How New Zealanders do Caving

Tuesday, March 28, 2011

On Tuesday, we woke up really early to clean the Bronze's home before leaving Rotorua and driving to Waitamo where all 16 girls and James were going black water glow worm caving. I was so excited to go black water caving. I have been caving since I was 13 and have always loved caving in GA, but this was my first experience with black water caving.

The first group of girls went down the cave at 10:30 while the group I was with was going at noon with 8 girls and James. Once it was time for our caving, I got into a wet suit complete with boots and a helmet with a light. We looked pretty hard core. I love going caving and I could not wait for this experience to begin. We drove to a spot where we picked up our black inner tubes and practiced jumping backwards with our inner tubes over waterfalls.So cool that would be fun to do in the cave. We then went over some safety procedures and headed up to the cave.

Kara and I were the first ones to climb down into the cave. I think we were the most excited too. Once in the cave, We saw some giant crickets, maybe the brothers or cousins of Jimminy and heard that there are fresh water eels in the water that could bite.The water in the cave was freezing cold and pretty deep in some parts. I climbed and swam through the cave until we came to the first waterfall. I turned around put my tube under my bum closed my eyes and jumped off backwards, it was so much fun. I made a huge splash and got some water in my nose, but had such a good time!! Jumping waterfalls may become a new hobby.

 I continued through the cave until we got to where the glow worms were.Glow worms are actually maggots, and it is their poop that glows and they only exist in New Zealand. May sound gross, but it was pretty cool to see them light up the cave. Their light is the brightest natural light source in the world, it was like floating down though the cave and looking up at stars lighting up the sky, except it was glowworms lighting up the cave. It was pretty magical to float down this underground cave and watch the glow worms over head. I just loved it. I have missed caving so much. Matt Pennington would be proud of my caving experience in New Zealand and even though I didn't get covered in red mud, I think it tops caving in GA, but I still want to go caving in GA again soon. Towards the end of the cave, was the tunnel of love which gets its name because the rocks in this part try to give you a hug. We then climbed out of the cave and hiked back to the van to drive back to the base and change. It was such a fun experience to cave in New Zealand and have the opportunity to do one of my favorite things the New Zealand way. One of the best experiences ever. I just love having so many cool experiences in New Zealand.

We got soup to warm up after caving, and then started to drive back to Auckland. In the car we reminenced through all of our old favorite cartoons on Nick Jr and PBS that no longer exist like Wishbone, Doug, and Recess. So many good shows, why don't they have them any more? We had the sister missionaries over for dinner once we got back to Auckland. I really like the sisters in the ward. It was so great to talk to and get to know both of them.

I had such a great adventure down in Rotorua and loved all of it and I am ready for another adventure on Thursday! Oh what fun!!

True Maori Experiences

Monday, March 29, 2011

Monday was a day full of history, cultural, and natural New Zealand experiences. We went to Te Puia this morning for a Maori performance. When we got there, there was a group of kids from Tahiti that were traveling over here and they performed some dances as well. They were so cute. I love how all of the Polynesian cultures dance. We then walked over to the Mari or meeting house where we choose Jim to be our chief for the Powhiri or Maori welcoming ceremony. At the gateway to the Mari, we stood and waited until one of the warriors called with a large horn and another came up to us and brought a leaf which Jim went and picked up showing them we came in peace. All of us girls then followed Jim up to the meeting house. There were a bunch of Asian people that even though our guide kept saying not to push kept pushing us and trying to push there way in. We removed our shoes before entering the Mari as a sign of respect for the sacred grounds. Our group was supposed to be first and follow our chief Jim in, but we kinda kept getting pushed out of the way by the crowd.

Once inside, the men took a seat on the front row, with the women and children in the rows behind as was custom for these ceremonies. Their chief then gave a speech and sang a waiata before Chief Jim went up and was park of a hangi so we could officially be welcomed as part of their people in the Mari. The Maori cultural performance then began. A traditional stick dance was performed and a Maori love song/ legend which was really pretty followed by a dance with their poi balls. Some of the girls in our group got to go up on stage and do the dance with the poi dance as well. It was quite a sight to see. The performance was closed with a performance of the haka by the men, but not before some of the men from the audience joined in the haka. Chief Jim got up on stage and learned the haka. It was so funny to watch him do the haka and the faces he made, one of the funniest sights ever. I took a video to document how sweet it was. So great and I am so glad he did it for us. we are now calling him Chief Jim. 


After the performance we had a guided tour of Te Puia. Our guide Ben was pretty cool and explained the moko or Maori tattoos, but it is kinda offensive for them to be called tattoos. The moko are a symbol of their identity and has so much meaning and symbolism to it. I respect it and then they believe other tattoos are degrading and should not be on the body. 


Our tour started with learning the full name of Te Puia which is Te Whakarewarewatanga o te ope tau a Wahiao which translates to The Gathering Place of the war parties of Wahiao. The Maori language has some of the longest words there are. we then had the opportunity to see two live kiwi birds. The kiwi bird is New Zealand's national bird, but we haven't had the opportunity to see it because it is endangered, so this was my first time seeing a live kiwi. it was so cool. They are big and fluffy with these long pointed noses and are nocturnal. I am glad we got to see them. We then continued our tour down to the mud pools and saw a traditional trap for huge birds that used to be in New Zealand and that are now extinct like the large eagles in Lord of the Rings. 


Next we saw the Pohutu Geyser erupt. This park is like New Zealand's Yellowstone Park, but in my opinion better. It sure does have the sulfur smell that is at Yellowstone. Seeing the geysers here kinda makes me want to visit Yellowstone and see the geysers there sometime. Afterwards we got to see the carving and weaving schools. These were pretty cool. I got to see how the wood is carved which is quite a process with all of the intricate Maori carvings. The weaving was cool to see too. They make so much out of the flax leaves such a skirts, bags, and rain jackets. It was pretty cool to see. Our tour ended there, but Kara and I kept exploring afterwards. We went and explored this old Maori village that is set up like an actual traditional Maori village. It was pretty cool to see how the Maori people lived. After wondering around for a while, we left Te Puia to go to the green, blue, and Taramae Lakes. 


The blue lake was gorgeous and we were able to swim in that one, the green lake was pretty too, but that one is considered to be sacred by the Maori people, so no one has ever swam in it. Taramae Lake is where the pink and white terraces used to be before a volcanic eruption in 1886. These terraces used to be known as the 8th wonder of the world, but they are now at the bottom of the lake. I kinda wish we could have seen what they look like.After wards we drove down to Old Rotorua and were allowed to wonder around there for a while. Katie and I walked up to the Rotorua museum  which used to be an old bath house. The outside of it is gorgeous with this old English architecture.We also saw some lawn bowling going on, on the grounds outside the museum. Lawn bowling is kinda like bochee ball, looks like fun. We then wondered around the town and went in some of the shops. I love hanging out with Katie. She has become one of my best friends over here. 

