Queenstown, New Zealand

My first adventure was to Queenstown, New Zealand.

Queenstown is a four hour drive from Dunedin.  Luckily my flatmate Petra, and friend, Ondrej, had purchased a lovely old Audi for the semester which we we took to Queenstown.  As a side note, I should explain that it is common for exchange students, and local students, to purchase cars for a semester and sell it before they leave.  The cars are traded for, on average,  $1,500 NZ... which works out to approximately $1,220 CDN.  Driving is the easiest way to travel around New Zealand since busing and renting cars can be either expensive or inconvenient.  Therefore, buying a car, strangely enough, tends to be the cheaper option.  Usually people buy a car in a group and commit to sharing the car and traveling together throughout the semester.  Since my travel schedule is a bit different than some of my friends, I am not planning on buying a car and will opt for the busing/renting option.  I should note, though, that they drive on the opposite side of the street here, which can make driving an adventure in itself!

Back to Queenstown!  Queenstown is a magnificent ski/party town that reminds me a lot of Whistler, BC with a touch of Lake Como, Italy landscape.  Queenstown is popular for extreme sports of all kinds including bungy jumping and sky diving or,  if you are an adventure-seeking-wimp like myself, jet boating!!!

We arrived at our hostel at around 10pm and spent our first night partying at World Bar.  Some of our Aussie room-mates from the hostel joined us!  One of them had, once upon a time, been planning to go to UofT and had his UofT ID handy- what a small world!

The following day,  I woke up early to "scope out" my adventure plans for the weekend.  I also walked into town, had my first look at beautiful Queenstown, and ate at Starbucks... aahhhh home!!!

Once everyone was dressed and (FINNNAALLYYY) gathered and ready to depart, we all began a LOOONNNGGG hike up the Ben Lamond trail.  The hike, round trip, was supposed to take 6 hours.  I excitedly strapped on my newly purchased hiking boots and hiking gear, but I don't think I realized what I was in for...  My friends were all prepared with packed lunches (sandwiches and the like), whereas I brought along a handful of almonds for a snack along the way.  Although I had little to eat when we stopped for lunch, I was the lucky one that packed light without a backpack to lug up the hill.  I think in the end it was a smart decision.

The views from the trail were absolutely stunning!!!  It made the 3.5 hour climb up the mountain truly worth every step.  We climbed above the treeline and looked out at gorgeous mountains jetting out of waters.  When we got high enough, the terrain got fairly snowy and icy and it started to get colder and colder.  That's when I knew I needed warmer hiking gear for next time.

When we were approximately 1 hour from the peak we decided to turn around and head back down.  Although part of me wanted to finish the climb, I was pretty exhausted and wanted to make it in time for "the luge" (which was a blast-- and a bonus because a very nice man that Ondrej befriended gave us free tickets).

Later that night I ate a delicious burger from Queenstown's favourite burger joint-- FergBurger.  The burger was larger than my head and, had I known that, I probably would not have purchased the fries to go with it.  Petra, Sina and I later partied again and World Bar and then headed to bed rather early given that we were exhausted from out hike.

The next day, I woke up bright and early to call home at an internet cafe and get prepared for my BIG, SCARY, EXTREME SPORT ADVENTURE... JET BOATING.  Okay, so I know that it's not as wild as the Nevis Bungy (the second highest bungy in the world-- located in Queenstown), or the Canyon Swing (another popular bungy in Queenstown Cambrae conquered) but it was nevertheless an EXTREME and FUN adventure.  They bused me out to this canyon where we hopped on a jet boat that sped  extremely fast down a very narrow canyon.... Juuuuustttt missing the rock walls by an inch!!!  We did 360 degree spins along the way and I got a bad-ass picture to show for it!!!

Later that day we walked around the town in Queenstown, and then began driving back to Dunedin.  On the way home we stopped in Arrowstown to see the old Chinese settlement (which was sub-par) and grabbed a bite to eat.  Cambrae got harrassed by a random guy who tried to, literally, pick her up over his shoulder... while his friends stood and laughed in the sidelines.  Lucky Cmabrae duked it out!!!  CRAZY KIWIS!!!

