Spending Your Day Wisely

Like most students studying abroad, my friends and I take every weekend as an opportunity to travel around New Zealand.  This weekend, we chose to spend a day in Kaikoura, a town north of Christchurch. When planning the trip, our group decided to split up once we arrived, since we only had one day.  A couple of my friends wanted to explore the town and walk along the peninsula, while a couple others wanted to do a day hike in the mountains, further inland. I had a hard time choosing which activity I wanted to do; we were only going to be in Kaikoura for an afternoon.  I really wanted to do another summit, but part of me didn’t want to miss seeing the town and the peninsula since we had never been before.

I ended up deciding to go on the tramp, which was a great decision.  Thus, here are some of my photos from the Mt. Fyffe Summit track. The views at the peak were amazing; there was 360 degree view of the snowy mountain ranges to one side, and the Kaikoura peninsula and the Pacific to the other.  I definitely felt I had made a great decision; I got to do something I love while still seeing a part of Kaikoura. Or, should I say all of it, from 5500 feet up.

At the end of the day we met up with the others for dinner.  They told us they had an amazing time exploring the town and walking by the water, where they got to see the seal colony.  Swapping photos and stories with my friends made me realize that while each of our groups explored Kaikoura in different ways, everyone had a great time.  So, for any study abroad student also faced with the tough decision on what to do with only one day, here’s what I say. Any day spent in New Zealand, doing what you love with good people, is a good day.