Jaime Enjoyed Her Time in New Zealand

Jaime studied this past semester at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand.  Her orientation began in Auckland, on the North Island of New Zealand, which she found similar to cities in the US.  The students were able to explore the North Island a bit before heading to the University on the south island.  She, along with some new friends, discovered a beach perfect for swimming, and a quick hike up a dormant volcano within a short drive from the city center.  They also explored Rotorua, which is known for it's geothermal hot springs and geysers, which they all thoroughly enjoyed, despite the smell of rotten eggs that the thermal springs exude.  Another one of her more unique experiences was going "zorbing."  She described this as, "rolling down a hill in an inflatable hamster ball," and actually enjoyed it quite a bit!

After this Orientation, they flew to Dunedin on the Southern Island where the University of Otago was located.  The south island has a much more temperate climate, remaining around 65 degrees F from roughly Oct.-Apr.   Here she discovered some great recreation experiences, better told in her own words.  

"[The] campus is sprawling and surrounded by a beautiful 10 mile botanical garden which was a relaxing place for me to go on runs! I really enjoyed the close proximity to the water and the fact that there were at least 10 different beaches within a 45 minute drive. I went surfing for the first time and went many more times within my short 6 weeks abroad."

Jaime described the history of Dunedin as being unique in that it was originally designed by Scotsmen who came over from Europe, thus creating a town center with a European "feel" which Jaime enjoyed. 

Educationally, her studies included history of the indigenous people to New Zealand, the Maori people, as well as a criminology course and two psychology courses.  The University has about 30,000 students, so her class size varied from 75-450 students, so it was VERY different from her educational experience on the Middlebury campus.

The living situation for this University was one of Jaime's highlights of the semester.  She lived in a two story "flat" with 4 other flatmates and had a short 5 minute walk to campus. These new flatmates became fast friends and they traveled around together quite a bit, and are pictured to the left in front of their flat with their collective traveling van.  

One of the places they visited was Queenstown, which is apparently the adventure capital of the world.  Jaime would agree with that as she went bungee jumping there (see scary picture to the left!)  She also enjoyed exploring the Catlins, which are known for beautiful waterfalls, wildlife, a pineapple track, and hikes overlooking the city of Dunedin.  Dunedin is also home to some famous glow worm caves, which I'm going to have to ask her more about.

Another highlight for Jaime was a day hike known as "routeburn."  In her words, the "hike was insanely hard. It was a hot summer day in New Zealand and the trail was going straight up for about 80% of the time. Not to mention we had a time limit and had to make it back to the bus by 5 pm. Long story short we hiked 19 miles in 8 hours! The view not only at the top but the entire way was absolutely beautiful. We saw blue glacier water running along the trail in addition to huge green peaks and mountains all around us. We were also the first people to hike the trail after there had been a huge flood which completely destroyed the path for a couple months."


A recent MCVB alum, Alice Roberts '18 also spent time in New Zealand, and after seeing Jaime's pictures, she reached out and mentioned that she'd been on that same routeburn!  How fun.  It was definitely an experience that Jaime will never forget, and I'd bet that holds true for Alice as well?!  

Because the semester was cut short, Jaime has a list of places she still wants to explore down there, giving her plenty of incentive to return someday, in addition to the many new "kiwi friends" she now has there!