Vegas Part 2 (Grand Canyon) July 29, 2008

So thunder and lightning storms or not, we were having a great time. Our only concern was that the next morning we were supposed to get on a helicopter tour to go over the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead and then to the Grand Canyon for several different stops. We didn’t want the thunderstorms to interfere, and low and behold, when we woke up the day was clear and beautiful!

 

We met our shuttle to the helicopter site around 11:30 and would be gone until evening. (We’d already planned it out so it wouldn’t interfere with any shows… heaven forbid.) We arrived at the helicopter site with several other couples and groups. Michael of course was figuring out and telling me the logistics of how many people would actually fit in each helicopter and where… They finally called our name along with another couple, who turned out to be from Kansas, and three family members from Poland. Michael was right in that three people fit up front with the pilot and the other four were in the back. While we started in the backseat, we were assured that at each stop we would rotate so everyone would have a front seat view. Being the camera man, however, Michael had to have the window seat once we were situated in the back.

We were given some simple safety instructions (“Don’t open the door.” No kidding?) and took off!

 

It was pretty amazing, and for someone who is not 100% comfortable with the idea of flying, I have to say that Michael did great. There’s something about a helicopter that seems much more seamless to lift and control than a huge aircraft. Anyways… we left the strip behind and headed into desert for as far as the eye could see. After a few minutes we passed over Hoover Dam and then Lake Mead- although we only saw about 5% of it at a time!

 

It’s the largest manmade lake/reservoir and it looks it! There are concerns about it not being sustainable and depleting more over time, to the point where people who get their energy and water from it might be given stipulations on when they can shower, etc! We followed the Colorado River for about twenty more minutes and came upon the Grand Canyon! I know it’s in the name, so I shouldn’t be so surprised—- but that thing is SO expansive!

 

 

We landed in the Canyon at the edge of the Colorado River and the scenery was breathtaking!

 

 

We began snapping pictures and Michael took footage— he was especially pleased when he came across a Gecko like lizard among the rocks, and I swear almost twisted his ankle and dropped the camera trying to scamper behind the guy amongst all the rocks.

 

After a refreshing champagne beverage, we took to the air again- this time flying between the canyon walls to reach our next destination of the Skywalk.

 

The Skywalk is a recent addition to the Grand Canyon, and a somewhat controversial one. Owned and operated by the local tribe of Hualalpai Nation, it opened in March of last year and has provided revenue to the tribe, even though some within the tribe feel it is disturbing sacred ground. The Skywalk, however is only the beginning of a much larger plan to attract tourists to the region that will come to be known as Grand Canyon West, with the building of restaurants, gift shops, even hotels and golf courses.  At the time of our visit, though, it was just the Skywalk and I think we preferred it that way. We flew by it first in our helicopter and from the air we thought it looked rather unimpressive against the massive background of the Grand Canyon. However, once we were putting on our slippers to help prevent scratching the 5 panes of glass beneath our fit and preparing to step out onto the ledge, we were overcome with a different emotion!

 

Cameras are not allowed, again to prevent scratching, they say. But it might also have something to do with the three photo stations that they have set up to take your picture. We obliged and now have a photo of us seemingly suspended in air miles above the Colorado River.

 

After the Skywalk we were served lunch up at a peak of the Grand Canyon, where the view was unbelievable.

 

 

 

There were no guard rails however, and both Michael and I were very anxious about the proximity that children would play to the edge! (Mike is not really on the edge. It’s a cliff that just looks impressive.) We mentioned it to our pilot later and he says that there have been no accidents yet, but he’s sure that as soon as something happens they’ll have to reevaluate the point.

 

It was already late in the afternoon and we had to take the bus back to where we caught the helicopter for our return to Vegas. It felt a little weird to be surrounded by such an amazing natural sight, carved out by one river… to suddenly be going back to the flash and phoniness of Las Vegas, but we couldn’t stay out here forever. Plus, we had another show to go to the next day!

 

We made one final stop—which literally felt like the middle of nowhere in the desert—to refuel. We were told we could get out and stretch our legs but not to go far as we’d be taking off again within minutes. We took pictures with a Joshua tree, which can only be found out here

(and that Michael adorably referred to later as the Tommy Tree when he couldn’t remember its name). I stayed close to the helicopter while Michael went to take even more desert footage and… found another salamander and I think would have followed him for miles had we not been summoned back to the aircraft.

