Welcome to EcoQuest!

EcoQuest's backyard. Kaiaua, New Zealand.

EcoQuest has been a crazy ride since last Wednesday (August 31st) when I was waking up at 4am to drive into Boston, delayed by two days due to Irene. After arriving at Los Angeles International, a 12-plus hour layover awaited, followed by a 13 1/2 hour plane ride to Auckland. Luckily, I slept almost all the way. I remember peering out of the window on our way down (at which point I was super excited) and seeing so much green and blue, lush rolling hills, volcanic cones and mountain ranges in the distance. I haven’t been to much of the world, but New Zealand is definitely the most beautiful of those places. As we drove out of Auckland, a city in a volcano valley, we came onto windy, narrow roads and hilly farmland. We were soon met by the coast and a breathtaking view of the Coromandel Peninsula on the opposite side. Absolutely gorgeous drive into the small, rural town of Kaiaua, where EcoQuest is located. EcoQuest is a small campus made up of the various cabins students live in, the Wharekai, where we meet for indoor class and eat our meals, Granny’s the student hangout house, and the Hub, which houses the library and computer room. EcoQuest also has its own gardens which produces veggies 9 months out of 12 and many fruit trees including tangelos, grapefruit and banana. On the outer edge of campus is a narrow, grassy path that leads to the beach which looks out at the Coromandel, a mountainous peninsula that either looks close or far depending on the lightening/cloudiness. Mornings have been sunny for the most part, which makes for a refreshing and peaceful walk on the beach. One of these days soon I’ll have to catch a sunrise from the beach with the sun rising up from the mountains of the Coromandel.