Kia ora from New Zealand!

I’ve been feeling all the feels since I got here and it’s only been a week. I miss my friends who went to Singapore loads and at first it was a difficult adjustment. Mae, my roommate here, was fortunate to be able to take a trip to the South Island for most of the week so I found myself alone a lot of the week. My internship at New Zealand Media & Entertainment (NZME) has been absolutely amazing so far- my coworkers are all super helpful, welcoming, and fun (some of them are basically my age), I’ve gotten to go into the studios for some of NZ’s most popular radio stations, and the work I’ve been doing has been actually quite enjoyable. But, I would find myself coming home to an empty apartment, cooking dinner or grabbing something out alone, watching Severance, and heading off to bed most nights. Naturally I was very excited for our group catch-up dinner on Thursday. Jackson, Dom, Ryan, CC, Gretchen, Sophie and I all went and we had a great time catching up! I was definitely in the right place at the right time because while we were chatting, Sophie and Gretchen mentioned some potential weekend plans. They invited Ryan and I to come with them to Piha, a coastal town about an hour from Auckland. I’m not usually the most spontaneous but I said yes and I’m so glad I did! It ended up being a super fun weekend but we also did have some challenges to overcome.

The four of us took an Uber out on Friday night to our Airbnb. As we got closer, the road became extremely curvy and it felt like our driver was going a liiiiittle bit too fast. I’m sometimes part of the carsick community so I was not feeling too great but when we got there and saw the place, it was absolutely worth it. Our home for the weekend overlooked a tropical oasis. We were surrounded by lush trees and bushes and could see the ocean quite clearly. It was hard to believe we were less than an hour from the city- it felt like the kind of place you would have to fly to to see in comparison to the Auckland CBD. Being basically in the middle of nowhere, the sky was insanely clear. I’ve never seen so many stars in my life and Gretchen pointed out that the hazy band across the sky was actually the Milky Way. I spent a good bit of time laying out on the balcony gazing at the stars and enjoying the calm.

I’m not built for hiking

Saturday morning, we decided to go out for a hike of the Mercer Bay loop plus another trail that we added on. I’ve done a few hikes near my house in Pennsylvania and some in Hawaii but let’s just say I’m not an experienced hiker. We had already gotten a mile into the trail when Gretchen started telling us that the hike we were on was rated difficult. It was only about four miles so relatively short but the elevation changes made it a considerably more challenging hike. The three of them are definitely in better shape than I am and they were sailing through it but man, I was struggling. The views made the entire thing worth it but by the end, when we had to climb 1,000 feet in less than a mile of distance, I could barely walk more than 20 steps without stopping. Overall I’m super glad I went, I mean just look at these photos. But my heart rate probably reached 200 a few times (sorry I’m so dramatic). Safe to say I’m gonna do more cardio before trying another hike like this one.

Cones on the Beach

After we were done nearly killing me, Sophie really wanted to go to Cones on the Beach, an ice cream stand at Piha Beach. Unfortunately, we obviously didn’t have a car so it was another 2.5 mile walk ahead of us. This time thankfully it was entirely downhill, but you know what that means: the entire time I was just thinking about having to walk back up. I was telling myself, I will not be walking up this hill and I will sleep on the beach or hitchhike if I have to. Not to mention, the insanely curvy road we were walking on was relatively busy and there was no sidewalk or berm to walk on in a lot of spots. I guess this was the second time that I nearly died on this trip. To my parents if you’re reading this: I promise I was being safe and extra super careful. The walk was definitely worth it though. The beach was stunning. We had a quick bite and a few drinks at the surf club and then walked around on the black sand for a bit. The ice cream was made to order out of fresh fruit. Sophie had the banana and Ryan and I had the mixed berry with a chocolate shell. It was perfect!

Thank goodness, the restaurant had a sign advertising the local cab service. I don’t think I’ve ever felt such relief in my life. We ended up getting a taxi ride from a super nice woman who even offered to drive us back to Auckland Sunday morning. The walk that took us nearly an hour ended up only taking about 7 minutes to drive. Moral of the story: Piha is not a walkable town. And, our cab driver told us that people often will come out here and then not be able to get an Uber back to the city so they’re virtually “stranded.” I’m just glad it all worked out for us. Looking forward to see what adventures await us this upcoming week!