Bula! Fiji!

Well I'm drawing near my last week in Kiwiland and it's really freaking me out... I am SO excited to get home, see my friends and family, and be in warm weather, but I'm definitely going to miss it here. We realize that more and more every day.

So last week was my much-anticipated trip to FIJI! I went with an AUT friend, Brianna, and we met my friend Katie from USC (who's studying in Sydney this semester) there. It was really just an ideal trip for us on a budget. We were there for 5 days, stayed in 3 different hostels, all on the main island. People recommend seeing the other islands, but it's expensive to get around and all we really cared about was lying on the beach! The hostels and resorts we stayed at were all pretty nice, with free kayaking and cheap massages and other activities. We spent most of our time lying by the pool, reading, and listening to music.

As I said, we were on an EXTREME budget. Our first full day there, we walked to a "shopping center" - which was really a little convenience store, Fiji-style, and bought a loaf of bread and peanut butter that we thought would get us through the trip.... but as soon as we got home, Brianna opened the bread to find little ants crawling all over it. GROSS, and sad realization that we'd stooped that far. Food at the hostels was relatively expensive, for Fiji prices, but we shared a lot of meals and made it work. Bree also sat down with a crafty guy at the hostel who showed her how to make a hat, purse, fan, and other random items out of palm leaves - all of which she got to keep for free!

Overall it was just a really relaxing week, and we got some nice tans :) Then back to Auckland where it was 40s and raining to start studying for finals! I had my international business exam this morning, and my nutrition exam is tomorrow. Today's went fairly well, and I feel better about nutrition... then this semester of SCHOOL will be over! We're going down to Wellington on Friday for the week to see an All Blacks rugby game, celebrate Brianna's birthday, visit a winery, and say goodbye to this beautiful country... be home soon!

Aussie aussie aussie, and the Waikato

Hey everyone!
Well my days left on the Southern Hemisphere are dwindling.... I leave here in about 3 weeks, which is both exciting and really scary! I miss my friends, my home, and everything from the States, but I will also miss the friends I've made here, traveling, and being constantly surrounded by BEAUTY!

I've had two great weekends the last two weeks. First I went to Australia to visit my best friend Luika in Melbourne. She absolutely loves it there, so I was excited to see her city. We stayed in Melbourne the whole time, but I got a VERY thorough tour. She took me to a huge fancy mall that reminded me of Dallas, all her favorite sushi and coffee shops, and we did tons of walking. I got to see botanic gardens, the Yarra river, and get a great tour of the Melbourne public transportation system. We went to a footy game, saw Wicked, and had a really good time together. I definitely understand what she's been talking about with Melbourne - it's a really big city, but has a lot of suburbs and smaller neighborhoods with alleyways of coffee shops and restaurants (we don't know how they all stay in business!), and fresh fruit and flowers everywhere. Very different from Auckland, but of course it was good to be home afterwards.

The next weekend, 8 of us girls piled into two cars and drove down to the Waikato region (just an hour or so away). Our friend Frances is from a small town near Hamilton, and had invited all of us to her house for the weekend. It was SO NICE to be out of the city, in the countryside, and just relax.
Her mom greeted us with soup and muffins, and we watched movies and napped all day. We did some walking, cooking, playing charades, and a lot of just enjoying each other's company and de-stressing. Her house was so nice and I loved the area. We drove into Hamilton to see the town, and Fran showed us her high school (a Catholic school that reminded me of Ursuline). We had Monday off from school for the Queen's birthday, so after the long weekend we drove back into Auckland for our LAST WEEK OF CLASSES!

I am now DONE with classes at AUT. I have a group presentation next week, and a couple of finals after that, but it's pretty much over - crazy. I leave in about an hour to head to Fiji for 5 days, where it is supposed to be 80 degrees the whole time (it's 37 here), and am soo excited! After that we're in Auckland for a week or so, then headed down to Wellington for a last hurrah and to see an All Blacks rugby game. Then I'll finally be home! Missing you all - Mer