Hello from the tropical rain forest of Queensland Australia. I am sorry I have not been posting anything after telling you all I would have a fun and exciting blog for you to read and pictures to see. We have been on the go since my friend Rachel dropped me off monday morning June 8th. (Seems like a lifetime ago now)
Today is Sunday June 28th and this is our first day off in Australia. We only had one day off in New Zealand and me and the other two interpreters spent that day in Auckland. I am hoping to post some photos but I am not sure the internet here will allow me. We shall see how it goes.
New Zealand was C*O*L*D and quite rainy in the beginning of our stay. We stayed in un-heated cabins and the night temps were in the low 40's! You would wake up in the morning and your nose would be soooo cold! It was a beautiful place on Huia Bay southwest of Auckland by about 45 minutes. We were in the middle of the rain forest yet could still hear and see planes going in and out of Auckland airport! Funny!
There are three interpreters at this gig, me, Kate (from Hawaii who I worked with at Dartmouth and also last year for 6 weeks in Italy) and a new addition, Anna from Wisconsin, who is a great addition to our team and super funny and light hearted! We are having a ball but make no mistake this trip is a ton of work! If we are not interpreting we are driving from point A to point B. While in NZ we saw many of the things I had seen three years ago with the Anthropology study abroad trip which was very helpful in that we already had signs and vocabulary for most everything. I told the other interpreters when we get to NZ, I am going to be useless!
One of our first stops was to the Auckland Museum to see their cultural show and I was able to see the couple who taught the Dartmouth students three years ago their traditional dances. I wasn't sure if they would recognize me but they both gave me huge hugs and said how lucky it was for me to be back again. They are such lovely people!
In NZ we stayed 4 nights with a Maori family at their farm and we all slept in the Marae (their meeting house) We drove about 3 ours north to get to them through the driving rain, and their "driveway" is about 4 miles long of dirt road and very hilly, and needless to say, that dirt was mudd by the time we arrived, and two of our three vans got stuck in the mudd! They were a wonderful family and the students participated in a talent show and all of our meals were amazing. We even took part in a traditional Hangi (the meal was cooked in a pit in the ground. On the return trip home, we stopped to check out a local bird sanctuary and were lucky enough to meet the owner who has a Kiwi with only one leg. He had been caught in a trap when he was only 6 weeks old and has lived at the center ever since. So, he allowed all of us to pet the Kiwi. That is something not many NZ'ders can say they have ever done!
When we finally made it back to our cabins in Huia Bay, the next stop was a day on the island of Tiri Tiri Matangi. If you have never heard of it, google it for sure. It is an island that they have made into a bird and wildlife sanctuary. We took a guided tour and saw many rare birds, plants and animals. We had one day off in NZ and Anna, Kate and I decided to split a hotel room together in Auckland the night before to sleep somewhere warm, get a hot shower and spend the day exploring Auckland. We had a lovely last dinner with my dear friends Rachel and Shannon and Shannon even joined us the next morning for tea and then we were let loose in Auckland to do a little shopping! I had some things I already knew I wanted to buy, having been here before and it was fun to see Anna and Kate's reactions to things.
We left for Australia on Monday morning June 22nd at 3am! We were in the vans and off to the airport in NZ at 4am. We arrived in Cairns around 2:30pm and finally arrived at the Center for Rain Forest Studies around 4:30p. More on that in the next blog. Let's see if I can get some photos up with this posting!