 

We flew over a herd of wild Mustangs as we passed the shores of Lake Mead again, and then the strip came into view. We were back from our wild excursion that for me would end up being the highlight of our trip. However. We almost lost it all.

 

While Michael mainly had his hand glued to the video camera, I was enjoying taking still shots on the camera and couldn’t wait to go back through them. Once we landed on the air strip, we then took a van back to the offices where we could gather our things and would then have a shuttle take us back to our hotel. I reached into my (small) short pockets only to discover them empty.  The camera must have fallen out either in the helicopter or when we got into the van. The pilots were still there, and got back into the van to go out and secure the helicopters. They said they’d look for us in both places, but came back empty handed. Did I leave it out in the desert, they wanted to know? I knew I hadn’t, as I had JUST taken pictures of us returning to the strip… Mike was NOT his happiest with me and asked to go search the van and helicopters ourselves. We inspected every inch of both vehicles, and couldn’t understand where the camera could have disappeared to.  We already had well over 200 pictures from our first vacation and they were all gone.  We had just given up as another pilot came riding up on a golf cart and told us they’d found it! Where was it, you wanted to know? Well, it turns out the van they were inspecting hadn’t been the one we’d actually taken back from the helicopter… They had just hopped in it to go back out to the landing strip and started looking in that one without thinking that WE had come over in a different one.

 

Regardless, we were very happy to have our memories back! That evening we just relaxed after our day’s adventure and after a nice meal, retired to bed in order to rest up for the rest of our adventures.. I mean after all, we had the Hoover Dam the next day and that could get pretty wild!

Look Who’s Back! (Vegas Part 1) July 19, 2008

That’s right people, I’m back blogging, and also back from my newest adventure! Mike and I decided we needed a little getaway-and Las Vegas it was! He’s always wanted to see the Cirque Du Soliel shows that perform there, and we also wanted to try and see at least the Hoover Dam… with maybe even the Grand Canyon! We were so lucky and able to do all that we wanted and MORE!

We left Wednesday night after Michael got off work and arrived in Las Vegas around 10:00. While Vegas was just getting started, we were tired from our travels so we just explored our hotel (New York New York) and the strip a little bit before retiring for the night so we could enjoy our next 5 days!

Thursday was our first vacation day, and so we treated it as such. We started out at the pool– 104 degree weather couldn’t stop me!— but when we got there we found it closed for a health department inspection! Not confidence evoking, but since they gave us passes to use the MGM grand’s pool for the day we were satisfied and lounged poolside (me) and in the pool (Michael).

That evening was our frist of THREE Cirque Du Soliel shows that we wound up getting tickets for and it was an amazing way to start our weekend. KA is one of the newer shows, and it’s playing at the MGM Grand hotel. Rumors say that the stage alone cost $81 million dollars, and once we saw it there was little doubt. It can shift to any angle- including straight up and down which it did!- and sometimes it felt like it disappeared entirely and the actors would fall into a bottomless pit. The actual fireworks at the finale of the show couldn’t have been cheap either! It was an AMAZING performance and if you ever have the chance, see it!

In my normal Seattle life, after an hour and half evening show my night would be over… but no. Here in vegas that is not an option- especially with someone as social and nocturnal as Mike. So… with our cultured experience over we decided to just let lose. Earlier in the day we had been offered promotional passes to the Studio 54 they have at the MGM Grand… We changed to make sure we looked cool enough to get in

and headed out. Obviously, it wasn’t really like the real thing as I don’t think they played Justin Timberlake or Missy Elliot back then but we still had a great time dancing the night away!

Friday morning was another lazy day starting out by the pool. Since we had booked our excursions for Saturday and Sunday day, this was our day to explore the strip!

 We headed out in the hot sun taking in all the sights. We went into all the fancy hotels that we couldn’t afford to stay at and took pictures. I even convinced Michael to go on the Gondola ride at the Venetian.

Even though he complained, I think he secretly liked it more than he admitted. We headed back to the Bellagio for our second- and most anticipated- Cirque show called O. Seeing “O” has been a dream of Michael’s for years, and was our driving force in planning this vacation.

