Day 5 New Zealand

We spent two nights in Christchurch then drove further down the east coast to Dunedin (pronounced "duh-nee-din") where we also spent two nights. Driving through New Zealand is like what I imagine the Midwest to be in that it seems every bit of land is fenced off and being farmed, but instead of flat and boring, its green and rolling and instead of wheat and corn it's cows and sheep. In fact, I've eaten both since being here. Seeing the wide open, grassy farms I'm confident that the animals on the plates here have been treated humanely. Even from the MacDonald's... Yup, I had a cheeseburger from McD's. Can't remember the last time I had that. The dairy here is also fresh and cheap, so we've been snacking on bread and brie during our road trips--like mother, like daughter.

Yesterday from Dunedin we drove to the Otaga Peninsula to see penguins. We saw sea lions blubber onto the beach and roll around in the sand just meters in front of us. From a hide, we were able to see an endangered yellow-eyed penguin crawl out of its home/hole in the cliff for some air. At one lookout on our trip we saw a blue penguin, which is the smallest of all 18 penguin species, darting around in the water. It was hard to follow since it didn't stay up long, would shoot down and disappear into the depths, and then pop back up in random places. But it was so cool to see.

Later on in the day we decided to take a tour, which seemed a little pricey but ended up being totally worth it. First of all, it was just the two of us and the guide on an ATV, so it felt like a personal tour. He took us to a fur seal nursery that cannot be accessed by the public. It was one of the cutest places I've ever been. There were seal pups all around us. One came flopping down the road right in front of us to slide into the pond nearby. Then we went into a hide that brought us so close to the seals, we could've touched them. It was amazing. We could've spent all day there. But we eventually pulled ourselves away to go to Penguin Beach, also off limits to the public and is one of the few places in the world where yellow-eyed penguins nest. There was a bunch standing on the beach and some resting near their nests. Too far for photos, but close enough for binoculars to give us a good view of their colors.

Today we're on our way to Queenstown, which is considered the adventure capital of the world. Perhaps some bungee jumping?

Dance O Mat

A group in Christchurch called Gap Filler that made the pallet café built an outdoor dance floor complete with disco ball. Next to the dance floor they converted an old washing machine into a music player called the Dance o Mat. The push coin slot accepts two dollar coins and will then allow for 30 minutes of use of the jack under the lid that can plug into any MP3 device such as an iPod, smart phone, etc. This is clearly the best invention ever.

They had a sign up for groups that wanted to reserve it, but when we passed no one was using it. I figured it would be one of those things I'd regret if I didn't give it a try. After the panic of not knowing what song to choose, I went with the Bangles' Walk Like an Egyptian. Apparently, having an entire dance floor to myself turns my dance style into one similar to the Tazmanian Devil's. Austin took video as passerbys stared and wondered what the heck they were seeing. I was having the best time. I so wished for my girls--can you imagine all the fun we'd have?! Hopefully so much fun that people would join in instead of stare. I only had the guts to do one song by myself that day, but we'll be going back to Christchurch.

The Dance o Mat is my new favorite invention, and I would like to build one in Honolulu, AKA every city I live in for the rest of my life.

Day 2 in New Zealand

I still can't believe we're here. I see signs that say "New Zealand" and think to myself, "that's so exotic, wouldn't it be fun to go there... Oh wait, never mind." Old habits...

We had a brief layover in Aukland on the North Island and then continued on to Christchurch on the South Island where we'll be spending the rest of our trip.

Austin loved Christchurch when he visited a few years back and everyone else he knows who has been had only the best things to say about it. However, that was before the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011. Not to say I don't love it, but the central business district (CBD), which was the center of this quaint, hip city, is now cordoned off because of the damaged and unsafe structures. Taking a natural disaster course this semester is giving me more insight into the events that took place here, and this city is giving me more insight into my class. We went to a quake museum yesterday to learn about what happened. Reportedly, even though the February 2011 quake was only a M 6.3, the way it caused the soil to move created the most ground movement ever recorded in human history.

As an urban planning student, it's interesting to see the designs Christchurch is considering to replace the many empty lots as well as what they are doing in the meantime to accommodate businesses and customers. One group built an outdoor cafe from painted pallets, where we grabbed a soda and coffee.

The Re: start Mall is made from modified shipping containers and was filled with people, music, and commerce. It was uplifting to see the resilience and creativity of the city. I still really like it here.

Somewhat predictably, I have been thinking more and more about the positive effects of trees on urban areas and will be writing some papers this semester on that topic. Christchurch and New Zealand in general clearly understand this. Flying out of Auckland and into Christchurch, there was so much green. And it's fall here now, so the leaves are beginning to change, which makes it all the more lovely. We spent a few hours in the Botanic garden too, which had many large, spectacular trees--perfect for us tree-huggers.

Fun facts that I didn't know about NZ (pronounced "en zed" here): they are one hour behind Hawaii but one day ahead. (We lost Saturday on our crossing over the International Dateline and will be getting an extra Monday on the way back--Worst. Trade. Ever.) People here are very friendly, even to Americans. Food and drinks are so expensive here--the exchange rate is close to even with USD being a little more valuable... Phew! This is the first time I've gone to another country that has wifi available in hotels and cafés. It's pretty handy. (Though, not free in all places; hence taking days to post this even though I wrote it a few days ago.)