I thought that a blog might be the easiest way for me to keep in touch with everyone. So I will do my best to keep you updated with my travels and experiences!
So my trip thus far…
After flying for close to 24 hours we landed in Auckland where we met up with Kate and Jane (They are the program directors here, and SUPER nice.) There are 17 of us going through the Arcadia program. I am the only actual Arcadia student; everyone else is from around the country. So we dropped our bags off at the first hotel and grabbed a quick shower. Since we landed at 6am the goal of the first day was to stay up as long as possible and beat jet lag. So we started by walking around the city. Auckland is unlike any other city I have ever seen. For starters it is unbelievably clean. There is no gum or cigarette butts on the ground and everyone is very friendly. They showed us Alpert Park as we wondered around.
This is a tree in Alpert Park. Almost all the trees here look like this. SO different!
After we got lunch, we hopped on the bus and headed over the harbor bridge to North Head. North Head is a dormant volcano that served as a military base some time ago. The beach below was absolutely breath taking and the view from the top was even better.
This is the beach you walk across to get to the bottom of the hill.
This is a few of us posing from inside a hollow part of the hill.
And here is a view from the top! Unfortunately, pictures do not capture the real beauty.
So after climbing back down we headed over to the sky tower and rode to the top. The view from here was even better. As you walk around the top you can see every direction... including straight down through the glass floors. This was so neat!
... A view from the top!
We ended the first day with pizza at a really nice pizza restaurant. Most of us were shocked by how small the pizzas were. We ordered large pies and they were what we could consider personal pies, or appetizers in the US. After dinner we went back to the hotel and we were asleep by 7pm! I don't think I have ever been so tired in my life.
I am hoping to update this as exciting things happen. For those of you who do not have it, here is my email address: amcilv2526@comcast.net
I will be uploading all my pictures to this site for you to see, so check it out!
http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/share/p=127121278996063218/l=1651661027/g=3322457027/cobrandOid=1000/otsc=SYE/otsi=SAER
Allie your NZ adventure is amazing! Can't wait to hear about your school program too! The sight seeing is over the top...FYI: your family can Zorb near the Great Smokey Mt. National Park....your mom would do it! Hope all is well, we are thinking of you a lot! Love Carol
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