It’s known for being the show were the stage actually turns to and from a swimming pool that the actors dive into and swim out of. It’s unbelievably impressive when you’re watching it.

After the show, we were leaving the Bellagio just as the famous fountains came on! It was great timing so we stayed and watched the show as a bonus.

Really we were headed to the Wynn Resort and Hotel- one of the newest and most posh places on the strip. Michael had been brought to a little outside bar there on his three day business trip last summer and said he wanted to show me. It was in a little cove with a lake and waterfall that were part of the hotel. There was an outside seating patio where people came to drink cocktails and watch the computer generated shows that happen here. The shows go every 15 or 20 minutes and everyone is slightly different….. and quirky.

Regardless, we were having a great time lounging under the night’s sky…. until.. wait!? Is that the neon flashing of the strip or…? No much to Michael’s delight and my chagrin it was lightening! A summer storm had moved in and the thick drops of rain started falling to the the tunes of thunder and ligthening. We called it a night and headed back to our hotel! We had to rest  up for our amazing adventure to the Grand Canyon the next day anyways!

Acknowledgments! June 18, 2008

All I can say is WOW! I can’t believe it’s over, but I just wanted to say thank you so much to everyone. I had a great time writing this and reading all of your comments. And Miss Thompson…. you might be on to something more than you know with that travel journalism thing. New calling?!

Anyways, there are a few people without whom this blog would not exist. First and foremost Matt Mullenweg, thanks to the genius founder of of WordPress without of which I would not be able to have sent you these glorious pages.

Ok, but more seriously, I do have genuine thanks to give. Michael Bartley was there every step of the way for me during this trip, including countless late night emails and skype conversations regarding resizing photographs and uploading youtube videos. Thanks to my mom, Gloria Hubacker, for checking the blog EVERY DAY, and for leaving me encouraging (and sometimes embarrassing) stories and comments for all to read, just helping to make me feel like I was home. Heidi Hansen could easily be hired as a fact-checker/editor and was my resident expert on all things New Zealand and I owe her much.

Thanks to everyone else for their comments and support along the way- Saam, Miss T, Susan, Heidi (again) and Ian, to name a few.

I’ve had several people ask concerning what will I do with my blog now that I am returning home… and I have yet to decide. It has definitely become an addicting habit, but I’m not sure what I would write about upon arriving in Seattle. (Job hunting? boring…First year teaching? petrifying…) Although, those who know me also know that I will NEVER stop travelling, so perhaps this page can be used for all my future adventures as well. I mean, hey, in less than a month I’m going to Las Vegas! (Well, because not all locations can be as exotic as New Zealand!) If you have any thoughts regarding the future status of my blog.. feel free to chime in.

Oh, and in the meantime, wish me safe travels home! BYE!!!

Birthday Weekend June 17, 2008

For one of my final weekends in New Zealand, I was headed north to what is considered the cultral center of the North Island, Rotorua. I had planned to go over the three day weekend we had for the Queen’s Birthday, but had come down with a cold that was going around. Administration was really nice to let me take an extra day the following weekend (since I had by that time finished my teaching requirements), and it felt a little more fitting anyway- being the weekend before MY birthday.

I got the bus early Saturday morning and arrived in Rotorua midday. i had already booked a day trip the following day to see New Zealand’s famous one of a kind glowworm caves and then a spa package at a local geothermal spa on Monday (I told you! Birthday weekend), so Saturday was the time I had allocated to go to the Maori village. Being the hub of cultral events for Maori traditions, there are plenty of concerts or villages you could go see, and that’s one of the main tourist attractions. The other is that the city of Rotorua is actually sorrounded by hills on all sides that form a ring, and the outline of the creater. The volcanic activity is wwhat gives Rotorua it’s other main attraction- geo thermal activities such as gysers, boiling mud, etc. And it provides for an interesting aroma.

That afternoon, after settling in my hostel, I was given directions into the center of town. I was told to cut across the field, where I encountered soccer practice, a farmers market and steaming lakes! It was crazy to just see steam boiling around as I walked along. I made it into town and took a shuttle out to the traditional Maori village, called Whakarewarewa (Maori only has like 14 letters).

There are other tours that people can take, however, this village is still inhabitated by Maori’s, who run the tours and concerts themselves.

