Auckland

When I first came to New Zealand, I thought that since everyone spoke English, I would have no problem talking and understanding people (after all, I speak English too!). But within my first week, I had someone tell me “yeah, yeah nah, she’ll be right, mate,” (which at the time confused the heck out of me) and since then, I’ve tried, failed, and (somewhat) succeeded to understand the New Zealand accent and vernacular. In my few months here, I’ve picked up some of the common phrases that can only be found in New Zealand, here are some of my favorites...

Having (or spinning) a yarn

Chatting, making conversation, telling a story. Whenever I hang out at a friend’s place or chat with some people on campus or at a party, I’d been having a yarn with them. If you’re spinning a yarn, though, that means you’re exaggerating or telling a story.

Arvo vs. avo

Arvo means afternoon. Avo means avocado. These are very easy to confuse with each other.

Sweet as

Basically, this means great, cool, or awesome. It might sound like an incomplete sentence, which is what I thought when I first heard it…sweet as what? Pie? Cake? But, no, it’s just an affirmative expression and a very standard response when texting or in everyday life.

Keen

If you’re keen about something, it means you’re excited or enthusiastic about it. Like, “do you want to get dinner tonight?” “Keen!”

Add an “as” to add enthusiasm—yeah I’m “keen as!”

She’ll be right

Means things will be okay and everything will work out.

Yeah nah (or nah yeah)

An inventive word that means both yes and no at the same time—which one is it? It can indicate indecisiveness but generally means no if “nah” is the second word.

Togs

Togs are swimsuits or pretty much anything you’d wear to the pool or the beach. This past weekend, I grabbed my togs and jandals (which are flip-flops here) and headed to the Coromandel with some friends to lie on Hot Water Beach and sunbathe for a few hours.

Chur

Means cheers or thanks. Often followed with “bro” or “mate.”

Tramping

Does not mean being drunk or risqué or engaging in illicit behavior. It means hiking. For example, I’m part of the Auckland Uni Tramping Club and sometimes go tramping with them on weekends.

I’ve definitely struggled with some of these words and with vowel pronunciation while I’ve been here, but it’s been fun figuring out different slang and trying (and often failing) to use them in conversation.

My second half of the mid-semester break began with landing on a small airstrip surrounded by snow-capped mountains and glittering blue lakes. For a week, I'd be traveling around the South Island of New Zealand with some of my friends from Auckland.

After landing in Queenstown, we headed up to Lake Tekapo. As we got deeper and deeper into the mountains, glittering blue lakes revealed themselves and snowcapped mountains towered above us. I’d never seen lakes this crystal blue; this color comes from the melting glaciers that supply the lakes. 

When we reached Tekapo, it was already dark, with some of the most amazing constellations above us. With only the lake and a few lit buildings, the sky presented its brilliant stars. The South Island is known for its amazing stargazing, which we appreciated throughout the entire trip.

We didn’t realize just how big and blue Lake Tekapo was until the next morning when the sun reflected off of the icy colored water. Hiking up Mount John to the summit above the lake, we saw the beautiful view around Tekapo and the small town just a scatter of buildings along the shore.

Weaving around the mountains and lakes, we spent the rest of the day in Aoraki, where the famous Mount Cook juts up deep into the clouds. We hiked out to Mueller Glacier, still reveling in the bright blue lakes around us. We crossed several wooden bridges (including the longest swing bridge in New Zealand), enjoying the sunny weather that warmed up the chilly air a little.

The South Island is made up of (mostly small) towns, with hundreds of kilometers in between each one. We were able to see the vast beauty when we hiked up Roy’s Peak, a challenging but rewarding hike above Wanaka. With an elevation change of 1200 meters, we were exhausted when we reached the top, but the snow, lakes, and mountain ranges around us were breathtaking.

Heading down south, we explored Milford Sound (the “Eighth Wonder of the World”), which is a narrow channel into the Fiordland on the southwest coast. We were able to take a boat out into the sound and see the towering fiords above us. Waterfalls fell hundreds of feet from the mountains as we navigated the jagged sound and even got to see what it looked like from out on the ocean. This was definitely one of the coolest parts of the South Island.

The mid-semester holiday was a much-needed break, but it was great to be back in my flat in Auckland after having been in and out of hostels and hotels for two weeks. I'm back in the big-city feel of Auckland, in comparison to tropical Rarotonga and the pure wilderness of the South Island. Going back to my busy schedule, I have mid-semester exams to study for, and I will settle back into my routine of classes, going to the gym, and catching up with my friends.