We then headed back to the Bronze's where I tried my first fresh passion fruit. It was so good. I am kinda addicted now. I also tried so fejoi which is another New Zealand fruit. That night, we were the guests to Annette's dinner show and theater. The dinner show was so fun. It was in this little theater all set up like the 1800's. The food we had was so good and hongi type food, so chicken kumera, lots of veggies,etc. It was so good. The show was pretty funny and good too. It was about the volcanic eruption that occurred in 1886 in Rotorua and the pink and white terraces. There were 4 main actors in the show and it was pretty funny about an old hotel and all of the people that came and traveled to see the pink and white terraces. All of the other people needed for the show came from the audience so there was quite a bit of participation. It was fun. Becca had to go up and have a German accent, a bunch of us went up and danced. It was all in good fun. We also had to climb under our tables when it came to the part about the volcano erupting.We laughed through most of it and quite enjoyed ourselves. One of those Mondays you actually look forward to. 


It will be weird to go home and not be around all of the gorgeous New Zealand scenery, people, and accents. It has all become normal to me things in the states are going to be weird to me now. 

One Crazy Sunday

March 27, 2011

We went to the Fairy Springs Ward for church this morning, and I think we doubled the size of their ward. I am so grateful though to have the true gospel in my life and to be able to go to a ward anywhere in the ward and to know the doctrine and gospel is the same. It is on of the great blessings of being a member of the Church.Leaving church was the start of our adventure for the day. We all load up into Jim's big van and tried to back out but there was no room. There was maybe 3 meters behind us and then another car and a cars on both sides of us. Jim tried to get out and ended up after about 15 minutes getting out and turning towards the church within centimeters from the car behind us. We turn towards the church and there is still no way out. Jim tries to turn around by turning into another space but there wasn't another space so he went up onto the grass and with in centimeters of the church building. He tried to back up but then we almost hit a basketball pole. After about 40minutes in the parking lot, and trying to get out, we finally were able to back up all the way through the parking lot and that was just the start of our day.

After church we drove 90 minuted to Lake Taupo, which is the largest lake in New Zealand.It is 22 meters long by 20 meters wide. The view of the lake was gorgeous. Before stopping to walk around the lake, we went by this hole in one by the lake that Poppop would appreciate. What happens, is you start with a golf ball on the shore and hit it to a platform in the lake trying to get a hole in one. No one has been successful in the challenge yet.

Walking around the lake was a gorgeous sight. Katie and I walked and talked by the lake and then went over to this park that has a train running through it and a fun playground. We went on the pentagonal swings and swang with these kids towards the center of the pentagon trying not to hit each other, we also went on this fun spinning thing. They have such fun parks in New Zealand. We also walked by  cafe and coffee shop called friends just like the show Friends and over by a McDonalds that had a huge airplane for the the kids to play in. Why don't we have parks and play places like this in the states?

After about 40 minutes it started to rain pretty hard, so we walked back to the vans. We started to head back, but then James ran a stop sign and Jim slammed on his brakes so he wouldn't and our van went hydro planning and almost flipped over.So scary. I saw my life flash before my eyes. After recovering from that little adventure, we headed about 10 more minutes down the road and then got a flat tire. James came back to help and him and Jim changed the tire, but it took about an hour to do so because the van didn't have a good jack or spare tire. We only had a used spare tire, so we put that one on the van. It was quite a sight I am sure to see 16 girls on the side of the road with 2 guys changing the tire. Definitely a very eventful Sunday.

When we got back to the Bronze's, we introduced them to a baked potato bar and had those for dinner. It was really good. I have missed baked potatoes. After dinner we watched a walk to remember, but I more fell asleep on the couch. What a day.

A Rotorua Saturday

Saturday, March 26, 2011

This morning all of us woke up really early for our experience at the Agrodome and a sheep show with 19 champion sheep. It isn't everyday you wake up and say hey I'm going to a sheep show today, but it actually was pretty exciting. We got there probably an hour early, so we could be on the front row. Dr. Jacobs would not have it any other way, he loves his sheep show. Before the show, I went into the nursery with the baby lambs. They seemed to just love me. Either that or they just happened to all start running over to me when the other girls tried to pick them up and they let me pet them and pick them up. It was a pretty fun experience.  I then came back into the main dome and took some pictures with the champion sheep. Our show began with introductions to 19 champion breeds of sheep now found in New Zealand. It was pretty cool to hear the stories behind the sheep and all of their fun names. There was one sheep even called Charlie Brown. Sheep are one of the main staples in New Zealand. There are thousands more sheep than there are people and everyone knows there are millions of sheep in New Zealand. I didn't realize how different each of them were though and how each breed had different uses such as how valuable some of the wool is. It was pretty funny to watch the sheep on stage and see how they tried to eat each other's food. After hearing about each of the sheep, I had the opportunity to see a sheep get sheared. It was pretty cool. I am so glad that it does not actually hurt the sheep. I can't believe the sheep just sat there and let him shear all of its fur off and then touch it's hooves and make the the legs pop out straight kinda like our knees do when the doctor checks our reflexes. We then got to participate in an auction for the sheep, which ended up being pretty funny because any movement someone made increased the price for the sheep. Also some of the girls got to go up and milk a cow and others got to feed the baby lambs. So cute. I really enjoyed the sheep show much more than I was expecting. I should always trust Jim when he tells us something is good. Towards the end of the show the strong eyed dogs came on stage and I got to see how they heard and control the sheep. I also got to see them jump on top pf the sheep. Fun stuff. All 16 of us went up on stage at the end to see all of the sheep and dogs. It was a pretty cool show and I am glad we went.

After the sheep show we went back to have lunch before starting our zorbing adventure. Zorbing/OGO started in New Zealand in 1996 and is one of the best things ever. If you have ever wondered what a hamsters feels like everyday inside their little ball, then you might kinda understand zorbing, but how fun it is and the true experience of it is hard to explain. I got into this giant plastic ball filled with water on the bottom with Katie and then we raced Kara and Alison down a  250 meter hill in the ball. It was so much and one of the best experiences ever. I could not stop laughing. We went so fast and you had no control over how you went down or how you bounced around inside the ball. I loved every minute of it and can't wait for an OGO place to open in the states. It is so much to spin and tumble around in a big plastic ball down a hill, much more exciting than anything we have in the states thats for sure. I so hope it makes it to the states and I can do it again someday.

After having a BLAST zorbing, we came back to the Bronze's and I helped make hamburgers for dinner. They were pretty good and we had all the fixings including pineapple, bacon, and avocado for those who wanted it. I then played scum with some of the girls. I am liking all of these card games we keep playing. I had forgotten how much I love them. We watched Finding Neverland that night before bed. I really like that movie, even if it is sad. It has such a good story line. It was an amazing day in New Zealand and I so found one of my new favorite extreme sports today. I just love zorbing.

