Rugby and Road Trips

The second part of my weekend was as lovely as the first part. It began Saturday night when I went to a local pub to watch the All Blacks game with some neighbors.
The All Blacks are New Zealand's rugby team, and they were playing Australia, and it was a VERY big deal. The pub was absolutely packed. That was one of my favorite things I've done, just because there were so many people and everyone was so excited and into it, and even though I didn't really have a clue what was going on it was fun to yell when everyone else yelled. It was like being a part of an important cultural aspect really, and I felt very lucky to be able to be there and enjoying it with so many locals. The All Blacks are known for doing the Haka before each match, which is like a traditional Maori (I'll talk more about Maori later) dance. Anyway, it's badass. And it's really neat because it's completely unique to here and it gets you really fired up for the game because it's so intense and the other team just has to stand there awkwardly as the All Blacks like yell at them and just be really cool. I was glad I wasn't Australia, also because they lost. Here's the HAKA for you.


The next day my friend David and I went on a day road trip up to Palmerston North and I got to see some of the New Zealand countryside for the first time really. Here, I've got photos!
David drives a convertible which was PERFECT because it provided a great open view of the beautiful countryside. Unfortunately, it was very cold so we looked ridiculous bundled up in a convertible. Good thing we still supa' fly.


First stop, Paua museum and factory! This is a shell unique to New Zealand that is popular in jewelry. Ooh Aah.

Then we kept driving along the mountains, the snow capped mountains were breathtaking.
Second stop, Bruce Wildlife Reserve. This was a really fun stop, we went for a walk through this reserve and it was sort of like a mixture between just a mountain and a zoo. It was like pretty trails through the woods and every once in a while there would be a closed in space with native birds, and that was cool because then you got to see them all, like this one...


Also, we saw KIWI BIRDS there! I couldn't take pictures of them, unfortunately, but my they were simply adorable. I think it's so great that they are the national symbol, they're such neat little animals. We saw eels too, they were cool but kind of gross/scary. We should still preserve them though.That's the trail that takes you through the Reserve. Pretty stunning.
The next stop on the journey was the Tui brewery! Remember when I talked about Tui and how it was my first local beer? Well the brewery was a neat little stop in a tiny little town.

Also, they have a cute ad campaign where they make a statement and follow it with "yeah, right." This one seemed picture worthy.

This is an epic picture of a windmill farm that was on top of the mountains in front of us as the clouds rolled over it, it was so beautiful.
Towards the end of the trip the scenery started really taking it up a notch.

There's me trying to get in on some of the pretty.
It was a spectacular weekend, clearly. I know that it ended a few days ago but I haven't been up to much since, mostly school and school. I did, however, join the Amnesty International chapter and we have a big benefit concert coming up in a couple weeks, and I went to a great open mic night to hear some poetry and music. Life is good, isn't it?