Harvey Scholar Travels - Olivia in New Zealand
In Fall 2017, I was fortunate enough to spend my semester in New Zealand. I spent my semester at the University of Canterbury and it was the most amazing experience of my life. As someone who has never left North America, the idea of studying abroad was scary and exciting. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to push my comfort zone and try something new. I had always been interested in New Zealand because I heard about how beautiful it is. I had wanted to explore the outdoors more and New Zealand was the perfect country for that. After looking up other student experiences at University of Canterbury, I was sold and started getting ready to leave.
I started my semester in the middle of July and quickly began adventuring. Within one week, I had went on my first hike to Godley's Head and went skiing.
One of the greatest things about studying abroad in New Zealand is that you get a mid semester break. I got two weeks off of class so I could do a longer trip around New Zealand. My friends and I decided to do a multi week long road trip around the South Island. We rented three campervans and took off. We hiked a lot during the road trip, but one of my favorite parts was being in the campervans with my friends and just driving around. The scenery of New Zealand would change from mountains to plains to ocean to rainforests so rapidly. It was breath taking.
My favorite hike ever happened during this road trip. It was the hardest hike I had ever done, but it was by far the most beautiful. The name of the hike was Roy's Peak. After the hike, my friends and I sat by the ocean and watched the sunset while eating pizza. It is one of my favorite memories of the trip.
After the road trip, the hiking slowed down a bit as school became a little more intense. I hung out in Christchurch with my international and Kiwi (people from New Zealand, not the bird or fruit) friends. During the second half of the semester I managed to go to Mt. Sunday (or Rohan for Lord of the Rings), Rakaia Gorge, Arthur's Pass, and Paparoa.
The week before finals week class was canceled for studying. Since I didn't have many finals, I ended up taking this week as a chance to have another road trip. This time, however, we just stayed on the beach and went kayaking. It was a nice change of speed from all of the hiking.
Because I started my semester so early, I finished classes in the middle of November. This gave me a lot of extra time to go on yet another road trip before heading home. New Zealand is the home of adventure sports and I went skydiving for the first during this trip. As someone with a fear of heights, I feel like going skydiving really showed how much I grew from this experience. I have no regrets about my time abroad and hope I can visit this amazing country again someday.
I started my semester in the middle of July and quickly began adventuring. Within one week, I had went on my first hike to Godley's Head and went skiing.
From there, things never seemed to slow down. The next weekend, I went on a day hike to Diamond Harbor. The following one, I went on my first camping trip ever to St. James. Then I went to Mt. Fyffe. I was making incredible friends from all over the world who pushed me to make every second count in New Zealand.
One of the greatest things about studying abroad in New Zealand is that you get a mid semester break. I got two weeks off of class so I could do a longer trip around New Zealand. My friends and I decided to do a multi week long road trip around the South Island. We rented three campervans and took off. We hiked a lot during the road trip, but one of my favorite parts was being in the campervans with my friends and just driving around. The scenery of New Zealand would change from mountains to plains to ocean to rainforests so rapidly. It was breath taking.
My favorite hike ever happened during this road trip. It was the hardest hike I had ever done, but it was by far the most beautiful. The name of the hike was Roy's Peak. After the hike, my friends and I sat by the ocean and watched the sunset while eating pizza. It is one of my favorite memories of the trip.
After the road trip, the hiking slowed down a bit as school became a little more intense. I hung out in Christchurch with my international and Kiwi (people from New Zealand, not the bird or fruit) friends. During the second half of the semester I managed to go to Mt. Sunday (or Rohan for Lord of the Rings), Rakaia Gorge, Arthur's Pass, and Paparoa.
The week before finals week class was canceled for studying. Since I didn't have many finals, I ended up taking this week as a chance to have another road trip. This time, however, we just stayed on the beach and went kayaking. It was a nice change of speed from all of the hiking.
Because I started my semester so early, I finished classes in the middle of November. This gave me a lot of extra time to go on yet another road trip before heading home. New Zealand is the home of adventure sports and I went skydiving for the first during this trip. As someone with a fear of heights, I feel like going skydiving really showed how much I grew from this experience. I have no regrets about my time abroad and hope I can visit this amazing country again someday.
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