Temple!!

Friday, March 25, 2011

On Friday morning, our group left to go to Hamilton to go to the temple. I was so excited. I have missed going to the temple multiple times a week. The three months of being in New Zealand and waiting for our trip down to the temple has been the longest I have gone without going to the temple since I started college. It makes me so excited that I get to got the Atlanta open house the day after I get home and that shortly after, it will be rededicated and open and I will be able to go to the temple often. I love how strong I am able to feel the spirit with in the walls and grounds of the temple. It really is the house of the Lord on Earth and my favorite place to be. I love the peace and the spirit I feel every time I go and am so grateful we have temples on the Earth today that we can go to and feel closer to our Heavenly Father, serve Him, make covenants with Him, and to have the opportunity to be sealed to my family for time and all eternity. My testimony of the temple is one of the things I am most grateful for. Going to the temple is exactly what I needed and what I have been missing while I have been in New Zealand. I am so grateful that all 16 of us girls were able to go to the temple in Hamilton and do baptisms for the dead. It was such a wonderful experience. 

Afterwards, we had lunch in the temple cafeteria and then walked over to the visitor's center. In the visitor's center, we watched a video on Matthew Cowley who was a missionary in New Zealand in the 1800s and was greatly loved by the people of New Zealand. He later returned to New Zealand as a mission president and then became an apostle and was asked to oversee the stakes of the Pacific. The movie was so motivating and inspirational. I am glad we had the opportunity to watch it and see how missionary work has impacted the people of New Zealand. I then had the opportunity to walk around the visitor's center. I had the opportunity to talk to one of the missionaries there, Sister Thomas and found that she knew the Hutchings when they served their mission at the temple. I was able to tell her how they are doing and give her their contact information.  The Hutchings are my cousin Cory's in-laws. I met them last fall and had the opportunity to get to know them pretty well. I also went downstairs to the distribution center and had the opportunity to tell Rachel Hello for them. They came down for Rachel's wedding last year in the temple. I am so glad we came to the temple on a day when I was able to make so many connections with people. It was such a great experience to be able to go to the temple in New Zealand. I think it is my favorite thing I have done in New Zealand. 

After going to the temple, we loaded back into the vans and drove two more hours to Rotorua where we would be staying for the next few days. We stayed in the house of Annette and Tom Bronze. They have a gorgeous home and all 16 of us stayed there sleeping on mattresses throughout the house. That night I stayed up playing a bunch of card games and then  most of us went outside to our own personal natural hot pool in their back yard. It was pretty cool that they have a naturally hot spa in their backyard because of the sulfur. Some of the girls also made a list of the order that all of us are going to get married, oh my you know it is a room of 16 girls when that happens.

Rotoura is full of natural hot pools and has the smell of sulfur everywhere you go,which if you aren't familiar with, it smells like rotten eggs. You kinda get used to the smell after awhile, but it can be pretty bad. 

Teaching in New Zealand

My practicum experience

For the past six weeks, I have been teaching at Henderson South School in Henderson, New Zealand. The principal Mr. Diamond is one of the best principals I have ever seen. He cares so much for the staff and students and is so actively involved in the school.  Once I met him, I immediately felt welcome and like a teacher in the school. He treated the four BYU girls there as actual teachers in the school, and in my opinion we got the best school out of the 4 BYU girls go to in New Zealand. Nancy went into a level 4/5 class with Trude Karaka, Diana went into a 4/5/6 (3^rd-6^th grade) trilingual class with Ms. Auva, Janet went in a level 0 new entrance class with Catherine Bradley, and I taught in a level 1 (kindergarten) class with Amy Manos.

I could not have asked for a better practicum experience than being in room six with Amy Manos as my cooperating teacher. I started in room 6 with ten students: Faith, Suelieti,Adrianna, Natalia, John, Konrad, Devon, Oryane, Peleti, and Skye. 8 girls and 2 boys. I could not have asked for a better class. Each of them is so sweet and so different. Peleti has the best manners I have ever seen in a five year old. Faith is so sweet and has the cutest smile. Natalia is a little clever wiggle worm, but just loves you to death. Konrad is a quiet one but so clever. Suelieti is so little and quiet and has improved so much while I was in the classroom. Adrianna is our little fish in the pool. Devon is so clever and moved up in maths, reading, and  swimming all in one week. John is our star during fitness and writes such good stories. Skye is a little crazy one that you can't help but love. Oryane always has the biggest smile and is always doing the right thing. I really had the perfect little class. I had so much fun teaching them the first few weeks in reading, handwriting, about hot and cold, about measurement, about teeth brushing and hand washing, etc. We were always having a good time and I enjoyed getting to teach swimming twice a week and to laugh with all the kids.

About 4 weeks into my experience in room 6, six new children from another room moved up into mine. The classrooms in New Zealand are very fluid and always changing especially in the younger levels because the students start school on the 5th birthday and come in throughout the year. Berjon, Aries, Mario, Kelevi, Miranna, and Florida all move up into my room. They are such clever children and it was even more fun to have them in my class as well. Berjon is another little fish that tells quite good stories. Kelevi is one of the funnies 5 year olds I know. Mario is his right hand man and pretty good at maths for a 5 year old. Aries is such a helped and great example even for the kids that were already in my class. Miranna is so cute and is a star dancer. Florida is pretty quiet but has the cutest smile. I just love all of the kids in room 6. I am going to miss each of them so much. 

Amy Manos is a fabulous teacher and I am so glad I got to work with her. I learned so much and gained so many resources. I am so glad she gave me so many opportunities to teach and was so friendly and pretty funny too. I love the passion she has for teaching and I was able to learn so much. I was also blessed to be part of an amazing junior team with Goretti Schwalger, Una Cama, Cath Bradley, and Main Elu. All of them are so friendly and it is so hard to leave them. I have learned so much from them and they really were such amazing people to work with. I would be happy working with a team like that forever. 

So this past week was my last week in room 6. It was exciting, but also so sad. I have grown to love the kids and the faculty at Henderson South so much. It is a part of my life and feel like home now. I can't believe my time there is over. It just doesn't seem possible. On Wednesday, March 23 I the staff at Henderson South put on a special morning tea for the BYU girls at Henderson South and for Jim. They had lunch all  the staff and a delicious homemade cake for us. Each of our teachers and Trevor spoke about how grateful they are that we came to Henderson South and what a pleasure it was to work with, get to know each of us,  and see each of us grow as teachers. Each of us were given a nice piece of bone by our teacher. Bone is a big thing in New Zealand and a really special gift for someone to receive. It was so nice of them. I could never thanks them enough for the experience I have had at Henderson South. I am so grateful to each of the teachers and students for making my experience so amazing. 

