At night there was often a ruru (morepork, an owl species) that hooted outside my window. I never got to see it, though, as it was hidden in the trees.
I discovered my favorite tree! It is called the Norfolk pine. It is native to a small island off the coast of New Zealand, but it grows everywhere across both islands and is typically used for landscaping purposes.
During my first week, I visited the Waitomo Glowworm Caves. We hiked deep into underground caves where light is non-existent and sound seems to echo forever. We boarded a boat in complete silence, and our guide took us down an underground river. When we looked up there was a blue-green glowing ceiling! It looked like the night sky but underground, during the day. The glowing creatures are actually larvae fungus gnats that exhibit a wonderful biological phenomenon called bioluminescence.
