The Internal - Newsletter 3/04

In this week newsletter you will find:

• Time to say goodbye – Leaving NZ
• Welcome in Middle -earth - New arrivals
• Its raining mad – Rotorua from a different perspective
• Get together – “verboten” on Thursday

TIME TO SAY GOODBYE

Annette ended her internship, but is not leaving NZ yet. She will be three weeks on the road in the South Island and then heading to Australia. All people at the New Zealand College will miss her a lot (nobody but her can say that s/he got a cute goodbye-soft toy from the cleaning manager)! But she will be back in Auckland for some hours in April, before she is definitely taking off. Despite a lot of other things, she did great work in collecting material and describing some of the best trips at the North Island, what to do in and around Auckland... Everything is in a big folder, waiting for you to get read – you are always welcome at the office!

Heiko shortly returned to Auckland last week after his visit of the South Island – he was not that much impressed though and likes the North Island a lot better. After some drinks, he and Torsten were trying hard to “entertain” the rest of the WOXA house – karaoke time – ‘’Like a Virgin’’….

Welcome in Middle-earth….

Alexander arrived last Friday and is staying like Stefanie at the Rockland, Halls of Residence. On Monday he started his internship at HEB contractors Ltd. and we are looking forward meeting him on Thursday!

Jonathon – better, welcome at World of Xchange! You will going to see him shortly, but:

Hi! I would just like to introduce myself to you.  I’m Jonathon Swanson, the new Manager of the World of Xchange program in Auckland. I am originally from Canada, but have lived in Auckland and Hamilton for about 12 years.  I look forward to meeting all of you at the WOXA social events.

As those of you who are already in New Zealand know, one of the great things about this country is the scenic beauty. And despite the rain that we’ve had the last couple of weeks, March is usually a great time to get out and about. The tourists have gone, but the weather is (normally) still nice enough to enjoy what NZ has to offer.

As someone who left the land of ice and snow for the beaches of NZ, I am a big fan of NZ’s beaches and coastline.  And Auckland, having a different ocean on either side, is a perfect base! So here’s a few ideas on things to do, even if it’s not sunny enough to laze on the beach!

• How about a nice long walk? Auckland Council has signposted a walk through Auckland City that takes you from the Pacific (Hauraki Gulf) to the Tasman Sea (Maukau Harbour)
• Been to Mission Bay? How about a 10 km rollerblade along the waterfront? You can stop and have an ice cream at the shops, or a nice lunch in St Heliers café
• Work is for people who don’t know how to fish! Why not try some fishing from one of the wharfs around the city, or perhaps take a drive out of town for some great fishing action!  If you can afford it, there are charter boats and public fishing cruises, so you can go for the big stuff out a bit deeper!
• Mission Bay again – why not try windsurfing?  You can hire the gear at the waterfront
• Sea Kayaking is another brilliant way to get out on the water.  The Yellow Pages have plenty of listings for boat hire!
• Fullers runs ferries to Waiheke Island, Rangitoto, Great Barrier Island, and other locations every day of the week.  Why not plan a picnic with some friends on one of the many islands in the Hauraki Gulf?  Waiheke has great wine too!

There’s much more I could add, like gathering your own shellfish, taking the ferry to Devonport for lunch, checking out the Maritime Museum at the viaduct – the possibilities are endless…. But it’s better to just get out and enjoy them for yourself! Auckland is a real South Pacific city. Make the most of your time while you are here!

ITS RAINING MAD

Although all Kiwis keep saying that the weather will get better during the next days – I can`t really believe it anymore after the last weekend. February was supposed to be the warmest month in New Zealand!!!!!!!!! Five times more rain than usual, flooding, slips – nature!

Rotorua with its Maori concerts and the thermal areas close by, was one of the things Annette had not seen. For Torsten it might have been one more time, but the rest (Fanny, Stefanie and myself) had not been there either. When we left Auckland Saturday morning it was already raining for about 14 hours non-stop (the concert of Salmonella Dub, Katchafire and One Million Dollars the evening before already got a victim of the rain). Although we saw (wanted to see) a bit of light grey sky from time to time, the weather did not change on our way to Rotorua & the whole day.

Usually there are lots of things to do in and around Rotorua: Maori Villages; Polynesian Spa; Rotorua Museum; Wai-O-Tapu thermal area with geysers, bubbling mud pools; volcanic lakes; green & blue & yellow & orange pools; lots of adventure activities – the only problem, most of the things are outside.

We decided for Wai-O-Tapu,  Thermal Wunderland ($18,50) and it was great, besides the never ending rain. And it’s quite  smelly, like rotten eggs.

Since half of the group was soaked after two hours of walking in the rain, we changed the location to indoors, the Rotorua Museum. The exhibition is mostly about the history of the city that has been famous around the world for its thermal springs already a hundred years ago. Due to a volcano eruption the popular thermal terraces have been destroyed, but today people are visiting the place because of its colorful natural wonders. The museum is worth a visit, not only when its raining outside!

Sunday morning it was still raining, which is why we decided to visit the Maori villages another time and made our way back to Auckland.

Later on some of us went to Muriwai Beach. Not before testing Kristina’s homemade bread – delicious! At That beach you can visit a gannet colony, but if you wanna see this special birds, hurry up, they are moving on to sunny Australia in April!

Seems that Steve, Daniel and some Japanese students had at least some sunshine at Coromandel Island on Sunday – lucky guys!

GET TOGETHER

A bar called “verboten” (212 Ponsonby Rd, Link Bus: get off at Collingwood Rd) seems to be a nice place to meet this Thursday, 4th of March about 7pm. Not because of the German name, but due to its Happy Hour!!!???? Would love to see you there, since there are still some names at the list of current WOX interns, we haven’t met yet. We could also discuss some upcoming trips, events, questions and we are always welcoming your ideas and recommendations!