Last Day at Channel 9 News

Saying Goodbye

Thursday was also my last day at my internship and it was kind of bittersweet. I have formed friendships with most everybody I have worked with over the past 2 months and all of them have been there for me in one way or another... I have learned so much from my internship and am truly blessed to be able to come here and learn from such awesome people! I remember the first story I did and how discouraged I was after it, thinking there was no way I could actually be a TV journalist. But by the end I had improved so much and my stories actually looked and sounded pretty good. I will miss everyone at Channel 9 so much and I hope I will be back to visit often! Thank you all for everything you have done for me and being part of my life!

-Houston, Tutti Fruity, O'Bannonan, O'Bainon, ect.

Photo of the day JULY 21

Meeting Ritchie McCaw, All Blacks Captain

Probably the best thing that has happened to me since I flew into New Zealand was Thursday when Dee and I got to meet the All Blacks Captain Ritchie McCaw! Mark Hathaway, one of the Ch9 reporters, went to school with Ritchie and so Mark was able to schedule a channel 9 exclusive interview with him... and of course Dee and I were ready to come along for that one! The interview was awesome and the story turned out great as well... Dee got to film and I once again took pictures to document the event. After we were done with the interview, without embarrassing Mark too much, Dee got his autograph and we also got to take a picture with him! He is so gorgeous and such a nice guy, not to mention pretty much a hero and celebrity in New Zealand! It was just amazing having the chance to meet him and after we dropped Mark off, Dee and I were as embarrassing as Justin Bieber fans! Best day EVER! :)

-Whitney

Photo of the day JULY 20

Sunrise over Port Chalmers, NZ

On Wednesday I actually got out of bed and made it to work by 7:30 AM so I could go to the All Blacks press conference. The experience was great and it was cool to be that close to all the players and watch them being interviewed. I didn't do any of the interviewing, but I was glad to be able to get the experience of going to the conference and seeing how it works. We were done early by 8:30 AM and so that left us an hour before we had to be at work officially. So, we drove out to Port Chalmers and watched the sun rise over the ocean. It was a gorgeous sunrise and a perfect way to spend an early morning!

-Whitney

Photo of the day JULY 19

All Blacks Training at Carisbrook Stadium

During the last week of my internship, the National New Zealand rugby team was in town and that of course is news. So I got to spend part of my last week going out with the Ch9 News team to their training and press conference. It was an awesome experience to see big time sports reporting in action, considering that is what I want to do eventually. Also the All Blacks' players are so good looking!!! We were very close to the action and I got to just go along for the ride and take lots of pictures! Great experience for my last week at the news station!

-Houston

Photo of the day JULY 18

Big Beach, Aramoana, New Zealand

Today Dee took me on her weather shot out to Aramoana which is a small town about 25 minutes outside of Dunedin. Dee used to live here for years and raised her kids in the town so she knows all about it. It was also where David Gray, a resident of Aramoana several years ago went insane and started shooting people. He killed 13 people, most of them his neighbors, and was on the loose for a couple of days before authorities caught him. I'm pretty sure it was the deadliest criminal shooting in New Zealand history. There is a movie made about it called "Out of the Blue" which I have seen and driving around and seeing some of the same houses seen on the movie was eerie.... But the town was really cute and I could tell the lifestyle was very relaxed out there. The beaches were gorgeous too, as you can see in this photo. Good way to get out of the office and see something cool!

-Whitney

Photo of the day JULY 17

The Puzzling World, Wanaka

Today we had until 3 before our bus picked us up to go back to Dunedin, so we wandered up the road and found this place. It is basically a museum type place of optical illusions and a giant maze. It took us probably like 45 minutes to do the maze, finding our way back to the start was the hardest part and very frustrating! The maze is huge though, they say the average person walks 3-5 km when they do the maze... crazy! Then there were four optical illusion rooms... The first was a hologram room, several different hologram projections. then there was the following face room. Basically it was a room filled with 3D faces that appeared to look at you and follow you around the room! Then there was a anti gravity room which the floor was so sloped that it made it appear like you were leaning when you were standing up straight and made it look like water runs up hill! That was probably my favorite, although it made me fill a bit nauseous... and the last one was a room that looked normal from the outside, but inside the floor is sloped so if people are standing on opposite sides one looks like a giant and the other looks like a midget. The technique was used in Lord of the Rings apparently! Anyway it was fun and had some really cool stuff to see! Then we caught the bus home, didn't miss it this time! I'm all geared up and ready for my last week at Channel 9 and my parents are coming to visit, they get to Dunedin on Wednesday! :) Cant wait!

