Upon arriving in New Zealand at 5:45 a.m. on Thursday, I think it’s safe to say that the team was feeling two things: relief from the 13 hour plane ride and excitement for the trip ahead. After making it through customs, we were surprised and delighted to see Adrian Stockill, Josie’s father, welcoming us at the arrivals gate. There’s nothing like seeing a friendly, familiar face in a completely foreign land. Soon after seeing Adrian we departed on our bus to begin sightseeing.
The view from the top of Mount Eden on a breezy Auckland morning.
First, we went to Mount Eden where we were able to exercise our stiff legs by climbing to the top. Mt. Eden is not only a dormant volcano in New Zealand, but its summit is also the highest natural point on the Auckland isthmus. From that vantage point, we were able to admire the immense Auckland skyline and the landscape surrounding it. In the pictures we’ve taken, it is easy to spot our hotel. The Sky City Hotel is marked by the gigantic tower in the skyline. Mt. Eden was definitely a sight worth seeing, both for its natural beauty and the perspective it gave us of Auckland.
Next we paid a visit to One Tree Hill, a park inside the city named after the single tree that was rooted on top of the hill. Unfortunately, an activist used the tree as a form of expression, took a chainsaw to it, and now some refer to it as No Tree Hill. There we found a multitude of sheep, a couple of pheasants, and some extremely rich coffee. That’s saying a lot coming from our heavy coffee drinkers on the team.
After our coffee break, and slight jet lag revitalization, we next ventured to ano
ther sight where we took many photos and again admired the view. I can confidently say that the team is getting much more creative in the way we take photos. Shout out to Gregg Fort for introducing the stagger.
Our last st
op before our much needed showers (we had not yet been to the hotel) was the Battle and War Museum. Although we did not have time to explore the museum, we did get to partake in another photo shoot, complete with the perfect prop: A tree with massive roots. It has been said that the roots are so big that it is possible to play hide and seek within them. It made for a really fun, and really muddy photo shoot.
We ended the day with a team dinner at Rebo, a restaurant inside the hotel. The food was delicious, and after the meal, a group of us ventured to Giapo to indulge in the “tasting experience” of New Zealand ice cream. This was the most gourmet ice cream I have ever experienced. The chef of Giapo has personally paired ice cream flavors with their toppings as to most completely complement the tastes. My flavor of the night was Afghan Cookies. I think it’s safe to 
say we left there very satisfied.
Back at the hotel, all of us split to our rooms and were asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow. Between the jet lag, and a full day of sightseeing, we were exhausted; and we knew that we needed as much sleep as we could get for our next day in Rotorua.
After spending a day sightseeing and learning, we were ready to take on the adventures of New Zealand firsthand. In Rotorua, about 3 hours away from our hotel, we first went on a tour of native Maori nature and traditions. In this tour, we saw natural hot springs and geysers. We also particularly enjoyed the mud baths and learning about the Maori culture from our awesome tour guide, Carol. After the tour, we were able to enjoy a traditional Maori lunch of Hangi, which consisted of chicken, potatoes, cabbage, pumpkin, watercress, and a few other foods that had been cooked underground in a pit of extremely hot stone.
Then, after our Maori education, we proceeded to go zip lining and
luging. The luge, for anyone like me who didn’t know before now, is basically a non-motorized go-cart ridden down a mountain. The races slightly resembled a scene you would see playing Mario Kart. The zip lining part of the trip was a major adrenaline rush, made complete by a 13-meter free fall at the end. I’ll just say that some handled it a little better than others.
After another day of New Zealand fun and adventure, we boarded the bus back to Auckland where we then had dinner and went to bed. We needed to rest up for our game the next day against the Auckland Lady Hawks.
Steph Poland ’17, Katie Curtis ’17 and Tori Pozsonyi ’18