Over the next few days Molly, Tess, Dani and I explored the city and went out to eat a few times, got some staples for our houses like towels, shampoo, etc. One day as we were touring the city we came across a restaurant that looked good so we decided to save it for dinner. When we went back for dinner, we sat and our waiter came over and took our orders. He was very friendly and admittedly quite cute. He was one of the first kiwi interactions we really had so we were all enamored with his accent of course, and after we finished eating we kept talking with him and discovered he also was a Vic student (though at a different campus) and he asked for our number so he could show us around the city. Molly gave him her number and we left excited we had made out first kiwi friend! The next day he, Philip by the way, asked if we wanted a tour of the city so we met him downtown and he showed us around for about 2 and a half hours and told us cool places to go for coffee, a beer and just other fun places to hang out. He took us down to the water front, it was a great tour, much better than the 30 minute one IFSA had given us. Later that night we saw him when we were out and hung out with him them as well. He’s a great guy, very funny and fun to be around and he’s like our personal Kiwi encyclopedia… although he often has no idea what we’re even talking about when we ask him questions, which is always amusing. We’ve all decided our goal is to make as many kiwi friends as possible, so meeting Philip has been really helpful in that goal, and a great start!
One day Molly and Tess and I went to a place called Zealandia. It’s a sanctuary/zoo for native NZ species and it was a really amazing place! It was like walking into Jurassic park. There was a huge gate and lush vegetation. We got to see lots of native bird species as well as a few weta bugs (EW.) though not as big as they can get, they were still HUGE. We didn’t see any kiwis (the bird) because they’re nocturnal, but you can take night tours of Zealandia and see the kiwi birds as well as some glowworms. We did get to see some lizards that are technically dinosaurs and can live for an extremely long time. It was really fun! My Favorite bird we saw was the Takahē. These birds were my favorite because they reminded me of short and fat versions of Kevin the bird from the movie Up. (Although, funnily enough, that bird is loosely based off of the Moa which is an extinct bird of NZ that could get up to 8 or 9 feet tall I think. Don’t quote me on that…)
Little boat house thing at Zealandia
Jurassic park?!
Takahe!
suspension bridge!
Molly and Me J
Ive had a great time just exploring the city and going out and walking around with no real destination in mind. The waterfront is really beautiful and fun to hang out at… One strange thing about the city is that most things close by 5 or 530pm, other than restaurants and bars of course, but its kind of frustrating if you forget something and its after 5 so you can’t get it. The hill that Vic is on is ABSURD. I’m going to be in such great shape after this semester simply from walking back from town. Every time I walk up the hill, regardless of my amount of clothing or the temperature, I am sweating. Its ridiculous. And hilarious… but I will be super fit!
Wellington!
Molly and Tess and Wellington
wall art. Meow
Dani, Tess and Molly
Floating fern orb
Hi there, I'm glad you had an enjoyable time here at Zealandia! The photo you have of the boat on the lake is lovely, we would love to borrow it for use in our new website and maybe some leaflets - would you mind dropping me a line at news@visitzealandia.com to discuss? Thanks, Lauren.
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