-Whitney

Photo of the day JULY 16

Snowboarding Cardrona, New Zealand

FINALLY!!! After waiting on the snow for two months here in NZ I got to shred some New Zealand powder, which is one of the main things that drew me to come here in the first place! I was so excited the night before I could hardly sleep! Sarah and I got up at 6:15 AM (yes that time is correct, I actually was awake before the sun rose!) in order to get everything organized to go up to the mountain. We had to figure out which mountain to go to, where to rent boards and how to get a bus ticket for transportation to the mountain... But everything ended up working perfectly! We found a cheap rental shop right away, it only cost me 25 NZDs! Then we headed to the bus stop. At first the guy told us the bus was full, but we lucked out and it wasn't, so that meant we didn't have to hitch a ride up the mountain! ;) Once we got to Cardrona, our bus driver offered sarah and I to buy lift passes off him for only 50 dollars, which is half of what it costs at the resort!!! Such a great start to the day! Snowboarding Saturday was really cold and the wind was out of this world, plus a huge fog cloud was sitting right over the mountain for most of the day, but the day was still epic and awesome! I taught Sarah how to board, and now she has snow stoke! haha We had some scary moments where we literally could not see a foot in front of us, but we made it and had a lot of fun! I cant wait to go shred in New Zealand some more before I leave! :)

-Whitney

Photo of the day JULY 15

Wanaka, New Zealand

This weekend Sarah and I headed to Wanaka to do a little snowboarding! Wanaka, like Queenstown, is a mountain town located about four hours from Dunedin. It is a lot smaller and less touristy than Queenstown though which I liked because it was so peaceful. We got into town in the evening and checked in at our hostel, The Purple Cow. This was an awesome place to stay, cheap, friendly, chill, nice and this go around we stayed in a female only dorm which was a fantastic decision! We went to bed pretty early to save our energy for snowboarding on Saturday! This picture is taken of the sun setting over Lake Wanaka with snow capped mountains in the background. I am so glad it snowed finally, the white mountains are absolutely breathtaking. One of my favorite scenes and exactly how I had imagined New Zealand looking!

-Whit

Photo of the day JULY 13

Behind the Scenes, Channel 9 News

I realized the other day that I don't have any pictures of my actual internship at all.. So I briefly snapped a few. Hopefully I can get some better ones before I leave. This is me working on a track in the editing suite. Channel 9 news is all linear editing, which means it is all done by recording different parts of tapes onto a news edit tape using these machines. I use the big remote to fast forward and find the clips I want as well as paste them all together. All the editing I do back home at college is done on computers using the Final Cut program, so it is cool to learn how to do it the more "old school" way! Only one week left of working at Channel 9! It went by so fast!

-Whitney

More Stories!

Rugby World Cup Roadshow Story

http://www.ch9.co.nz/content/rugby-world-cup-roadshow

Rural Internet Story

http://www.ch9.co.nz/content/survey-shows-importance-internet-rural-communities

Netball Story

http://www.ch9.co.nz/content/otago-netball-u21-team-compete-against-local-players

RoboCup Story

http://www.ch9.co.nz/content/robots-seize-hutton-theatre

These are the stories I have done on my own in the past couple weeks. I am still really liking working at Channel 9 and am learning a lot! The whole editing process is becoming a lot easier for me, however I am still working on finding my news voice!

-Houston Signing off

Photo of the day JULY 11

Sunrise over Castle Street

How lucky am I to be woken up by this??? I took this photo of the sunrise this morning when my first alarm went off and I realized the entire sky was red/pink. It was amazing! I'm glad I took the picture then too because five minutes later it was gone and grey clouds had taken over the sky.

