airplane thoughts

It's hard to write any of the 14 posts I have to write because all I can think about is my beloved Ocean City. Just 12 more days (only 9 more flights and 2 more finals) until I'm back on the beach in summer. I just came from Darwin (if I ever move to Australia, definitely my new vacation destination) where it felt like summer (at 91 degrees F) in the middle of winter. It was a much needed escape from the cold, but now I'm in desperate need of summer.
Lol tho, the drastic weather change destroyed my immune system and now my nose can't stop running and I can't catch it and I keep sneezing and my throat is killer and I'm covered in bruises. But it's back to freezing in 5 hours; it might make it better or it might kill me.
Okay maybe I'll start catching up on some posts now. Or maybe I'll just keep getting absorbed into my music (this flight has no tv, but it did have a meal, so good on ya, virgin)

Until next time,

xoxo,

Tasha 

Shine Bright like a Glowworm

Okay, it's literally humanly impossible to remember every detail of the posts I still have to write (11) and the ones I will need to do about this week (8), soo I'm going to attempt to get writing on some old posts I have to catch up on.
So the farthest one back is the glowworms, but I don't really feel like writing about them but it'll be the shortest because it was only like an hour and not that impressive so I guess I'll just start by doing my glowworm post.

I have to pee tho (I just did a tasting of like 12 beers) so hold up real quick tho. I'll write ya before I get on my tram tour tho, I promise.
Okay I'm back
So after Hobbiton we (the bus) went to the Waitomo Glowworm Caves. So I wanted to do the black water rafting, but it was as expensive as Hobbiton and the glowworms, and Hobbiton was extremely expensive on it's own as well. So because I believed, as an American, Hobbiton was an essential part of New Zealand, I did the Hobbiton and Waitomo bus tour instead of doing black water rafting and Hobbiton separately for double the price. At the time I feel I was pretty okay with this, but then Celeste and friends did the blackwater rafting and it looked so fun. But oh well. I didn't have time for both anyways.
So after Hobbiton we went to Waitomo where we waited like 10 minutes for a tour guide. They told us we couldn't take pictures, but of course I tried anyways. First the guide took us into the caves where he explained to us about the stalactites and stalagmites and the limestone. I think it's so cool that the caves - the whole entirety of the caves - were once completely underwater. They're huge! Apparently, it makes for great acoustics. One of the guides had her wedding there, it makes it so good.
Then we went further into the cave where our guide explained about the glowworm life process, but thanks to Allison (I think, maybe it was one of the other girls, idk) I already knew a bit about it. Anywhos he took us further to tell us about their lives because we could see the 'fishing line' webs they use to catch their food here. It really does look like fishing lines! So cool.
So then we got on the boat for the glowworm cavern thingy, I forget what it's called. The place where there's a lot of them. Anyways I attempted to illegally take some pictures but my iPhone refuses to capture glowworms or stars or anything so it was all just black. But the glowworms looked just like stars but blue. Like lots and lots and lots of blue stars or tiny blue Christmas lights. I think I thought they looked like Christmas lights first before It thought they looked like stars. But like little dotty ones. But yeah.
We weren't actually in the glowworm grotto (that's what it was called) long but we couldn't talk and the silence (except for the drip drip of the cave) was deafening. Then after we got off the boat we could take pictures so I got one of the outside of the cave.
Then we went to the gift shop where I got Autumn a postcard because when we were fantasizin about if she would come to New Zealand the glowworms were at the top of her list of what she wanted to see. Would've been better if she was there but oh well.
I still had time before I had to get back on the bus so I got an ice cream. Then we headed back for Auckland.

Until next time,

xoxo,

Tasha

Slightly Smaller Than Hobbit Sized

Don't tell, but I still haven't actually seen the Lord of the Rings movies....I tried to watch the first one on the flight over here but I fell asleep about forty minutes into it. I did watch the first Hobbit movie tho, if that counts. But, being in New Zealand, it would have been very un-New Zealand of me to not go to Hobbiton. Since I'm not that invested in it and it was quite expensive, I didn't really want to go and was simply going because (as I just mentioned) I had to because I was in New Zealand, but I was pleasantly surprised.
On the way to Hobbiton, our bus driver gave great commentary on the areas we were passing. Sometimes he would pause, like to breathe, and in my head I would guess what was next and when I did that I was mostly right. It was nice because it made me feel smart about New Zealand and the Auckland area even tho I've spent like 0 time in Auckland (turns out I'm not really that big into cities - score 1 for daddy).
Hobbiton is located on the Alexander farm with 13,000 sheep and 400 cows. I really liked that it was on the Alexander farm because Uncle Danny's family is the Alexanders and I know they're probably most definitely not related but it's still cool.
So we had a tour guide that took us around Hobbiton and showed us all the Hobbit holes and gave us lots of Hobbiton trivia knowledge, so next Carnival Hobbiton trivia I totally got. Bring on the ships on the sticks.

