Recapping my last day in Auckland (and New Zealand!!)

Well folks, it's my last night in New Zealand! I spent yesterday just chilling out with Jude, then stayed at Aidyn's place last night. Aidyn and I spent the day together today - it was SO good to see him again after 3 years apart! It was totally like nothing had changed.

While we were out on Queen Street getting my last-minute souvenirs and gifts, Aidyn made some comment in passing about how there was some huge high school choir thing going on here this week. I was like, "Wait a second, there IS a huge choir thing here this week... it's The Big Sing! STEPHEN IS HERE TODAY!!!!!" So I texted Stephen right away, he called me, and we made plans to meet for literally a 10-15 minute visit at the town hall before his choir went in to listen to some other choirs perform. What an awesome little reunion!!!!

After our Queen Street adventures, Aidyn and I went to the Auckland War Memorial Museum where, strangely enough, we ran into one of the girls I had met on the Kiwi bus in Kaikoura. The three of us checked out the museum together for a couple hours; the most amazing thing for me was to see all of the incredible ornate Maori carvings. The highlight was definitely the Marae in the Maori court area of the museum (I took my shoes off and went in for a few pictures):

I also got a ton of pictures of the various tiki statues around the museum. It was really cool to see the full-sized ones, as their eyes are made of full paua shells (as opposed to the tiny paua shell pieces that the eyes in the souvenir-sized statues are made of):

So now I'm at Jude's place again, where I will spend the night before starting my journey back across the Pacific at 7am. We're going to aim for 4am as a drop-off time so I can get comfortably checked in before my flight to Sydney. In my journey home, I first fly to Sydney (3 1/2 hours), then to Vancouver (14 hours, 5 minutes), then to Calgary (1 hour, 18 minutes), and finally Saskatoon (1 hour, 4 minutes). Total estimated flying time = 19 hours, 57 minutes. Total estimated layover time = 5 hours, 32 minutes. Total time between take-off in Auckland and landing in Saskatoon = 25 hours, 29 minutes. 28 1/2 hours if you count the 3 hours I'll be spending at the Auckland airport before take-off. So, long story short, it's a long journey home but it will be well worth it.

In no particular order, here are some of the things I'm excited for about coming home:

- Jeff

- mom and dad

- Karyn's belly and the musical beans

- summer weather

- my room

- no backpack!!!!

- different clothes (living in the same ones for 5 weeks gets old)

- giving Jeff, his parents, Karyn and Nook, and mom and dad their NZ presents :o)

- taking my braids out and getting a proper haircut

- going to Waskesiu with Jeff

- the chair and a half!!!!

- ketchup that tastes normal

- my bed

- a quiet sleep that's not on a bunk bed with strangers as roommates (and no drunk people making lots of noise in the hallways after the bars close at 3am)

- my sewing machine

- a proper shower (no more hostels!)

- not having to carry my groceries around in a bag from city to city

- my car!!!

- payday (soon!)

- scheduling viewings for some of the cute starter homes I've been checking out online

- going to the gym

- taking a trip to Winnipeg to see the family at Scott and Jenn's wedding social

- unpacking and doing laundry without having to pay $8 per wash and dry cycle

- cooking proper food in my own kitchen, and eating with dishes that haven't been shared by backpackers around the world

- hearing the Canadian accent again :o)

I could go on... but that's it for now. It's 9pm, so I'll be heading to the airport in less than 7 hours. It has been an amazing month, but I'm very ready to come home. :o) See you soon, everyone!

Post-Sky Jump updates!

Well folks, we did it! Jude and I jumped off the Auckland Sky Tower and survived! It was a really neat experience, and the nerves definitely got going when I stepped out onto the platform! The view was incredible, and the first couple seconds of freefall were pretty scary, but to tell you the truth I bet it'll actually prove to be pretty tame in comparison to some of the other things I have planned for this trip (sky diving, bungy jumping, etc.). I guess that remains to be seen! It was really neat, though, that after we finished our first jump they let us go back up for a free 2nd jump because they weren't busy and they wanted to keep the viewers in the observation deck entertained! Heh. 2 jumps for the price of one (or 4 for the price of 2, I suppose)! I will try to post videos later when I have a bit more time.

