Skiing on a Volcano in July

Anja is ready for some serious skiing!


Mt. Ruapehu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Ruapehu) is an active volcano and had a small eruption just a month after our trip.



The mountain has two ski fields. This is Whakapapa (pronounced fakka papa)


Blue sky...

and clouds - typical kiwi weather.

Me, volcano and mixed weather.

What a nice day!

Mt. Ngauruhoe

Enjoying dinner with my friends!

One of my feet in front of the cozy fire place.

Into the jungle the next day.

Hot Pool!

East Coast

Mid-winter (July) I went to the east coast north of Auckland... the destination was Langes Beach.

Since I was the only Viking amongst us - at least from Northern Norway, I had to test the water. It wasn't that cold - almost like mid-summer temperature where I come from.

All Blacks

View from Christina's appartment before my first rugby match ever.

Britomart - main train station in Auckland. On the way to the match.

The Haka (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Zvs4T4RU30). All Blacks always perform this traditional maori dance before the match.

The night ended with All Blacks humiliating the Australian Wallabies.

The All Blacks is New Zealand's national rugby team. Kiwis are really proud of them and Norwegian soccer enthusiasm is nothing compared to the Kiwis' passion for this game. When All Blacks lost the quarter finals in the world cup, there was a collective depression in the nation.

Auckland City

It was not love at first sight. The city might not be the most beautiful in the world, but as soon as you are outside the city limits, heaven waits. I arrived at Auckland Airport five in the morning July 7th 2007. After waiting for over an hour for the biosecurity team to clean my tent from dangerous Norwegian biology, I met Alex, Ellen and Kelly.

Kelly and I stayed at the same Hostel for a week and I had a great time sharing a flat with her the second semester. Something that contributed to Canadian English in my vocabulary and she now suffers from a bit of a Norwegian accent.

Auckland's most striking feature is probably its huge Asian population. The Asian culture is visible everywhere you go and sometimes it feels like living in an Asian country.

The Big Trip

Finally, the day has come... to leave my country to stay at the opposite side of the world for a year. Escapism? Not really. Rather curiosity.

My stay in New Zealand has two main purposes. Firstly, to finish my master thesis in computer science at the University of Auckland (UoA). Secondly, to kayak as much as possible in some of the most beautiful rivers in the world.

Standing on Heathrow, only 30 hours of flight time away from my final destination...