Did you know they originally planned on filming on 12 different farms but the giant tree for the party scene (or wait maybe it was the lake) made them decide to only use the Alexander farm?
After the Lord of the Rings finished filming, the set was supposed to be destroyed so it could go back to being a farm again but a giant storm made them postpone destruction. While they were waiting it out a bunch (well 8 not really a bunch) of locals recognized the area from the movie and came to tour it and the Alexanders decided they could make money from tourists so they had them rebuild the set with stronger-longer lasting materials so they could give tours. Also the whole hobbit trilogy only took 12 days to film, but the set took over 2 years to put together.
The Hobbit holes were quite large. They had varying sizes but a lot of them I could easily fit in. Like the very first one we saw was very large. We couldn't go in it but I took a selfie to show my shortness with it.
The one I'm pictured in above I'm standing on a step in so I'm actually even smaller.
Also fun fact it wasn't raining but I hadn't worn my rain boots yet and I really wanted to wear them and it rained the day before so I wore them anyways.
Five hobbit holes were built just for the Hobbit trilogy. They're in the distance and small and were only used in case the camera shot too wide so it would look like the village continued instead of just farm.
There's also the oak tree above the famous hobbit hole and there are no oak trees in New Zealand so they had to build this tree. It's made of metal and the leaves are 5 shades brighter green than the natural stuff because the camera darkens it. But my eyes already have never seen such bright greens before so to me I couldn't tell the difference between the tree leaves and the grass but to like people who can see that brightness it's 5 shades lighter. Even tho it's totally fake it even fools the birds who often make nests in it.
So then after our tour we went to the Green Dragon for drinks. The sign says they ID unless you look over 25 and they didn't ID me and I don't think I look that old... If I do then when I'm really 25 I'll look over 30! Ew. So not down for being old, man.
Then after drinks we went to this party tent for our lunch and I was expecting like a sandwich on the bus but we got a full big buffet with like real meat and everything. My meat was dry and chewy but it was still meat so I tried my best to eat it. It was nice.

Then we got back on the bus to head to the glowworms (which has its own post so be patient my dears).

Until next time,

xoxo,

Tasha

The Chicken and Waffle Fail that wasn't really a fail at all

May 25
Today started out as a normal day. I went to class. I didn't remember a thing I read in the business strategy book. That's when things took a turn for the better.
I got a 4/5 on my business strategy quiz. That was very pleasing to me because the past couple quizzes I've only been getting 2/5 even tho I read the stupid chapter before every class, sometimes more than once. Then class got out early so I went to meet Celeste and Sarah to go to Chicken and Waffles! I was so excited because I love chicken and waffles (just ask my mother).
So I go chill in front of Subway and Sarah comes and tbh I thought it was just gonna be Celeste so I was glad to see Sarah because I haven't hung out with her in a while. Celeste is late, as usual, but it's fine and soon we're going to Orleans for Chicken and Waffles.
Then we get there and we meet up with Libby! Yay more people!
So we sit at the table and place our order and everything then a different waitress comes up and asks us for IDs even tho no one is getting any alcoholic stuff. Everyone except Sarah has theirs, but we're not gonna make Sarah leave by herself so we all leave and we go to Better Burger. I've never had it before but apparently it's like the best. I thought it was just okay but whatever.
It was nice catching up with Sarah and Libby because they were telling me about all these things happening within our Loyola group dynamics that I didn't know about because I'm like halfway antisocial but really everyone is just antisocial towards me and it's all their fault and not mine. But anyways so yeah now I'm a little more in the loop with events up until yesterday.
Then Sarah leaves because she has class at 3. Libby, Celeste and I just chill at Better Burger because I'm not up for the walk back and I guess they weren't either. So then we're talking right and all of a sudden Libby stops mid sentence and her jaw drops and she's just staring and we're like "what are you staring at" and she's like "that's Max Key, the Prime Minister's son!" so we wait over at Better Burger for a little bit more then we go over to the bar where he is and we're just like talking about famous people and such and Libby's like "today is his birthday" so she googles it while we're finishing our drinks (cider for me, rose for Libby, water for Celeste) and I'm watchin as like other people are coming up to him and such then when everyone else but his bestie and him have left, Libby finishes her drink and goes to talk to him. They take a super cute dog filter snapchat selfie then she invites Celeste and I to join. So we're like "happy birthday!" and we just chill for like 10 minutes with Max and his friend, Marty. Marty is in the band Jupiter Project and he put us on his snapchat story, so we're like lowkey not really almost famous now. So then we get our selfies and let him be because we have to go to class now too.