After school, Nancy and I went to pack n save to get stuff to make better than sex cake, snicker salad, and cupcakes. Janet, Diana, Nancy and I decided to make a special morning tea for all of the teachers and bring in some treats we love. Nancy and I also decided to make cupcakes for a our classes. We came home and started on the cake first. Better than sex cake normally is a chocolate cake with caramel, cool whip and a toffee candy topping, but they do not have a lot of that in New Zealand, so we improvised. We got a berry topping instead of the caramel, whipped our own whip cream, and put chocolate hokey pokey candy on top. it ended up being delicious and was a favorite at morning tea today. We then made snicker salad with some accommodation as well since snickers are hard to come by. We added maro gold bars and maro crunches instead and it was still great. Making changes in the recipes ended p giving us new ideas to make more great desserts. We then made 48 chocolate cupcakes for our two classes. We were in the kitchen baking for about 3 and half hours and had so much fun doing it. I forgot how much I love baking. After baking for hours, we wrote individual notes to Trevor our teachers and the rest of the staff at Henderson South. I decided that I want to send over some of my favorite picture books and other things to room 6 once I get home. 

Today, Thursday March 24th was my last day in room six. It was a great but sad day. The juniors had a special assembly for Janet and I where the kids sang "You are my sunshine" to us and I almost cried right there. It just meant so much I wasn't just saying good bye to room 6, I was saying goodbye to all of Henderson South. At the assembly Amy gave me a large card room 6 had made for me with all of their pictures and pictures they had drawn with me and them in it. It was so sweet. Faith and Konrad walked up to the front during the assembly to give it to me. Amy also gave me some New Zealand rubbers, a New Zealand photo album, and some nice New Zealand place mats. It was so nice of her. I love all of it and I so grateful to her and room 6. I also have laminated pictures of room 6. The staff was so grateful for the morning tea we gave them. They loved all of it and I am so glad Nancy and I took the time to really make it good. 

Before lunch I gave each of the kids in my class a cup cake. It was so funny to see all of their faces covered in chocolate and I loved getting so many hugs, especially cute little Faith. I just love my class  so much and they love me. I am really going to miss them. Room 6 has become part of who I am. Life won't be the same without them. I spent most of lunch taking pictures and playing with the kids in my class and others. I am going to miss being here so much. And is different from when I was at a school last semester because I know all the kids in the school and they know me and all of them wanted to say goodbye. I also feel like Henderson South is my school and room 6 is my class. 

After lunch, our class was pretty much just a big party and explosion of glitter. A bunch of the kids made me more cards and I took pictures with them and just enjoyed being with them and having fun. It was so nice to just be able to enjoy being with the kids. I then gave Miss Manos and the kids a box full of American lollies with peanut butter m&ms, candy hearts, twinkies and some silly bands. It made the kids so happy. I loved getting so many hugs from all of the kids and the love that they showed me while I was here. I really am going to miss being in room 6. I am so grateful for the experience I had in the schools here. It has changed me so much and I am not only a better teacher because of it, but a better person as well. I am so glad I was able to have a practicum experience over here. I could not have had a better experience anywhere else. I will never forget Henderson South and all of the amazing experiences I had there and in room 6. 

Last weekend in Auckland

Skytower, Parnell, Rugby and last Sunday

March 19, 2011

This weekend just completed our trip. We were picked up this morning, and all of us went to the Sky Tower in Auckland, which is kinda like the Seattle space needle. to have lunch. Jim and Linda and Jim's sister Alberta met us at the sky tower since she is visiting this week. I am glad we got to meet her.

At the sky tower, we first went up to the main observation floor. We had to take a lift to get there, 51 floors above the ground. The lift was pretty cool, it reminded me of the one at the end of Charlie and the Chocolate factory where they take one and go through the roof of the factory. The was a glass square on the bottom, so we could see down the shaft, which was actually a little nerve racking to stand on. Some of the tower also had glass windows on the way up so on the way up the lift, we could also see outside. Pretty cool.

When I got up to the main observatory floor I walked around the circumference and was able to see all of Auckland from a birds eye view. It was pretty cool and I loved how we were able to pick out and see from above everywhere we have been in Auckland and Henderson. We really have seen everything. We could see the harbor, the museum, Queen st, Western springs, Devonport, Rangitotto,  Henderson, the Waitakere mountains, etc. We could pretty much see all of central New Zealand.So cool and shows you how small New Zealand is. I really have seen everything in New Zealand or will  in the next 2 weeks. We also could see some people sky jumping off the tower 193 meters, kinda like bungee jumping but without the free fall. There is also a sky walk on a very small metal walkway you can do around the top outside. None of us did these since we were all dressed up for the restaurant, otherwise somebody probably would have ended up doing one or the other.  After walking around on this floor and catching up with some of the girls.

We headed up one more floor to the Orbit restaurant. The restaurant rotates 360 degrees every hour just like the Sundial restaurant in Atlanta and the Roof in Salt Lake. It was such a gorgeous view eating up here and looking out at the city. Jim used the New Zealand money to pay for all of us to have a 3 course meal, so lunch lasted about 3 hours and all of us got to choose an entrée, main course dessert and side if we wanted it. Danishes and juices were also included. I got bread for my appetizer thinking it would be a roll with some different spreads to taste, but no it was a small loaf of amazing ciabatta bread it was so good. I then had a rib eye steak for the main course with green beans and parsnips on top and a delicious sauce. It was so good. Becca and I also shared a salad and I had some great pineapple juice to drink. I know I ate way too much for lunch and way more than I ever do but it was amazing and dessert is what's going to make everyone's mouth's water. For dessert, the 6 of us at our table decided to order different ones and then share so we could try all of them. We ordered the chocolate one with a chocolate fondant, dark chocolate and hazelnut ice cream; a coconut one with tapioca pudding on top,  some Pavlova with kiwi and strawberry, and a cherry ice cream and peanut one. The cherry peanut one ended up being my favorite.  The cherry ice cream was so lite and good. I was so full afterwards and defiantly would not need to eat the rest of the day, but it was such an amazing meal and such a wonderful experience for our last Saturday in Auckland, it just wrapped everything up.


After lunch Nancy and I decided to go up nine more floors to the top of the tower 220 meters or 721 feet above the ground. It was such a sight to see Auckland. We could see everything and the city looked so small. We then headed back down to the bottom and Nancy and I decided to stay in Auckland and walk around the city. We went down to Queens Street and looked in some of the shops and Nancy got some All blacks stuff for her family. While we were down there we saw about 60 people walking and protesting for freedom in Palestine, since Saudi Arabia is trying to take over the government in Bahrain. It was the first big protest I have ever seen. You just don't see stuff like that all the time at home. I am so much more aware of everything going on in the world over here because I see or hear about something happening and then I go find a news article on it. I am realizing how much I like to be informed about what is happening in the world. 


