Friday, March 28, 2008

My First Trip

1:52 PM

So here it is finally. Was there an anticipation as thick as glaze on Krispy Kreme donuts then?? LOL. Who am I kidding?? Here's a debut of the update on my first ever trip in New Zealand.... I've separated it into 3 different days coz blogging about all three days in one go is gonna be super exhausting and I am still in the midst of collecting pictures from 3 different people (...which will make that one million pictures in total).... Some of them have already been posted on my facebook profile so please, feel free to explore at your own leisure.....

Day One - The Beginning

I had no idea the map was going to appear that small but if you look at it closely, the arrows in purple ink indicate our tracks from Auckland to the Bay of Islands or north part of the North Island......



Here's Trish and I, standing in front of the rented car that was going to be our mode of transportation up north for the next three days..... It was my first ever all girl trip.....


Random pictures which I took from the rear seat of the car..... the sky was SO blue and SO clear!!!
And there were hills and valleys.... it was so invigorating to be out of the city for the first time.

I slept soundly for most of the journey although I didn't want to coz the view was spectacular but I was just too tired. Took this one when I woke up abruptly for some reason and then went back to sleep, Lin Hui laughed at the pecularity of it all..........


This was our first stop of the day, somewhere near Paihia, the clear water and rocky beach called out for our attention. From left, Trish, Lin Hui, Rini and Me

I can't remember what we were trying to do here.....



No, I didn't simply decide to take pictures of the stones.... The water's crystal clear so u can see right past it!!! Almost transparent eh?

Our second stop for the day was where they signed the treaty called Waitangi Treaty Grounds....


Huge tree trunk behind us, I think it was a Kauri tree.....



This was the super huge canoe used in ancient Maori times.....

And so, like every other tourist there, we decided to take a picture next to it.....


And in front of it.....

and... on the other side of it......



Somewhere near the canoe, we decided to pose with the effigies.........

This was taken in front of the Marae where the Maori people used to have their meetings.... You have to take off ur shoes to get in....


Inside the Marae, the walls are adorned with these figures.... had a very wood-y feel to it...



A chair in the Marae


View from canoe site.........

Sitting just outside the house where the treaty was signed.......


Posing for the camera before the start of the visual performance at one of the theatres.... Yes. We were all coincidental camwhores..... (esp Rini who, i must say, might just give angelicassie a run for her money.. LOL)


Our next stop was Haruru Falls which had the most amazing view ever!! erm, it was at Waitangi


There's the four of us......

... and me and Trish


and me alone, i took multiple individual shots coz I was so overwhelmed by the scenery!!

And I saw this amazing random rainbow not far from the waterfall (....i actually spotted it and the rest didn't even realize it was there)... It was like a vision out of a picture book or something!!!


After a bit of driving, we stopped at yet another beach at Paihia just to watch the sunset... Trish took a video of the moon emerging from behind the mountains, it was the fastest (and closest) i'd ever seen the moon move before..........

There's the moon behind us...... with the sunset in front of us...


Being silly......

And, our final stop for the day...... backpackers..... Had a good sleep that night........

Exhausted! I'll save day two for later. I took 2 whole days to update these pix btw, with internet disconnections and whatnots.........

You know you love me!

xoxo

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Monday, March 24, 2008

Sneak Preview

1:55 PM

Coming Soon.....


Four girls, an ultimate journey......


endless blue skies...........




Scenic Docks and.....

never ending blue seas.......

picturesque lakes.........

and awesome beaches with..........

Rolling waves.......


soft white sand accompanying.....
crystal clear waters..........
breathtaking waterfalls........
crashing currents.......
stunning views.........

basking in God's creation.......

Stay tuned! Hope you enjoyed the sneak preview of what is to come.

You know you love me!

xoxo


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Saturday, March 15, 2008

Lazy Weekend

2:54 PM

Familiarity breeds contempt

Do you find as much truth in that phrase as I do?