-O'Bannonnon

Photo of the day JULY 9

Cadbury World

Saturday Sarah and I went on the Cadbury Factory Tour and got lots of chocolates! The tour itself was a wee bit lame because the weekend tours are shortened and you don't get to actually see chocolate being made. However we got to eat liquid chocolate (soooo good!) and were given some more free chocolate so I was happy. Sarah also bought a butt-load of stuff from the store to give to her friends, my friends wont be that lucky though.. haha I have become addicted to Cadbury Chocolate since I came here, so this tour was a definite must!

-Houston Signing off (for my Ch9 followers)

Photo of the day JULY 8

Dunedin Ice Hockey Game

Sarah met one of the hockey players from the Dunedin Thunder who play in the New Zealand Ice Hockey League and he invited her to a game. So of course, me being a huge fan of hockey, went with her! The game was awesome! Dunedin won 6-5 in overtime so it was a very exciting game and it was fun to go see what ice hockey is like in New Zealand. Plus we got to go out for half price dinner at a really fancy restaurant with the whole team after the game!

-Whitney

Photo of the day JULY 7

Evening Tea (dinner) at Jitsu

Sarah, Luke and I (aka team America dubbed by Dee!) went out for a nice Japanese dinner at a place called Jitsu near the center of Dunedin. We were surprised when we got to sit at the chabudai which is a low table where you sit on the floor to eat. It was so fun, I have always wanted to sit in a room like this! Also, I love SUSHI now! haha its amazing.. I have tried so hard to like sushi but I just find it disgusting usually! However, New Zealand has this awesome thing called Chicken Sushi! Seriously I hope I can find it in the States... I got crispy chicken sushi and it is to die for!!!!

-Whitney

Photo of the day JULY 3

Onsen Hot Pools, Queenstown

We had a fun night out Saturday and then had to get up early Sunday morning to catch our bus back to Dunedin. We got up on time and thought we were responsible by asking someone where the bus stop was and we even got there 20 minutes early... but as the story goes, we found out we were waiting at the wrong bus stop and by the time we realized this, it had been already half an hour since the bus was supposed to arrive. So there we were, two young American girls stuck in Queenstown with no plans at all... I think both of us were on the verge of tears haha but instead we pulled ourselves together, went to the information center, bought a new bus ticket (for monday now because all the sunday buses were full), and booked another night at a different hostel in town. We decided to make the best of our extra day and the lady helping us at the info center I think could tell we were stressed out by the situation and suggested we go to the hot pools. So after we checked in at our new place, we went up the Onsen Hot Pools and it was amazing! Basically this place is located in the mountains overlooking the Shotover River and you get this room that has this nice wooden hot pool/tub in it. Then there is a retractable wall, like a garage door, that you can raise up and you sit in the hot tub while looking out to a serene view. It was so relaxing and peaceful! Definitely a good way to turn a bad day into a good one! (The picture above is Sarah relaxing in our hot pool!)

-Whitney

Photo of the day JULY 2

The Summit of Te Tapu-Nui, Queenstown Hill Track

Saturday, after a good refreshing nights sleep, Sarah and I went to an arts and craft market and went out to breakfast. After that we set out on a hike up the Queenstown Hill Track which is a track that climbs up above the town for a 360 panorama view of the Remarkables mountain range, the lake and Queenstown Bay. We felt pretty ambitious considering the hike had the word "hill" in the name, but it was an awesome time! We just about died getting to the trail though because we had to walk up several really steep streets and tons of stairs just to get to the trail head! But we made it and were rewarded by a seriously awesome view! This is me jumping at the summit with the mountains in the background! Sarah is also photo happy, so we had some good times! This place is amazingly beautiful and it was nice to spend the day outside of the tourist filled city!

