i had the best week in Tonga, and I really don't want to forget anything so I am goin to write about it now, and add photos later :) Sorry for not updating as after as I should...I don't even think I am through with the first trip I had before the trimester began! So things will be out of order...if I ever to decide to talk about certain trips. I probably will :) I cannot believe there's only about a month left of school! and then there's a study break and then exams. However, I don't have any exams, just final papers/projects. Woo! So back to my Tonga trip. I decided to go a while ago, maybe a month before it happened, my awesome professor/lecturer (they call them lecturers or course coordinators, but I'll just say professor) casually announced a volunteer trip to Tonga at the end of one of our classes. I was really interested because I wanted to go to a Pacific Island and be fully immersed in their culture instead of just being a tourist, but didn't know how I would do that, unless I did some volunteer program that would probably cost a lot. And how great would it be to go with my professor and other educators and her mentor who have contributed so much to Pacific education?! So I emailed her and asked to talk to her about it, and she told me that we would be staying in a village and then there is a education conference also and two free days. She had also said that she didn't think people would actually be interested haha, but 3 of us from her class ended up going! It was originally for the post-grad students I think because they presented at the conference. There were also 3 other undergrad students from another lecturers class who came so 6 of us kiddies :) I think there were around 25 from Victoria University of Wellington.
So after a few meetings (ok two, but i only could make the last one), we set OFF to the airport a few days later to fly to Auckland and then Tonga! Tongatapu is the main island where we landed and stayed. Once we arrived, it was SO warm and nice, especially since its been pretty cold in NZ (40-50 degrees) it was maybe 70 in Tonga :D There were lots of people welcoming and yelling from the upstairs of the airport probably to all their family that just arrived, and there were lots of people waiting outside the exit door. We waited for a long time for everyone to get through customs and finally left in a cute bus to a...big room? I still have no idea what it was, but it was across from a church and it was a big room, i think with a stage. Basically we sat in a huge circle on chairs and the University of South Pacific director and students welcomed us, introduced themselves, and fed us. :) They had coconuts too!! That was one thing I really was looking forward to :P (food/drink wise) We got paired up with our partners, one VUW student and one USP student. Mine was "home cleaning" and I was really confused at first, but I was basically paired with his cousin Malia, who was a great buddy. I spent most of my time with her and Victoria (my classmate) and their family. I found out later that Nua (my buddddyyyy) was busy working for his dad's business. They have an importing business for fruits, veggies, yams, coconuts. So after that, we walked to Malia's house, met her family, who were very nice and welcoming and had more snacks for us haha. And then off on a mini-tour with Malia's cousin who lives next door, Siua who drove us around to different beaches and the blowholes! The sun was going down/went down while we were there, so after that, Siua asked if I wanted to meet my buddy Nua (Fonua) and told me that he is very shy. Of course I said yes, and we went to their home... When we parked, Nua's parents, and some aunts were sitting outside on chairs. I think because it was hot inside their home. So they put some chairs out for us and we sat and chatted for a bit. They offered us tea or coffee and were way too nice! We were originally told to make sure we don't get served and to make sure we help out in the house, but they wouldn't let us... We had "Tongan soup" I dont know why they kept laughing when they asked if we liked the "Tongan soup" but it was pretty good. And we had taro as well. The parents were sooo nice! Just on the first day, they were already so welcoming and called us Robin Lasike and Victoria Lasike as part of their family. :') After a while, the boys finally came back from sending their last load of food (I think) and I met shy Nua. I don't know why but every time we interacted everyone laughed. So funny/awkward. And thennnnnnn my host mom, Lupe took us to Malia's house where Sesi, Malia's mom, had prepared SUPER garlicy garlic bread, was so full, but it was so good. And thennnnnn Lupe drove us to another house that we were going to sleep at the first night. We met more sisters/cousins and finally went to bed. And was woken up 2 hours later and met the crazy/funny sisters and cousins... :) I didn't think I'd type that much but this was only day1! Will shorten next posts...or maybe not, just read or look at what you want to. :) thanks! We went hiking to Rainbow Falls in Kerikeri (i think) I need to look at my list of names because I forget! So this hike included a small waterfall, and then "fairy pools" but we couldnt figure out why it was called that, and then the big rainbow falls!! There was a rainbow too but from an angle closer to the waterfall. 4 of us tried to get to the back of the waterfall by climbing on the rocks, but one girl and I were too scared we were gonna fall into the water, so we got close! but went back. The rocks were very wet and slippery, lots of water was spraying at us. I will add more/edit more when I get back home to see my travel notes :) Currently, I have no internet at home because I have to pay by the weeks and gb's and my mid-semester break is starting this weekend! So, I am traveling to the South Island for two weeks and don't want to pay for internet. I am currently sitting on campus using their internet :). Going to try to upload all my pictures with more descriptions, but there may be more pictures on facebook since it's easier to upload with no explanation and I want to narrow down the more nicer photos here :D So after orientation, we had two weeks to travel so we rented a car and left Auckland to go up North! I drove first (on the left side!) and it was scary at first but it's not too bad. Slept in a tent in the back yard ish area of a bar in Kawakawa, but first! we ate at the bar and I had a really good fish burger and cider. Then we hiked to Waitangi Treaty Grounds to hike to the Haruru Falls. Then we went to a Holiday Park in Kerikeri and planned the rest of our trip. Almost every day of orientation, we had "morning tea," which was usually delicious mini meat pies, and fruit/desserts. I wish I had taken a photo every time of the food, but I was too excited to eat!! So our mornings would consist of breakfast (kind of sad, just bread and cereal, once there was beans (??)), some type of session learning about New Zealand, and then morning tea (!!! :D), and then some other type of session. It was great!! Morning Tea was my favorite haha. just kidding i just really love these pies here. So below is a photo of what we had one morning. That is a sausage roll, not a pie, but still delicious with a nice flaky crust thing. The sauce is tomato sauce, not ketchup. It's a bit sweeter. There was also tea, coffee, and Milo. Anyways, the rest of the photos are from when we went to Devonport, a suburb across the water in Auckland. We took a boat and it literally took 10 minutes to get across. Then we had an amazing buffet dinner. Everything was so delicious. I wish I could go back and eat it again! I wish we had more time to explore the area, maybe I can go back another time. This was our last orientation day. Ivan (the director of EAP in NZ) drove us to APEX our car rental place, where 5 of us SET OFF into the North Island. :) On our 4th day (June 22) of orientation, we had a day trip where we went to Sheep World and Waiwera Thermal Pools. We took a bus to these places, and I think the bus said "Party Bus" on the front, and...there was one of those green laser things that kept flashing and basically played super loud EDM at 10 in the morning. It was pretty funny...but anyways... SHEEP world was weird but cool. Basically a farm for tourists to check out. The owner showed us how his sheep dogs herded the many sheep and taught us a lot but I'm too lazy to type it all out, and I can tell you in person if you really want to learn about...what i learned... So after the demonstration of sorting sheep and shedding or whatever (I forgot all the correct terms, its been a while! I need to blog/upload faster so I don't forget things), we went back to our party bus and went to the thermal pools...which turned out to be a water park type place with heated pools. It was cool, but we all really imagined holes in the ground with water and dirt, not like swimming pool type holes. Sadly my waterproof camera died so I stole some of Alyssa's cool gopro pictures. :) By the way, you can click on the photos to enlarge them. New Zealand airplane and airport. Got the 3 middle seats all to myself! Watched saving mr.banks and then Mary poppins because so confused. |