I arrived just in time to see a small concert where they perfrom tranditional song and dances. (Sorry- I had bad lighting!)

They ended with the Haka- the famous Maori war dance. It was performed to psych up the warriors mentally and physically before heading out into battle- and it was pretty powerful and gave me chills!

 (As a side note, the New Zealand rugby team always performs it before their international matches to intimdate their opponents.) Here’s a link to a snippet of what a larger concert would look like that i found off of youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-lrE2JcO44

After the concert, we were allowed to go down and take pictures- which felt a little tacky, but I still did and tried my best Maori warrior face.

 (Yes, his is better.) After the concert, there was a short tour around the village, which looked poor and rundown. It included stops at mudpools, the cemetary and of course thier souvineir store. We were told we couldn’t continue up a the path as we would only enoucounter a gate from the Te Puia Institude that was built on the other side of the village in 1963. They started going their own tours focusing arund a gyster, but still going on the villagers land. There was confusion trying to schedule and collect payment between the Whaka tours (who had been operating and living there since well before ‘63) and the Institute’s tours. It was agreed that only the institute would collect and run tours, but still giving the villagers thier portion for using their village, etc. After a while, new boardmembers were instilled and politics came into play, with them not understanding why they were giving the Moari a “handout,” apparently forgetting who’s village it was in the FIRST place. Regardless, as a result, the gate was put up and they each independently run thier own tours. Hence, why even though there are more theatrical and larger Maori concerts or experiences, I was happy with knowing that I was doing the one actually run by Maori’s.

After taking some pictures and before having to meet the shuttle going back to city center, I decided to try some of the corn I heard was cooked in the containers from the ground just by all the heat and steam. I didn’t realize I had been walking by them all the while, until I saw a woman opening one!

They call the method of cooking the food in the ground “hangi” and I decided to had to have some corn. But, since it was so late in the afternoon, I was able to purchase a whole hangi meal for discounted, so how could I refuse! They put the meat, potatoes, veggies and stuffing into a tray, cover it with tin foil and into the pit oven it goes! It’s like a tv dinner… from the earth!

I made my way back to the hostel, content with the cultural experience in Rotorua and looking foward to the next day.  My grandfather and his wife do extensive travelling and when they found out I was going to New Zealand they told me the one thing I absolutley HAD to do was see the glowworm caves! I had booked the bus trip on the internet and it was an all day event- as the glowworm caves were actually a couple of hours outside of Rotoura, but this was going to be my last chance and the closest I would be so I had to do it. I got packed for the day and went to the bus station, only to find out that there was only me and two other people going to the caves that day! We had the whole bus to ourselves, and they were going on to Auckland afterwars, so it was just going to be ME on the way back!

The trip was actually really great, though, because it meant we could talk a lot easier than if there was a whole tour group. It turns out that the driver was originally from the village I had just toured yesterday and it was through him I found out all the political history.

Once we got to the caves, they dropped us off and we met up with another tour about to go through. It was UNBELIEVABLE. There was no photos allowed, which for someone like me is a major disappointment. Thank goodness for marketing photos on the internt, but I swear it really does look like this!

When we arrived, we had to actually go through the caves and walk down to where the water was with the boat that we traveled on, looking up at the glowworms above us. Our guide had obviously been doing this for a long time, and even though he was informative…. it sounded like he was narrating a BBC documentary and not talking to real people? Which honestly made it easy to tune him out but at least I could just focus on the magnificant geology around us.

The boat ride was amazing and silent: there are a series of ropes in place at different levels (depending upon water levels, I’m assuming), and the guide pulls us around a couple times just using the ropes. Then, we go around to the exit- where we almost couldn’t go because of the high water levels from recent rain- we had to duck so we didn’t hit our heads!- and pull out to the dock we were disembark and walk back up to the street level. We WERE able to take pictures from there…

We looked at the shop and then met our bus drivers who took us to a place for lunch before heading back to our respective cities. It was an amazing experience and I could go into all the scientific garble about the glow worms and how they’re the only ones like that in the world- although apparently there is another cave like this in Maylasia, but people can’t go down there because there’s such an extreme lack of oxygen that the carbon dioxide levels are too dangerous!  And how really  what you’re seeing is the life cycle of one insect, that never leaves the cave, and they get caught and eaten in their own children’s nests! But.. I won’t bore you.