We then went up to Parnell Street again because both Nancy and I had found some cute dresses at the Yellow Brick Road Boutique that we absolutely fell in love with and the would be perfect for when we go to the opera house in Sydney and for Easter. I got a floral one that just fits me perfect and I love it. At first I had a hard time justifying buying the dress, but I love it so much, so I caved and got it. We also went walking through some of the other cute boutiques just to look. It is such a cute side of town. 

Afterwards we headed back down to Britomart and caught a train up to Eden Park where the Blues vs. Hurricanes rugby game was.  I was so excited for the rugby game. Rugby really is one of my favorite sports. We had perfect seats for the game. I sat with Nancy, Nicole, Emily, Neeley, and Whitney on the equivalent over here to the 50 yard line at home 9 rows up from the field. They were rocking seats and cheap too. We even got free Blues flags to support our team. The rugby game was so much fun I love how intense they are and how the game never stops. We tried to catch some balls and shirts that were thrown into the stadium, but none of us were quite lucky enough.  It was really funny at the beginning of the game because everyone stood up to cheer on our team as they ran onto the field, but then afterwards some of the people right at the front had not sat down yet, and a guy behind us kept yelling "You have seats for a reason" and then his little boy mimicked it after him. It was pretty funny at home it is bad to sit down at a game, and here it is bad to stand up. Watching the game was so much fun. I get so into sporting events that I got to and I always have fun. I just love them. I can't wait to go to a Braves game when I get home. This game wasn't quite as intense and well played as the last one I went to, but it was pretty darn good. The Blues won 41-17. Go BLUES!!!


During the game there was the most gorgeous sunset with a huge full moon. The night before I had looked out the window and told Nancy to look at the moon because it was so big and gorgeous, and the one Saturday night was even better. It was bright enough to easily guide us through the dark park on the way home without my trusty torch/ flash light.  When I talked to my mom today she told me to make sure I looked at the moon tonight because it is supposed to be extra big since it is closer to the earth than it has been in 20 years, so it would look 20% bigger and 30% brighter. I told her that if that was going to happen tonight for them, then I saw it yesterday. She and my grandparents then asked me how it was, so for the first time since I got to New Zealand I was able to tell my family what something would look like in the future. Pretty funny. I told them about the gorgeous moon I experienced yesterday, that they would experience today. It was pretty fun to tell the future. 


At the end of the game 3 of the players who were playing their 100th game were welcomed onto the field and we got to cheer them on. After an amazing game, we said hi to some of the other girls and then headed out stadium to take the train home. Nancy and I kept trying to slow down, but we are so used to booking it out of stadiums in the states and trying to beat the crowd, ti was pretty hard. Nobody rushes out in New Zealand. In fact no one ever rushes to get anywhere. It is so laid back here. I really enjoy it. Nancy and I successfully got on a train back to Henderson for free because of the game and successfully got off the right stop on or own, which is pretty good. We were also able to walk home at night through the dark park that Nancy and I sometimes get nervous about at night without the help of my flash light because the moon was so bright last night.


When we got back we watched the an episode of Glee, but I was more watching the inside of my eyelids because I was so tried. I am starting to love that show and Kendall may have me watching it with her when I get home now. 


March 20, 2011


Today was my last Sunday in the Henderson Valley Ward in New Zealand. It really is bitter sweet. I am going to miss some of the people here and really going to miss everything about New Zealand. But at the same time, I am excited to see everyone when I get home. I already have so many plans for when I get home, including going to lunch with Bryson, spending the day with Alison and going to lunch with her kids, going to the Atlanta temple open house, going to the dedication, and hopefully at least to a dress rehearsal of the cultural ceremony,  to Trina's wedding reception, a few different wards for church, work, etc and that is just within the first week and a half of being home. I am going to have a busy summer and I am excited for all it will bring. It is also going to be bittersweet teaching for my last week. I am going to miss the kids in room 6 so so much.

Sailing in the City of Sails

April 18, 2011

A trip to New Zealand would not be complete without sailing in the city of sails. Nancy and I went down to Auckland aka the City of sails this morning to take a sailboat around the harbor. We successfully boarded our bus to Auckland and found the pier where the sailboats were, which is pretty good for us. It was a nice clear day with a light wind, the perfect day for day for sailing. We boarded the Pride of Auckland at 1 o'clock and sailed for lunch. We got lunch and hot chocolate on the boat as we were pulling out. It was just perfect. We set sail around the harbor having a gorgeous view of Auckland, the sky tower, Devonport, Rangitoto, Waiheke island, and the harbor bridge. We sailed by a racing sailboat preparing for America's World Cup with sailing. It was pretty cool to watch and see how those boats work. We sailed under the Harbor Bridge over near the largest sailing harbor in the southern hemisphere.Seeing the city by sail is one of my favorite sights. It just completed my trip to New Zealand. I had the opportunity to take the wheel and steer the sailboat around the harbor! So cool. I definitely didn't expect to have the opportunity to drive a sailboat in New Zealand. I loved every minute of it. We sailed around the harbor for about an 1 1/2 before sailing back into Auckland. I love how my first experience on a sailboat was in the city of sails.

After sailing around the Harbor, we took a bus up to Parnell Street and walked through some of the shops. Parnell is like the high rise of Auckland. There were so many cute little boutiques with cute things. The weather turned on us while we were there and it started raining heaps. We stopped at the chocolate boutique and shared a waffle with ice cream and passion fruit sauce. It was so good. I really have acquired a taste for passion fruit over here. I wish it was more accessible in the states.

Nancy and I really had a perfect relaxing Friday sailing the harbor in Auckland. I could not have asked for a better way to spend my last Friday in Auckland.

Windy Wellington Weekend

Back in the beginning of February, Becca and I were talking in class about how we are in New Zealand and don't make a trip to the capital. I told Nancy about it after school and we decided to call Katie and Becca and plan our own weekend trip to Wellington. Nancy and I went over to their house to plan our trip a few days later. We found a flight down to Wellington on the night of Thursday March 10, so we could leave right after teaching that day. We also made reservations at a backpackers place called Wellywood Backpackers. We decided that instead of flying back, we wanted to take the train, so we bought out train tickets for the Overlander to come back on Saturday. A few weeks before we left we emailed all of our information on it to our parents and Jim so they would know where we were. I think all of us were pretty impressed we were putting this together.

We planned all of this in February, which seems like just  yesterday, when last Thursday came I could not believe we were actually doing this and going to Wellington for the weekend. Last Thursday, March 10 Nancy and I started early in the morning saying what are you doing tonight? I'm going to Wellington. We said this just about every hour that day. We were so excited the day of our own little trip was finally here. Thursday also happened to be parent night at our school, so before being able to leave for Wellington, we had clear missing parent night to fly to Wellington, which he was completely okay with.Once our teachers found out about it they and the deputy principals were so excited we were going to Wellington and kept telling us all we had to make sure to do which made us even more excited.

