Pre-Departure: New Zealand

May 9, 2013
I am going to New Zealand in less than a week to study abroad for a little under a month. I figure the best way to remember this journey is to blog offline and then send the posts whenever I have wifi (which apparently won’t be all the time).
The program I am doing is all about Adventure Tourism. My major is Recreation and Event Management, which is a specialization under the umbrella Recreation, Parks, and Tourism at UF. The trip is interdisciplinary, so students from all different majors will be going on the trip as well. The faculty said that this actually makes it more interesting because people come in with different views.
New Zealand, specifically Queenstown, is the adventure capital of the world! They specialize in hosting activities such as bungee jumping, sky diving, jet boating, whitewater rafting, etc — adrenaline rush activities! My favorite kind. My program will travel all over South Island, changing locations every couple of days in order to see the most we can see in our limited time. It’s actually worth six credits towards my major which is pretty awesome.
Some activities they have planned in our itinerary are:
  • Jet boat ride in Rakaia Gorge
  • Optional rugby game
  • Dolphin encounter with over 300 dolphins in Kaikoura
  • Abel Tasman (NZ’s busiest national park) kayak day trip
  • Hiking Honeydew trail
  • Fox Glacier hike
  • Routebum guided walk
  • Zip-lining and a gondola ride in Queenstown
  • Milford Sound guided cruise
I’m really excited! All along the way we’ll be learning within the field about tourism, sustainability, and NZ’s efforts to make their country “clean and pure” according to their tourism slogan.

I leave Monday and the travel itself is going to take over a day. I won’t get to NZ until it’s their Wednesday because we cross the international dateline. It’s also their fall/winter there so that will be an interesting change going from Florida’s humidity and summer heat that’s been quickly approaching here in Gainesville.

Have you studied abroad? Have you been to NZ?