Weeks 7 & 8: Midsemester Break was Great!

Bryce Bozadjian
Aug 27, 2017
10 min read

I'll cut right to the chase because this is a long one!

Week 7:

Chenay, Justice, and I planned our midsemester break. We decided we wanted to go to Taupo, a lake town, and Wellington, the capital of NZ on the southern tip of the north island. Our other friends Liz and Katie later joined in.

I've been half sick for the past few weeks and every once in a while it flares up with a sore throat, cough, or congestion. Hopefully now that I'm back on campus it'll go away for good!

Although my gym membership expired, I used some buddy passes and worked out with some podmates a couple times. We also did a stair workout that basically killed me. A bunch of us played squash too, which was fun, even though I suck!

I was actually glad the Game of Thrones episode was leaked, because it meant I could watch it before I went on break. Super convenient!

In philosophy we talked about whether time travel was logically possible and whether my morality applies to other people. That's the topic of our next essay. (I hate this class...)

Speaking of classes, my online ASU Shakespeare film/theater class started! It's going to be a lot of work but hopefully fun! A couple of the plays I have read, but there are three I haven't yet so that should be interesting.

NZ has some simple yet smart practices that I think America needs to adopt, such as; including taxes in the price so you know how much you're really paying, having an "engaged/occupied" or red and green sign on bathroom stall doors so you don't accidentally walk in on someone, using outlets that have on and off switches so you're not wasting electricity, and not wasting so much water by having the toilet bowl water level so high!

There's a stereotype that all Americans are angry and if that's true, it's probably from all the dumb things we do above!

I had the extreme pleasure of meeting a snuggly black cat on campus, who I named Ziggy. I saw him as I was walking back from class and he immediately trotted over and let me pet him. He then jumped on my back and just chilled there as I awkwardly squatted in the middle of a walkway. We bonded and walked around Student Village; then I got him to jump through my window and hang out in my room for a bit! Apparently he comes around pretty frequently; he lives across the street. Ziggy is the chillest cat ever. We explored Block 1 and then a friend said she had wet cat food so we gave him some in hopes that it would lure him back again! Sadly I couldn't keep him and we parted ways, but someone spotted him a few days ago so he's still hanging around!

On Friday afternoon, to celebrate the start of break, my pod went to the Hilly, a local watering hole of sorts with pool tables and cheap beer. There are also slot machines – which they call pokies – but we didn't use them.

Saturday night was a bit of a blur and I ended up going to town although some of my memories are a bit foggy. Then after a short three hours of sleep I got up, packed my bags, and headed for the bus stop!

Oh and it was Em's 19th bday on Saturday so happy birthday to her!!!

Week 8:

Taupo the World

Somehow a tired Liz, Katie, Justice, Chenay, and I made it to the transport center to wait for our first bus that left at 9:45 to Taupo. I grabbed a chicken/avocado/mayo sandwich at the transport center which helped wake me up a bit. We had to split up on the bus because it was full, but met up for our lunch break. Chenay and I got Pita Pit and the others got Pizza Hut. We headed back to the bus and arrived in Taupo at 12:30.

Our hostel, Haka Lodge, was great! The receptionists were hilarious and super helpful. The room was pretty tight but we made it work. It was nice to have the entire room to ourselves, instead of sharing with strangers. And finally it didn't smell like dirty feet! Plus, I made sure there was unlimited free wifi and individual outlets when I booked it.

Once we were there we napped, relaxed, and watched some TV in the lounge. They also had free hot chocolate and coffee, which we definitely took advantage of! Our hostel had sick views of the lake and the snow-capped mountains behind it.

We then strolled down to the lake, which is GIANT. It has a maximum depth of 186 meters, total volume of 59km^3, and a surface area of 61600 hectares. Basically, it's enormous and feels like the ocean.

Fun fact: Lake Taupo is the largest lake in NZ! (And possibly the southern hemisphere!)

We walked along the lakefront and I collected four pieces of sea glass, which was cool! It then started torrentially pouring and was super windy so we walked back to our hostel. Cold, tired, hungry, and soggy, we went to Burgerfuel for dinner. It was sooo good. I got the American Muscle burger (basically a fancy cheeseburger) and kumara fries with aioli. Delicious.