Max Key

Marty from Jupiter Project

So then I get to where my class is and I'm sitting there because I'm early and I'm just chillin on my phone then it's like class time but it still seems empty so I look around and there's literally no one there so I check my email and class was canceled so I go back to my room and watch How To Be Single and skip my next class because it's pouring and I'm not walking there. But then the management teacher put our essay grades in and I didn't fail even tho she hates me so that's good.
So I'm just chillin til tonight because Celeste and I are going to 1885. So then the time comes and I get ready and I'm like what do I wear because it's pouring so I can't wear my leather or my suede and that's like my whole life so I'm like ahh what do I wear now so then I put on this like H2O worthy outfit and it's totally cute and I'm totally gonna wear it lots this summer and the top makes me look tan.
So then Celeste and I go to 1885 and Max and Marty are there. Max takes 21 shots because it's his 21st and like everyone was snapchating it and such, and it now occurs to me that Marty didn't change his clothes from earlier haha. So then Marty goes and hangs with these girls and Max is just like chillin with his buds and such and Celeste and I are just chillin too. And then finally more people come because it was like empty.
Then the first person buys me a drink. Took long enough. Then I'm like okay done with you. Then I'm like "Celeste that guy is gonna buy me the next drink" and he kept like staring and coming closer but he never like legit approached me. Chicken. Until we were walking back to the flat then he drives by and he's like "hey!" and I'm just like don't hey me you owe me a drink but I'm really just like "hey!". But anyways after that first one we were like okay who's next and it was fun guessing who would come up next. Like every time except for that one guy I was right, but no one else bought me drinks they just came up to us and didn't buy us drinks. Whatever .

Then Max requests Soulja Boy and then he comes next to us and we all Crank That together. It was fun. Then he leaves and I keep playing my who's next game which is also super fun. Then this guy from Sydney comes up and he's like "my friend is into rugby and he does like some blue thing and he wants to dance" and obvi he means like the Auckland Blues but I'm just like lol
so yeah musicians, sons, rugby players, yolo
& Celeste met this guy from New York. Oh and there was this guy from Canada ! he was cool .
Okay so like before soulja boy I think (maybe after, idk) they played Hips Swing so I'm gonna swing right and so this guy was like yeah I can dig it and he was like hip bumping like you're supposed to do but his girl was like right there! like if this were America I wouldn't be alive to tell the story. but it's not america so that's good.
Speaking of America, everyone here finds it so hard to believe I'm from there. Like idk why. Whatever.
Oh also Max is the second person in my entire life to not hang out with me at the club when I want them to (Jesse was the first, still a bit bitter over that) but I guess we did soulja boy together so maybe that counts...
But we didn't end up leaving with an invite to his super fancy celebrity party on Saturday but I won't be in Auckland anyways so I guess it's okay...not really. but whatever.
So then Celeste and I go back to the flat and like we stop in Burger King because there's lots of people and it's a bunch of people from the club and they start like almost fighting and I called it way before any of the Burger King staff caught on and that's why I need to be at H2O .

my cider came in a jar!

