at the Jetstar kiosk and go through security, having all four of our bags checked for liquid amounts. We finally get through security and head to passport patrol, only to be stopped, as our passports would not register. A security officer asks to see our boarding passes, and tells us we are supposed to be at terminal 4 since we have a transfer in Sydney, which is a domestic flight. Confused but going with it, we head to terminal 4, go through security, have our bags checked yet again and finally get through to the gates to sit down and rest. About an hour goes by where we grab some food, and I decide to see if our gate number has been posted. Well, our gate number has not been posted and, in fact, our flight is nowhere on the board. I ask a security guard about it and he is just as confused as I am, and tells us to talk to the Jetstar staff at the information desk. So, we leave the terminal, head to the info desk, where we are told we are supposed to be flying out of terminal 4. But our flights not on the board?? After about 30 minutes of back and forth and confused info desk workers, we get told we were supposed to be in terminal 2 all along. Annoyed, with an hour before our flight leaves, we run back to terminal 2 and pass through security for the third time (finally with only having one bag flagged for checking), go through passport control and make it to our gate just as they call for our flight to board. We then make it to Sydney, have a five-hour layover, get on a cramped plane for three hours, make it to Christchurch, New Zealand just to find out our checked luggage is still in Sydney. We got our luggage two days later but man, I do not think I have ever had a more chaotic travel experience. Long story short: you get what you pay for... Now, back to the better part of our trip. I can honestly say I do not think I have ever come across a country more naturally beautiful than New Zealand. While many western countries are known to suppress their native roots, New Zealand embraces them with open arms - celebrating the indigenous Maori people and traditions, using the eastern Polynesian language and culture in everyday life. The topography of New Zealand was formed by volcanic eruptions and glaciation (or by the Maui tale - see Moana for context), making it a natural beauty. We stayed in the city of Christchurch for our five-day adventure and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. The city itself is quaint and cute, full of shopping centers, parks and demolished buildings. The demolished buildings are not necessarily "cute," but they add to the history of the country that is being written each and every day. Christchurch has a history of earthquakes, suffering from a 4,558 episode from 2010 to 2014, leading to the loss of countless lives and mass destruction throughout the city. Since this episode, the city is slowly but surely rebuilding. We spent a good amount of time exploring the city, including the beautiful botanic gardens. In addition the exploring the city, we took advantage of the convenient public transport system to adventure around the surrounding areas. We took a bus to Sumner Beach, discovering the quaint little town and natural rock caves. Rock climbing is not my strong suit, but I slowly made it on top of the cave to gaze upon the vast ocean and the beautiful town built along the mountain. The antithesis of the new, modern houses built along the natural, antiquated land is truly a magnificent site. We also took a bus through the port hills to the Port of Lyttleton, where we took a ferry across to Diamond Harbour, told to be named because one of the early settlers observed the sun reflecting on the water and thought it looked like a thousand shining diamonds. And yes, the myth of the name says it all. We spent a day exploring the nature trails along the harbour. I have never been more keen to walk for hours - the pictures say it all. We also took the Christchurch gondola up the valley and caught a glimpse of the Chirstchurch cityscape, the Canterbury Plains, the Southern Alps and the Banks Peninsula. A sight that did not disappoint. Thank you for sharing your beauty, New Zealand. I hope to be back someday. xoxo, Samantha PS: In reference to my last post, I thankfully came home to no unwanted critters running around my room :)
0 Comments
Welcome to the most random list of advice. Ever. In light of my current adventure to New Zealand, I figured I would post some pre-traveling tips for a short trip that have saved my life (literally). It is hard to think of everything you have to do to plan a trip amidst studying and the chaos of life in general, so hopefully this toggles your mind on random, easily forgotten stuff!
Obviously this list does not account for everything that needs to be done before you take your weekend adventure, but I found that more often than not, these tips are commonly forgotten beforehand and can lead to a disastrous trip. I am posting this as I sit in the airport, realizing that I forgot to take my trash out. A prime example as to why I should have reread this post before I left. Hopefully my empty box of Tim Tams does not attract any unwanted visitors... Stay tuned. xoxo, Samantha Stressed is an understatement. Week 8 of 12 is approaching, and it's starting to dawn on me that the semester (and my time here) is almost halfway finished. How?! I feel like I stepped off the plane yesterday. So much has happened within the past two months, it's so hard to wrap my brain around it all. I've been here for two months!!! It's so surreal to me. And of course with the semester quickly winding down, assignments are piling up, and my stress levels are through the roof. I'm currently writing this article with a charcoal face mask on, and The Greatest Showman soundtrack blaring in the background. Self-care mode has commenced. I always find myself turning to unhealthy coping mechanisms as a way of dealing with stress and anxiety. And by unhealthy I mean locking myself in my room, binge-watching Supernatural on Netflix and stuffing my face with popcorn until I can't procrastinate my work any longer. It always seems like such a good idea at the time until I start having to pull all-nighters just to get my assignments finished on time, adding way more stress than necessary. I reckon this isn't the most efficient studying method. Thankfully, I'm trying to take a different and (hopefully) more beneficial approach to deal with the intensity of the end of this semester. Fingers crossed! I have four 10-page research papers and a photography portfolio project due at the end of October. I hate having everything due at the same time, I never know what to start with or even when I should start working on them. From now until then, I'm trying to work on one assignment at a time and get them done well before the due dates. It sounds like a good enough plan in my head so why not try, right? I've started working on one paper and my photography portfolio, so hopefully the motivation carries on until the very end. If I can keep this progress up, I'm definitely rewarding myself with a Supernatural marathon. Without a doubt. A month and a half sounds like a good amount of time to get all of this accomplished, but unfortunately the upcoming breaks are my prime traveling times. I have a few trips planned before the end of the semester that I'm so so so excited for, but I feel like these final assignments will be giving me nightmares until I get them done. Obviously my trip planning is not the most ideal or efficient, but I am determined to make it work with my schedule. It sucks when you realize that studying abroad isn't all fun and games. Finding an opportune balance between work and fun here seems nearly impossible - I want to explore the country as much as I can, but I also need to focus on my studies. I feel like it's easy to get caught up in the novelty of exploring a new country and just completely forget the whole reason you're abroad. The rest of the semester is going to be absolutely insane, so stay tuned to see how I make out with dealing with everything and for an update on my upcoming trip to New Zealand this week! This is my first real trip here, and I'm so excited. I've heard so many great things about the country and I can't wait to explore it firsthand! In the meantime, if you ever feel stressed like me, here are some pictures of cute Australian wildlife I've encountered so far :) xoxo, Samantha |
AuthorHi, I'm Sam. Welcome to my blog! Archives
September 2018
Categories |