Citrus, chlorine and jaywalking

Today was my first full day in New Zealand (officially). Jet lag did not hit me as much as I expected, but I still woke up around 5am. Tossing and turning, I decided to get out of bed and see what a New Zealand sunrise looked like so I walked down to the beach near my cabin. It was a bit foggy from the morning mist but the sky was still lit in pinks and oranges. This was definitely the most beautiful thing I have seen yet. After sitting on the beach for over an hour, I decided to go back to my cabin; it was a chilly morning of only 45 degrees F and my fingers were numb. 

My alarm rang around 7:30am, letting me know it was time to start the day. I didn't realize I had fallen back to sleep. I sat up, looked at my roommate, Mary, and said "we're in New Zealand." She giggled at the thought, and then we both got up for breakfast. It was still chilly so I made sure to bundle in my long underwear, fleece sweater and pants, and wool socks. 

This morning was different than the last. Unlike yesterday when EcoQuest chef, Steph, cooked our breakfast for us, we made it our selves. There were lots of options: oatmeal, various cereals, fresh fruit, toast, and eggs. Everything tasted so fresh, especially the citrus fruit. 

Going back to the cabin to get ready for the day, I heard a bell ding multiple times. I looked outside and one of our field leaders, Rebecca, was on the porch of our classroom, also known as the wharekai (fuddah-kai), waving us over. When all 26 students accumulated on the porch, Rebecca informed us that the sound of the bell meant it was time to meet at the wharekai. The other leaders joined the group and talked about our schedule for the day. 

After breakfast, we went over hard policies for the program, such as alcohol, guests, and weekend travel. Everything was fairly common-sense based. Then we split into two groups. The first went with Steph to talk about kitchen chores that we were assigned twice a month over the course of the semester. The other went with the program director, Ria, to talk about the garden and the food we would be eating. The kitchen chores were fairly familiar: help prepare the meals and do the dishes. Check. Heading into the garden was less familiar. We first looked at what was in the garden, which for now mainly contains Swiss chard, lettuce, broccoli and collie flower. Then we looked around the campus and identified countless trees: banana, lime, lemon, lemonade, pineapple guava, red and yellow cherry, almond, grapefruit, tangelo, peach, plum, south american tomatoe, apricot, and my personal favorite, blood orange!! Ria continued to explain to us where we would be getting our food. Most of our fruit would be right from our own trees. So that is pretty cool. We would also be using all vegetables in the garden. Meat and dairy products came from a local farm less than a kilometer from campus. Coco and peanut butter is imported from Australia. In other words, we were eating primarily organic! This is why everything tastes so good!  

Lunch was delicious!! It was still only 47 degrees F and Steph had made us vegetable soup with fresh rolls. The soup was warm and tasty and took the edge off of the morning chill. After lunch, one of our field leaders, Marie, instructed us to grab everything we would need for going into town along with a bathing suit and towel. First thought: it is so cold, why are we swimming?

Heading back to my cabin, I grabbed my wallet, bathing suit, towel, and water bottle and put it in my backpack. The bell dinged and we all met in front of the wharekai. Marie then explained that we were going into Thames, the closest city to Kaiaua, where we could go shopping and grab last minute things we needed. She also mentioned that before we went into the city, we were going to a local swimming pool to get "swim tested" of 200m. I suppose the leaders wanted to see how strong of swimmers we were.  

This was one of the most spectacular drives I have ever been on. Spectacular but confusing. I keep forgetting that the Kiwis drive on the opposite side than us Americans. The scenery was like nothing I've ever experienced. On the shallow sides of the van, there were fenced plots of the greenest grass. Inside the plots were either cows, calves, alpacas, goats, or sheep. And not just a few of them. We are talking about plots 100m apart with 30+ individuals in each. Further in the distance were either rolling green hills or pointy tall mountains. Breathtaking. 

45 minutes later, we arrived at the swimming pool where each of us swam 200m without struggle. The only struggle was walking around Thames with wet hair. When we got into the city, our leaders told students that we had an hour and a half. Immediately, we all took off into different directions to explore the city. I, personally, went into 3 thrift shops, where I picked up a cozy blue flannel, a book store, and post office, where I grabbed some stamps and post cards. 

The drive back was just as amazing as the drive there. When we got back to campus, we became trained in the climbing wall and slack line safety procedures. We were then given our notebooks and a few maps of New Zealand and hostels for weekend trips. 

Delicious dinner was served! Chicken with thinned gravy, roasted potatoes and pumpkin, collie flower, broccoli, and green beans. 

After dinner, I took a stroll around campus. Just taking everything in. Everything that we did today. Everything that we did to get here. Everything that it took to get into this program. I do miss my family in the states, but I can honestly say that it's starting to feel like my home away from home.