The Botanical Gardens and Signal Hill

Duck at the Botanical Gardens

 Despite my ramblings about Dunedin being a drunken student town, it is also a gorgeous little town.  Petra and I spent time walking through the Botanical Gardens (a five minute walk from our flat) and looking at the exotic birds in the cages. 

Kea Bird (one of the most clever birds)

Botanical Garden

 We then climbed up to Signal Hill for a breathtaking view of Dunedin.

White Sheep (and Black Sheep) spotted on our hike to Signal Hill

Hiking up to Signal Hill

View of Dunedin Harbour

View of Dunedin Harbour

Law Student Cocktail Event

I should first apologize for the blue-dress and black tight combo.  Mommy and friends... I am aware that this is not the fashion these days.  This is just my way of rebelling from across the world... KIDDING!!!  It was so cold I just couldn't imagine going bare leg.

Anyhow, since the Mystery Bus Tour was SUCH a blast, I attended the law student cocktail event just a few days later. 
 This time, a number of other international students also attended, and we partied the night away!!!

Law Student "Mystery Bus Tour"

The Law Student "Mystery Bus Tour" (a.k.a. pub crawl) was one of my most enjoyable nights thus far.  Along with a friend of mine, Marketa, I attended this event which is put on my the law students at the school.

At first, I was nervous that Marketa and I might be out-of-place since we were the only international students attending the event, and since we did not dress up in costume as the event had called for.  In reality, once the students found out that we were international students they immediately took us under their wing, introduced us to all of their friends, and showed us how the Kiwis party.  I guess you could say that we were dressed up as "foreigners".

Our tour began at 5:30 and included 4 bars (I couldn't make it to the 5th which was, believe it or not, a Karaoke bar).  In between each stop we were given alcohol infused energy drinks to keep us going strong.

I could not believe how friendly and inviting they were!  There wasn't a moment where we were left alone because everyone was constantly coming up to talk to us and make sure that we were having a good time.











The night commenced with a dance off to a number of pop songs including Carly Rae Jepson's "Call Me Maybe"...  wouldn't be a party without it!!!  Some of the dancing got a bit riske.

Sailing in the Harbour

As you all probably know, I love to sail.  Luckily, I had the opportunity to set out to sail the Otago Harbour on a gorgeous day!!!  Although a large tanker threatened to cross my path, I managed to maneuver the boat in the right direction. 

A Week in Dunedin

The Journey to the Land Down Under...and East

I have yet to calculate how long it took me to arrive here. If I were to do so, should I account for the fact that my journey thrust me into the future by one full day-- a full 16 hours ahead of Toronto? Either way, after a stopover in LA and a layover in Auckland, NZ (which by the way is a nice city where I had the chance to drink coffee and call home), I finally arrived in Dunedin, NZ.-- my launching pad for the next 4.5 months.

The highlights of my journey over included:

(1) Sleeping for a full 10 straight hours on the long-haul flight to Auckland and

(2) The flight from Auckland to Dunedin. This 737 airplane reminded me exactly of the ViaRail train from Toronto to London. It was an entire flight full of undergraduate students returning to university after their winter break. The kids, a.k.a. my fellow colleagues, were all pumped up and ready for "re-orientation week". I should have known what I was in for when I got to talking with a nice young boy who sat next to me on the plane. He wasn't sure whether school started this week or next.

Dunedin, New Zealand

As I have already indicated, Dunedin, NZ is London, Ontario's sister city --albeit more scenic.




It is a small town populated, so it seems, entirely by university students who are constantly drunk and partying. Students live in "flats" which are largely unkempt homes without central heating. Locking the front door is taboo or else an unnecessary precaution. Never mind locking your door, why not just leave the thing wide open? I guess if your house looks totally trashed and abandoned it wouldn't be desirable to a criminal anyhow. But I don't want to give off the impression that people do not take pride in their homes around the neighbourhood. In fact, many students design plaques to be placed on their homes to repreeeeseeennnttt. "The Pink Pussy" and "The Debacle" or "Shlong Palace" are are few of my fav's.

