Emily Barnes // University of Auckland New Zealand is such an amazing country and the landscapes and views are always beautiful, no matter what the weather or time of year. Over the course of my year I took thousands of photos, so for my last post, I thought I’d share a video of some of my favourites so you can really get an idea for how diverse and awesome New Zealand actually is!

Emily Barnes // University of Auckland I’ve been back in Manchester two weeks now and have just finished my first week back in lectures. It’s been surprisingly easy to slot back into life at Manchester and it’s almost like I never left. One of the reasons I was initially hesitant to do a study abroad year was that all my friends would graduate, and I’d have no one when I got back to Manchester, however it’s turned out to be almost the complete opposite. Minus two of my closest friends, everyone else is still living here, either doing masters or working, which has worked out really well. I also feel…

Emily Barnes // University of Auckland If you’d have told me two years ago that I would have just got back from studying abroad in New Zealand for a year, I would have thought you were crazy. I’d always known I wanted to go on a study abroad exchange year, but for some reason, I always imagined myself studying in the USA. However, it wasn’t until I started the application process that I even realised New Zealand or Australia were options for me. I then began researching the two and decided, despite never having even been remotely close to that part of the world before, that I wanted to study…

Emily Barnes // University of Auckland After possibly the longest summer break ever (a whole 4 months!), I am finally back for my second semester at the University of Auckland. I spent most of the summer travelling around, with the highlights including a trip to the South Island where I visited Milford Sound in Fiordland and hiked the Abel Tasman Great Walk, which had some of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen.

Emily Barnes // University of Auckland One main advantage of studying abroad in New Zealand or Australia is that by starting the semester in July, you’re finished by early November and get to enjoy a four month summer break. This is made even sweeter by the fact that it’s cold, wet and wintry back home and everyone is still at uni, stuck revising for exams. Having said that, I have revised for and sat three separate exam seasons this year, so I think my rest is well earned. The last half of this semester was pretty hectic, finishing all my coursework, revising for exams and saying goodbye to all my…

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…