Until next time,

xoxo,

Tasha

May 27 Update:

Max is in my class. I was all excited for nothing lol if only I had been more social throughout the semester we could've been best friends because he's been in my class since February. Oh well, that's what I get for being anti-people. But now it makes sense that when we were all like "oh what do you study" he was like "same as you" lol oops 

18 and Life

I've been waiting for this post since before I came to New Zealand because I'm v excited about the title. The title is the only reason there is a post for this, but
18 days left until my flight back to America.
So in honor, here is the song that inspired this post:

See ya in 18 days, Murica.
Oh wait before I go, everytime I watch this video I'm like "man why do these boys always have better hair then me" then one day I realized they were called HAIR bands for a reason....so yeah. :P

30 Days

May 28
Today I'm on a flight to the South Island. 30 days from now I'll be on a flight to America. This is my 15th flight since starting this study abroad journey and I have 18 more flights booked in the next 30 days before I'm home. I would try to count the cities as well (I don't always fly places) but I just can't - there are too many.
I've gotten better about my plane sickness that seemed to appear and disappear with the first few months of being sent into the great unknown alone. I guess it just took my body a little while to remember cruisin isn't the only way to get places; sometimes you just gotta fly. Spread your winds like a bird and just ride the wind like the breeze is the sea.
I'm tired. Carmen and Camille wanted to go out last night but I stayed in because I was tired and I'm still tired. I've been doin lots of runnin (not literally, everyone knows I don't run) but I'm on the last leg and I can't stop now. Next week all but 2 of my classes were cancelled and those two are optional so hopefully I'll catch up on my sleep then. Or not. We'll see. Ain't no rest of the wicked.
Also I'm really sick of NZ airlines not feeding us. Like hello, where are your manners? Uh whatever.
Also I don't understand why everyone thinks I'm a kiwi. Like I'm hanging out with a bunch of Americans, why would I be a kiwi when you know none of them are? I think it's maybe cause they don't know where my accent is from because even people in America don't know where my accent is from unless they're from Maryland or Delaware. But like they act so shocked when they find out I'm American and I'm like why are you so shocked?
Speaking of American, it's so weird how people don't know what the States are and you gotta say you're from American. In school I was always taught to never say I'm from America; I'm from the United States. Because all of Central and South America and Canada are from America too, so when asked I gotta say the US. But here if you say the US, they just look at you like you have 7 heads then they'll be like "America??" and then I'm like "yeah" but it feels so wrong because I was taught not to just say America but otherwise they don't understand. And they also don't know what DC is. They call it Washington, not Washington DC, and I'm sure like 60% of them are thinking of Washington State because they ask if it's in the west near California. The only places they know are Cali and New York so instead of trying to explain how I'm right next to DC I've learned to just say I'm 4 hours south of New York (which doesn't help but I don't care). Also they refers to any non-America I've talked to the past 4.5 months. Lots of Australians, Brits, Scots, and Germans.
Yo I'm hungry but I refuse to buy overpriced airline food on such short flights. I miss my beloved Southwest and their free peanuts and/or crackers/pretzels/chips and drinks.
Ah well. 30 days left. I can do it.

Until next time,

xoxo,

Tasha

Flying to Fiji

Just a warning, this is gonna be a very negative post because Fiji Airways SUCKS MAJOR