My Awesome "Flat"

I live in a very dangerous area... RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET from the most well known international threat... McDonalds. I'm happy to report that I have only indulged once since my arrival (the first night). I think that is the greatest victory of my journey thus far.

For the most part, students at the University of Otago live in “flats” located around campus. In NZ flats refer to houses rather than apartment buildings. I am living in a flat with 3 other girls: Petra from the Czech Republic, Sani from Fiji, and Rachel, a local Kiwi (a.k.a. our Kiwi Host). I am very fortunate to have such nice flatmates and an amazingly clean and new flat!


This is me and Petra...

Petra and I

The Weather

Believe it or don't... but it gets pretty damn cold and rainy in the south of NZ. The weather hear hovers around 5-10 degrees Celsius. That isn't too bad if you come from Canada. But since the homes have no insulation or central heating, keeping warm can be QUITE the feat. Most students rely on hot watter bottles, space heaters, or electric blankets to keep warm... some of which are known to rack up quite expensive utility bills.

Law Classes

Most of my classes were canceled in the first few weeks of lecture for a variety of reasons. My classes include: Law of Emerging Technologies, International Criminal Court (taught by a Canadian prof!), Energy Law, and Environmental Law. Energy and Environmental are highly boring thus far, but the Law of Emerging Technolgies and International Criminal Court are quite interesting.

The best part of all... 8 hours of class per week!!! Can you say part-time student and travel ops?

Highlights from Week 1

1)   Getting Lost on my Way to Ross Creek: Another exchange student, Sina (from Norway) suggested that I jog to Ross Creek- a very beautiful water reservoir. I tried mapping my adventure on google maps, but sure enough, I got lost along the way. After asking about 15 different people for directions, I finally found it. It was worth the trek, although it was a bit cold outside. A beautiful little river runs down the hill, and there is a hiking trail in the woods alongside the water. It’s a really nice walk and I hope to go back!

2)   Queer Support Wine and Cheese: The other week, some of the international students were going on and on about attending this "Wine and Cheese". I later saw signs on campus that read... "Queer Support Wine and Cheese". I was a bit puzzled but quickly went along my merry way and forgot about it. We later attended this wine and cheese that took place in a small room on campus with an overhead projector and screen blasting songs such as "Baby I was born this way"... (and later some Justin Bieber- awesome). I should have clued in when I saw the sign but I totally forgot. OH DEAR.

3)   International Pot Luck followed by Partying in Dunedin: Despite the fact that I despise pot-lucks, I must admit that we put together a pretty awesome pot-luck dinner at our flat!  Everyone who attended was asked to prepare a dish that is local to their home country.  I prepared none other than a traditional poutine dish—fries, gravy, and mozzarella cheese.  Although I went a little lite on the gravy, I think they were overall well received.  Other dishes at the pot luck included: Bambouraka (Czech version of a latkah), meat pie (Kiwi), Kentucky Fried Chicken (American), Meat Balls and Potatoes (prepared Norwegian style),  apple pie (American).

Left-Right:  Marketa (Czech Republic), Petra (Czech Republic), Rachel (Kiwi)

me

Left- Right:  Sani (Fiji), me :)

Later everyone headed into town, and I ended up on a mini bar-tour with Sani, Kolbrun (Icelandic girl who lived in our flat last semester) and her boyfriend Kothry (I have no idea how to spell his name).

4)   New Zealand’s Got Talent: On Sunday night I attended the official auditions for New Zealand’s Got Talent. We were the audience members and we had to pretend to clap at something really exciting, and then do a medium clap so that the cameras could film us. That part was fairly annoying... but the people auditioning were really good!!! My favourite act was this girl who did a pole-dance. This girl has serious muscles and really legitimized pole-dancing as a sport in my mind. Apparently they are trying to add pole-dancing to the Olympics...wow!!!




Cheers to Week 1!!!