The end is near.

This will probably be my last post in New Zealand. I'll post once more when I return home from Fiji because I doubt I will have internet while there.

Well, it's Sunday morning and I leave bright and early Wednesday. So really I have today, Monday and Tuesday left. :O Then I'll be flying to Auckland and spending about a day and a half there before jetting off to the tropical paradise of Fiji. I will be visiting two islands, Wayalailai and Beachcomber  and spending a total of 6 days and 5 nights here:

And here:

 You could say I'm SLIGHTLY excited to leave winter behind for tropical weather. :D


I have one more final left Tuesday afternoon that I am so anxious to get over with. Two more days of studying then freedom! The past week has been filled with studying and saying goodbye to friends, it's definitely surreal to think I'll be all the way home in good ol' Fresno in 9 days. Last Friday night my group of friends and I had a final dinner together and it was really sad to say goodbye to these lovely ladies that I've gotten so close with. We survived an earthquake together! Definitely felt like I was loosing part of my family.

 All of us after dinner. I'm gonna miss them all!

Other than that I've been slowly packing and cleaning my room. I'm not sure how I made everything fit in my suitcases! But honestly I am pretty anxious to get home to see my family and friends and finally experience summer. However, I feel like it's going to be hard to get used to my old life. Here I've spent just about every weekend traveling somewhere and seeing the beautiful sights New Zealand offers. What am I going to do with my weekends now? Sit at home? Boring...haha. Also, I think I'm going to be extremely overwhelmed with all the people back in the states. Traffic, que lines, and crowds don't really exist here and it sure has been nice.

In other news, Christchurch has been suffering badly from many large aftershocks/earthquakes. I definitely feel for the people living their still. One earthquake was enough for me to send my stress and anxiety levels soaring. So hopefully nothing more will happen, those poor people have suffered enough and the government is trying to determine which parts of the city must be abandoned for good. :( Also, reading about all this has strangely heightened my senses and I've reverted back to when I was still in Christchurch experiencing the aftershocks. It took awhile for me to feel like the ground was stable and realize that the floor was not shaking, it was just in my mind. But now I'm back to thinking this! Example, if I'm in the library and someone next to me moves a lot and makes the table shake, I think to myself for a few seconds, "Oh my god an earthquake!" Or if a giant truck passes by my flat and makes the kitchen shake I panic for a few seconds. But then I come back to reality and remember I'm in Dunedin and earthquakes don't happen. (At least not yet? Uhh...) Hopefully I'm not scarred for life?

And then there was volcanic ash from an eruption in Chile that was grounding flights in New Zealand last week. MOTHER NATURE CHILL OUT. Jeez.

But anyways, that's really all I have to update. I should get back to studying and potentially packing. So next time you read this I'll be home. That's really weird to say...AMERICA I'M ALMOST HOME. :)

Can't wait to see you all when I return and there will be more stories to share!

Long live the Queen.

This might be my last post for awhile. It might even be my last post in New Zealand, but I'll try to update once more before I leave!

Saturday my friends and I went on our last adventure in New Zealand and spent 4 days in the capital city of Wellington. Unfortunately the weather was not on our side but we made the most of it. Wellington is known as the windy city of NZ as well as the film industry capital and often called "Wellywood". Currently there's a debate going on because the city wanted to put a white sign on the hills just like the Hollywood sign but many locals didn't want the Californians thinking they copied them. I suppose it's a matter of opinion? But anyways. We got in around dinner time, Saturday night and checked into our GIANT hostel. I've been used to small 15-20 person hostels but this one was 7 floors and similar to a hotel. So many people! It was interesting. We found a delicious sushi bar with a conveyor belt packed with amazing looking dishes that zoomed by your face all night. It was hard not to grab a few plates!

