Kia ora!

Not much to report on over the past few days other than cooking lots of good food and getting tempted by pretty much every shop on Lambton Quay. Emily's visit approaches and I spent tonight outlining our two-day road-trip adventure with Alexis and Sara. We're renting a car, driving up to Tongariro National Park to do some big treks, and then we're heading up to Rotorua for an extreme jetboating adventure, and then maybe Zorbing and anything else we want to fit in on our drive back down to Wellington! I can't wait to drive on the other side of the road!

Some of the Emerald Pools in Tongariro

I've been without a car for more than three weeks so far! I didn't even really realize it until the other day. I guess I've transitioned into a city girl pretty smoothly. I barely feel like I'm in a city in Wellington sometimes, though. So many trees and mountains and views. I said it once and I'll say it again: I love it here.

Oh, speaking of cars:
It's weird to see someone driving from the left side of the car...
It's weirder to see a child speed by while sitting on the "drivers side."
I did a double take yesterday.

Speaking of weird:
Shout out to Brendan.

Alright well I have a bit of homework I should get done. Tomorrow is supposed to be really nice and I only have one class from 4:10 - 5:00! I'm thinking it's a beach day! Maybe I'll finally go jumping off the wharf into the harbor and cross that off my list of "things to do in NZ."

In closing, I present to you a poster I found at the Te Papa museum that I feel artistically encompasses my transition from American to New Zealander.

"Mickey to Tiki Tu Meke"

New Zealand artist Dick Frizzell is a “renegade pop artist,” offering new perspectives of pervasive imagery. In the above piece, Mickey to Tiki Tu Meke, he creates a clever transition between two cultural icons. This lithograph is in the Christchurch Art Gallery in New Zealand.

P.S. Thank you everyone for the comments! I didn't realize I was getting them until the other day.. didn't mean to ignore you all! I read them all and I'm really happy people like the blog! I'll update as much as I can!