Liz, Katie, and Chenay met up with some friends from school later that night, but I was wiped. After a poor night's sleep thanks to my annoying cough, we split up to do various things. Thankfully the weather had improved! Katie hiked a mountain with the guys from the previous night, Liz and Chenay went skydiving, and Justice and I went to the thermal hot pools.

We enjoyed a scenic walk to the pools, and Justice was thrilled to jump in. I was a little (read: lot) more tentative but once I got over myself the water was so nice. We came at a good time too, it was basically empty. After we chilled there and took some pictures, we got out and bumped into our friends Mirte and Abby from StudVille! We chatted for a while and then changed into our clothes before going on a hike to Huka Falls. Justice's silicone knee prevented her from doing it so I speed-hiked as far as I could while she waited on a bench. The Waikato River is so pretty and it was nice to just be in nature.

We regrouped back at the hostel and shared stories from our different adventures. We got $5 pizza from Dominoes (which would become a pretty regular thing) and I also got mac n' cheese croquettes which weren't great but I was starving.

The only complaint we had at our hostel was being woken up at 7AM by power tools being used on the floor below us. It's offseason so it makes sense that they're doing repairs, but still. We ate our leftover pizza for breakfast and checked out.

We had a couple hours to kill before our bus to Wellington and took some pictures at the #LoveTaupo sign. We also checked out some of the street art before heading to a playground to chill out. It was a beautiful day and I walked around the lake and took more pictures before meeting up with everyone at McDonald's where I got a salad, fries, and frozen coke (which is super yum!) I miss vegetables.

Eat, Drink, and Be Welly

It was around a six hour journey in our double decker bus to Wellington but hands down the most gorgeous ride. We drove alongside Lake Taupo and truly grasped how huge it was, saw the snowy Mount Ruapehu, and aww'ed at all the lambs frolicking in the rolling fields! I'd estimate we saw over two hundred lambies who were either playing with their friends/moms or curled up sunning themselves. The road was super narrow and twisty which was a bit freaky when we were next to a gorge. I only wish we could have stopped to take pictures, although I managed to snap a few while we were moving.

We hit pause for our lunch/bathroom break at this tiny little farm with Flat Hills Café. It had sheep, a mini horse, alpacas, and goats. Back on the bus, we saw a beautiful sunset before arriving in Wellington. We checked into our hostel – Base Backpackers. It had super high ceilings and was an old skyscraper. Justice, Chenay, and I ate at a Japanese restaurant where I got a bento box. I refuse to eat sushi/Asian food here anymore, it's crappy. I miss Takara! We also tried the house sake and didn't like it but forced ourselves to finish it. We got froyo afterwards before heading in for an early night.

The next morning I took a cold shower that wasn't pleasant. Our six-person room was also freezing. It did have epic views of the city and the harbor. We went to Best Ugly Bagels for brunch and it was amazing! I got the T.A.B. bagel which consisted of sliced tomatoes, smashed avocado, fresh basil (I saw them pick it off the plant), a light lemon-fennel olive oil, sprinkled with S&P. I also tried a maple iced coffee and it was great to have iced coffee again!

We all went to the wharf and took some pictures. Wellington has been the windiest city in the world for the past twelve years, and we could hear the wind whistling against our hostel each night.

A bunch of people recommended going to Te Papa Museum, and we spent most of the day there. It was awesome! There was a whole exhibit on NZ land and water wildlife, including a colossal squid. An entire section was dedicated to NZ's crazy climate and we got to try an earthquake simulation and learn about how NZ was formed.

Hands-down the most incredible part of Te Papa was the Gallipoli exhibit on New Zealand's involvement in the first World War. It was extremely detailed and had larger-than-life wax figures made at Weta Workshop, which I'll talk about a bit later. The exhibit was really informative and moving.

After taking pictures on the sixth floor rooftop, we all wanted Mexican food and walked 20 minutes to Mad Mex, which I thought was a nice sit down restaurant but ended up being in a mall food court. Epic fail.

