The time before school begins

The the first 1,5 weeks before the Semester have passed quickly. I have met dozens of new lovely friends around Europe and US and experienced some fascinating places. When I arrived to Auckland I had no place to stay so I stayed the first four nights at a hostel. On Sunday Raphael, Anna and I got an appropriate apartment near AUT. In addition to kitchen, living room and bathroom we have three bedrooms and we are paying for the apartment 560 NZD a week. Not bad, but way more expensive than in Finland.

Watching World Cup Final at AUT’s main building on Monday morning was a funny experience. Initially the event was organised by us, but crowd kept growing as the game went forward. 

Our weekend trip to Rotorua was amazing. The foggy city is attracting visitors due to the thermal activity it has. Wai-O-Tapu was a steamy place where we enjoyed both the beautiful views and the opportunity to take bath in a hot spot.

YHA Hostel at Auckland, 18€ per night 

International Orientation 11.7. at Main Building

A view from Mt. Eden

All my stuff finally unpacked in our apartment

This amount of sushi cost less than 10 euros!

Worl Cup Final at Main Building at 7 am

Happy and sad people 

Auckland Sky Tower after GER won the World Cup :)

A daytrip to Devonport

Beautiful Auckland 

From the left: Line, Anna, Nicoline, JC, Susi, Stephen and Lulu

Weekend trip to Rotorua, the city of thermal activity

Lady Knox Geyser

On the Wai-O-Tapu thermal route

Champagne Pool

:)

Enjoying wine and beer at Rotorua after a long day

The day before Semester II, getting prepared

From Helsinki to Auckland

Leaving Finland and all the dear friends for a half a year felt a little sad. While saying good bye to friend and to another I made a philosophical thought: Every time I say good bye in Finland, it means that I will face a new acquaintance in NZ!

The last week was quite tough due to all the moving and preparing the departure. On sunday, a day defore the departure, I organized a Champagne tasting with my wine friends. It was maybe the best way to spend the last evening in Finland by tasting 11 different Champagnes with great food and company. As a last dish we had some Pavlova which is popular dessert from New Zealand.

The flight departed from Helsinki airport at 5pm on Monday 7th of July and it took 9 hours to get to Shanghai. There I had transfer to Auckland with 7 hours of time. First I was planning to visit Shanghai CBD but since I had to pick up my luggage and check it in again I didn't have anymore enough of time to see the fascinating Shanghai. Luckily I found from the departure hall a nice café with AC and wifi so the time passed by quite fast.

Even though Shanghai is relatively far away from Finland, the next flight to Auckland would be even 2,5 hours longer. For my misfortune the Air New Zealand's Boeing was not equipped with AC, so instead of writing stuff with laptop I decided to sleep. This seemed to be a good choice because when the flight arrived to AKL at 6am on Wednesday I felt fresh and vibrant. Before the departure I thought that 28 hours of traveling and a time difference of 9 hours would have been a tough bite but actually it went through quite painlessly.

I bought my flights (HEL-PVG-AKL and AKL-HKG-HEL) in the end of May and they cost me 1380 euros. That is about the average but if you are lucky you can get these tickets for less than 1100 euros. Leaving NZ on 12th of January 2015 is so far just a distant though. Lets keep it like that.

Tasting wines on the day before departure 

Popular dessert from NZ: Pavlova

A nice variety of different Champagnes from different decades

The last purchase from Helsinki airport: the great V.O. and of course a bottle of Jaloviina

Finnair Airbus A340-300

Air New Zealand Boeing 777-200ER

Vomiting made fun by Air New Zealand!

AKL arrival hall

Hello world!

A certain degree of a dream is  reached. Right now I’m on my way to New Zealand to conduct Study Abroad -studies for semester II in Auckland University of Technology. I guess it was back in 2011 when I talked for the first time that some day I will apply to New Zealand for exchange. At some point it seemed that my chance for exchange had gone, but in this April I filled the forms and hoped for the best. The passed five years of my studies in the field of Mechanical Engineering and Product Development in Aalto University had gone pleasantly and fast, but it felt like something was still missing. I’m quite confident that half a year in AUT with different course contents is a refreshing move before I finish my master’s in Aalto.

Aaltokiwi is an informal blog about studying, travelling and exploring things in New Zealand. I’m anticipating that the lack of time might overtake me during next six months - that’s why I’m mostly focusing on uploading descriptive photos along the way. I’m thankful that Microsoft is lending me a Lumia 1020 with accessories. Enjoy the upcoming photos and the stories that are related in those!

From Shanghai Pudong Airport,
Hannes