Week 2 in New Zealand

This past week and a half have been full of many more adventures! We started this week with a tour of Te Puia, a Maori village in Rotorua. Amid learning about Maori culture and seeing a cultural performance, we also got to see the geothermal activity in this region.

 

We then traveled to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, or as New Zealanders call its, The Windy City. One of the highlights of Wellington was our trip to Zealandia, the world’s first fully-fenced urban ecosanctuary. Zealandia’ mission is to try restore the valley as much as possible to its pre-human state. Here are a few pictures of Zealandia.

On Tuesday we got to tour the Beehive, or the New Zealand government building. What a great way to learn about how the New Zealand government works! In addition to learning that the Beehive has been voted the world’s third ugliest building, we also got to see New Zealand’s parliament in action; how they discuss issues and make decisions. 

On Wednesday, we had a study day because even though we’ve enjoyed all of our activities, we need a day to relax and explore the city of Wellington. Some of us spent the day at the beach while others decided to climb Mt. Victoria. The next few days were busy as we traveled from Wellington to Nelson and toured Kaimira Vineyards, an organic vineyard where we learned how they control pests and deal with diseases within their Vineyard.

Sunday was definitely one for the books. We arrived in Kaikoira to go whale watching. On this tour, we saw a sperm whale and two beaked whales, which are actually very rare to see.

After this exciting whale watching tour, we received a lecture on the earthquake that happened in 2016 and how it affected the whale watching company and Kaikoura.

Check out some more pictures!