After school on Thursday, March 10, Nancy and I came home made sure we had everything, (meaning our backpacks) and then caught a bus over to Katie and Rebecca's where we met them and took a taxi driven by their home teacher to the airport. The 4 of us were so excited about our trip and over joyed the day was finally here. We had checked in online so when we got to the airport, we went straight to security where we did not have to show ID or take off our shoes all we had to do was walk through. So much easier than back home, but Nancy' s bag did go off a couple of times and we found out that an eyelash curler some how looks like a weapon. Funny huh. I sat in the airport for about an hour reading The Hobbit before boarding the plane for Wellington. It was a 45minute bus ride, and it went by so fast. I am glad it went smooth as well because with the winds in Wellington, landings are sometimes a little shaky I have been told. We saw a gorgeous sunset outside our window as we were descending into the city.

Once we arrived in Wellington our adventure had officially began. We went outside and immediantly felt the wind and that it was a little chilly. We took a bus, our 4th form of transportation so far that day. We had already traveled by van, walked, and taken a plane since getting to Katie and Becca's. We took the bus to Courtnay Place where we only knew to get off because someone else on the bus had listened when we got on and knew to tell us to get off. Then when we got off the bus driver said, "I will let you off here, just don't go in the strip club right there." We laughed and told him not to worry. 4 BYU princesses going into a strip club on a Thursday night in Wellington, we would never.

We walked down Courtnay Place to Troy street and went looking for Wellywood backpackers where we were staying. When we first approached the building we were a little scared and nervous because it was dark, there were people outside smoking, it smelled like smoke inside, and there was construction on the bottom floor of the building where the backpacking joint was. We went up one flight of stairs though to where the reception and entrance to the hostel was and instantly felt better. It smelled nice, was set up in a movie/ Hollywood theme with all sorts of stuff from old movies and the people at the reception desk were very nice. We got the key to our room and the guy at the reception gave us some towels before we went up to the 3rd floor of the hostel where room 30 was. When we booked our room we thought we were going to be in a 6 person room, but were glad to find out it would only be the 4 of us in there. That made us feel good about staying there too. When we walked into the room, there were 2 sets of bunk beds and a nice lime green accent wall. Then the floor sinks, showers, and bathroom were right out side our room which was nice but at the same time it would be our first experience being on a co ed hall as they don't have those at BYU and Jim made sure we were on a girls floor at the other hostel we stayed at. It is an experience to brush your teeth, wash your face, etc next to a guy that is a complete stranger. Especially for a bunch of sheltered girls. After dropping off our bags, we went back out onto Courtnay Place to find something to eat for dinner since it was not about 9:30  and none of us had eaten since lunch.

We walked up and down Courtnay place five or six times past restaurants, bars, and clubs before we decided to have pizza at Pizza King. We were lucky they were still open, since everything in New Zealand seems to close at 7. We went in and ordered two large pizzas, garlic bread, and some passion fruit soda for us to share. I really like how they have passion fruit flavored stuff in New Zealand. We gobbled up all of it pretty fast while talking about how excited we were that we were finally in Wellington and what were going to do the following day. After wards we walked down Courtnay place a few more times. I am sure we looked so dumb to everyone else since we kept walking by over and over again. We ended up getting some ice cream or frozen yogurt for dessert before going back to our hostel for the night. So much happened on Thursday and that was only the beginning of our adventure.

Friday March 11, 2011

On Friday, morning we woke up and filled up our day with fun in Wellington. It was one of the most amazing days I have had in New Zealand. We started our day by walking up Cable Street since to be honest we were up and going before anything opened. We walked up the harbor where is was so windy, but the view of the city and the sea was gorgeous. We walked past a park with the coolest slide. It was a mini light house and had two large slides coming off of it. The parks in New Zealand just look like so much more fun than those in the states. We were going to go down the slide, but a school group came right as we got there so we decided it would be better to just let all the kids play on the park.

We walked through the city and took the cable car up to the botanical gardens. This was my first experience on a cable car, and it was pretty exciting. On the way up Katie kept telling me how fun the ones in San Fransisco are, kinda makes me want to visit there just for that. The cable car even followed the groove and make of the mountain, which was pretty cool. We walked through the Cable car museum at the top, and I learned that the cable car started running in 1902 in New Zealand. I am so glad we did the cable car in Wellington and started off our day with it. It was so much fun.

We got off the cable car at the botanical gardens of Wellington. The view of the city from here was pretty spectacular I have to say. Everything in New Zealand seems to be spectacular. We took the path through the gardens that took us back to the city. The gardens were still gorgeous even at the end of the summer season. We went by another park and as elementary school teachers, we could not walk by two parks in one day without stopping to play. We went and played on the octopus tires, which 4 people can stand on and you go back and forth and spin. It is so much fun and reminds me of the Midnight Octopus ride at Holiday World in Indiana. I wish we had playgrounds like the ones here in the states so much. Maybe I should design one.

We walked through all of the upper gardens, to the tree house, and by the statue of the bee lady, which was pretty funny. When we got to the bottom of the gardens before walking through an old cemetery that was half public/ half Jewish, we looked over and saw some people praying across the street from the Chinese Embassy. The were protesting about Tibet and what the Chinese government is planning to do when the Dalai Lama dies.  Makes me think about how much is going on in the world I don't know about because I haven't been keeping up with the news very much here. I really liked walking through the old cemetery mainly because I have always liked reading the stories of people on the headstones and it is always more interesting in older cemeteries.

At the bottom of the cemetery, we reached the rose garden. I just love walking through rose gardens and the smell of rose gardens. A few old ladies stopped us and told us to make sure and enjoy the roses, you can get your coffee at the cafe later. We did walk through and enjoy the roses, but we did not get coffee. We continued our walk down from the gardens to the city and ended up across the street from parliament square, so we decided to go see if we could get a tour of the parliament buildings. Our timing could not have been better we walked into the Parliament buildings just as they were about to start another tour. If we would have been 5 minutes later, we probably would not have gotten to see parliament, which would have been a bummer because it was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

We first walked through the part of the buildings that is built in the shape of a beehive. This is the executive wing of the building and where the prime minister has his office. We stood in a large banquet room where Hillary Clinton and the King and Queen of Spain were recently. Next we continued on to the room for the Maori Affairs Committee. This room is covered on Maori cravings and represents all of the Maori tribes in New Zealand. From this room, we were told all about the law making system in New Zealand. Anyone can write a letter to parliament and they are required to read it. Any one can also ask for an oral hearing which would be held in the room we were in. During this hearing, you meet with the Queen and are given absolute free speech. You cannot be indited or held responsible for anything you say, but if you are sitting in the audience and speak  then you are taken out, your picture is taken and you are suspended from parliament rounds for 2 months.

