Jordan's pacific travel blog

Feb 18. PHOTOS FROM NEW ZEALAND!

So here is a brief overview of the last month- with photos! I took off from Edmonton Alberta on the 23rd of January, spent 5 days in Davis, California (near Sacramento). There I hung out with a close friend of mine from bibleschool, then on the 28th, I took a hop down to Los Angeles. (a 8 hour drive from San Francisco where I was close to)
Believe it or not- on the domestic flight from Sacramento to L.A., I was searched through the security! It seemed like a routine random search. They swabbed all my carryon and stuck the swabs in a machine that would beep. (Presumably at the absence of drugs or explosives.)
Had an 8 hour layover in Los Angeles, but I kept myself entertained in a resteraunt.
Met my first Kiwi waiting in the terminal- she was from Wellington and she did sound design for alot of the big films going through there! (King Kong, LOTR, among others!)
Then began the long overnight flight into Auckland. I didn't even know for sure who was picking me up! Then to my relief, Lowell and Julie were at the airport waiting for me! That was awfully nice ;).

My first weekend in New Zealand- I spent each night in a different place before I got to school! One night at Lowell and Julie's little hut in the country. (surrounded by wildlife)
Then Bethanne organized me to stay with an awesome Kiwi family who was going to the wedding- so that worked out perfect. Rides and a place to stay and church the next morning! Roger and Niki and family were great to deal with and I hope to say hi to them again in the future!

Bethanne and Adrian's wedding was just excellent- quite perfect in my imagination! It had a small town feel to it, especially the reception which was north of Auckland surrounded by natural bush. Rather then a DJ- Adrian's band played superbly. I'm also noticing that wine is plentiful in New Zealand- and everyone drank responsibly as far as I could see!

After church the next day Roger took me around downtown Auckland before my bus departed for Warkworth. In Warkworth I finally met Cindy- the aunt of my dear friend Mark's room-mate Dylan. She was kind enough to pick me up, and I stayed one night at her place before her husband took me to Lifeway College on Snell's beach the next day! Very kind of them to accommodate a complete stranger.

Since then I have been just meeting tons of people, networking, and having a blast. Fitting in well into the year 2 animators, they don't seem to mind the butting-in by a couple of strangers. (me and a fellow from Shanghai)
We often go to the beach together.

So without further ado, here are some of the choice photos so far!

Canadian rockies ;) ...

My dear friend Will was kind enough to drive me all over Sacramento and San Francisco! I got to see more of California then I thought I would-- and he was a most generous host! Will also took me to the Redwood trees just north of San Francisco! They're remarkably close to downtown...


...the crazy hat shop on Pier 382! (I forget the famous number)Uncle Sam Wants You! .... to buy him some ghirardelli chocolate! Will complied, and bought us sundaes from Ghirardelli square! So much fudge I couldn't even eat supper!


First sight of New Zealand from the air!


The following 3 photos are from Bethanne Kefali's wedding in Auckland! Good times! And I was very very happy to be there! I'm looking forward to getting to know Adrian better.







Here are a few of my classmates! I believe there are about 18 or 19 of us in total. Those are the 3D labs you see behind.
Here is my dorm room and the view out the window!


Here's one of the doors into our year 2 animation labs! I can't complain about anything! The computers are top notch- we've got the entire adobe suite, Maya, everything we need. And the director was mindful of giving me a good seat close to the lecturer!
Here's the lab and dorms at night! My dorm room is directly above the labs on second floor!

Here's the view of School from a nearby road! I'm looking inland towards the estuary in this photo. The sun is to the north.
Here is a scenic park really close to school... separating Algies bay and Snells beach.
And this is Snell's beach from the south!

The nicest (of 3) beaches I've been to in New Zealand so far! Mangawhai beach, a good 30-40 minute drive. Some friends from school were perfoming in a tavern- that's why we traveled the distance. I hear there are nice beaches close to school as well.

So far the water has always been a nice temperature! Once you're in the water- it's warm and invigorating.

Till next time; stay sweet as!

Labels: Pacific Travel

posted by Jordan Olson @ 12:29 AM