-Whitney

Photo of the day JULY 1

Lake Wakatipu from Boat Docks, Queenstown, NZ

This weekend Sarah and I hopped on a bus and headed off to the adventure capital of the world, Queenstown. Although there is still not enough snow to really go snowboarding, I thought I have waited long enough to see this place. We got in Friday late afternoon around 3 pm and checked into our hostel which was located on the waterfront. We had to room with two guys who were kind of weird and basically never left the room, so we tried to spend very little time in there! Friday night we walked around Queenstown and did a little shopping, there is a different snowboard/ski shop on every corner which equals my dream come true! We also ate dinner at a very fancy restaurant which was nice. We didn't even know it was fancy, we were just hungry and it was expensive to eat everywhere. This picture was taken as the sun was setting friday evening from the boat docks just outside our hostel. Queenstown is a fun little place, but it is definitely touristy! Also, Sarah and I got lost every five minutes... for some reason this place was very confusing for us to get around!

-Whitney

Photo of the day JUNE 30

Road Block!

This legitimately happens in New Zealand... farmers herd their sheep down the middle of the road and drivers have to wait for them to get out of the road. We were probably stuck behind these sheep for like 10 minutes, it was awesome! I didn't think it actually happened like this, but here is proof!

-Whitney

Latest story

http://www.ch9.co.nz/content/bumper-crowd-turns-out-mid-winter-carnival

Here is my story from last week. I did all the interviewing and reporting for the story as well as the voice over. Best one yet I think!

Photo of the day JUNE 28

Historic Stonemason's Cottage, Clyde, Central Otago

Today I went on an ad shoot with my supervisor, the Producer, and one of the guys in the sales department. We were doing a commercial for a lodge located in Clyde, a small town in Central Otago. It was cool to be able to see all the work and filming it takes to make a 30 second TV commercial, but the better part was being able to see part of Central Otago. It was a two hour drive to Clyde and it was beautiful! We went from rolling green hills of Dunedin to a more mountainous area with jagged rocks and almost a desert feel to it. After the ad shoot we went to see Clyde Dam, which had a really pretty view and then the sales guy took us to this rustic old cottage just outside of Clyde. It was really cool because the cottage was actually built on a rock. (You can kind of see in the picture) The view was nice and it was surrounded by these huge rocks which I had a fun time running around on! The only downside was it was really freaking cold!

Improvement

http://www.ch9.co.nz/content/bumper-crowd-turns-out-mid-winter-carnival

I actually kind of sound like I know what I'm doing now... haha kind of... This documents the constant battle I have with my voice. Voicing stories is very difficult for me and finding the right balance is definitely a challenge. I think I am getting there though... slowly!

Photo of the day JUNE 26

Hiking Rosella Ridge, Silver Peaks

I don't think this photo even needs a description, it definitely speaks for itself.

But I'll give one anyway....

Today my new friend Luke (also an American intern) and I met up with the Otago Tramping and Mountaineering Club for a day hike. I thought.. sweet, a nice day hike. We'll hike up somewhere, get a nice view and some fresh air and come back down... Oh boy was I wrong! This was probably one of the toughest hikes I have ever been on! It rained the night before which caused a lot of the trail to be very muddy! I nicknamed this hike 'Muddy Butt' because of how many times I slipped and fell in the mud! I also didn't have hiking boots... bad idea for an intense hike like this! With all this aside, this hike was absolutely breath taking, to be cliche... haha The picture above is the view from our lunch spot looking from Rosella Ridge across the rest of the silver peaks (I think). After we hiked up to that spot, we hiked the entire ridge which you can see in the picture, it is the defined ridge on the right side of the photo. It was one of the most incredible things I have ever done to be honest. A really cool part of the hike is that all along the ridge you could look back and see the narrow little path that you just hiked. It was also an unmaintained trail which means we roughed it, plowed through bushes and virtually slip-slided down the entire trail, as well as got slightly lost a few times. It was so incredible though, definitely worth every step!

-Whitney O'Bannon, an Official Kiwi Tramper

Recent Stories I have Done

Last week I was able to do two more stories on my own! I love being able to do stories, that is my favorite part of my internship. And I can really see myself doing this in the future as a career.

