Waiheke Island

This weekend I headed out to Waiheke Island which is only 45 minutes by ferry away from downtown Auckland. I got to hike around and see a decent chunk of the island and also had a fantastic view for most of the hike. At first I was a little nervous about travelling alone but once I got out walking, I discovered that hiking alone is probably one of the best things you can do. I think I am going to head back there next weekend or go to a nearby island. Here are some pictures.

The view while leaving the city (Isnt that a huge boat?!)

Me on the boat (A nice lady offered to take a picture for me)

Rainbows!

This is the most intense rainbow I have ever seen. There are so many beautiful rainbows here, its kinda nuts! I think its the only upside of it raining every 20 minutes.

Just some photos

Here are some photos I took over the last couple of days. Nothing much to update on.

JayBee's!

JayBee's, the answer to your post bonk needs!

Ever go on a four hour ride and not eat or drink anything? Well you most certainly will bonk when you do this; and thats were JayBee's comes in! Right when you think you are going to pass out and die, just eat all 230 g or these perfectly formulated jelly beans and you will be on your way again. Safe Riding!

*JayBee's does not condone bonking during a ride; use at your own risk*

Cold, Wet, and Couldn't Be Happier

Im filthy, freezing cold, and soaked to the bone, but I think this morning has definitely been one of my best so far. I met up with a ride this morning at 8 am of about 50 people. They called it the World Championships ride here; just like home. We went out for 60 km at a pretty good pace and I met tons of really nice folks. Afterwards we went out and got coffee; just like home. It seems to be a fairly universal phenomenon that Saturday morning rides are followed by coffee... After that we went and hung out at a really really cool shop called Calibre, which I think will be my home shop here. The main guy who works there is a Canadian so we got to talking a little bit and have decided that all the Canadian cyclists (and there are actually quite a few!) are gonna go there and eat some good Canadian food, like poutine. Tomorrow I am meeting up for a 100 km ride with the same group and I hope it will be the of the same quality. I think I may have finally broken into the cycling world of Auckland.

Coffee? Please?!

So today, I decided I would just go and buy a nice cup of black coffee before heading off to my 8 am course. I stopped at a little cafe that specifically said "Great Coffee!" outside hoping that their advertisement would hold true. The conversation went as followed:

Me: Can I get a cup of coffee?
Her: Sure, what kind do you want?
Me: Umm, what do you have?
Her: Black or white?
Me: (very very perplexed) Black, I guess.

She then proceeds to start pulling espresso and I couldnt see what happened from there. It didnt taste like an americano, it didnt taste like espresso, it tasted like bitter crap. I have no idea what I was served this morning but I plan to continue my search for a reasonably priced cup of plain old coffee. Wish me luck.

More Photos

Its only been ten days here but I am beginning to figure this place out a little bit. Ive gone on several bike rides recently and have not had anymore mishaps with traffic directions but I do still get lost every time. There is a race coming up on July 29 which I think I may be doing if I am able to get an international racing license in that time; so probably not.
Tonight is wine and cheese night at my building and then it is off to the international student pub night down at a real cool bar called the Globe. People keep telling us to go out and meet Kiwis, but for the most part, we dont know where they are all hiding. I have actually managed to meet several people in this building who are actually from New Zealand!
Here are some photos of the city and of my building!

The Cityscape

The main hall (with giant chess)

The front hall

A view of the front of the building

Some lovely trees out front

Exploring!

Today was my first real settled day. I started off my walking across downtown to a bike shop called Bicyclette where I basically paid an absurd sum of money for a pump, a tube, and some gloves. I think I will go to shop call Cyco from now on. Live and learn, right?
I went out on an exploratory ride and almost got killed trying to leave the city. I learned the importance of truly tightening face-plate bolts on a stem when my handlebars rotated downwards while I was trying to come to a sudden stop. I also, biked the wrong direction on one road and forgot which direction to look at several intersections. Once I got out of town though, it was a completely different story. The harbors are absolutely gorgeous and roads area quite and full of rolling hills. Now all I need is a team to ride with.
Tomorrow orientation starts. It should be good to start getting into the swing of school.
Here are some pics of town!

Some sailboats

Sunset and boats

A shopping area near where I live

Movin In!

I have finally made it over to my home for the next couple of months! The Railway Campus (which is the name of my building) is the middle of downtown, a few blocks from the harbor, and holds approximately 600 people. Its a huge old railway station, thus the name, and has a massive old entry way that is probably much more beautiful than any other building I will ever live in.
My flat-mate is already moved in and has been here for about a week. Her name is Jo and she is from England and goes to school in Edinburgh. We went out for a couple of beers last night with another guy from Edinburgh and got to see some the interesting sights of K Street. Those interesting sights being very very tall drag queens.
So far everything seems to be going well; the only thing I lack is a functional bike pump! So until Monday Ill be out of luck for biking, but that'll give me some time to explore on foot and return my dysfunctional watch.

P.S. they spell tires as tyres here.. weird..

Caves

Today we went spelunking! Over in Waitomo, there are a whole bunch of massive caves with underwater streams in them. We went into one cave that have several huge waterfalls and many skinny narrow spots that it was kinda hard to get into. Other than that we had some delicious pizza and then drove home. Now we got a couple hours off and then we are going to the Polynesian Spas to sit in the stinky sulfur hot springs. Apparently, its good for your skin; I think it might be a bit of a gimmick.

Tomorrow we are off to our home universities!

Here are some awesome wetsuit pictures.

The girls I went in the cave with

Basically a supermodel, right?

The group I went in the caves with

Arrival and Rotorua

We arrived in NZ at 4:45 am yesterday, July 3^rd. Here, it doesn’t get light out until about 7:30 am, which was definitely a shock. After everybody had made it through customs and got there luggage, it was about 8:00 am. We all hoped onto the bus with our hilarious driver Lefty and our two AustraLearn leaders Bob (who is British), and Eleanor (who is Canadian!). We did the tourist thing and saw boiling pots of mud, Lake Rotorua, some old buildings, and a little bit of downtown. After that, we headed back to our hostile Kiwi Paka, and just hung out in the bar there. Outside the bar is a geothermally heated pool; which we all obviously spent a little time in before heading off to bed.

Today we went to Rainbow Springs and saw some awesome local wild life, like the kiwi birds. The afternoon me and 4 other people went to downtown Rotorua and explored the city while shopping for a few things that we had left at home. While on of my friends went to change some money over, I found a bike shop a couple stores away. I got to talk to a guy there who told me all about the bike scene there and in Auckland. I also a got a catalogue for company that is local to New Zealand called EMC2. The also have the NZ version of “bike” magazine. Yay bikes!

After visiting a local museum we headed outside to go home but it had started pouring! So we all went over to a local coffee shop called Zippy’s (it’s a bike themed coffee shop!!) and had some of the most beautiful and delicious cappuccinos.

Here are some pics!

Rainbow Springs

NZ Dawn at the parking lot

Cards and beer at the hostileHot sulfur spring

Beautiful Coffee!