I am writing this entry on Friday the 27th after just returning from our second bus trip in two days. These trips are really nice because the school provides the bus transportation for free (only during orientation), and they also provide someone to act as "tour guide" for whatever area we're checking out.

Yesterday we ventured back into Hamilton, so we were dropped off in the city and basically had free reign to walk/see whatever we wanted, with the help of a fellow student. We checked out a couple of the public buildings, a nice riverfront view within the city, a mall, and some restaurants/bars in the area. It's nice having Hamilton so close just because that means we always have something to do in walking distance.

Today we took the bus to Rotorua, which is another town outside of Hamilton, about a 2 hour busride away. We started this trip by taking a walk through a redwood forest, which I think could have been a whole day within itself as there was so much to see and appreciate. After that, we took a bus to this lake in town, which was by far the biggest lake I've ever seen. Lastly, we visited the geothermal hot springs and also got a look at some more mountain views from this area. My group and I definitely want to make it back to Rotorua on our own time, possibly for a weekend, because there is so much to do there and it is such a cool area.