MadisonK Australia2011: Day One 6/8/11

Today we arrived in Auckland, New Zealand. It was completely beautiful. For the whole three hour bus ride down to Rotorua I was captivated by the land. I knew instantly that I would love this place. We stopped for lunch in "Hobbiton" (Matamata). Is it just me, or is the Lord of the Ring trilogy, like the best thing ever? I was just excited to be in the country where the movies were filmed, let alone a little town dedicated to them! Before we got to our hotel, we went luging, where you're basically racing down a twisting-turning hill in a tiny, old cart, wearing only a helmet. Despite the lack of complete safety, it was very fun! It gets your blood pumping, flying down the hill thinking that your going to crash the whole time, but effortlessly managing to keep a smile on your face. That is, until you get stuck and even an old lady comes up and passes you... When we got to Rotorua, yes it smelled like rotten eggs, but that was normal after a while. It was beautiful and had so much history to it, such as the beautiful bath house, that is now an art and history museum. And who could forget the wonderful Pak n' Save! Overall, New Zealand made a very good first impression on me.

My first impression was almost non-existant. I didn't believe I was actually in New Zealand. I still don't really. My first "Oh my gosh!" moment was when I saw the beautiful hills and green grass. All I could think of was how amazing the land was. There's lots of Asians here, which is really nice too. One of the main culture shocks I had was the sheep! There are so many sheep and cows and livestock and vegetation! There is so much more natural life here in New Zealand compared to America. Also they way that they drive here. They drive on the opposite side of the road, and are a lot more generous to let pedestrians pass on the streets. Oh, and not to mention their accents! The people in general are very different from the average American. The last main culture shock was the food and drinks. I expected them to carry different brands of nutrition, but I was expecting them to carry different foods completely. I also would have never thought to put pineapple on a meat sandwich. Even their fruit is much sweeter than the fruit in the United States. A lot of their food is grown naturally and chosen when ripe for best flavor. Here in New Zealand they also have different types of fruity soda and instant hot beverages.
I am really excited for what's coming next! I can't wait to go zorbing! Yay! I'm also excited to have a traditional Hangi dinner and learn the native Maori Haka! I'm pretty much just super happy to be here and can't wait for the rest of the trip! I really want to learn more about the native New Zealand/Australian life/culture/food!