Okay so story time (in a New Jersey/New York Italian guy accent bc idk why just because). Once upon a time, Fiji Airways was recommended to me by several parties for my flights to and from Fiji. Okay cool they're cheapest anyways. So I book my flights, the going and the return. It's all good. Then I get an email maybe like 5 days before my flights, eh idk maybe more point is it was close. So they say they cancelled my flight and put me on a later one for the next day. But that's not cool man because the next day I got a final I gotta be in Auckland for. So I email em back and I'm like yo change my flight (but nicer of course) and they're like sorry man no and I'm like yo I gotta be in Auckland I got a final you gotta change it man. And they're like call me. And I'm like no. And they don't help me. We send about 12 emails, no joke man. Still no help. I post on the facebook and I'm like yo you suck you cancel my flight and don't help me. Oh I forgot to mention in the emails I was like fine if you don't wanna change it just give me my money back and I'll book with someone else and they're like no refunds and we'll charge a cancel fee (but they're the ones that cancelled on me!). So I was a very angry. And they're not helping me. And the facebook page messages me and they're like 'yo let us help you' and I'm like please! and they still don't help. So my momma calls them bc she's a doll and they say they fix it then they send me another email saying it still ain't fixed. Then she calls again and gets it sorted or maybe she had to call a third time. Then they send me an email saying badda bing badda boom it's fixed. Then the facebook page message me again and they're like yo you gotta call us if you want help and I'm like yo I already told you it was fixed. They don't even communicate the email group and the facebook group and the phone group. So i don't really know if it's fixed or not but imma go with it.
okay back to english now.
So I get to the airport and there's no problems and I'm waiting for my plane and I'm sitting across from these two beautiful humans which is important because they'll come up in the story for the next day because fate man, and anyways they're cute but I'm tryin not to stare bc some people think I got a staring problem bc I'll zone out and it'll look like I'm staring at you but these guys were cute so it wouldn't be zone out it would be I'm staring at you bc you are fine. So they got these red passports and I'm like oh that's not english or spanish I wonder where you're from. So I chew on that then 40 minutes after we were supposed to board we go get in line to board and I'm in line before them and I think no more of them.
Then we get on the plane and there's a problem with the flight. 6 seats are double booked and there's only 2 empty seats in first class. 2 of the overbooked seats were right next to me so I was wondering if mine would be double booked too but it wasn't. I don't know what they did with the extra people but we sat on the plane for an hour and a half while they tried to figure it out.
I was a little freakin because my taxi guy was supposed to get me at 3:55 at the airport and now we were like two and half hours late and idk if he would wait but oh well nothing I can do
I watched the first three episodes of season two of the Flash instead of writing more blog posts. Oops.
So the guy that won the seat next to me in the double booked war was a new pilot for Fiji Air from Switzerland. He worked with some other airline for 10 or 30 years idk and he was nice. I do not blame him for Fiji Air sucking.
I was sad about being late to the airport but I was even more sad that I was gonna miss a Fiji sunset because they were supposed to be the best in like all the world. Then Mr. Pilot dude asks if I wanna trade seats with him so I could be at the window but I'm like no I'm okay but then I realize that WE ARE THE SUNSET. So like I can't look out the window at the real sunset because I didn't trade seats because I didn't realize what/why he was asking but then I saw like the reflections on the wings and we were like super colorful and I should've taken him up on his offer but i didn't realize but oh well
So then the sun is already down when we land.
But they're like "if you're connecting to Honolulu run to our staff so you make the flight" and I'm just like OMG ARE YOU KIDDING ME because Bethany Hamilton is in Fiji and idk when she's going back to Hawaii but if she was on that flight and we got there earlier I might've seen her and it would've made my life to meet Bethany. Like I was so upset. She prob wasn't even on that flight; they prob have Hawaii flights every day, but still. The thought that she could possibly be literally within like 50 feet from me and I missed her is very upsetting. I woulda tried to detour to go check but they were very like hawaii boarding passes only and such.
So then I'm in line in customs and I see the pretty boys again and they're way behind in line so sucks to be them.
So then I get out to the waiting area and the guy with my name sign is like "I've been waiting here for 3 hours!!!" (our flight only landed 2 hours late, thanks tail wind) and I'm like "my flight was delayed. not my fault" and he was weird and kinda creepy and lol thank God for best friends like Patrick because I used him as a fake boyfriend but I'm sure he wouldn't mind.
Then we finally get to the dock and I get on the ferry boat thing and Fiji has literally no lights and it's so dark and I've never seen so many stars in my life. Like when I told Autumn the glowworm caves looked like stars, I wasn't kidding. I felt like I was in the caves again. Like I thought we had lots of stars at home being in the woods and such but I guess Ocean City and Baltimore are too close because they're literally nothing like I'm ashamed to think that that was a lot of stars because it wasn't. I should've taken a picture but honestly I didn't even think to because I was so in the moment. We were goin through this river and it was like all trees and such on the sides and it was all fishy and it reminded me of home and it would've been perfect to just stop the boat and go night fishing but i couldn't and that was sad but it was a nice boat ride and i liked it. & there were jumping fish, like a lot of them. I wonder if there was a shark hunting them that we couldn't see but it was cool to see all the jumping fish and the boat ride was nice and i'm glad it was at night because it wouldn't have been the same during the day and it wouldn't be as nice.
Then we got to the island and they show me my room and take me to dinner because I just made it in time and it was beef and vegetables on mash just like I make in the microwave. I might only be able to eat microwaveable and raw foods due to my lack of domestic skills but apparently that means I can still eat good.
So then they're all like movie time and we're all like no bonfire so they make a bonfire for us. There's a German couple, Stella and Marcus, and a Canadian couple. The Canadian couple really isn't Canadian tho, I feel they're more homeless, tho nomad would probably be a more appropriate term, because apparently they're literally always traveling and they travel the world on their boat. They're those people you hate to meet that literally do nothing but brag about where they've been and what they've done. Like I've been and done a lot of things/places but you don't hear me bragging every chance I get (this blog is different because that's literally the purpose of this blog). Ugh it just irks me. That might be my new least favorite kind of people.
So then the worker dudes find out I'm not gonna be here for the fire show because I leave right quick so he's like "i'll teach you how to fire dance" so then I fire dance, yay! (see opening picture)
that was super cool and i'm v grateful he decided to show me fire dancing and let me try. I'm like a real islander now.
then we chill at the fire some more and then I go back to my room. I'm in a cute little bungalow I forgot to take a picture of but you open the door and there's the bed and that's it because it's small and cute and it has a leaf roof and it's like I always thought I would be fine living in - a little shack on the beach with nothing but like a bed but i've decided i'm too much of a princess and i need a real house, but it can still be on a beach.

