Winter over Summer Break: My first week in New Zealand

My first week in New Zealand was the most amazing whirlwind I've ever experienced. We started off in Auckland, a huge city that contains about two-thirds of New Zealand's population while supposedly the rest of the land is home to a population of sheep that outnumbers the humans ten-to-one.
My first impression of Auckland: It reminds me of home. However, the place I call home is Seattle, Washington. Both cities are relatively widely spread, with crazy one-way streets, a huge tower that will let you overlook the whole city, and rainy, cloudy weather that changes intensity pretty frequently and quickly. The one huge difference: the people in Auckland are extremely friendly.
We did so much in those few first days, it felt like a millennia that ended within seconds.
Just to give a quick rundown, on top of classes every morning, we...

• Explored Queen Street, the main shopping street
• Met a man who had a beautiful, friendly pet bird
• Ate some of the best food I've had in my life
• Went to the top of the Sky Tower
• Explored the Auckland Museum, with exhibits about Maori history, Volcanoes, and various wars
• Visited Howick Historic Village, where we got to see how the British soldiers that were initially sent to New Zealand lived
• Saw a Maori cultural performance

And that's all in just one week! After that, we headed North to Paihia in the Bay of Islands for a long weekend. Paihia was a small, cozy town on the Eastern coast of New Zealand, and is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen in my life (not to mention that during the drive up there through the country, I discovered not only a small portion of the enormous sheep population, but got to see some of the greenest grass and bluest sky I'd ever witnessed). I would have stayed there forever if I could. Every person we met was friendly, all of the food was delicious, and our travel group really bonded there. What with sharing a room with eight people and one bathroom, we kind of had to get close with each other!
While we stayed in Paihia, we visited the Treaty of Waitangi Grounds, the area where one of the most important treaties in New Zealand history was written and signed, allowing the British to govern over the Maori (However, there were issues with translation, and the document written in Maori suggested that the Maori would still have control of their land, which led to a long-lasting feud). We also visited Russell just across the bay, where we climbed up Flagstaff hill, and got to learn even more about the history in that area of New Zealand, and how much the British trade affected it.

I didn't know it was possible to feel like I've experienced a lifetime in one week, but that's what this first week felt like. Every single thing we saw was breathtaking, everything we did was some of the most fun I've had in a while. It feels like one big field trip from elementary school which I so dearly miss. But now, I get to experience it on a much larger scale in one of the most scenic countries in the world.

A clock tower in Aotea Square:

 A kind man with his lovely pet bird that climbed onto everyone's shoulders:

 Four-way crosswalk on Queen Street:

 Sky Tower:

 View from the top of Sky Tower:

 Some cows I saw on the way to Paihia:

 A huge hill covered in sheep (the photo really doesn't do it justice):

 The beach in Paihia:

 The meeting house (marae) on Waitangi Treaty Grounds:

The view of the Bay of Islands from Russell:

Wiley  Bowen