This first story is kind of cool because it is the first story I have done that was actually my story idea and it was a headlining story! I think it turned out pretty well, although I am still working on the voice of course...

http://www.ch9.co.nz/content/student-volunteer-army-calls-out-university-otago-help

This story I did last Tuesday on Rhythmic Gymnastics. Although I don't know a lot about this sport, it was awesome to do a sporting event story because I eventually want to be a sports reporter.

http://www.ch9.co.nz/content/more-130-competitors-attend-south-island-rhythmic-gymnastics-championships

Photos of the day JUNE 25

Midwinter Festival, Dunedin

As far as small town festivals go, this one was pretty sweet. I had to do two photos to illustrate all the activities! Basically a bunch of kids go to these workshops and make awesome lanterns, as well as some adults make really intense lanterns (above, a complex moth/butterfly) and they parade around the center of the city for like 15 minutes. And there are also drummers, dancers, and stilt walkers in the parade. Then after that, they shoot off fireworks. Its a really family oriented event and it was really cool to see a part of the culture here in Dunedin. I decided to volunteer to work at the event for my internship. So I got to go behind the scenes and interview a bunch of cute little kids as well as some crazy adults! It was cool to be able to be a reporter at such a big event like this! I did lose my cameraman for most of the parade though lol I looked away for one second and he was gone! A journalist with no cameraman equals a bad situation! haha luckily I found him before we had to do our last interviews!

-Whitney

Photo of the day JUNE 24

Otago Museum

Just because I decided to come over to New Zealand on my own and live here for almost 3 months doesn't mean I am mature! ;) haha if I see a statue, I'll usually pose with it. On Friday, after my various Skype dates, some friends and I went to check out the Otago Museum. We mostly went because it is free to the public, how awesome is that?? Nothing in the States is free, especially a tourist attraction! We went to this cool exhibit about human faces, kinda weird but it was interesting. An then we looked around a lot of the historical exhibits. As far as museums go, it was sweet as.

-Whitney

-Whitney

Photo of the day JUNE 22

I'm really in New Zealand!

This photo is purely for me because I really find joy in things which remind me that I really am living in New Zealand! After years of dreaming about coming here, I'm here and I am living it up! It feels awesome! :)

Photo of the day JUNE 19

McLean Falls, Catlins

Last Sunday Sarah and I took another adventure on a tour of the Catlins, which is an area about 2 hours south of Dunedin. It was a really cool place and our tour guide was awesome as well as the Kiwi's on the tour! We traveled around the Catlins all day and stopped at several different spots. First we went to Waipapa Point, which is a short climb up to a historic light house, and then a lookout over the nuggets, huge jagged rocks that are out in the sea just off the coast. Then we went to Cannibal Bay and observed sea lions, even got charged by a few! It was awesome, Then we went on a bush walk to the small, beautiful Lake Wilkie. Following that we went to McLean falls (pictured above). This was definitely the highlight of the trip for me. I asked our tour guide if we could go see a waterfall and this is where he took us. We hiked up to the waterfall and then when I thought we were there, he had us climb up the wet slippery rock ledge to get a full look at the waterfall. It was amazing! The waterfall was seriously so pretty and mesmerizing! To finish the trip we stopped by the Niagara Falls of New Zealand which is apparently a joke, and then we finished at Curio Bay where we saw yellow-eyed penguins and the famous petrified forest on the beach. This trip was so cool and showed me a lot more of New Zealand!

-Whitney

PS- I hope to do a post eventually just solely on this trip cause it was that awesome!

Photo of the day JUNE 18

Taieri Gorge Train Trip

Last Saturday Sarah and I went on the Taieri Gorge train which departs Dunedin Railway Station and travels towards Central Otago along the Taieri River Gorge. The trip was spectacular and it was fun to be on a train. It was crazy how, as in the picture above, the terrain would just drop off and it would leave very high train track bridges. Also, none of the tunnels (you go through 10 tunnels) have been redone and are very narrow! At first it was really scary to go through them, but we got used to it after awhile. Another cool thing about the train trip was we went from the green, rolling hills of Dunedin into a pretty dry, desert climate all within only two hours! I'm pretty sure NZ is one of the few places in the world where that would happen!

