Day 17

06-23-96

Cambridge

The family Steffan and I stayed with were from Florida, so all uncomfortable differences didn't apply. They had a sixteen year old daughter who was pretty cool, and we talked about music (my favorite subject) for quite a while. We walked around town for a few hours, and then rented some movies. We watched the movies with some of the girl's friends, and that was really all that happened that day. I didn't learn to much on this homestay, except that teenagers in New Zealand are pretty much the same as kids in the U.S.

Day 18

06-24-96

Cambridge - Auckland

The daylight hours of this day were pretty boring. We spent most of the day traveling across New Zealand, stopping at some rather forgettable sightseeing places on the way. The only fun thing was when we stopped at a nature center and took a walk through the forest. The rain that was so plentiful that day just made everything more beautiful.

The hotel was pretty neat. It wasn't posh, but was still comfortable. We hung around there all evening until the leaders told us to follow them to one of the banquet halls, where we got to see a local comedy improv group. After that we had sort of a going away party for ourselves, where we sat around and discussed our experiences. But the food was good.

Day 19

06-21-96

Auckland - Los Angeles

cut shots from Independence Day...seems no one cares about the fate of Auckland
A view of Auckland, New Zealand from Mt. Eden.
This, the last day, was pretty eventful. After loading up the bus and leaving the hotel, we went to Mt. Eden. Mt. Eden is a volcano that imploded after erupting, causing a huge crater. The view of Auckland from there was beautiful. After Mt. Eden we took a trip to the Auckland Museum. It was really beautiful also. The stained glass skylight was particularly breathtaking.

Then we took a trip across the bay to Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Experience. It was a theme park based around the adventures of Kelly Tarlton, a New Zealand explorer who made it very far into the interior of Antarctica. The park included a recreation of the shelter he stayed in. We went on a ride through the penguin area and learned that the penguins used at the park were from the San Antonio Zoo (which somehow took away some of the magic... go figure...) After that, we capped it off with a walk through the aquarium tunnel, which is an aquarium with a glass tunnel built through the bottom of it. It was really neat because there were a lot of sharks and exotic fish. The whole thing was quite an interesting (and Antarctic) experience.

In the afternoon, we went shopping at an outdoor mall in downtown Auckland, giving everyone the chance to blow the remainder of their money (it was either that or give it back to their parents.) I was, of course, out of money, but during this shopping occasion I found that some people were rather generous with their money. Cool.

And then it was time to go home. But first we had to go through that same airport routine we had gone through so many times before. Except this time we did it with a little less enthusiasm...maybe because there was nothing to really look forward to after this flight. Just the boring old United States Of America.

This page was created by Nick Huinker with lots of help from Lacey Tauber. Main People To People graphic courtesy (much thanks!) to the People To People Student Ambassadors Website.
I would also like to thank Mr. Sam Montgomery, Mrs. Jo Beth Oestreich, and Ms. Debra Davis, our fearless leaders, as well as everyone else whom I shared this experience with.