nope, not on this island

until next time,

xoxo,

Tasha

Blog Cancelled

Apparently my posts are too unhappy for my readers so therefore my bog has been cancelled and you'll receive no more updates from me.
Guess you'll miss out on hearing about my times in Wellington, Hobbiton, Waitomo, Dunedin, the Catlins, Invercargill, Fiji, Adelaide, Perth, Coral Bay, Darwin, Sydney, Canberra, and Samoa. So sorry.
Have a nice life.

I ain't lion; I'm not a cheetah!

Wrapped up in Wellington

Waiting for Wellington

My morning started off very bad. Like I wrote a solid 4.5 pages on how bad my day was going, all before noon, but I'm not gonna type it out for ya because they're my problems not yours. Included in those pages tho are how my Uber driver left me like a mile from where I had to be in the pouring rain, my smoothie tasted like stuff I would not eat, and my flight got delayed. It was not off to a good start.
So then when we finally got in the air, it was only a 45 minute flight to Wellington. We fell out of the sky for a few hundred feet and I thought we were gonna die. But we made it.

My face with the pool being overrun
by children.

None of the ATMs would accept any of my cards. I tried all cards at all ATMs and none of them would give me money. So then I just used a card for a cab to the hotel and since the flight was all delayed, it was too late to really go do anything because it was almost dark and the hotel is like way uphill so no way am I gonna be walking up and down to town. There was no wifi either so I had to use my data so I tried to plan out what else to do besides my seal safari as quick as I could. Unfortunately it was a little too quick and I still had an hour before the restaurant would be open for dinner. So I just chilled. I thought of writing some of my way overdue blog posts but I just couldn't because my head hurt because I was having a rough week.
Then finally it was time for dinner so I go to the restaurant. I got the ribs because apparently pork is my new favorite food along with fried chicken (jk we all know I love all meats and fishes) but the ribs didn't make me feel any better so I had to take the rest back to my room because I was done being at the restaurant.
So then I went to the swimming pool but it was overrun by 7-12 year olds so I went in the sauna and hoped they would leave soon but they had big buckets of KFC and they had more of their friends join them every couple minutes and they lasted way longer than I lasted so I went back to my room and took a warm shower because the room was freezing and I don't think the heat was working but idk how to work their heating systems here because it seems no matter what I do they don't work.
Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

My face after eating my ribs,
barely any bbq sauce on it

Until next time,

xoxo,

Tasha

Ferry Cool Carvings, Man

Last day in Taupo. I finally did what Taupo is known for - the Maori Rock Carvings.
I woke up and checked out of my super cool hotel and walked past town to the marina wharf thing (what's the difference between a marina and a wharf? legit question, please reply in comments.) to the steamboat that would take me out to the carvings! Honestly I might be more excited about riding a steam boat than about seeing the carvings...oops.
I'm there like 30 minutes early. Like 30 minutes before we're supposed to be there which is 15 minutes before it leaves, so I'm like earlier than early but whatever. It's grey and raining, of course, but instead of going in the under cover cafe I just chill with the ducks because the rain never bothered me anyway.