Photo of the day JUNE 17

New Friend Sarah

Sorry for the long long long break without a blog post, I will now attempt to catch up. This is my new friend sarah and I with some New Zealand mountains behind us. She is American and here in Dunedin doing an internship like me! I'm glad I have some more Americans to have "tourist moments" with! haha

Photo of the day JUNE 16

Port Chalmers Sculpture Garden

Thursday Dee took me on her "city view" job (where she films a view of the city for our news broadcast) again and we ended up in Port Chalmers. This city is only about 10-15 minutes outside of Dunedin on the opposite side of the harbor from the Otago Peninsula. It is where the settlers first settled because the harbor was too shallow to take their heavy ships all the way into where Dunedin is now. So it is the oldest part of town and still (I think) the main port for the city. There is a small garden of sculptures there as well and that is where I took this photo. I love adventures with Dee! :)

Photo of the day JUNE 15

I LOVE housekeeping day!

Wednesday is the day the housekeepers come and clean my room! I love coming home to this from a long day at work! They make my bed, vacuum, do the dishes, ect. I could get used to this! haha

PS- sorry for no pics of the day lately... I have been boring and not doing too much. About to change that this weekend!

Hear me try to pronounce Maori words

http://www.ch9.co.nz/content/puaka-matariki-concert-time-remembrance-and-celebration

Here is another story I did yesterday. This story was beyond frustrating and it was a learning day for sure. I wanted to do a story, so I asked to do this one not realizing what I was getting myself into. Doing voice overs is difficult enough for me already, so when I had to pronounce Maori (Native people of New Zealand) words in my story I struggled. I couldn't even focus on how I was saying things and I got really stressed out, which caused my throat to close up a bit. I swear I tried four different times to record the story and this was the best I could do. lol By the end of recording this track, I didn't even like how I said my own name!
Cheers!

Another Story

http://www.ch9.co.nz/content/forsyth-barr-stadium-construction-nearing-its-end

Here is the link to the story I did after the Pot Protest story. This was the first story that I did everything for on my own, including attending the event, conducting the interview, voice over and full editing including pasting the video clips to match what I am saying. I thought it turned out really well and I am excited I get to do my own stories! This was also my first headliner story! (in the top section of the news)

Protest Story

http://www.ch9.co.nz/content/protesters-gather-defense-man

For anybody wondering what I am actually doing at my internship, here is the second story I have done here at channel 9.
Cheers!

Photo of the day JUNE 8

Planking at the Top of Mt. Cargill

A fad in the New Zealand and Australian area is called planking. Basically people lie face down with hands at their sides and somebody takes a photo of them. People can plank in funny, odd, hard to get to and/or unique places. In fact, it is so extreme that people have died planking. Don't ask me how that happens, it just does apparently. So anyway, Dee saw this table/sculpture thing when we were on the top of Mt. Cargill and told me I had to plank! haha And so I did!

Photo of the day JUNE 7

View from Mt. Cargill

Will this view ever get old? I don't think so. I also really love the way the light comes through the hazy clouds in this photo. One of many work adventures! ;)

Photo of the day JUNE 6

Cliff at Tunnel Beach

Today I went to tunnel beach which is just a short drive from St. Clair beach. The walk down hill wasn't too bad, besides slipping in the mud, but hiking back up was terrible! It was super steep and muddy.. but it turned out ok. Tunnel Beach is where Cargill (from my previous post about Cargill's Castle) carved a tunnel through the cliffs to give his daughter private access to the beach. His daughter tragically either committed suicide or was accidentally swept out to sea and died. The tunnel is amazing because it was hand carved by Cargill and up close you can see how he just chipped away at it. It is very long (I'd say at least 25 steps or so), narrow and dark. Walking through it is quite creepy actually. The small beach is very secluded because of the high cliffs that surround it. This was one of the cliff walls and I really liked it because of the vivid colors the sea created on it.