After the Sky Tower jump, Jude, her boyfriend Scott, and I went out for lunch with Jude's sister-in-law at a cute little coffee shop just down the road from the Sky Tower. We then went shopping a bit on Queen Street before heading out to Tauranga to visit Roger Stevenson, our former Wellington Youth Choir director. It was SO wonderful to see him again. His wife Denise cooked us an amazing meal, and we stayed over there for about 4-5 hours just visiting, singing, playing piano, and catching up after 3 years apart. It was just awesome.

Now I'm sitting at Jude's sister's place in Tauranga, FREEEEEZING my butt off (how could I forget the uber low temperatures inside New Zealand houses in the winter?!) and am about ready to head to bed. We've had the heater and electric blankets warming up in the bedroom for a couple hours, so it's just about time to climb in there and drift off for the night. I've had an amazing first day in New Zealand and can't wait for more adventures to come! I even fit in a pub quiz at Cardrona Ale House with Jude and Scott on the first night here (although I fell asleep on the table at about 9pm, as it would have been 3am back at home - still just adjusting to the time change!).

Here are a couple pics from our day!

Suited up and getting ready to jump

The view from the bottom

Posing in Paeroa with the giant Lemon & Paeroa bottle en route to visit Roger

A journey of misadventures

.... it can only go up from here, right?

Here, in point form, is how my past 24 hours has panned out:

- enjoyed an uneventful (although somewhat uncomfortable) flight from Saskatoon to Calgary
- flight to Vancouver was comfy and all was well
- met up with Brent in Vancouver and enjoyed an evening out on my 4-hour layover - had supper and drinks, and met a member of his band at the Foggy Dew pub in Richmond
- Brent gets turned around on the would-be 10-minute drive to the airport, which turns into 30 minutes (don't worry, Brent, I don't blame you!  Richmond looked confusing - thanks for the ride and the good company!).  I make it just in time to board, but still 40 minutes before departure (I know you are cringing, mom).  At this point, things are all good.
- I get stopped by Canada Customs in a "randomly selected" process of questioning, making me more rushed to get on that plane
- I take off for Australia, and only realize 2 hours into the flight that I left my MacBook in security in Vancouver.  Woop de freaking doo.  This is awesome.
- I sit for 16 uncomfortable hours on a plane in which I have no working reading light nor TV screen.  I switch to a seat further back that is open and attempt to watch "Alice in Wonderland" but the man beside me is burly so his arms are touching me and his reading light is shining directly into my eyes.  The blasting air conditioning isn't awesome either.  I return to my original seat.
- a flight attendant tries to reset my TV/reading light 3 times but to no avail.  I move to another seat further back in the plane, watch one episode of "30 Rock" on TV, then get booted out by the woman who had moved from that seat hours earlier to sit closer to her husband.  Apparently her seat doesn't recline and she doesn't like to watch TV sitting up.  I move back to my original seat again.
- Realizing that I still have 6 hours on this plane, with no TV and now no computer, nor anyone I know to talk to to pass the time, I start crying.   A caring young mother offers me chocolate, which I refuse (with a teary laugh).  An even more caring flight attendant talks to the crew, tells them about my crappy day, and offers the crew seats at the back of the plane to me so I can at least try to get some sleep or watch a movie.  I accept, and enjoy a couple hours of sleep.
- the aforementioned caring flight attendant (named Yvonne) wakes me up, and guiltily tells me that another crew member is going on break and needs to try to sleep, but I'm in her seat.  I move yet again, to the 5th seat I've attempted on this flight.  I watch a couple TV shows, sleep a bit, and then the announcement comes over the intercom that we are preparing to begin our descent into Sydney after 16 fairly ridiculous hours.
- I take off my seat belt to try to get a picture of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House out the window and get chewed out by a member of the flight crew.  Bitterly, I buckle my seatbelt and sit still for the last 10 minutes of descent into Australia.  What a freaking day!  At least I got the picture! :o)

Soooo, long story short, I'm here in Sydney safely, I don't have a computer but the airport officials have all of my information and should be able to get the computer back to me.  Whether that means I will have to wait for 6 weeks and pick it up in Vancouver, or if they can ship it to Wellington and have it waiting there for me, I have no idea.  I will have to wait to find that much out.

Also, when attempting to watch TV, my iPod headphones broke right inside my ear.  Just to add to the ridiculousness of the day.