We then walked into a room where there is a large pottery that was originally made of green stone. This piece of pottery has ribbons on it from all over the world, where countries have given them to New Zealand, just so their ribbon can be on this piece of pottery in parliament. In the ceiling of this room was a bunch of kites and a replica of the first motorized airplane, which was not built by the Wright Brothers but actually by Richard Pearse of New Zealand. A little piece of trivia very few people know. Before going into where the House of Representatives meets all of us on the tour had the opportunity to  rub the head of an elephant for good luck that was given to Parliament by Thailand. Heidi would be proud. We continued on into the room where the House of Representatives meets. The Queens throne sits that the head of this room and she is the only member of the royal family allowed in this room. On the right hand side of the throne sits the government and on the left had side sits the opposition.

We continued our tour into another room where the royal family is allowed to go and learned that in order to cross this room you had to walk through a secret tunnel at the back of the room. If you cross it in front of the tunnel you are banished from Parliament grounds for life. At the end of our tour we walked through a ballroom where last time the Queen was here there was a cue made so all of parliament could meet her, but a few extra people joined the cue and ended up getting to meet the Queen. I am so glad we decided to take the tour of Parliament. It was so cool to learn about the government system in New Zealand and one of the highlights of my trip to Wellington.

We then went back to Courtnay place for lunch at Nandos. It was one of the best meals I have had in New Zealand. I had a chicken wrap chips and their special sauce, which is what made it so good. After lunch, we walked down to the Te Papa museum, which is known for being the best museum in New Zealand. We started at the top floor of the museum and worked our way down. The top floor had some pottery and a great outside look out of the harbor. Then on the 5th floor for a limited time was some photographs around the world by Brian Brake. It was some of the best photographs I have ever seen and depicted places from all over the world. 4th floor was devoted to history. There was a beautiful Marae, and a stage where a they do a bunch a ceremonial events that was covered in colorful Maori carvings. It looked so cool. There was a John Britten motorcycle, a slice of heaven about how New Zealand has changed in the 20th century, and an exhibit on fashion though the times. We enjoyed using an interactive screen in the slice of heaven part where we found out about people from all over the world who had come to New Zealand and their stories. It was really interesting. We also took this quiz to see if we would have been allowed to move to New Zealand in 1996, at our age in order to do so, we would have had to have a job offer here or more than 15 years of work experience.

The third floor was titled Blood, Earth, and Fire and focused on the changing impact humans have had on the landscape of New Zealand. It was amazing to see how much natural forest has been destroyed by humans and yet I feel there is still so much here especially compared to the states. The 2nd floor was all about the natural occurrences in New Zealand like earthquakes and volcanoes. A small earthquake did actually happen in Wellington while I was there, which I did not find out about until I was back in Auckland. After the museum we did some shopping in Wellington. It is nice to be able to catch the summer sales here before summer even starts at home.

We didn't really want to see how scary the night life can be in Wellington on a Friday night especially when there was a big gay/ lesbian event going on that weekend, so instead we went into the mall and had Thai food for dinner and then got ice cream to take to the movies with us. We went to Wendy's to get our ice cream and Nancy and I shared a container with 5 scoops in it. We got a berry berry sorbet, white chocolate raspberry, ultimate brownie, chocolate almond, and raspberry marangue. It was some pretty good ice cream and I am picky with ice cream.We were excited to find out we were able to take this ice cream into our movie with us. We went to see Unknown. It was a suspense movie with Jaume Collet -Serra and Liam Neeson. It was about a man who is in an accident and wakes up from a coma to discover that someone else has taken his idenity and that no one believes him. With the help of a young woman in Germany he sets out to prove who he is.It was a pretty intense movie and I really liked it, but probably shouldn't have watched it at night.

After the movie we headed back to Wellywood to hit the sack after one of the most amazing adventure filled days in Wellington and even in New Zealand. I had so much fun seeing Wellington and I feel like the girls that

come next year we should try to come to Wellington. It was such an experience and New Zealand would not have been the same without it. I am so glad Becca, Katie, Nancy and I went down. We had such fun with just the 4 of us and everything went so smoothly. I am so glad we did it.

On Saturday morning, we left our hostel early in the morning to catch the train to Wellington. It was a little nerve racking walking to the train station that early in the morning especially when 3 guys followed us all the way there, and we were glad to see them get on another train. We were a little paranoid after the movie we saw last night. We picked up our tickets and went over to platform 9 where our train would be. There was also a platform 9 3/4 like in Harry Potter. It would have been cool if that could have been our platform. we boarded our train and were so excited to start our 12 hour journey home on the Overlander. It was my first experience with a train and I was so excited. We had so much fun on the train an the time went be pretty fast. The  view on the train was gorgeous, I could hardly take my eyes off of it. I just love seeing the sea, kiwi groves, farmland, mountains, etc. It was such an experience to ride the train. We had nice comfy seats at the back of the train. Also on the train was a lounge ares, a luggage car, a car with a little cafe, two other cars like ours, and an outside part we could go to and look out. It was fun, but exploring the train was kinda freaky because it was so shaky in between the cars and reminded me of Anastasia. We stopped in Ohakune for lunch at a little cafe and the stretch our legs.  While at the cafe I caught a glimpse of the paper for that day and learned about the 8.9 earthquake that had hit Japan. I did not hear about the extent of the damage or anything else about the quake and the tsunamis, volcanoes, and nuclear fall out that was to follow until I was back in Auckland. I am not sure if there are just more large devastating natural disasters happening this year or if I am just more aware of them because of where I am.

Around Hamilton, the 4 of us went to the lounge area at the back of the train and played Scrabble slam. I love that game. We also braided each others hair. Everyone here is trying to get me to grow my hair out even after I get home, but I really don't want to, maybe I should take a vote as to how many people think I should grow my hair out. I really enjoyed the train ride and it did not feel like 12 hours by any means. I am so glad we decided to take the train back. We got off the train in Auckland and our weekend adventure came to a close as we caught a bus back to Henderson. I loved our little trip down to Wellington. It really was one of the best parts of being in New Zealand.

Hot Water Beach and Cathedral Cove Weekend

March 3, 2011

                School went by pretty fast on Thursday; I taught most of the day and by the end all and the kids were tuckered out. After school, Natalie picked up Nancy, Diana, Janet and I and we went to meet the rest of the group to head up to Hot Water Beach for the weekend. We drove about and hour and stopped for ice cream at a little hope in the wall where we could get it really cram and it was pretty good. I actually got some this time, which I hardly ever do. We then got back in the car and drove to a little town called Thames like the river in England where we stopped for dinner before continuing up a really curvy road near the Coramandel Peninsula. It was such a gorgeous drive with lots on New Zealand bush and mountains. It is just to unbelievable here. We arrived at Hot Water Beach and rented 2 houses to stay in across the street from the beach. I stayed with Diana, Janet, Jess, Whitney, Christine, Heidi, and Anna. We had so much fun. We were in this cute little cabin that looked over the beach on the deck. We sat outside for a while looking at the stars and the beach from the deck.  It was so gorgeous and the best sight of stars I have ever seen. We easily found the big and little dipper, O Ryan’s belt, and the Southern Cross.  So sweet as. I loved being there and we had so much fun laughing and goofing off as well. Later that night we all watched Tangled on James’s computer. It is such a cute movie; may be one of my new Disney favorites.