Photo of the day JUNE 5

Movie Character Party

Luke who is my main supervisor at Channel 9 threw a fun themed party where most people from work dressed up as movie characters. In the photo above we have Princess Leia, The Joker, Hermione Granger, and a Princess. The other characters at the party included Wolverine, The Mad-Hatter, James Bond, Tom Cruise, and some others that I cant remember. It was heaps of fun and my costume was so comfy! It was awesome!

Photo of the day JUNE 4

Looking up at the Organ Pipes

Saturday morning I took a hike up to Dunedin's geological attraction, the Organ Pipes. I started at a place called Bethunes Gully which is a track that climbs up Mt. Cargill which is about 680 Meters high (2230 ft). So it is not too much of a hike to the top, but there are still some good views from the top. There is a path that leads you over to the Organ Pipes which is a formation of molten volcanic rock that when it cooled formed several 4 to 6-sided rock columns. Due to various reasons a lot of the columns have fallen down and there is a large pile of rubble at the bottom that you have to climb up. It was a fun hike and the rock formation was pretty awesome too! I look forward to taking more hikes here in NZ!

Photo of the day JUNE 3

View from Dunedin Botanic Gardens

Friday is Skyping day with Mom and Dad, so I got a bit of a late start. I went out to eat at a place called Chopsticks 101. It was a Chinese place, because you know I love Chinese! It was pretty good (nothing like Ming's Garden back in SLC though) and then I headed out to see some of the Botanic Gardens. I got there around 5 and they close at 6 so I didn't have a lot of time but I did get to see the water garden and I hiked up this path to get a view of the city. I love city lights! I will definitely go back when I have more time! BTW its free! How awesome is that?? I swear nothing, especially potential tourist attractions, is free in the States!

Photo of the day JUNE 2

Outside of Joe's Fruit Shop

On Thursday my friend (and coworker) Dee and I were chasing these immigrants around the city to try and get interviews for a story. One of the stops they were supposed to be at was Joe's Market. I guess they sell really good fruits and vegetables for a cheap price. Anyway, Dee and I really liked their "back in 10 minutes" sign because it looks like their kids drew it and they used it anyway! One of the perks of a cute small business! By the way, we never found the immigrants! haha

Photo of the day MAY 30

Scenic Look of the Harbor

This is from a drive on the Otago Peninsula. It is not of anything in particular, I just liked the way the sun looked on the water and how the colors turned out. Just one of the views I have seen here in Dunedin.

Photo of the day MAY 29

Lookout Over the City and Harbor at Dusk

I think I could get used to this million dollar view. Last Sunday I hiked (and yes walking up the streets going east I think can be considered a hike because they are so steep...) up Stuart Street for about half an hour to get a decent look of the city and the harbor at night. I believe the hike was worth the view! I like the reflection of the lights on the water. Its amazing how fascinating a city close to the ocean is when you are from a desert, nowhere near ocean water.

Photo of the day MAY 28

New Zealand Fur Seal

Today I went on an off-roading wildlife tour on the Otago Peninsula. It was a lot of fun and really cool to see the seals, penguins and albatross. I caught this cute seal pup yawning, just waking up from a nap. What is cool about the tour I went on was they don't let anyone disturb the animal's natural habitat. Even the people that work there do not hurt, help, or disturb them in anyway. the viewing was through a small cave with a look out point. We were able to get closer to the seals than we did to the penguins, but I really respect that this company doesn't build special shelters or anything, they just view them from afar in nature. This seal was so cute though!

-Whit

Photo of the day MAY 27

St. Clair Beach

I kind of cheated for the photo from Friday by combining photos. But like every photo of the day so far, there is a story or reason behind it. I love the beach and I love the ocean, so when I had a day off on Friday I thought I would ride the bus down to St. Clair. The problem is, it is winter at the beach here. I wanted to walk barefoot in the sand and dip my feet in the water, so I did despite the cold. It was fun and the beach was beautiful (I was there right when the sun was setting) but I paid the price afterward. I had completely lost feeling in my feet and it took about an hour for them to fully dethaw... but it was definitely worth it!

