February 14th- Day 7

Today was our first full day in Lincoln. This morning we planned the rest of our week. Tomorrow we plan on heading into Christchurch and catching a ride on Naked Bus. We will travel on down to Queenstown where we should arrive around 6:30pm. We have already made room reservation at Base Queenstown for four nights in the female dormitories. Wednesday morning we plan on heading out to go bungy jumping. I was able to get a combo deal for two jumps, one off of Ledge Bungy, and the other off of Nevis Bungy. The Nevis is the largest bungy in the world and we plan on doing that Thursday. So we should have a fun filled week of adventures.
This afternoon we had arrived in Christchurch and we walked the streets to see some of the sites. Our first stop was the Cathedral Square.

 This is the Christchurch Cathedral, located in Cathedral Square which is also know as the heart of Christchurch.

 Throughout the Square there are numerous sculptures of animals.

 Since the year 2000, The Chalice, a large piece of modern sculpture in the form of an inverted cone, has stood in the square subverting the shape of the spire that rises above the cathedral. The Chalice, designed by prominent New Zealand artist Neil Dawson, is made up of forty-two leaf patterns featuring different native plants

 Each year Christchurch holds the annual Festival of Flowers. It is known as the Garden City and inside the Cathedral is a long flowered carpet where there are numerous designs and forms created from the flowers.

 This is only a section of the flower carpet, but you can see the detail and the amount of flowers involved.

 This is a photo of the front of the Cathedral.

 Another photo of the Cathedral from the Square.

This is one of numerous sculptures around the Square surrounding the Cathedral.

Tomorrow we plan on heading further south on the island where we will embark on journey of a lifetime.

February 13th -Day 6

Yesterday we traveled to Christchurch, it is located on the southern island. We flew out of New Plymouth at 12:30 and landed in Wellington at 1:20. We then had to run through the airport to catch our next flight to Christchurch at 1:40. Once we landed we met a man from the University and he gave us a ride back to Lincoln University. They gave us our room keys and we started unpacking.

 This is a photo taken from the plane on our way from Wellington to Christchurch.

 My new headquarters for the next 5 months

 My desk

The Centennial Hall kitchen, located next to my room.

Yesterday was full of excitment. We finally reached our long term destination. After unpacking we took a walk to the local super market and stocked up on some granola bars and roman noodles. The cafeteria was open last night and we were able to get a decent meal ( its better than what I had in Kansas).
Today we are making plans to head on down to Queenstown for a couple days before school starts.

February 12th -Day 5

Today we are getting ready to head down to the southern island. We will be flying out tomorrow into Christchurch and will end up staying in the area until school starts. This morning we headed to another beach and continued our shell hunting extravaganza. All along the beach we found Oyster shells and Paua shells. 

 This was our first stop this morning, and our final shot at shell hunting for the stay here in New Plymouth/ Inglewood.

 This is one of the bags of shells that we collected today. We found numerous Oyster and Paua shells all along the coast.

 After shell hunting, we were waiting to take Carolyn's mom grocery shopping so we stopped of by another look out point and got a good view with the seagulls.

 After we finished shopping Carolyn took us to a local lake back off the main roads, its a piece of government ground.

 This is a Paua Shell, these are what we spent two days hunting for. Pāua is the Māori name given to three species of large edible sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs which belong to the family Haliotidae (there is only genus Haliotis), known in the United States and Australia as abalone, and in the United Kingdom as ormer shells.

Tomorrow afternoon we will be flying from New Plymouth to Wellington to Christchurch. Christchurch is where Lincoln University is located and where we will be going to school. Once we get to Christchurch we have plans for the University to pick us up at the airport and we plan on heading further south before the semester begins on the 28th.

February 11th- Day 4

Today is day four in New Zealand. We are planning on traveling to Stratford this morning, Carolyn has an interview there so in the mean time me and Liza will be touring the area and getting ideas for the days adventure. We first go to the i-Site. They are located all across New Zealand and are basically just information centers. Afterwards we walk the town. 

