New Zealand Trip woo

Last thursday Amanda and I left for Auckland, New Zealand. After being tested multiple times for explosives (do I look like a terrorist or what?) I finally received my third country stamp on my passport. Yay for traveling!! We arrived in Auckland around 7 pm and were starving so we ate dinner at a nice restaurant on the Viaduct harbor that had live music and good food. It was Amanda's birthday so we celebrated with a few drinks but called it an early night because of jet lag. 

Friday was a pretty great day because we got to go to Hobbiton, where parts of the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were filmed! It was so interesting to learn about the set and how much detail went in to perfecting it. Although I have never watched either of these movie series, I sure feel like an expert now :) And I will probably have to watch it because it would be pretty awesome to say I've been there during scenes! After the tour we got a free cider that is brewed only in Hobbiton and it was delicious. Overall Hobbiton was beautiful, we had delightful weather, and Amanda loved her birthday celebration.

Saturday, or should I say sunburn day, we climbed Mt. Rangitoto, which is a dormant volcano a ferry ride away from Auckland. It took about 45 minutes to climb to the summit and I enjoyed the uphill exercise. The views were spectacular as well! After we climbed to the summit there were a number of other trails to follow and naturally I had to follow the trial to Mckenzie Bay! It sure was a long hot walk on black dried up lava rock but it was worth it because at the end of the trail there was a blacksand beach! Sidenote: black sand beaches are really freakin hot on your feet! It was awesome to play in black sand because I had never seen it before and it felt wonderfully soft! We then laid out for a while and hopped on a ferry back home. The sun got the best of us this day as well because we both were rocking the lobster look throughout most of the rest of the trip.

Sunday WAS A MAGICAL DAY because I jumped off the Auckland Harbor Bridge. With a bungee of course :) As one of the last things on my down under bucket list, I felt obligated to do it, plus I am never one to say no to thrill. However, as most of you know I am TERRIFIED of bridges thanks to my dearest momma. The climb up my knees were shaking and I was hanging on to the sides for dear life as my heart had a mild heart attack. Once I reached the pod I was ready to jump off the dang bridge because that climb was just detrimental! But sadly they went by weight and I was one of the lightest and therefore last ones to go.  I decided I wanted to go all the way into to ocean but my guide said I may not weigh enough (and I wanted to be like but dude have you seen me eat) so in order to make it all the way into the ocean he said I was going to have to dive off the platform with force. I thought no problem as long as it means getting off the dang bridge! While it took most jumpers a few countdowns to jump off, I was ready to go while they were still at 5. Finally they got to one and off I went screaming my little lungs off until I plunged into the ocean (which was oh so salty but very refreshing) and then I swung from side to side upside down (highly entertaining and I didn't want to stop) until they pulled me back up. Its a shame I couldn't stay in the ocean because I would have preferred it over having to climb the bridge back down but I faced my fears and made it safely back to land. Overall an amazing experience and I would totally bungee jump again! After I jumped I met back up with Amanda and we went to the Farmer's Christmas Parade which is like our Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was crazy crowded but a lot of fun and it got me in the Christmas spirit ho ho ho

Monday we went to the Auckland Zoo which was subpar. Although we were blessed with hot sunny weather (side note: on every trip I went on the past 5 months it never rained once and I thank my angel Murphy for having my back because its Australia's wet season and it rains nearly every day when I'm not traveling...no joke literally every day) a lot of the animals were hiding in the shade..so we saw a lot of nothing. There were some cute animals here and there and I got to see the famous New Zealand KIWI bird but overall nothing special. We then sun bathed in a park for a few hours and then went back to Auckland, bought some souvenirs and crashed before heading home at 430 am this morning. Overall it was a great last trip down under and I am so thankful I got to go. Thanks family for the plane ticket I love you guys!

Hobbiton!

Mt. Rangitoto

Hobbit hole!

Tomorrow marks my last day down under (where the heck did time go) and I will conclude the day with my final blog. 

Xo,

Makenzie 

Melbourne Cup Week

This week was Melbourne Cup Week. The Melbourne Cup is a famous horse race that happens right outside the city of Melb. It's very similar to the Kentucky Derby, however much more popular throughout all of Australia! Tuesday--which was the day of the actual Melbourne Cup race, is considered the "race that stops the nation" because it is a public holiday. Crazy that a horse race gets you out of work/school/ect! I spent my Cup day running 6 miles in preparation for my upcoming half marathon :) I also have been studying a lot and had my first final today which went pretty well. I still can't believe that 52 multiple choice questions counts as 50% of my entire grade....what the heck! But back to the races, Wednesday night I went to a place called Pony Fish Island (a bar connected to the bride on the yarra river) with a friend to enjoy the beautiful weather. We met a jockey who was racing this week as well which was fun because I got to learn a lot about horse races and they learned a lot about America! Then on Thursday I was lucky enough to experience the races firsthand! Thursday was Crown Oaks Day, better known as Ladies Day during the Melbourne Cup. After taking a train to the race area we got to see the horses up close before they raced and then see the horses on the final stretch of the race! It was awesome to see them up close and personal. I sure do love horses and they really are beautiful animals. I also was a big fan of some of the jockey's outfits. Because it was ladies day, women were also dressed very eloquently and it was fun to see some of the dresses and hats! I saw some really ugly styles as well which was hilarious! I bet on one horse.....and lost 5 dollars so that ended quickly. The jockey I had met the night before was suppose to race as well but scratched so that was pretty disappointing ! But other than being minus 5 dollars it was a great day and I'm thankful for my chance to experience the infamous Melbourne Cup!  Time to get back to studying....three finals to go!

