Hanmer Springs

Hanmer Springs is a cute town on the South Island of New Zealand. We went to Hanmer Springs as part of my University of Waikato's semester break. Hanmer Springs is a not what I thought that it was gong to be. The town has a few cute cafes, a tiny grocery store, and the springs. Now the springs are not as awesome as I thought that they were going to be... I mean, the entire town is named after these springs, they has got to be awesome right?

Arthur's Pass

Credit: Alexandra Bertin

Arthur's Pass National Park is west of Christchurch. On the way to Arthur's Pass you drive right past Castle Hill, an awesome must see. The mountains on both side of you as you drive through are just massive and give you the feeling of being totally insignificant.

Gibbston Valley Winery

After we went to Alexandra, we drove to Gibbston Valley Winery in the Central Otago grape growing region. Gibbston is home to some of the best pinot noir on the planet... so I've been told. We signed up and did a cave tour that also included a wine tasting in the cave.

Alexandra

There is a tiny town in the middle of the south part of the South Island, of New Zealand called Alexandra. Why did I go to Alexandra? Well my friend who I was traveling with on our University of Waikato's semester break was conveniently named Alexandra... so naturally we needed to go there and take pictures of her in front of ever single sign that said 'Alexandra', so we did. These are some of my personal favorites.

TIKA 163: Introduction to Traditional and Contemporary Māori Society

This past semester I took at The University of Waikato TIKA 163: Introduction to Traditional and Contemporary Māori Society. This class has taught me so much about not only about the Maori, but also about New Zealand. I have had a lot of interactions with my fellow Maori students, some examples of some cool (and funny) cultural encounters are that a group of the Maori students did not know where Ohio was within United States (I don't blame them for not knowing) and when I started to tell them where it was, one student asked me how far Ohio was from California.

TIKA 157: Introduction to Maori Performing Arts

This past semester at The University of Waikato I took TIKA 157: Introduction to Maori Performing Arts. The only pre-requirements are just an open mind and a willingness to shake that groove thing! Well TIKA 157 is not so much of booty poppin kind of 'dance', but more of an understanding to the meaning's the type of dances and cultural impact that kapa haka have on the Maori people.