The most ironic part of this whole ordeal?  I had JUST been reading my "Smart Traveller's Passport" book of travel tips en route to Vancouver, and one of them was along the lines of "Airport security officials say that they have several laptop computers left in security screening areas.  Tape a business card to the bottom of your computer so it can be sent back to you if such a thing should happen in your travels."  I remember reading that and thinking, "That's a good idea.  I will put an address label on my computer when I get to Auckland.  But really, who would forget their COMPUTER at security?!"  Hah.  Guess I know now.  It had been in my backpack all day, but I had to take it out for screening and was in such a rush what with the little detour en route to the airport, the Canada Customs dealio, etc.  Ahh well.  Internet cafes, it is.  For now.  Hopefully temporarily.

On the bright side, I'm almost finding this funny now.  It should be a comedy skit or something.  "Baby Griswold Goes to New Zealand."  At least tomorrow I will be jumping off the Auckland Sky Tower with Jude and heading to Tauranga for supper with Roger from WYC!  Life is good, and this trip HAS to get better from here.

(*crosses fingers*)

Let the (good) adventures begin!  (The bad ones are getting old already!)

Got a minute?

Hello faithful blog readers! Do you need some quality reading material, or perhaps some entertaining viewing material? Well, I finally found the time to update on the Auckland weekend, teaching at HVHS, and kiwi life in general… and this perhaps the longest post from me thus far! It has been a busy week, which is strange considering that the senior students (i.e. my Year 11s and Year 13s) are on exams right now, which means that I am only teaching Year 9s. I’m teaching 4 lines of Year 9 students right now - 2 guitar classes of extension students (advanced) and 2 general music classes. It has been interesting! It’s amazing what a broad spectrum of students you get when dealing even within the same grade level – there’s such a difference in terms of motivation, musical talent, behaviour, etc. So, they have been keeping me on my toes, and so far everything has been going really well with that. Stephen even made a comment on my last observation sheet for the Year 9 guitar classes – he wrote down some quotes that he overheard from my D line guitar students at the end of class: “That was the best music lesson I’ve ever had… it wasn’t boring!” and “I reckon she’s the best teacher!” Those comments were totally unexpected but they really made my day! So, needless to say, life at HVHS is truckin’ along as usual, no complaints. It’s amazing to think that I’m at the end of Week 8 though…. I know I seem to always comment on how fast time is flying, but it’s so true… Week 9 starts on Monday (and there are only 10 weeks in the term, so I’m almost on my 2-week break). Then when I get back from break, I have only 4 weeks in Term 4 until I’m done my placement in New Zealand! CRAZY! I’ll be home before I know it, which is exciting and sad at the same time. I LOVE it here, and the people that I’ve met here are truly amazing. Jude and Julia came over last night and we swapped pictures from the WYC Auckland tour, and looking at all the pics made me miss everybody SO much already, and I haven’t even left yet! We’re not even done the season with Wellington Youth Choir! Haha. We only have 2 rehearsals and one concert left though, so I’m starting to feel like it’s nearing its end. But what an incredible experience it has been.

….Which brings me to my next point: AUCKLAND WAS INCREDIBLE! We had SO much fun last weekend – it was so great to get to know everybody a bit better, and it didn’t hurt to see another NZ city while we were at it! We sang 2 really enjoyable concerts with the Auckland Youth Choir, and we delighted in the fact that our uniforms were much less “naff” than their red dresses and sparkly red shrugs and vests. Haha. We performed Schubert’s Mass in C together after each performing our own concert repertoire (see below for the concert advertisement!). I sang my solo for “Let Everything That Hath Breath” and it went well both times, with the exception of a bit of a fumble from the entire choir (and our director!) in the second concert, when we started to hold a note for 8 beats instead of 4 and almost missed the big ending. We laughed about it even then… it wasn’t that bad, really, and it was good for a bit of humour in our day if nothing else. We had a blast.