xx
Makenzie

Halloween in Sydney

I had a great halloweekend in Sydney! Thursday I finished up classes for the semester..which is crazy..then to celebrate nearly all of my good friends and I headed to Sydney with Extreme Adventures! We all had anxiously been awaiting this trip for months. The trip began with a painful overnight 10 hour bus trip which sadly turned into about 12 hours because our bus broke down...in a TUNNEL 20 minutes outside the city. Talk about scary. Finally a new bus came to the rescue and we went to the hostel to freshen up. Friday started with a walking tour around Sydney which started at town hall, and then went to Hyde Park which also had an Anzac memorial inside the park grounds, as well as a beautiful church called St. Mary's. We then walked through the botanical gardens which were pretty and finally made our way to the much anticipated Opera House. If y'all are my friends on Facebook you will see about 100 pictures of the opera house but hey don't hate the tourist in me. We then walked around the harbor and grabbed a quick lunch. After that we made our way to the Sydney Bridge Pylon Climb. For all of you who know me well, you know I am terrified of bridges so even though the Pylon Climb is only up a lookout on the bridge I was still sweating, shaking, and nearly crying hahaha but I did it! 300 steps later we were at the top and had a beautiful view of the harbor. After a long day of walking what seemed like miles we went back to the hostel and took a quick nap and then woke up to celebrate Halloween with a booze cruise around the Sydney Harbor! We decided to go as "high school stereotypes" so there was a geek, blonde bimbo, tree hugger, outcast, goth, and princess (me hehe). We spent the night sailing around the harbor which was beautiful, and had unlimited free alcohol which was a nice treat! It really was a great time and we met lots of new friends. After the cruise we went to the bar next to the hostel..but funny story before we knew it we were kicked out. Hahaha and no we did nothing illegal, Australian bars are just extremely strict and kick people out if they believe to be intoxicated at all..plus the manager was a dick. Anyways nothing could ruin our night and we went to bed happy campers.
Saturday began by a walk to a restaurant called Pancakes on the Rocks which was delicious. I had blueberry pancakes, hash browns, and eggs. We then walked around Sydney for the rest of the day shopping at street markets, on George St., and Paddy's markets. If you are looking for souvenirs in Sydney, Paddy's markets is where its at for cheap prices! Kelsey, Julie and I also luckily got to see a lady contortionist do a free show! It was amazing how flexible she was and even fit inside a tiny box! Check out the picture...and I can't forget to mention she was actually hilarious and a great performer! We then ate dinner at the hostel and got ready for our second night out in Sydney! We were brought to a nightclub called Home which was awesome!  It was three stories tall and had a rooftop bar that overlooked the harbor. We again danced the night away with good drinks and good friends. And we successfully were not kicked out anywhere :)
Sunday was beach day so you know I was happy! We took a ferry to Manly beach, where surfing originated in Australia! Although the water was cold it still felt amazingly refreshing because it was very hot and humid out. We spent a few hours catching some rays then headed to Bondi beach. We were blessed to be at the beach during an art festival called Sculptures by the Sea, and apparently people travel from all over the world to see the art that is spread throughout the famous Bronte to Bondi Beach walk. We saw some very interesting art and some very strange art too. Bronte beach was beautiful (see pictures below) but as we were walking toward Bondi winds started picking up, and all of the sudden we were stuck in a 40-50 mph wind storm that whipped sand and salt on us unforgivingly. Kinda put a damper on the walk but it still was one of my favorite parts of the trip! When we finally got to Bondi the beach was practically empty thanks to the wind! Apparently we saw Bondi at the deadest of dead because normally its so crowded you can't get a towel down because it is Sydney's most popular beach. To end the trip we ate at a cute german place that celebrated Octoberfest and enjoyed some big burgers and then ice cream at cold rock (basically our cold stone). We then faced another dreadful 10 hour ride back to Melbourne but before we knew it it was over...and luckily no malfunctions!
Overall a great trip..Sydney did not disappoint and I really enjoyed my time there!
Time to start studying for finals :(

xx Makenzie 

Group at Hyde Park

St. Mary's Cathedral 

Botanical Gardens

Opera House!

Julie, Kelsey, Vilde and I 

Ahh! Bucket list item!

View from Pylon Climb

Happy Halloween!

Crazy!

Bronte Beach