It's a windy Sunday morning in Auckland. Was supposed to go for a jog this morning but I succumbed to temptation and slept in. Yes, I have those moments. Trying to shake off the feeling of guilt. Especially since Joanna has been feeding me almost too much. Instead of feeling undernourished, I suddenly feel over nourished. I think she has a secret ploy to make me eat until i become a giant walrus, incapable of clobbering out of bed to do anything. Amongst the things she has offered me are tim tams, kettle potatoe chips with extra salt, ritz biscuits, chocolate ice cream, bread, rice, potatoes, raisin and oat cookies (which I swear, are the yummiest things around). She even taught me how to do the tim tam slam. Google it if you're curious... Evil Joanna! So, I've decided that when it comes to food, Joanna and I have our differences, i.e. she NEEDs to eat and I don't.


On the up side, I've finally found a swimming pool in this land where water is almost sparse... But the rates are crazy. It's NZD 6.50 for a swim (you can swim to your hearts content) and the water reeks of chlorine, you can smell it from a kilometre away!! I suppose if I can squeeze in a swim every once a week and make myself lunch throughout the entire week, I will be able to scrimp and save on other expenditures while fulfilling my desire....


Studies wise, things have been looking up.. I am beginning to fall in deep, unrelenting love with econs. There's something about those demand and supply curves that gets me ticking. I know this is making me sound like a freak.. Am seriously considering the conjoint at this point. I was also really tempted to submit my name as a volunteer for Craccum, which is the ultimate student magazine over here. Considering I've always been a part of the editorial board no matter where I go, I thought it would be ridiculous if I didn't sign up. But after one glance at the magazine, all intentions to sign up vanished. *Kapoof* The content of the mag is pure crap. I wish there were some other form of literary pursuit for me over here... I guess I have to keep myself contented with blogging for a while... Job search hasn't been too successful either. Bubble tea man replied stating that he would call me in if help was needed. And I've been told about the extra tax charges for students without an IRD number... I will keep looking, and hopefully be able to find something that's not too taxing....


Easter break's coming up... And I am using this time to visit places with the other students here. Will take loads of pictures and put them up here....


So this is pretty much what I've been up to this week, or rather a couple of days this week....



On thursday, I went out with Su Lyn. We both finish early on thursdays, so we made it a point to make thursday afternoons adventurous. But not anymore! Thanks to my politics tutorial which had to go and spoil the entire thing! Sheesh. The tutorial is optional though.....*evil laughter* Anyway, we decided to meet up with Judy and Quinyee for lunch at Wendy's. Quinyee brought a couple of friends as well... Traipsed along Queen Street after that while waiting for Judy's classes at AUT to begin... Went to this super huge shoe shop and started trying on all their shoes coz Su Lyn wanted to get a pair of bedroom slippers.

So we tried bedroom slippers.......

.....which transformed our feet into paws... *roar*

My Siberian tiger paws....

Su Lyn trying on another pair of boot leg bedroom slippers

Then we headed back to Su Lyn's place to install her Woosh software, which she in all her genius-ness, managed to install at the end of the day despite the minor glitches that cropped up during the process. Su Lyn had a craving for ice cream later, so we were off again to New Zealand Naturals at the uni where we bumped into Michelle and her bf....

Su Lyn with her Mocha(was it??) ice cream

I promised Su Lyn that I wouldn't put this up, hahahahh, but here it is..... Miss eyes wide shut and Miss wagging tongue....

And there, a perfect one..... Happy now Cassie??

Went vintage clothes shopping with Joanna on Friday at K Road. I personally enjoyed it coz the clothes are SUPER cheap (duh, they're second hand!) and you never know what you're gonna find.... Kinda triggered my sinus but I enjoyed it anyhow. I managed to find a white hooded top for NZD 6.50...

Went to short loans on Saturday to get my stats reading over and done with. That's one thing off my shoulders... Phew! And then we headed to the flea market next to Imax. We just pretty much browsed through coz everything was much to expensive to buy.

Saturday flea market.....

The booths were arranged in a very odd manner.... We didn't know where to start and end..

But we managed to find our way......

I was SO tempted to get one of these stress balls.... but then I stopped and asked myself, "is it really necessary?" Daaamn! I'm growingup... When did that happen? And how do I make it stop?

Going off to foodtown for crocery shopping soon so I shall stop here.... Sundays are our grocery shopping days... The most exciting day of the week! *jumps up and down and tumbles over*

ps: I, unlike Michael Woo, happen to find captions under pictures adorable....

you know you love me!

xoxo

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