I was able to do a bit of sightseeing last weekend as well – I went to the Auckland Sky Tower with Jude and Ellie, where we paid the extra $3 on top of the $15 admission price to go up to the Sky Deck (the highest point available for tourists at the Sky Tower). I walked across the incredibly dodgy 38mm thick glass floor and took plenty of pictures to prove it (see below). I took a ton of pictures of the views from all angles at the top of the Sky Tower as well, and will sort through them later to determine which ones are scrapbook-worthy. On our first day in Auckland (Friday) we had about 8 hours to kill before our rehearsal, so Jude, Felicity, Ellie and I went wandering and shopping at the markets at Aotea Center. I bought a beautiful handmade New Zealand photo album that will store only my favourite shots from my entire 4-month kiwi adventure when I get home. I think I will have to declare it at customs though, because it’s made entirely of plant products – leaves, twigs, wood, etc. Anyway, it will be a nice souvenir to look back on in the years to come…. But the process of determining which pictures it should house is an entirely overwhelming thought at this point! I’ve taken hundreds of pictures so far, and I still have another month and a half left here. My adventure has been well-documented thus far, that’s for sure!

And speaking of pictures, what blog post is complete without a whole host of fabulous pictures of my kiwi experience?! Here are a few (ok, a million) of the highlights from the Auckland weekend. Ladies and gentlemen, meet my new kiwi choir friends!:

No Furbies allowed on the plane! Seriously! Ladies, have you turned off your Furbies?! YOUR FURBY MIGHT INTERFERE WITH AIRCRAFT EQUIPMENT!

Mt. Ruapehu from the air

Aotea Square with Ellie, Felicity, and Jude

We went shopping at the “High-Quality $3 Japan” store, and we found these incredible examples of what we like to call “Engrish.” My personal favourite: If I were an angel, could I send my favour to everyone all the world? Umm… yes? (Not pictured: notebook that reads: “What do you use this sensible notebook?”)

Does anybody need a high-quality $3 Japanese rain jucket? (This was Jude’s favourite)

Me and Jude getting ready to go out on Friday night

Emily, Jude, and Felicity

This is one of our favourite pics from the weekend – a Friday night out in Auckland, black and white style (Ellie, me, Felicity, Jude… and Julia’s forehead)

The Sky Tower at night

Playing pool at Shakespeare’s Pub (James, Heath, Evie, and Liz)

Jude and Julia – my 2 best mates here in NZ

Group shot in the Saturday night “party room” (it’s amazing that those beds didn’t break!)

After a late-night Queen Street Burger King run on Saturday. I’m pretty sure Jude and Julia and I peed ourselves laughing at their faces in this picture. They are LOVING their BK. And Malia is looking adoringly at their burgers. Heath is pretty much a stud muffin.

Nathaniel and Simeon playing pool at 3am-ish at the backpackers’

Our feet standing on a 38mm thick glass floor overlooking the city… can we say sketchy? (I remember dad walking across this floor on the NZ video, and now I understand why he was grabbing the railing on his way across!)

38mm thick!

View from the top of the Sky Tower

Aww, friends in a circle! (Jude will kill me for this one, haha)

Meerkats!!!

Star fingers!!!

Me and Imogen. I freaking love this girl.

Julia and Jude watching Dom play piano before our last concert in Auckland on Sunday.

Me and Julia.

Me and Matt in sepia, just before our last concert with AYC.

Concert poster

Auckland Youth Choir (see what I mean about the red sparkles?)

Me, Andrew, and Emily after our last concert on Sunday (Andrew and Emily are brother and sister, and I’m Andrew’s Year 13 Music teacher… nothing like choir to bring people together!)

And there you have it! That was definitely the longest post EVER. Hope you enjoyed it.... it pretty much took forever. Hahaha. Now you can excuse the lapse in blogging, right? :o)

We're off to Castlepoint today (me, Grace, Fiona, Sam, Richard, and Kirsten), and we're leaving right away so I'd better jet. Jude and Julia and Felicity and I went to Liz's place for a hoedown party last night, and we took TONS of pictures and had an absolute blast! A bunch of choir people were there, so that was fun. I'll post those next time. :o) Cheers, mates!

A long-overdue Auckland re-cap

I know it's been a week since the last update, but it has certainly been a busy one! I PROMISE I'll update with a full re-cap of Auckland, complete with pictures, soon.... but for now I have to run to school! So I'll leave you with these few pictures for now. Cheers!

Roger doing Simeon's tie for him.... so precious!

Malia, Catherine, and Orene sing their Mozart trio

Wellington Youth Choir after the 1st concert

I know this was short, but I promise there will be more to come!!!!!!