Sydney Boat Tour

Tonight we went on a harbor boat tour. We had a few beers before getting on the boat in Darling Harbour. Once on the boat they actually served a pretty decent dinner. Most boat tours in the U.S. serve pretty crappy food so I was surprised. Then we drank some wine and enjoyed the view and took some pictures of the whole group. It was really amazing and I'm glad I got to enjoy it with my mom. This trip has been a great experience and I'm really glad I decided to take some time off from the hustle and bustle of american life to see something that not everyone will get to see in their lifetime. Thank you to my parents and to my instructors for making this possible. I hope all of you enjoy my blog and consider traveling to Australia in the future.

Had the day off!

Today me and my mom slept in pretty late and then and had breakfast/brunch at this little cafe. We both had different flavor omelets and shared. Then I took her to the Royal Botanical Gardens. It was pretty gross outside today but I really think she enjoyed it. Then we went back to the hotel and rested. We didn't really do much for the rest of the evening. I feel bad because my mom flew all the way out here and I'm completely exhausted and ready to head home.

Sydney Opera House!

Today the group and my mom went to the Sydney Opera House for an architectural tour. The building's design was actually made by an architect who won a design competition. he used this theory about using a sphere to make pieces fit together in a perfect mathematical way. The inside design has a lot of wood paneling which reminds me a lot of musical instruments especially the woodwind family such as the cello and violin.

They used these different types of materials for the inside to help deflect echoing and enhance the acoustics. After our tour, we were done for the day so Mom and I went shopping. She literally thinks I asked her to fly half way across the world to buy me things but I actually missed her a lot so I'm glad she's here. After we shopped we went and picked up my cell phone that I lost the first time we were in Sydney and then went back to her hotel and got ready for dinner. Tonight we took all of the environmental design out to Shangri La which is a bar where you can see the entire city and then we went to the 360 degree bar for dinner. The food was absolutely amazing and it was so sweet of my mom to treat us all to dinner. Tomorrow we have the day off so I'm going to take my mom to the Sydney Botanical Gardens.

Back to Sydney!

Okay I'm super excited to go be back in Sydney. I get to see my mom! So today we flew back to Auckland and then flew straight from there to Sydney. When we got to Sydney we went straight to Wesley College at the Uni(versity). I dropped off my stuff then Emily Patrick and I went to meet up with my mom for dinner. We went to this place that all the other people in a group were raving about the first time we were in Sydney. It's called Bling Bling Dumpling. It was so good and so much fun to see my mom. Tomorrow we are going to the Sydney Opera house for an architectural tour.

Second Day in Queesntown

Ok so this morning I slept in again.... lets just say it was a long night. Then Ben and I got up and went to get lunch at a cafe on the lake font. Then we went and took a Gondala ride up to the top of a mountain where they do luging.

 We had to do the beginners Scenic ride because it was our first time but it was so cool! Then we went to check out a bird preserve so we could see a kiwi but it was not worth spending 40 bucks. Then ben and I went on a boat tour of Queenstown. I'm definitely moving here. Then we met up with Stuart and Patrick and went to a japanese restaurant for dinner. It was really good. Afterwards we all went back for a quick cat nap and then went back out to world bar. Our trip to Queenstown has been my favorite part of our trip. I hope to come back here some day.

First Day in Queenstown

This morning we woke up and Chris drove us back to the Auckland Airport. We caught our flight to Queenstown just in time. When we arrived in Queenstown, New Zealand I was extremely blown away. I felt at home. I was born in colorado and I have always been a mountain girl. I felt like I was in Vail in the middle of the summer. The Weather was perfect and the views were breathtaking. The town is extremely small but it has a wonderful homey feel.

We went and checked into our hostel and then had a great lunch at a cafe where the boys got Philly cheesesteaks and I got a quesadilla and the best chocolate milkshake I have ever had. Then we went over to the Shot over river jet boating. It was wicked!!!! I had so much fu but I thought Patrick was going to barf all over the place. He's not really a boat person. Then we went back to our hostel and got ready to go out. We went to a place called world bar where I met a bouncer who used to live in Littleton, Colorado which is where I was born! Then we went on something called the Kiwi Bar Crawl where these guys took us to all of the coolest bars in Queenstown. We finally got to go to -5 which is an ice bar where everything is made of ice! It was so much fun. Then we went home and hit the sack.

Second Day in Omaha Beach

Today we all slept in pretty late. I think we were all exhausted. Then we went out the beach and laid out for a little while. Then my mom wanted to skype so i came up to the house and skyped with her and a few other friends of mine. Then we all showered and cooked a humongous meal. We had steak, fish, grilled mushrooms, grilled peppers, and rice. It was absolutely amazing. Then we all sat down with bottles of wine and got ready to watch the men's semi finals in the Australian Open with Roger Federer against Nadaal. Nadaal ended up winning even though I was rooting for Federer.

Fourth Day in Auckland/First Day in Omaha Beach

Today we woke up early and took a bus to Piha Beach which has black sand beaches.

 It was a pretty cool day in Piha but the sand absorbs the sun so the sand was incredibly warm. We laid out for about two hours and relaxed. Then we all went up to a cafe in Piha and got pizzas and sandwiches and ate lunch. Then we headed back to Auckland to pack and leave for Omaha. Once Chris picked up me, Patrick, Stewart, and Ben, we started driving to Omaha. We stopped outside of Omaha to pick up groceries then headed to the house. The house was amazing and the view was even more incredible. We all showered and then went out for dinner to the pizza place down the road. It was really good. Then we went back and drank some wine and called it a night.

Third Day in Auckland

Today we went to go visit Unitech. This meeting in my opinion was more geared towards our professions and interests. We met with the head of the architecture program and some of his colleagues, one of them being a man named Mark Mismash. He works for the University but he also owns his own company that does green efficient building. He believes that the leed and green star rating systems are just huge checklists and that they actually do not measure the productivity or the improvement due to design changes in terms of energy efficiency. I would love to talk more to him about these two programs since this is what my research and development project is on. After our meeting, we met with Karen about our research and development project and then we had the rest of the afternoon off. Most of us did some packing and got ready to leave after we finish class tomorrow. We are going to stay at my friend Chris's beach house in Omaha beach. We are really excited for a few days off.

Second Day in Auckland

Today we went to go visit Auckland University and their construction program. A lot of the Graduate students are working on research for Christchurch which has encountered a large number of earthquakes and after shocks within the past year. Some of the graduate students took us on a tour around the campus. Later that afternoon after we all split up for lunch, we met up and took a bus to an area called One Tree Hill. It's funny that it's called that since I was OBSESSED with a tv show called "One Tree Hill" when I was in high school.

 We literally climbed up the side of this huge hill that had sheep running all over it. But the hill was not only infested with sheep, but their poop as well. THERE WAS POOP EVERYWHERE!! You couldn't take a step in any direction without having to try and avoid poop. As soon as we got at the top there was a huge monument. It was extremely windy but it was so beautiful because you could see all of the city of auckland in a 360 degree panorama. It was incredible and it made me feel very free and relieved of stress. Then we took a 20 minute walk down the pathway instead of rolling down the side of the steep mountain. Once we got down to the bottom we went back to the hotel and rested and ate dinner before going to the sky tower! When inside the sky tower we went to the top and viewed the city from an incredible angle. Patrick was so scared of getting close to the glass. Then Anoop bought all of us a beer. We sat and enjoyed the view and then a few of us decided to go out. Jason said he knew a place where a lot of college students go but when we got there it was closed because we forgot that its summer and all of the college kids go home. So we just went back and went to bed. today was a really great day. I really enjoyed our activities.