Emily Barnes // University of Auckland
Despite only arriving in Auckland three weeks ago, it feels like I’ve been here and known everyone much longer. The flight over was long and after a small incident getting locked out of my accommodation at 2 am on a Sunday, I finally made it to my room after 26 hours of travelling. My first week here was spent exploring Auckland and making friends, dealing with the worst jet-lag of my life and trying not to cry over the ridiculous price of chocolate and pretty much any fruit/veg item that isn’t a kiwi fruit.
Luckily, I had university starting back up the next week to distract me from my fruit and veg woes and to keep me busy. It was weird to be back studying so quickly after the end of second year, but my courses have all been really interesting so far and I’m enjoying my geography courses learning about processes from a different country perspective. More contact hours and continuous assessments throughout the semester means I am doing more university work then I would have done back at Manchester, especially for the first two weeks. However, I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing as it encourages you to really engage with what you’re learning week by week, plus it’ll be less stress towards the exam period.
I joined the university study abroad student society (SASS) during orientation which is something I can’t recommend enough. They hosted multiple social events in the first week and it helped me meet loads of other exchange students, whilst proving cheap food, nights out and day trips. I also joined the Tramping Society (tramping = hiking in NZ) and went with them to Kaimai Mamaku Forest Park last weekend, a two hour drive out of Auckland. We drove down Friday night to Waitawheta Hut and spent Saturday out tramping, playing games in the evening and eating huge amounts of chilli and chocolate cake before heading back on Sunday. The tramp was so fun and it actually felt like we were walking through a rain forest at times. We even went through some old mine tunnels and saw loads of glow worms which was really cool. The only downside of epic weekends trips I’ve found however, is that you don’t really get the weekend to rest and relax ahead of the upcoming week, which makes for a very tiring Monday!
This weekend a group of us hired a rental van, lovingly nicknamed ‘Mikey’, and headed out to explore some west coast beaches for the day. Despite being less than an hour from Auckland, the black sand beaches and lush green forestry made Piha feel like another country entirely. We spent the day wandering along the beach and around the various coves, climbing up Lions Rock and of course, taking about a thousand photos of everything. I don’t think the scenery will ever get any less amazing out here, everything is so beautiful.
These first weeks have been super hectic and I don’t think things will slow down anytime soon but I’m having the best time and can’t wait for more adventures over the These first weeks have been super hectic and I don’t think things will slow down anytime soon but I’m having the best time and can’t wait for more adventures over the upcoming weeks.upcoming weeks.