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Dunedin to Te Anau
We awoke in Dunedin feeling well-rested and determined to see the local penguins. After a pleasant breakfast near the local university, we drove over to the nearby Otago Peninsula, a protected area where particular efforts have been taken to remove and protect from mammalian predators. This protection has left the peninsula a hotbed of rare…
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Travel to, and along the East Coast of the South Island
Life has been quite eventful since my last post, including lots of driving, late nights, and unstable to unusable internet in some of the most remote corners of New Zealand. Now writing from the house of some friends of my grandmother’s, after enjoying a very pleasant home-cooked meal, I am delighted to find some time…
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Hiking Tongariro National Park
I got up at 6:30 am the morning of March 14th, with plenty of time to meet my 8 am bus and cook a nice breakfast of toast, cheese, and eggs. After eating and packing plenty of water and backup snacks I was ready and excited by the time I boarded. From the pickup point,…
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Starting the Journey South
After a slow morning, my grandmother and I headed to the Coromandel bakehouse for our breakfast. I tried my first ever (English/nz style) sausage roll and a chicken cordon bleu, and grandma had an apple turnover and coffee. Everything was delicious and quite affordable. We then decided to act on a recommendation received the previous…
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Arrival in New Zealand
Another country totally new to me! After a long red-eye flight, where I managed to get a few hours of sleep, we touched down and began the process of clearing customs. Still groggy, we made our way outside and were greeted by the first dry, cool air I had felt in some time. From there,…
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Fun in French Polynesia
The week or so since my last post has been entirely full of great and completely new experiences. With a day and a half in a resort in Papeete, then seven days aboard a wonderful cruise ship called the Wind Spirit, there has been far too much fun to easily sum up in a single…
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Arriving in Tahiti
After a long flight with plenty of turbulence, I finally arrived in Papeete with my parents and grandmother. The flight was fairly empty, so I managed to get some sleep in a row all by myself towards the back of the plane. This left me feeling fairly energetic when we arrived even though it was…
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Final Inventory and Packing Up
An exciting night, and my last sleeping in California for some time. I’ve been working on cleaning up my room and making final packing decisions for most of the day, and just managed to spread out my things (picture attached) and take inventory one final time before packing it all up and heading to the…
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