More NZ pics

After a few days in Auckland, we also went to Rotorua. And Hobbiton. It was awesome--saw a few museums, saw a Maori show, saw where they filmed the Hobbit -- it was a really, really good time.

(Hobbiton, si. Hobbiton is way out of the way--it's on a sheep farm in the middle of nowhere--but it's actually a lot of fun to walk around and see it. They filmed exterior shots only here--the interiors were done in a studio in Wellington--so the hobbit holes are all exteriors only. What I found super interesting is that there are duplicate hobbit holes of different sizes. It's normal human size for humans, like 3/4s size for Gandalf, who's supposed to be enormously tall, and bizarrely huge in order to make the actors who play the hobbits look small.)

(I took this photo in Rotorua at a thermal village we went to. It was really awesome -- so they make a living doing tours for tourists, but it's a real place that people live. They basically live on top of hot springs. So they have public baths that they swim in, they can cook in the hot springs, you name it. There are all these houses and in between them are thermal vents, mud pools, and so on. Really really interesting. The guide was fantastic, too. I liked this photo because in the front is a Maori style cross on a church and in the back is a western style cross, different church.)

(This is from the thermal village again. Just look at that -- isn't that gorgeous?)

NZ was so much fun. It was a great break and I loved being there with my parents to see everything. I ate delicious food the whole time, saw two movies in theaters, and felt like I was away from Vanuatu. I love Vanuatu, but something about being in NZ ... It was amazing to feel like I was away and super clean and able to do all of these tourist things. I loved it and I would love to go back sometime.

Next update ... VANUATU FOR XMAS.

Auckland with the Parents pt . 1

Continuing blogging the vacation! So on December 15, I got up really early in the morning, checked out of the hostel, bought a coffee and a muffin, and jumped on the bus to the airport. The airport in Auckland has one easy designated place to meet arrivals -- and oh man, I basically jumped over everything when I first saw them.

(check out the size of the Moa skeleton!! @ Auckland Museum)

We stayed in the CBD basically the whole time and went to tons of museums--Auckland Museum, I forget the name of the Auckland Art Museum, the Maritime Museum, Kelly Tarleton's Aquarium, bunches.

(me and my dad in the museum--in a model Maori meeting house)

It was stellar -- went to go see the Hobbit, had Japanese food, MCDONALD'S, etc etc.

(this is from Ambrym in Vanuatu)

(tapa from Fiji [I think...])

NZ Day 1

I've been putting off writing these blog posts for months. But now (as I'm writing this) it's March 8, 2014, and I'll be heading back out to my island of solitude (TM) on March 10, so I'd better start talking about my vacation now.

I'd been so excited to have my parents come visit me in Vanuatu. One of the things I find hardest in Peace Corps is being away from family. In the States, even if you don't see your family all the time, you text them, you call them--you feel like you're still part of the family. Sometimes in Peace Corps you feel like you're out on a limb. It's true but it doesn't make you feel all that great.

So on December 14, I flew from Port Vila to Auckland. It was a really bizarre experience. I made the following list of things I found strange:

          Grapes

          Kiwis

          Escalators

          Moving walkways

          Water fountains

          Those airport toilets with the seats that automatically sanitize themselves for your protection

          Those hand driers where you stick your hands inside

          So many people (so many white people)

          Actual buses, not mini buses

          Street signs (streets have names??)

          High ways

          The cars all look so nice

I got into Auckland a day before my parents did, so I stayed in a hostel in the Central Business District. That first day I did no sight seeing; I walked around in repetitive circles looking at everything. It was just so weird for me going from Tongariki (which is an incredibly sleepy little island) to Vila (a sleepy little town) to Auckland, which felt like a real city. 

I ate a burrito at a Mexican joint by the hostel and went to this underground supermarket. Being in that supermarket was really disorienting because there was so much to purchase and so many choices to make. In Vila, there's one grocery store chain, two stand alone grocery stores, and a bunch of Chinese stores, but they all basically sell the same set of products. You can buy Oreos in Vila but not Chips Ahoy, Doritos now but not Fritos, there's a few standard brands of cheap wine, et cetera, et cetera. So to be in this grocery store with what looked like fifty brands of yogurt and twenty-seven brands of cereal and however much hummus and garlic spread and bread and whatever was just really confusing. I don't want to sound like I'm this anti-materialist girl from the bush after a year + in Vanuatu, but this experience has made me question why we have so much stuff all the time in the developed world. Who needs to choose between that many brands of cereal? I walked around in a circle for about an hour, then bought a packet of strawberries and a bottle of wine. 

After that, I went to see the new Hunger Games movie at this big cinema. It was also super confusing -- I couldn't figure out where to even buy a ticket. It turned out that you had to buy them at the concession stand. (At this point, I started to feel like a total yokel.) Good movie, also pretty intense after being in a country that doesn't have a movie theater.

Left that, walked around in a circle for a few more hours, then got a sandwich at Subway. In my room at the hostel, there were three nice American girls, two nice Irish guys, and a drunk and weird Frenchman. So I went out and got a few drinks with the Americans and the Irish guys, which was really fun and also just a big change from VU. Went to bed...

          

Pictures of South Pacific Art

When I was on vacation, in NZ, Vanuatu, and Fiji, I saw some really fantastic art objects from the South Pacific. Here are a few more pictures I thought were great.

(This is why my mom told me to take pictures of everything's title ... I don't remember where it's from. But look at that. Isn't that gorgeous?)

(This one too. I think it was from the Caroline islands or someplace, but I don't remember at all. Gorgeous though.)

(This one is from Vanuatu, from the Banks islands up in the northern part of the country.)