Submitted by Heidi Knutsen on the 2019 winter session study abroad program in New Zealand sponsored by the Department of Computer and Information Sciences…
After Nelson, I had a day to myself as most people were on a different trip on the North Island. I decided to catch up on some of the activities that others had done and recommended. I visited the Botanic Gardens and walked around the paths and saw some of New Zealand’s native flowers and plants. Later, I went to the Christchurch Art Gallery and the Canterbury Museum. There was an outdoor market outside of the museums where local vendors sold some cool homemade projects.
During the school week, I led my last workshop at the library, where I helped children use block coding to control how their ozobots (Miniature robots with a motor that can follow colored lines and sense light and movement) moved and changed color and sounds without physically drawing paths. I think that this workshop went the smoothest because we had become really good at managing our time and splitting up who taught which part of the lesson.
On Wednesday, we took a long and scenic train ride to Kaikoura. We had free time once we got there, and so some friends and I went snorkeling and then hiked around the peninsula. Snorkeling was awesome and we could rent gear cheaply.
This weekend, we went on our last road trip to the west coast. We stayed in two interesting hostels and explored everything we could. Our drive there was pretty much in the dark, but the next day was jam-packed with activities and sites. We saw these cool stacked rocks called the Pancake Rocks, where there were caverns and blowholes formed by crashing waves. We learned that there was no real explanation for why they looked stacked, there were only theories. Close to the Pancake Rocks, we also went exploring in a cavern with headlamps and found some cool passageways. Also close by, we went on a short hike, but ended up discovering a hidden beach with tide pools and cool rock formations and more caverns. That night, we found a gallery of driftwood sculptures on the beach and found a dark sky zone on the ride home to our hostel. I had heard before coming to New Zealand that they had amazing dark sky zones and so I was really lucky that we were able to see clearly and see the Milky Way without planning to. We also found a glow worm glade which was amazing to experience without a guide, although the people that had also gone down the trail were kind of loud and they kept taking pictures with flash and we were kind of annoyed with them. We’ve been in New Zealand so long that I don’t feel like as much of a tourist anymore, and I’m more aware of how easily you can be disrespectful or obnoxious without realizing. The next day, we went hiking in Arthur’s Pass and then climbed on some rocks that were in a scene of a Narnia movie. New Zealand is full of adventures off the side of the road, with plenty of room for exploration. This weekend was a lot of fun and I wish that I didn’t have to go back soon. I didn’t really go on many road trips in the United States, at least not with friends, and I hope that I can go on more someday that are just as fun.
