Back in Welly.

   Although it was extraordinary to travel around the North Island for a week, it was great to be back in Wellington, and stay in our hotel room for more than one night! Welly is such a quirky and cool city. I could definitely get used to it here.
   We drove back Sunday, and after being on the move for a week, we decided to take it easy on Monday. I moved into my apartment, but other than that we didn't do too much. I walked over to Stafford House in the morning, which is conveniently right down the street from our hotel. I got my keys and saw my apartment. It's small, but all that we need! I also met my 2nd flatmate besides Hallie. His name is Paul and he's from France. I swear he is the nicest person on this earth!
   I brought some of my things over to the apartment Monday, and unpacked a little. I'm now realizing how little I brought with me! It's somewhat disconcerting, to move to a different country with very few possessions.
   Orientation day at Victoria was Tuesday, and it could not have been more frustrating! I am not impressed with this university at all. They have not been very considerate towards me, as an international student. Hallie and I walked up to campus around 8:30 with a group from our building. We listened to various speakers who told us about Victoria and New Zealand. There were so many new international students from all over the world! We were fed lunch and ice cream before the enrolment period in the afternoon.  The staff that day kept sending us in different directions and they didn't have all the answers to our questions. Hallie and I ended up waiting in line for hours that afternoon to enrol, get checked in, figure out our insurance, etc. At the end of the day, we were all set though, and all ready (almost!) for our classes starting Monday, March 4th.
   While I was in Orientation on Tuesday, my parents and brother spent the day exploring Wellington. They went to Mt. Victoria lookout, went down the the beach, and also booked surfing lessons! Adam and I were scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, and I could not have been more stoked! We headed down to Lyall Bay Beach, got our wetsuits and boards, and met our instructor. We spent some time on the beach learning about surfing and learning techniques.

Clearly we need to work on our tans.

   We headed out into the water after our lesson, and stayed out there for almost 2 hours! The time flew by though. At first, the instructor had us just practice riding in the waves without standing up. Once we got used to the feel of a surf board, we tried standing when we caught the waves. It is much harder than I expected! Adam got up quite quickly, but it took me a little longer to figure it out. We both took some nose dives though, so I don't feel so bad!

I got it!!

   I guess I didn't realize that you are almost constantly paddling while surfing, either to get out to the waves or to get the momentum to catch one. It was so exhausting! By the end of our lesson, I could barely paddle anymore. It was so much fun though! I'm so glad we did it.
   Here, it looks like Adam has a different opinion though --

Lazy surfer. Been surfing for an hour, bored already.

   Easily my favorite picture of the day! Anyways, after surfing my family, Hallie, and I went over to Weta Cave, the company who worked on the Halo short, District 9, King Kong, and the Lord of the Rings. We saw a lot of cool memorabilia from all the movies in the foyer. Adam and I signed up for a workshop tour, which was so excellent! We saw some how the artists create props for the movies, and we saw some of them at work! We were lucky enough to be the only two on the tour, so it was very personalized, and we got to touch some stuff! The artists there are incredibly talented; it blows my mind to think that 80% of them have no formal education in what they do (according to our tour guide, who also worked in the workshop). I had such a great day! So much fun!

   Our Thursday agenda was to visit the Wellington Zoo. The 5 of us (family and Hallie) spent about 5 hours there. There was so much to see, and it was pretty spectacular. We saw monkeys, lions, tigers, kiwis, lizards, giraffes, kangaroos, and so much more.

Have you ever been within reaching distance of a giraffe?

   We spent quite a while looking at the giraffes. It amazed me how close we could get to them! Hallie and I also got pretty close to one of the birds that was loose in the zoo. He was so friendly, and not shy one bit! We named him Lyle.

Our new friend. He may be part dragon, we're not sure.

    Hallie and I signed up for a cruise Thursday night with other residents of Stafford House. We left the harbour before sunset, but got to see the sun go down. We also saw the city from the water at night - so amazing! On our walk back home, we stopped for a drink. It feels so weird to be able to go to bars now! I don't feel old enough for this!

   My family's departure has been sneaking up on us quickly! They're leaving Saturday morning, very early. Friday was our last day together. We went to Te Papa Museum right on Wellington's waterfront. We spent just as long there as we did at the zoo! Even though we were there so long, I still feel like I missed a lot of the museum.

Our new friends William, Tom, and Bert.

   I was somewhat dreading the end of our museum visit,  because it meant that I had to move into my apartment, and say goodbye to my family for 4 months. After a nice dinner, we went back to the hotel room to pack up. Once we were all finished, we took a look at all the pictures from our trip. We really did a lot in our 2 weeks here! I think we all had a marvelous time together, exploring a new country.

   It's going to be hard to be all the way here alone after getting accustomed to my family being with me all the time. I'm so glad they were able to come with me. We are so lucky!

   Saying goodbye was hard, but at the same time, I'm excited to start a new life in a new country. I wish them the best on their trip home, and I can't wait to hear from them when they get back to Maine!