Tuesday morning I awoke expecting to find 46 new, excited faces in the hotel lobby, ready to begin the Arcadia program orientation. Instead I discovered the group flight (40 of the participants) had been delayed 14 hours due to engine problems and would not be arriving until 11:30pm. For once, I was glad that I had flown alone! So, I joined 6 others who had arrived early had a nice breakfast and Jane and Kate, our program staff, planned a modified day for us. No need for a coach bus, we piled into cars and went straight to the beach to take advantage of the morning sunshine.
We walked around the north shore of Auckland where we saw an old army fort and got a great view of the city and then went for a lovely swim in the Pacific Ocean!
After lunch, we went back to the hotel for some free time and I went with Jane, the program director, of a short guided tour of the downtown. We revisited many of the places I had seen on my own, but with the added benefit of Jane’s commentary and true Kiwi perspective. Here is a picture of me standing outside of one of the Art Galleries in the downtown.
Day 2 of orientation was much busier, with the entire group finally here, we piled onto a coach bus and set out for the town of Matamata, also known as:
It was pouring rain, but we had a nice little lunch break and then went back on the bus to go to the Agrodome farm show where we saw a sheep shearing and some adorable baby lambs! After the farm show we went to Rainbow Springs for the kiwi experience! We saw many native animals including actual kiwi birds in the nocturnal rehabilitation part of the park. We finally reached Rotorura, a touristy town full of thermal activity and a horrible sulfur smell. We went to a spa in the evening with natural hot spring pools and had a good long soak under the stars.
The next day we went to Waiotapu Geothermal Wonderland and saw the Lady Knox Geyser erupt and this lurid green pool:
Then, in the afternoon we went Zorbing! This was an absolute highlight of the trip so far. You have to see it to believe it so I suggest giving it a Google, or maybe Youtube. (Pictures of our Zorbing adventure soon!)
The evening was filled with a night at the Tamaki Maori Village which included tribal rituals, games, songs, dance, amazing food, and of course, the Haka. The Maori bus driver who took us to and from the village was absolutely hilarious. He had an amazing talent for language and impersonating different accents. He also had us singing on the way back and laughing hysterically when he drove round and round a small rotary over and over again and blasting his horn. A great night and a great orientation all together, but part of me was so relieved that this was the last day of moving around the country, living out of suitcases and being herded around in a group of 47. The next post will be move in day in Dunedin!
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