Beautiful life

Yesterday was by far the most amazing day of my time in NZ thus far. We all woke up super early so that we could take a 1 hr 15 min ferry ride to Tiritiri Mantangi Island. This island is reserved as a sanctuary for native NZ birds and plants. About 20 years ago a group of passionate volunteers banded together to help restore the island to its natural habitat, free of foreign pests. They exterminated all of the pests on the island, and for the last 20 years or so the native creatures have been able to thrive freely and without threat.

The real unique aspect of this island is the number of endangered birds that inhabit it, as well as the rainforest-esque growth on one side of the island, and the plains that cover the other. We were taken on a guided tour of much of the island, told about all of the plants and birds, and were able to take a ton of pictures, while truly soaking in the beauty that surrounded us. They volunteers have built shelters for the penguins that inhabit the island (Little Blue's), and we were able to look in and see the chicks huddled together. Sooo cute!! After the hike we went to the visitors center and lighthouse where we ate lunch and looked around.

Those of us who felt like being adventurous continued hiking to the opposite side of the island after lunch where we discovered huge arches of rock along the coastline. We all climbed down a hill and jumped into the ocean in a cave under the arches, carved out by the waves. We hiked back into the tunnels where we found penguins hiding out from the surf. Those who were brave enough to swim through the arches did so (not me!!), timing the waves perfectly so as to not get caught inside during a swell. We all felt like we could have stayed at the arches so much longer...the water was warm and it was such a spectacular location....but the ferry was back at 3:30 and we needed to head home. After a 15 minute hike back, we made it to the boat.

The boat ride back was fun because I was able to talk to Chris, another EAP student who is a fellow scuba diver, meaning woo hoo for finding a buddy to dive with! Can you say "HELLO GREAT BARRIER REEF!??!?!"

I returned home for dinner with a sunburn and a strong desire to sleep, so that's exactly what I did. After napping for a while, much of our group decided that they wanted to go out for one of our last nights together as a big group...so we got dressed up and headed out to find a dance club. On the way I went to the ATM and found out I don't have to pay fees to withdraw money while I'm here (a big WAHOO for that one).

The dance club was crazy. The bouncer at the door (a BIG Maori man), refused to let our friend in because he said she was too drunk (NOT true), so Anni and I waited with her and then ended up getting in free after her 15 minutes "sober up" time out. Score for not having to pay!!!

Once we got in we found our whole group dancing on a platform along the windows of the venue, so what did we decide to do but join them! :) It was so much fun...I haven't danced in what feels like forever!! And a big plus to going out in NZ...the guys here actually respect personal space, so "grinding" is almost non-existent. Yes!!!!

At about 1:30 AM a friend and I decided that we were ready to hit the road. Long and incredible day :)