NEW ZEALAND ADVENTURES

01/04/24 Welcome To The Norwegian Spirit! Auckland I was blissfully unprepared for the luxury of cruising. When my mom suggested we would go on a cruise together, I wasn't sure how I felt about a potential Titanic iceberg situation. BUT, we did survive the whole thing!  I landed in Auckland a day before my mom arrived so I could meet her at the airport. Her flight landed early in the morning, so I picked up a couple quiches and an almond croissant for a nice breakfast! Once she arrived, we were able to catch up a bit and head to the cruise port. The boat itself was ginormous. I was not expecting it to hold as many people as it did. We dropped off our luggage and the proceeded to use our little time in Auckland. I haven't spent much time in New Zealand's largest city, so it was neat to explore the cute Saturday market and Auckland Art Gallery! The gallery even had a Picasso! When we finally made it to the ship, we were able to grab some yummy food at the Garden Cafe and expl

 17/03/24 Farewell Dunedin I am writing from the quaint Coffee Club next to Mt. Maunganui in Tauranga, Bay of Plenty. Not only is this town beautiful, but I have been getting to explore it with my mom. For the next two weeks we will be sightseeing the North Island, South Island and parts of Aussie! My wifi signal is limited throughout this epic cruise, but prepare for the cruise highlights in the next few weeks! This blog post will be dedicated to my last days in Dunedin. Living and working in this fun, youthful city was incredible; I am really going to miss it. The last time I posted, I was just getting settled into the swing of Dunedin life. Working at Quest, I was able to find a really good balance between working and explore the area. I got to go to game nights, markets and even dyed my hair red. While I might not have a ton of photos from this part of my trip, I think this city is where I felt the most connected. I am very happy I left the sheep. As a way to commemorate, I will li

 12/02/24 Dunedin-ite, Am I Right? It's crazy to think that I have been living in this beautiful country for a little over five months now. From Christchurch, to Rakiura, to Wellington, to the Northlands (and many more!), I feel like I am finally starting to get used to being in this unique space. I even automatically move to the left side of the sidewalk now! From the moments of awe to the moments of homesickness, it has been a real joy to share all these new places, activities and people. Have I reached annoying travel blogger level yet? If so, TOO BAD! I'M GONNA KEEP BLOGGING HAHAHAHAHA! So here's the latest with TaylorTravelz!  The Ballad of a Jobless Traveler (Who Desperately Needs A Job) After my failed sheep shed experience, arriving in Dunedin was a bit of a whirlwind. I was lucky to snatch one of the last bus tickets out of the tiny town of Lawrence, and find a reasonable hostel to house me for up to four days in Dunedin. My current plan was to find a job and a pla

BIRDING CAMP! 17/01/24 Well well well! Let me just tell you about the coolest thing I got to be a part of in New Zealand: Makarora Field Camp! With fourteen kids ages 14-18, I got to help execute the coolest camp for kids ever. With a focus on biodiversity, we covered topics ranging from research techniques, shorebirds, migrants, eBird, moths, bats, conservation dogs, and geophysiography!  Let's get into it!  Day 1 Rachel and I started bright and early in Wanaka prepping the last few supplies for camp. We arrived in Makarora around ten for setup. With bird posters, maps and camp pamphlets, the classroom looked like a bird wonderland. I was so excited to get started. Kids started arriving around three and we got to give them a brief run down of all of the activities we had planned for the week. Mist netting and point counts were up first! We stayed in the beautiful Wonderland Makarora Lodge which provided adorable a-frames for everyone to stay in. I even got my very own room, lucky