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.