After that we met up with some other friends who coincidentally were visiting Wellington that same exact weekend. All of us headed out to check out the bar scene. And it was lots of fun! I loved the city at night, it kind of reminded me of a much smaller version of New York. A ton of people were out and we decided to dedicate the night to the Queen. Afterall, it was her birthday on Monday. :)

The next morning we slept in and woke up to a rain storm. We decided to spend the day at the museum which was huge and had some amazing exhibits. The museum holds the world's largest colossal squid ever caught. I was a little freaked out with how big it was and kind of never want to step foot in the ocean again...I tried to take a picture of it but the glass/glare/lighting didn't allow for a good photo. Google it? Haha. After the museum we rode the bus to the famous Weta Cave which we were sad to find out actually wasn't a cave. It was a small, white building pretty much in the middle of nowhere. BUT still pretty cool. In case you don't know(I didn't haha), Weta Cave is the company Peter Jackson and others (less known, sadly) started many years ago. It's the giant workshop where they create all kinds of creatures, props, costumes and make up for movies such as, obviously, Lord of the Rings, Avatar, District 9, King Kong, Chronicles of Narnia and tons more! Unfortunately due to privacy and "secretive" rules no one is allowed to tour the workshop. But we got to see the gift shop which has tons of props that were used in the actual filming of these movies. We also got to watch a short movie on the history of the company that showed a little behind the scenes features and what goes into making one of the big Hollywood movies. I thought it was pretty cool.

 The Museum

 Weta Cave

 Carla and I with a local celebrity

This guy greeted us at the door. (someone tied a balloon to his finger haha)

Monday morning (Happy Birthday to the Queen!) the weather was still not cooperating but we didn't mind and headed to the Wellington Zoo! We had a fun afternoon watching shows and seeing animals that aren't in zoos back home. My favorites were the Sun Bears and Red Pandas. So cute! Also, I FINALLY saw my first Kiwi. The zoo keeps them in a dark building, dimly lit with red lights since they are nocturnal birds. I was so excited! Haha. They even had a one legged Kiwi which was kind of sad to watch it hop around. And the zoo put crutches in the exhibit...I didn't think that was a very funny joke.

 Entrance to the zoo

 The Sun Bear!

 Giraffes, my favorite, hiding from the rain

 Momma and baby monkey

 King of the rock

 They had these signs all over the zoo. They were very blunt and hilarious

Kind of hard to see but the rare Red Panda

On our last day, Tuesday, we decided to explore more of downtown Wellington and the "Parliamentary" area. Went went to see their famous beehive building that houses the Cabinet rooms and the Prime Minister's offices. We were a little intimidated by all the people wandering around in suits. No sign of John Key though (NZ's Prime Minister) After some pictures and wandering around we walked back through the city to do some shopping and stopped for a coffee.

 View from the wharf

 War Memorial outside the Beehive

 There it is!

 The Queen touched this building...whooaaa haha

 Suzanne and I posing by Parliament!

We were sad to realize this was our last adventure in New Zealand and we wouldn't be traveling together again. :( Soon it was time to catch a plane back to Christchurch where we were staying for the night. As always, it was surreal being back in Christchurch, passing our old home, university and city. There were still signs of the earthquake all around and we didn't like to think about that sad day in February. The next morning we had to catch a bus bright and early back to Dunedin. Now that I'm back I have 2 weeks to study/take finals and pack! The thought of packing freaks me out a little. I know my last few days here and going to fly by. Soon I'll be waving goodbye to New Zealand and heellooooo to Fiji! I cannot wait to get out of winter and see the sun, get tan, and sleep in a hammock with a tropical drink in hand. It's definitely the light at the end of the tunnel. And then I'll be back home in California. Ah! Bittersweet feelings.

Like I said, I'll try and update before I leave for Fiji but I'm not sure how busy I'll be studying between now and then. I finish my last final, literally, the night before I leave early the next morning. I will try and think of some inspiring, closing last post. I really hope you all have enjoyed reading about my adventures. If I don't post again in New Zealand, the next time you read this I will be home in California bragging about my amazing time in Fiji. Woo! Bye bye :)