 Stratford is also known as the Shakespearian Town. It is home to the largest Glokenspieal. At certain times during the day the clock will ring and the brown doors/windows will open up revealing the human figures in the tower.

 After lunch we headed to go see our first lighthouse! This is a lighthouse attached to a sea rescue center off of the Tasman Sea.

 While we were at the rescue center we had decided to do a little pua shell hunting. Along the way we ran into several crabs.

 This is one of the well known lighthouses in the area. It is Mt. Edmond Lighthouse. Its located just off the Tasman Sea and is surrounded by beautiful landscapes with cattle and sheep.

 After lighthouse hunting we ended up at Lucy's Gully. It is an isolated mtn area that contains a lot of Kiwi birds.

This is my favorite photo thus far of my New Zealand experience. This picture I took off of Oakura beach around 7pm. I do love the beaches here, there not very busy and still very soothing. This was our first time watching the locals surf.
After our traveling for the day, we decided to go get "tea", thats what the local New Zealand call diner. Carolyn took us to a place in Inglewood where we got the fish, the fish they use is called Gurnard. With the fish and chips we got Ginger Beer ( a local soda similar to Ginger Ale), and also pineapple fritters (fried pineapple slices). We brought the food back and watched Journey to the Center of the Earth at Carolyns.

February 10th- Day 3

 This is a photo from the evening of the 9th. We were out at Carolyn's daughters house. They let us go out there to use there internet. This is a local volcano named Mt. Edmond. It has not erupted for 250 years, but they say it is still active.
Today Carolyn is taking us all around New Plymouth. Our first stop is a local park/zoo.

 This is a photo of the water fountain at the park. All around the park ducks wonder, and your able to sit down at a little cafe near the water to feed them.

 One of the many bridges located in the park.

 The waterfall located near the parks cafe

 This is a picture of a chinese gazebo located in the chinese gardens right outside of the zoo.

 After visiting the zoo Carolyn took us along the shore. In this picture we are looking out onto a Sugar Loaf Mtn.

Taking pictures with both of the Sugar Loaf Mtns. New Plymouth does offer a boat ride out to see the base of the Sugar Loafs. There are several seals at the base of the loafs.

February 9th-Day 2

Today Liza and I are taking a bus (Naked Bus) to New Plymouth. We were able to have a connection with  a Christian writer, Carolyn Ann Aish and we will be staying at her home for several days. She will take us around the New Plymouth area and show us the sights.

 This is some of the country side that we saw on our bus trip to New Plymouth. Everything is very green and it is mostly agriculture, not developed. There are many sheep and cattle next to the ocean.

 During our lunch break we stopped at Mokau, this is our first sight of Sea.

 Once we got to New Plymouth Carolyn picked us up at the bus stop and took us straight to the Tasman Sea. In the photo is a wind wand. A local artist made it, so you tell the direction of the wind.

This is another photo of the Tasman Sea. Here in New Zealand they have black sand, also called Iron Sand. It all around this area.

Carolyn took us to meet some of her family that evening and we came back to her place where me and Liza have been staying in a camper trailer.  We do plan on being here for a couple more days, and then head on down to Christchurch.

February 8th-Day 1

Our plane landed on February 8th at Auckland airport at 5am. After we got through customs and collected our baggage we got a ride on the Airbus and it dropped us off at our "hotel". In NZ they have backpacking hotels which are a lot cheaper than regular ones. We were staying at ACB and it contained 500 rooms0 mostly dorm style. Well we couldnt check in until after 2pm. So we took to the streets of Auckland.
We looked everywhere for an internet cafe, however here they charge you about $3 an hour to use internet.
After catching up on our emails we had a free dinner at ACB and ending up going to the park for a nights walk.

 This is Sky City, he tallest building in Auckland. You could take a bungy jump off of it or a sky walk.

A water fountain at Albert Park near Auckland University