Cape Reinga

This weekend was truly an adventure. Maura, Kevin, Joe, Henry, and I went on the three day tramping trip at the very north tip of NZ at Cape Reinga. We slept in a tent pretty tiny tent, cooked packaged food on the beach, and saw the most amazing views I think I've ever seen in my life.

Day 1. Four hours of mostly coastal walking followed by about 3 hours of ridiculous up- and down-hill.

Pitching a tent at the campsite right on the beach

Day 2.

This was the first thing we saw in the morning.

This lighthouse marks the tip of the North Island and the spot where the Maori believe the souls of the dead travel to the afterlife.

Descending from the lighthouse we came upon a beach and truly looked completely untouched.

Our unofficial campsite for night number 2.

Dinner and a light show.

Day 3.

On the last day the trip we ended with some hard core stream bashing (also known as a slow and completely exhausted 4 hours sloshing in the mud)

Lastly, on the drive home we stopped by these famous toilets which I proudly used.

Pacifika Fest

New Zealand is very close to the Pacific Islands and there are tons of Pacific Islanders living here. Every year there's a huge Pacifika Fest to celebrate the diversity of island cultures. Each island has a section of the huge park to put up anywhere from 10 to 35 booths selling food, crafts, etc. At each "island" there was also a main stage where traditional dances and music were being performed. It rained on us, but it was definitely worth it.

My amazing Tongan lunch.

Coconut ice cream in a pineapple. So good!

The Maori Haka (warrior dance).

Samoan dancer.

Tramping Club Orientation Weekend

This past weekend I went on my first tramping trip. (Tramping = hiking for those who might think otherwise!) Maura (the roomie) convinced me to join the university Tramping Club and this weekend about 80 trampers went to the Waitakere Ranges to hike and spend the night. I bought some hiking boots (and was so grateful I did!) and borrowed a backpack just like a real tramper and Maura even taught me how to pack it (Food, rain jacket, sleeping bag, everything!). We left on the bus at 9am Saturday and spent the day hiking up to the club's cabin in the woods. It was definitely the muddiest adventure of my life. There were times where we were literally ankle-deep in mud and other times where there was so much uphill with that heavy backpack that I thought this would certainly be my first and last tramp ever.

We reached the hut around 2 and then a few of us went down to the stream. As frolick-y as that may sound the trek down to the stream was a thirty minute slide down a very steep slope of mud and trees and we reached the stream completely encased in mud...it was seriously awesome! You'd think that everyone would be exhausted that night but there was such a party that night. People brought all sorts of alcohol and music and stayed up until partying until 3am (personally I didn't make it past 11:30).The next day we cleaned up the cabin and packed the tents and hiked another 3 hours down to Piha beach where we finally dried out our muddy boots/feet and cleaned some of our stench off in the ocean. From there we took a bus back to the city and made it back just in time for another Whitaker Place BBQ. Now I'm back at the apartment rubbing potions on my burns and bug bites and plastering bandaids on my blisters and cuts. I can't wait to do it again.

Crazy hut games.
Piha Beach.

Waitomo Caves

This past weekend 4 friends and I rented a car and drove 3 hours south to the Waitomo Caves. With a guide we abseiled into a 30 meter deep cave where we spent 4 hours trekking up the subterranean river and then floating back down the river on intertubes. When we turned off our headlights and trek around in the dark we could see literally millions of tiny little glowworms on the ceiling of the cave. It looked just like a milkyway. There were even eels in the water and hairy spiders on the wall and I braved through it all. To get out of the cave we rock climbed back up the 30 meters on a steep and slippery wall which was exhausting and wonderful. All these photos were taken by our guide.

Dressed to impress.

Abseiling down.

Floating down the river.

Squeezing through mini caves.

They rock wall where we climbed out of the cave.