Leaving on a Jet Plane

The last few days have been great. Micah got back from his trip to the South Island and so me and him rented a car and headed north. We went up to Cape Reinga (the very most north part of New Zealand) and also visited the Bay of Islands. The weather cleared up and we were able to take a boat ride to see the infamous hole in the rock out in the Pacific Ocean, and also many of the beautiful islands in the bay. Cape Reinga was also interesting because you could see where the two oceans met out at sea.

I also managed to see the Kauri trees which apparently are 1000s of years old.... and I finally got my chance to drive in New Zealand, which very much to my surprise was not as hard as I had expected (considering they drive on the other side of the road.... and also they have some other interesting road rules that are different than the US).

Yesterday was very nice. I made reservations in Orbit which is the restaurant that revolves around the top of the Sky Tower... so my friends joined me for lunch up at the top. There was a wonderful view of Auckland from up there, and I also got to enjoy a very very delicious lamb shank meal... yum.

Today I went to the Sylvia Park and did a tiny bit of shopping....

My trip to New Zealand feels very complete, and I am very very happy that it feels that way, because tomorrow night I'll be boarding the airplane which will be headed back to the United States.

I am so lucky that I was able to come on this trip, and I feel like I've learned a lot about the world, and matured quite a bit since I left. It's been very hard to say good bye to all the friends I've made while I was here, but I am so happy that I was able to met some many awesome and interesting people... and I am sure I will be able to keep in touch with them.

So although I am quite sad about having to leave behind my friends, I am very happy to be coming home to see all of my family and friends whom I had to leave behind when I embarked on my journey overseas. It is going to be a very nice Christmas this year I think! :)

All that's left for me to do is finish up my packing and cleaning my room. I do plan to update this blog a bit when I do return home, so be looking forward to checking that out.

I'll see you tomorrow Mom and Dad!

Cheers,
Shawn

Happy Holidays!

I've been back in Auckland for a couple days, but my trip to the South Island was very very great. We were able to see and do so much while we were down there.


I am going to write a longer post about the trip down there in the future, but I only have about a week left in New Zealand, so I will probably wait until I get back to the states to do that.

A few of the highlights of the trip included though:

• Surfing in Raglan
• Seeing some of Wellington
• The Ferry Ride from Wellington to Picton
• Hitchhiking with a buddy we made on the bus from Hamilton to Wellington (he drove us all the way from Picton to the South of the South Island)
• Hiking for three days in Stewart Island
• Going to Queenstown
• Doing the Routeburn and Caples hikes (...my favorite part of the whole trip I think)

and just having tons and tons of fun.

Here are a few pictures from the trip:

Dan (the guy who drove all the way to Invercargil), Micah, and Matt

Kiwi Crossing

Start of the Hike on Stewart Island

Sunset on Stewart Island

Orange

A possum that tried to steal our food

Micah and Matt and all our stuff

Got my thumb out

Riding towards Queenstown

A guy let us stay in his shack one night

Queenstown had a Frisbee Golf course... so we played.

The start of the Routeburn

Beautiful Mountains
Setting up Camp

Amazing.
King of the Mountain

Part of the Alpine Region of the Hike

It was cold up there, but well worth it
The highest elevation we reached
(and let me tell you.... it was A LOT of going up)

a great view from the top

a big mountain

Where we camped on the 3rd day

Below the waterfall

It was a big waterfall

Christchurch Cathedral (....after the construction was finished)

The Wizard of New Zealand

The ferry ride to Stewart Island


Hiking on the Routeburn

The Christmas Tree in the Cathedral in Christchurch

Last night they had Christmas at the Park which is like a free event they put on, and New Zealand celebrities and bands play christmas songs. It was pretty fun. The best part was this huge fireworks show at the end, so that was pretty cool. It really got me in the holiday mood, which is funny because it has been like 60 degrees, and there is no snow.


Thinking I may go up to Cape Renga and the Bay of Islands in a day or two... but I'm not sure yet.

Hope everyone is doing well,
Cheers,
Shawn

Sunburnt but Happy

I've finished exams, and I'm done with school. To celebrate me and my friends went out to a restaurant in the Viaduct named Mecca. I got a really delicious lamb shank, and some potatoes, it was real good.

Jamming out on the Beach

This weekend we had a big farewell party at my friend Andy's beach house in the Coromandel peninsula. It was a really good time.

I'm leaving for an epic adventure on the South Island tomorrow, so I've been spending most of the day trying to get my stuff around and packed.

So I had to keep this post so breif, but I am headed out to get some coffee with some friends.

I'll be gone for a good 3 to 4 weeks down in the south, and it's going to be amazing. I am so excited.

Here are some pictures from the weekend:

On the way there

Another shot of us jamming out

I hope everyone stays well.

I will take a lot of pictures.

Cheers,
Shawn

Summer Fun

With exams coming to an end and the weather getting a lot better (as a matter of fact, it's been really amazing) everyone has been in real cherry moods lately, and I've been making the most of it.

Fireworks at Albert Park

I've been spending a lot of time out and about in the city of Auckland. I've started playing Disc Golf. It's pretty much the same as golf, except instead of playing with golf balls you play with a frisbee. There are actually a bunch of courses around Auckland, and so it's a pretty good way to spend time out doors.

