This is my first column for my trip to New Zealand! Hopefully, I will be able to capture some of my travels for the first section of the trip thoroughly. While the trip started on May 5, I arrived late, about 5 days after the group. I booked my ticket to Auckland and arrived before they returned to our hotel. This gave me about 2 free days to explore solo. I got in to the city around 7 am the first day and had lots of time to get checked in and settled. The first thing I did was find some coffee! I had some great recommendations from Mr. Parker, not only for the coffee, but for things to do later in the day. One of the best and coolest of these was the campus of University of Auckland. Some of the notable things that made the campus really special were the modern architecture, busy students, and ancient trees. One of the most interesting things to me about New Zealand so far is the mix of green life with plants I would have recognized from all parts of the world. It’s especially cool to see palm trees tower up to 25 feet. From there, I explored a couple more top landmarks in the city, including the Sky Tower and then art museum where I got my first exposure to Maori culture. After my second free day, I caught up with the group who returned to Auckland. This was fun to get back to some structure and belong somewhere. Auckland is cool but it’s better with other people. The next day, we went to Waiheke Island. This was my first taste of the New Zealand scenery, and it didn’t disappoint. Long stair climbs led to fantastic overlooks, and this continued all the way around the island. I will say, we hiked fairly fast around the coast with so much to take in. Towards the end of the day, I enjoyed finding one place to sit and reflect. By the time the ferry had returned, the sun was setting, which made the bay golden for our ride home. So far New Zealand has exceeded my expectations, and I have high hopes for the things coming up.