It's cold outside so I sit inside on the steamboat. There's like six tables so I sit at one of them and there's lots of other tables with barely any people and these stupid people come and sit RIGHT NEXT TO ME. Not on the empty bench across from me or the empty bench next to that, but literally right next to me like the lady is leaning on my backpack that's in between me and her on the bench. It's very irritating. I get my cookie and tea and try my best to ignore it but it's seriously bothersome so when I finish my tea I move but by now the other inside benches are all taken because people realized it was cold outside. So I go outside and I am not happy about the stupid people taking over where I was. It is too early to be doing unpleasing things like sitting near me and leaning all over my stuff. Like back up lady. Ugh whatever.
So I go outside and the one worker lady is feeding the ducks so they're flying like right to the boat and then taking the bread and dropping to the water. It's cool. Oh and there's these SCREAMING two children that have been screaming since they got there and the lady let's them feed some and they stop screaming for a bit yay. Then the one gets like seasick or something and has to lay down and the other one starts coloring so no more screaming thankfully. But back to the ducks. Do they have Mallards in New Zealand? Because these ducks had green heads and the girl ducks were brown and like I live in Maryland and that's what a mallard looks like but I'm all the way in New Zealand and it just seems unlikely that they would have mallards here because it's so far away from Maryland. But idk man. Wait lemme google it. Woah they are mallards! A little piece of home so far from home. That's cray man. "which breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, the Falkland Islands and South Africa" (Wiki). But uh, Wiki, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile are all part of the Americas so no need to repeat them...whatevs, I didn't edit it.
We go all around the lake which is bigger than Singapore. I didn't know a lake could be so big. Then there are lots of little mini bays (but they just call them Bays) coming off of the lake, but like I feel like that should be opposite, like shouldn't the Bay be bigger than the Lakes? I dunno. It's just our Chesapeake and even Assawoman are so big, these ones are so tiny I feel they don't deserve the title of Bay. I'm just gonna post a bunch of pictures at once so just chill, k thnx.
So then we get to the rock carvings and the captain explains like what all the carvings on the face mean but I took so long writing this post that I don't really remember but I do remember that it's from Tahiti even tho most people I've talked to think the Maori came from Malaysia. So that's interesting. Then next to the big face there are 28 other carvings, including a lizard and some others. The boat is quite small so we got to get really up close to the carvings and the captain turned the boat around 360 slowly so everyone got to get super close to everything, that was nice. My camera decided to die so much that I couldn't take any pictures when we got to the rock carvings so I had to use my phone but thankfully it let me take pictures.
Then we went back on the other side of the lake so we saw like pretty much everything from the lake.

 Then after the boat ride, I still had a long while until my bus back to Auckland, but it was cold and yucky. I wandered the town and the shops as long as I could. I got my mother a present but I had planned on getting stuff for everyone, so I didn't do as good as I wanted. I almost got my daddy a animal skull for the basement but it was like super expensive but the more I think about it the more I should've just got it because it wasn't really that expensive compared to like literally everything in New Zealand, but oh well. I did get myself a shoulder brace for my poor shoulder (but it stinks major so I don't actually wear it even tho my shoulder still kills me on the daily) and nail polish because in Auckland it's like more than $9 a little bottle and in Taupo it was only $2 a bottle. But now my nails are super chipped and I don't have any remover but oh well.
Oh also I went in the Oldest Record/Music store in New Zealand, but I couldn't decide on what to buy so after like probably a half hour of just staring at all the music trying to decide what to get I just left.
I got eggs and toast at a cafe then I walked over to the iSite because I knew there was a like flower area there and I was so done with the shops. There was a museum there! So I went into the museum because it was inside so it would probably be warm and I walked around there until it was pretty much time to go to the bus.
Museum pictures:

Garden of Well Being

lol these were on display for being the fishing rods
of like 100 years ago but literally the rods I use
at home look just like this ...

 I was like 15 minutes before I was supposed to be at the bus stop, but the bus was already there and they let us on. Literally as soon as I got in my seat/row (yeah I don't like sharing. I was a spoiled kid) it starts POURING. Like super hard. Great timing. I'm so glad he let us on early.
But the reason I got there so early was because I was gonna pee first. But once I saw it was gonna start raining I just got on the bus and I'm glad I did and I wasn't gonna get off to go pee in that downpour. So I just waited until we got to Hamilton to pee. I read some more of Sarah's book but mostly just listened to music and we finally got back to Auckland.
I ate half a big bag of goldfish on the bus but I was still kinda hungry and when we got back to Auckland it literally took everything in me not to stop by Father Ted's for a steak and Magners. But I had all my stuff with me, which was a lot, so that's why I didn't stop. If I didn't have my stuff with me I would've. I love that place, man. Miss Auckland when I get back? Ah, probably not. Miss Father Teds? Definitely.

Until next time,

xoxo,

Tasha