New Zealand's best disc golf player lives in Auckland, and so me and some friends took a random trip to his house. He told us he'd come out and play a game or two or with us sometime.

In addition to the Disc Golf we've had a few barbeque's at Mission Bay and other beaches, and those have been a real good time too.

Last night was Guy Fawkes day. Guy Fawkes day is an unofficial holiday they celebrate here by lighting off fireworks. It has to do with Guy Fawkes, who was a guy who tried to blow up the king back in the 15th or 16th century. If you've seen V for Vendetta than the part in the very start is supposed to be Guy Fawkes. In New York State fireworks are illegal all year round. Here in New Zealand they are legal to buy but only for about 5 days before Guy Fawkes day (which is Nov. 5). So for the last week or so they've had fireworks on sale all over, and people have been setting them off for about a week or so also (which has been real nice).

Me and my friends bought a bunch of fireworks and went to the park to set them off last night (which we were told by the fire department is legal). That was a lot of fun, and there were a ton of other people there setting them off also.

In addition to that my friend from Oswego -- Leah Evans -- invited me to a Halloween/Guy Fawkes party at one of her friends houses which was a lot of fun. I got to meet a whole bunch of kiwis. It was really funny because one of her friends was dressed as an American Tourist for Halloween. Also they had a bunch of Jack-o-lanterns that they made which they showed me, and they wanted to know my opinion of them because it's not really something they do in New Zealand. Through a series of random events (and my ability to easily met people) I actually ended up hanging out with a bunch of people who work at a popular radio station in New Zealand called The Edge. It was pretty sweet because I got to talk to them for a while about a whole bunch of radio stuff.

I've also figured out what I'm going to be doing after school is out. I'm going to head to the South Island to visit Queenstown and some other areas in the south part of the South Island that I missed the first time. I'll be heading out with my flatmate Micha, and two of my other American friends -- Matt Connolly and Zoe Wagoner. The plan is actually to kind of hitchhike a little bit around, and kind of see where life takes us, but we definitely are heading to the south part. We're going to bring tents. With weather like it has been in the last week or so I have a feeling it'll be an amazing trip.

Here's some pictures:

So we had an 80's theme party...

80's theme party part 2...

Me and Rebecca down at her house in Tauranga

Waterfall in Tauranga

Me and Micha at another theme party at Rebecca's house
We are characters from the movie The UntouchablesMe and Rebecca

I look good in a suit

Matt and Christof at our BBQ

Playing disc golf

More disc golf

Sweet as

Wonderful weather at One Tree Hill

Getting ready to throw
Matt and my disc (which was stuck in the ground after I threw it)

Guy Fawkes!

Sprinklers

Micha sets some off

Boom!

The fun never ends

Me and Niki

Reminds me of the fourth of july

I have one exam on Thursday and them I am finished... hopefully it won't be too hard.
I also got to register for classes back in Oswego, so I'll be set when I get back.

as usual I hope all is well.

Cheers,
Shawn

Happy Halloween

I did not end up getting a chance to surf last weekend. The weather wasn't so good. I still had a real fun time down in Tauranga though.

Trapped!

The other night was Halloween. It did not really feel like it here in New Zealand though. They do celebrate it, but I don't think they care as much about it as we do in the States. They did have some scary movies on the last few days though... and I got a chance to watch The Exorcist with some of my friends.

For Halloween we went to this place called Spookers, which is a haunted house which is open all year round. The building the haunted house is in used to actually be a mental institution, which is kind of freaky. In addition to the haunted house they have this long forest trail that you can walk through and it's pretty scary. It was a real good time. I preferred the forest over the house.

My last article is online. If you're interested in reading about Stephen Colbert check it out.

After we just got out of the Haunted House

I hope everyone had a happy halloween.

Cheers,
Shawn

Surfing, USA

Two more of my articles for New Media Journalism are online

Read about the bad news for File-Sharers here

Read a review I did of the new Say Anything album -- In Defense of The Genre
I think I might have been able to write a bit better of a review, but I had to keep it kind of short.

This weekend I'm headed south to visit my friend Rebecca's family and try my hand at some surfing. It should be a fun time, as long as I don't get eaten by a shark.


Cheers.
Shawn

Retarded in Love

One of my classes I am taking is New Media Journalism.

For the first half of the class we had to work on an internet magazine. My site was aimed at talking about fishing in the Auckland area.

You can check it out here
The site is more about the design and less about the content.

Additionally for the second part of the class we have to submit articles to be published online at City Beat, which is a student online news format here in Auckland.

The first article I wrote is about the debate over Carbon Neutral.

The second one is a movie review of the movie The Bourne Ultimatum (which came out here later than it did in the US)

The third is about the All-Black's losing to France in the Rugby World Cup. It's interesting because I wrote it from the perspective of the French Students living in WSA.

I have to do 3 more stories, so once I get those in I'll post the links.

Also I really thought that this article written by my american friend Matt was really interesting.
I feel like I could've written the same article myself. We are the only two Americans in that class. He talks about how everyone loves to hate Americans. Now in particular I have not run into very much anti-Americanism here so far. The few times I have, it was mostly from people who were also foreign, and not so much from the kiwis. But it's still very interesting.

Also if you feel up to it, this other article he wrote is pretty interesting also. It's about how many kiwis take the South Island for granted.

Cheers,
Shawn