We went back to the hostel and used our vouchers for drinks at the Basement Bar; we then mistakenly started playing inappropriate bingo, which was quite a time. We also got more $5 pizza from Dominoes. When we arrived back to our room, the sixth person had arrived. Her name was Lydia and she was from Toronto; she was super chill and dealt with our antics.

The next morning I got up early to attend a tour at Weta Workshop in Miramar. I had booked it the night before; the others all joined Justice at the tattoo shop to watch her get inked. Weta is a NZ beetle, or as one of the employees there said, stands for "we employ total amateurs". I ended up getting a private shuttle (named Gimli) to the workshop, which was about a 20 minute ride. My bus driver/tour guide Leslie was super knowledgable about the workshop and area. She informed me that Wellington had the most restaurants and cafés per capita in the world, beating out even Seattle! She said that Peter Jackson (director of LOTR and Hobbit trilogies) lives nearby Weta in the house he grew up in as a kid. She also told me that James Cameron had moved to the nation's capital for all the work on the 2nd through 5th Avatar movies. Weta is pretty famous for doing digital and props/costumes for many big movies other than LOTR. They worked on Ghost in the Shell, Mad Max: Fury Road, Furious 7, Elysium, Power Rangers, Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Lovely Bones, The Chronicles of Narnia series, King Kong, The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, a bunch of Marvel movies, and so many more.

A little background: Weta Group is Wellywood's film industry. The group includes Stone Street Studios (studio space for hire), Weta Workshop (design and manufacturing), Weta Digital (digital effects), and Park Road Post (post production). They also have the largest outdoor soundstage in the world located in a car park! I only toured the Workshop, although I'm definitely coming back to see everything else!

Weta is located next door to Wellington Airport, which, according to my bus driver, is the 6th most dangerous airport in the world because it's surrounded on both sides by water, gets a lot of wind, and has a short runway. When I learned that I was even more glad I took a bus!

Once I arrived I saw the three trolls outside and geeked out at a $10K replica of Boromir's sword. I then watched a 25-minute introductory hype video before heading on my private tour in the workshop! My tour guide, Zach, works in the modeling department (as in sculpting, not posing for pictures, although he was pretty cute). Because I was the only one on that particular tour, he let me touch more things like LOTR weapons and costumes. Sadly I wasn't allowed to take any pictures but it was a film lover's paradise!

Leslie drove me and another lady back to the shuttle stop after casually pointing out that we had just gone under the area where Jackson filmed Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry hiding from the ringwraiths and running to Bucklebury Ferry. She also let us know that she had given Chris Hemsworth and Taika Waititi (a famous Kiwi director who directed the upcoming Thor movie) a private luxury tour of Wellington. What!!!

I met up with the others, still shell-shocked by the awesome experience at Weta. I witnessed the final minute of Justice's tattoo – a silver fern on her wrist – before we all got food at various places. Chenay and I ate at Aunty Mena's on Cuba Street, a vegetarian restaurant. I've officially been vegetarian for five days thanks to her shaming me!

After some clothing and souvenir shopping we went back to the hostel to chill. It was an early night. Katie and I woke up at 5:45AM to hike up Mount Victoria lookout to see the sunrise. We were sweating getting there but it was also freezing with the wind. It was beautiful and my photos do not do it justice!

We went back to the hostel and packed up, walking a mile to the bus stop. Thankfully I had bought iced tea and a bag of Doritos (which I inhaled) but no one else had time to get food before our bus left. We slept and chilled on our 9+ hour trek back through the panoramic views of NZ countryside.

The bus stopped in Taupo where the others got – surprise surprise – $5 Dominoes. I got a vegetarian burger from Burgerfuel that was good, but not as good as the beef one. We got back on the bus and continued on. I didn't get restless until the final 45 minutes or so, which wasn't that bad. From the transport center we took a bus back to campus and parted ways after a fun-filled five days of getting to know each other and exploring NZ!

Check out the photos in the slideshow below! I suggest making it full screen for optimal viewing.