-Whit

Photo of the day MAY 26

Cadbury Chocolate

I was asked at work, "Have you had a picnic?" I must have looked very confused because the people in the room laughed and my coworker held out this chocolate. As you can see, I had my picnic and it was quite yummy! The Cadbury Chocolate factory is located in Dunedin so Cadbury chocolates are very popular here!

<3 Whit

Photo of the day MAY 25

Me above St. Clair beach

Ok so I am cheating a little here because I actually took this picture yesterday, but I liked it so I thought I would add it. This was taken on my tour of the city with my coworker. Note about St. Clair beach... Apparently people surf there year round even though it gets very cold in Dunedin. It is the closest beach to the city. A few years ago they put a bunch of rocks to form a sort of wall around the beach to protect the beach front shops from high tide. Supposedly this addition to the beach made a change in the water and now the surf is not nearly as good as it used to be.

Kiwi word of the day: Bugger-Darn, dangit. or Bugger off-tell someone to go away or leave me alone. My supervisor at work uses these words a lot!

Cheers,

Whit

NZ Photo of the Day MAY 24

Cargill's Castle

I went to different lookout points today when my coworker basically took me on a guided tour of Dunedin. This castle is in ruins and there is no public access to it. It is also 1 of 2 castles in NZ and it is often overlooked because Lanarch Castle is much more popular. I chose my photo of today to be this castle because (1) castles are super awesome and (2) it has a kinda interesting story behind it. ~The castle was built by Edward Cargill who was an important political leader and at one time mayor in Dunedin. The castle is built upon high cliffs that overlook the ocean. The spooky part is, Edward's brother John Cargill dug a narrow tunnel down through the cliffs to give his daughters private access to the beach because he loved them so much. (Tunnel Beach) Later on, one of his daughters committed suicide on that very beach. Some think she drowned and others think she jumped off the cliff to her death.

Oh and my Kiwi word of the day is 'sweet as' - meaning great, cool, awesome, ect.

Cheers,

Whitney

Run to Otago Harbor

On Sunday I went for a run and ended up at Otago Harbor. It was only about a 15 minute run to the harbor and I am glad I ended up at there because I love being this close to the ocean. I have decided I am going to run to stay in shape while I am living here because I do not have access to a gym in Dunedin. The city is very fun to run in because there are so many things to see! The pics below are all the sights I saw on just one quick run. They include Otago Harbor, the historic Dunedin Train Station, bridge that crosses the train tracks and the fire station.

Here is a collage of the photos I took on my run:

Dunedin is a really cool city and I am so blessed to have the opportunity to live here for 2 months. If any of you reading this ever get the chance to travel to NZ make sure Dunedin is a stop you make, it will be well worth it! I look forward to many more runs around the city because this one was sweet as! (Kiwi slang for great) :)

Flying into Dunedin New Zealand

Thursday May 19, 2011 I left SLC, UT to fly to Dunedin, New Zealand. I will be spending 2 1/2 months here doing an internship at Channel 9-Dunedin Television. I left my friends and family back in the States to experience life in an entirely new way. After 20+ hours of traveling and adapting to an 18 hour time difference, I am ready to start my summer in Dunedin. Although international travel is long (12 hour flight), it is awesome. You can play games, watch movies listen to music, eat drink and be merry! But once I arrived in Auckland, NZ I still had one more flight to Dunedin. These pics were taken on that flight.

After I arrived in Dunedin, New Zealand there was a shuttle driver waiting for me with my name on their sign. I got dropped off at Living Space Dunedin, where I am staying, and I went in to get my room assignment. The receptionist told me my room would not be ready for another 2 hours. So I had two hours to kill. I walked around town and exchanged money. I was hungry so I decided to check out the farmers market. It was too overwhelming for me at that point so I left after 5 minutes. Then I killed the last hour siting outside the train station listening to a guy play the bagpipes. It was kind of a rough start to my trip because after traveling for that long all I wanted to do was take a shower and lay down. Eventually I got into my room and got settled in. Here are pics of my apartment.