Before I go any further, let me tell you about Hot Water Beach. It is located near the Coramandel Peninsula in New Zealand and it is one of a kind. People travel from all over New Zealand and Europe to see this beach. Hot Water Beach is well known for its hot water that you can dig to in the sand. At low tide every day, there are about 100 meters where you can dig a hole in the sand and reach hot water. The water is hot and so is the sand because of the volcanic activity underneath the Earth’s surface.  So cool and such an experience. During low tide the beach is covered with people digging in the sand to make their hot water pools to relax in. Okay back to my experience there.

On Friday, March 4 I woke up just before dawn to try to watch the sun rise from our deck, but it was pretty cloudy. I loved being out there on the deck though and the view was still gorgeous. I sat there and read my conference edition of the Ensign for about an hour before anyone else woke up. It was so nice and just what I needed to start a great day.

Around 8 o’clock that morning all of the girls in the house I was in were up and Natalie took us to explore the beach. She used to come up here every summer with her family and know exactly where to go exploring.  We started by going down to the beach and then climbing up through a cave and back to the beach. Pretty fun.  We then hiked up through some rainforest in flip flops of course. We were basically charting our own course through what used to be some Maori land. It was pretty fun. We climbed over and through trees and broke down many a spider webs before having to turn and go back down because it got way to swampy even for Natalie.

We went back down to the beach and walked up the coast along the water. I walked up talking to Diana and Christine and then went on exploring on the rocks by myself. While I was jumping the rocks, I saw some pretty big as crabs. Bigger than I have ever seen before, but it is pretty fun to jump big rocks in the ocean. It was so nice just to look out at the waves crashing over the rocks and onto the beach. I just love being able to spend a Friday in March at the beach and take a vacation from vacation. I walked back up the beach with Whitney and Anna and when we caught up to some of the other girls, we took some pics on the rocks and jumped off of them. Pretty fun. It is cool to think that all of the rock we were on used to be completely underwater and part of the Pacific Ocean.  We went to get some of our beach stuff and some boogie boards and shovels from the house.

When we came back down to the beach we went over to where you can dig the hot water pools and stood in a large circle in the water staking out our spot for a few hours. We had to wait until the tide was out to start digging our hole (around 1:30). But I could already feel the hot water if I stuck my feet down into the sand. Some of the spots were so hot, you could hardly stand there without burning your feet, and you could see boiling water coming up from the sand. It was so cool. We goofed off and played some games, but never left our spot because if we did it would have been taken because so many people come to do this on the beach.  At low tide we started to dig our shovels into the sand and dig a big hole. We had to use some of the boogie boards to help support our walls so they wouldn’t be knocked down by the outgoing tide. We dug in the sand for about an and had 2 holes, one with boiling hot water and one with perfect bath water. After our hard work to make the holes, a bunch of us girls sat down to relax after our hard work and it was hard work. I was pretty sore later that night and the next day. It was so nice to be able to just relax in our little pool of warm water.  It would be nice if there were more beaches like this one in the world. I am so grateful I had the opportunity to have a part of this unique fun experience.

I went out on the boogie boards with Katie, Jess, Heidi, Janet, Christine, and Anna. We had so much fun. We were able to go out pretty far and still touch but had to be pretty carful because the waves and under toe were so strong. I loved it. I paddled out pretty far and caught some great waves that brought me back in pretty fast. It felt like I was flying on top of the waves, and I kinda was. I spent a couple of hour out there just catching the waves. Boogie boarding is definitely one of my new favorite things and I can’t wait to teach my brother to do it back home. I was pretty exhausted afterwards and went back up to the other house we had rented to have lunch.

I then went back down and sat on the beach for a while with most of the other girls. It was so nice to just sit and relax on the beach. I then decided I wanted to climb up and sit on this big rock that was near us. Kara went up there with me and we sat up there and talked for about an hour. I just loved it and the view from the top of the rock was even more gorgeous. I cicada got near some of the girls lying below and they freaked out and it came up by us, which I didn’t mind at all because I used to love looking for their shells and listening to them when I was little. I remember finding them all over my grandparent’s old house on Ransdell every summer as a kid. Just before high tide, we headed back in because if we didn’t we would have had to swim around the rocks to get back because of the tide, which is pretty dangerous at this beach.  Kara and I then went over and sat outside where the Jacob’s were living in some hammocks. It was so relaxing. I just loved it so much. Hammocks are one of my favorite things. 

We made another delicious spaghetti dinner. We have had spaghetti so many times here, but it is easy and good and we made sure not to serve any naked spaghetti because Dr. Jacobs taught us never to serve naked spaghetti because the Italians never do.  After dinner Linda shared some of her M&Ms with us and Janet taught us how to suck up our M&Ms off the table. It was pretty funny. We had a few races to see who could suck up five the fastest. Then we played triangle of death and couches, which was so much fun. I just love playing different games.

Natalie then took some of the girls on a walk to see the glow worms. I didn’t have torch/flash light, so I got lost trying to find the girls. It was nice to just walk along in the dark though. I then went back and watched 500 days of summer and stayed up laughing and talking with the girls at my house. It was such a fun amazing day. I love vacation from vacation.

On Saturday March 4, about half of us girls woke up really early and walked down to the beach to watch the sunrise. It was pretty gorgeous even though some of the clouds. I just love watching the sunset or rise on the beach.  We checked out of the cabins around 10 am and drove up to Cathedral Cove.  Cathedral Cove is where Prince Caspian was filmed for the scene where the kids arrive back in Narnia and run along the beach into the ocean. It was raining pretty hard when we got there, which I hadn’t prepared for, but that didn’t stop me. We couldn’t go all the way down to the cove because of some current rock slides; we went hiked through the mud down to one bay away from it. Cathedral Cove was a gorgeous sight. I would have loved to go kayaking through it.  I hiked through the mud in rain in flip flops and a skirt. If I can do that successfully and have fun, I can do just about anything. Everyone had such, muddy feet and after trying to get some of the mud off with the rainwater in the parking lot, a few of us just decided to go barefoot for the rest of the day.

After Cathedral Cove we headed back to Auckland, stopping in Thames for lunch, where the window in Jim’s rental car came out. It was pretty funny.  We stopped by James’s house on the way back and talked to a friend of his that makes custom greenstone and bone jewelry including CTR rings. Pretty cool. Nancy and I came back exhausted from an amazing weekend. It was an amazing 2 days that I will never forget and I enjoyed every minute of it. I just love being in New Zealand!!