New Zealand Road-Trip: Part One

For that one person who still reads this, do you remember when I said I'll write about uni life this time? You don't? It's been how many weeks since I wrote the last post? I'm so sorry. Anyway, I'm not writing about uni life this time. I lied.
I recently took a road trip through New Zealand with some friends of mine: Alex, Ryn, Thomas, and Kyle, and to put it modestly, it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life up to this point. Let me explain.
Bust out your New Zealand maps as we travel through Aotearoa!
The All-Nighter
Since we didn't want this trip to bankrupt us, we decided on the cheapest flight from Auckland to Christchurch, 8:20 am on Sunday 12 April. If we wanted to get to the airport at a reasonable time, we needed to be at the airport at 6:20 am at the latest. And because we didn't have a car at the time, we needed to take the 5:00 am shuttle from the centre of Auckland. That means I needed to leave my flat at 4:30 am. Who needs sleep anyway?
We had weapons to keep from sleeping. Armed with my recently fixed Nintendo Wii U, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and a cup of tea, we charged into the night with hopes high.
Strange things happen when I'm tired. I don't remember everything, but eventually I was ranting about paying a $2/day tax to keep my friends in New Zealand. It is probably for the better if no one ever tries to talk to me between the hours of 2 am and 3 am. Luckily, Ryn gave me some tea, and I found myself in time to pack and leave by 4:30 with Alex and Ryn.
We met up with Kyle at the bus stop and got to the airport at a reasonable time. A reasonable time means that we had 2 hours to sit and wait. The lesson I learned in those hours is to not eat anything at an airport that involves old bacon. That wasn't fun.
Christchurch
The flight wasn't too long and we found ourselves in Christchurch, one of the main cities in New Zealand.

With our bellies empty (except mine, I didn't want any food for a few more hours), we decided to go to a coffee shop while we waited for Thomas to arrive (he booked a later flight). It was at this point that we realized that we had been awake for a very long time.

A very comfy couch

As soon as Thomas joined our group, we rented our car (2005 Toyota Camry) and drove to our first hostel.

After checking in, we ate some fish n' chips and fell asleep at 2:30 pm. At 8:30 pm, we woke up, ate dinner and hung out, planning what we would do next.

With many hours of sleep under our belts, we took to the streets of Christchurch.

Apparently, the royal family had followed us from Auckland to Christchurch, so we decided to take a peek. None of us saw too much, but I think I caught a glimpse of Kate (but not a picture).

This part is a little more serious. These pictures show the damage from the earthquake in 2011, an event that is now a part of New Zealand's history.

CTV Memorial

Fortunately, Christchurch has been rebuilding since then. Here are some cool places.

Shown below is the Cardboard Cathedral. This is meant to stand for 50 years.

These pictures were interesting to look at because they're more impressionist than most churches I've gone to. It was hard to see the image until I looked through my camera to take pictures (for you nice people, please read my blog).

Re:START Mall

This mall was built for the stores that were ruined in the earthquake. It was amazing to see what they could do with just shipping containers.

A Park

I can't remember what the name of this park is, but I went there. It was cool. I'm always shocked to see tropical looking trees mixed with other plants.

Thomas is hiding the word "GHOST"

Didn't see this one coming. Had to take it in for a second.

Silver Fern: the New Zealand plant

More to come soon (I hope). Don't worry, the best is yet to come!

Life in Auckland

I know that my living conditions are so amazing that I shouldn't have any reason to leave Parnell Student Village for the next few months. However (surprisingly), I have found a need to explore this new city I live in. Let me show you around! Tickets are only $25 (and you'll have to pay any travel fees to get to Auckland if you are not here). To entice you to tour with me (i.e. give me money), I'm going to give you a little preview with the magic of magic! That tour won't come until I learn magic, which may take a few years. Here's an internet tour though, that works too.
Streets of Auckland

I see this on a regular basis. Did you laugh too?

Let me explain what these pictures mean to me. I've never lived in a city of this size before! I used to be in Salt Lake City for Uni, but I didn't interact with the city streets much. Uni was on the top of a hill, and the whole of Salt Lake City was a separate entity that I sometimes visited when I needed to do stuff like get my computer fixed. I see these sights on an almost daily basis! I am walking through the streets of Auckland, New Zealand with a functional purpose. I'm not just sight-seeing (anymore), I am going into the city to get groceries or hang-out with my friends. That's awesome!

Food

Since New Zealand is an advanced society, some of the people have provided me with the option of buying ready food instead of preparing it myself. I broke this part into 2 sections, because there is so much food!

Grocery Store Food

Most of the food in their stores are similar to what we know and (sometimes) love in the U.S. But there are a few key differences that I have noted in my time here.

Do we have these? I want to know!

They have a very extensive candy selection! You know that Cadbury company we here about from time to time? That company that makes tiny chocolate Easter eggs? They make more candy than that, and it is everywhere! They have so many flavours of chocolate bars! But since taking too many pictures of things I can't eat makes me sad, I haven't taken pictures of them yet.

Notice anything different?

Another main difference is their names for foods we both have. For example, lollies are candy (or just lollipops, I'm not entirely clear on that yet). Granola bars are called mueseli bars, and are delicious. They are my life source now. They also switch around the names of products we have.

No, New Zealand! No! This is wrong!

Restaurant Food

I have found a number of restaurants in New Zealand, and they are great! Here a few key examples of fine Kiwi cuisine!

Hamburgers? In New Zealand? Yes!

First up is Burger Fuel; they describe themselves as making "gourmet" burgers. I'm usually skeptical about the "gourmet" title, but in this case, I'll agree with them. These burgers are delicious! My personal favourite is a burger called the Peanut Piston. The Peanut Piston is satay burger with peanut sauce. I'll let you take in that idea for a second...you done? Well I'm not! So wait a second!...Okay, I'm okay now. These burgers are so good, that they would fall apart if left to their own devices.

This holds burgers. It's wet because I licked the peanut sauce.

Another category is Asian food. It's just as good as Burger Fuel, if not better!

I  don't usually take pictures of food. I'll make an exception.

These are prawn buns. Fried prawns inside of doughy buns with lettuce and a few special sauces (like japanese BBQ sauce). They are so good, that I am getting hungry just writing about them!

The Waterfront

I have already shown you this part of the city in my post about my first day in Auckland (please read my blog). But I took more pictures later because I came back for fun!

Cool stuff happens here sometimes. That's cool.

The building ahead is a ferry port. A ferry port?!

This is my favourite part of the city. Look at these sights! I can look at cool boats and canals with my friends whenever I feel like it! It reminds me of being in cities like San Francisco. Whenever I go to this part of town, I remind myself of how amazing it is to be in a city like this! I don't have much more to write about these pictures, because I feel that they speak for themselves.

Fortunately and unfortunately, I am also doing productive things while I'm here. Next time, read about my Uni life! Kia ora!