It was a fantastic day, but back in town i made a horrible discovery. It was one that all travellers expect yet still dread. I had finally and officially run out of money. That’s not to say I literally didn’t have one cent to my name, just that the money I’d allocated myself for this whole trip was gone. I guess it’s a good thing I had already reserved my spa package the next day… and that I didn’t have much longer to go until I was back home.

The day at the spa was very cool- as it wasn’t just a spa. They had built a spa at these amazing hot pools, called Hells Gate, where there were different ph balance pools, used traditionally for medicine purposes or cooking as well as boiling mud pools- which the guide said was the only place in the world you could actually see boiling mud. There are lots of spa’s in the area profiting off of the regions geothermal activity, but again this is only one run and operated by Maori’s. I took the tour around and learned about the region before heading back to the facilities for some relaxing- but there were some strict rules.

 This is apparently the pool that my mud bath was later to be drawn from!

The tour around the property all the hot pools took about an hour and we learned about how the Maori’s would use the ph nuetral pools for cooking and the sulpher pools for medicinal purposes, etc. The native guide tried to explain to me why the different pools so close to each other could have such different temperatures and acid amounts.

Got it?

After the tour, you could take a couple minutes to do an imitation Maori carving. (Apparently, there have been several measures taken as so me being white and female does not offend the powers that be…)

I didn’t do too bad, if I say so myself! (The man told me to give it to my father.. since ‘guys like that sort of stuff… I didn’t really bother to try and explain that my father probably wouldn’t appreciate the woodwork and would probably rather have lotto tickets… oh well.)

Here’s where the pictures stop, as I went in to start my spa package. The funny thing was, that during my mud bath or soaking in the hot pools, they kept offering to take my picture, and while you know I normally love that sort of thing… it somehow ruined the relaxation mood. I politely declined. I had my birthday massage and then was back to the city to catch my bus back to Hastings! My New Zealand adventures are almost entirely over.

Full Control June 14, 2008

GRR. I meant to post this so long ago.. well. about 4 weeks actually when I was ACTUALLY doing my full control. The last leg of this trip has flown by and now here it is 7 days until I fly out… My last day at Frimley was on Friday so I have the week to get myself organized (or ‘organised’ as they spell it here) with laundry and job applications…. but also of course blog updates. I just wanted to give you a little taste of what my time as teacher in Room 8 was like- way back when.

The kids were great and my host teacher Adrienne was super supportive so it was overall really fun. It was almost like team teaching. I also would use her methods of classroom management already in place- like marbles in the jar for good behaviors and her “Apple Tree” where each children has their own apple and have to  move themself down if they don’t follow the classroom rules after warnings.

(Once at the bottom of the tree, they had to write/draw a problem solving “what did I do” and “what should I have done” sheet…. but the whole thing reminded me a little bit of saying that kid is a “rotten apple” or “bad seed….” I don’t know… Anyways.)

The kids would start the day with story writing, which could be about thier weekend, something we’d done in class recently, etc. At this age we were just hoping to get them writing, and we’d go around monitoring

and providing more support to those who need it.

After the brain break we’d get into our reading groups,  but with Adrienne and I splitting them it was seamless to rotate through them al in the 45 minutes and hear them all read. Here, Adrienne tries to hear each of her reading groups read everyday, which seems overwhelming for me as a new teacher. I would be happy if I heard them twice/three times a week.

After reading was morning tea. I’m glad to say there was never a photograph taken of me in the lovely duty outfit, which consists of a neon yellow vest (and in Term 1/4 a floppy bucket hat!)

We went on to maths-  again with Adrienne splitting the math groups with me so we’d get to work with all levels. Blake is trying to decide if he really needs to learn how to tell time. I’m doing my best to convince him.

The neat part was that I got to plan and teach the whole math unit on time and temperature. The kids loved the clocks we’d made and would frequently interrupt our lessons or activities to tell me what time it was. “Look Miss H! It’s 11:00!” (Maybe not quite grasping that it was something that happened everyday?)

Handwriting was something very new to me having to teach, but I got the hang of it.

After they do their date and goal (size or shape or ligatures, etc) and whatever letter we’re working on, the teacher goes around marks their best one with gold highlighters (yellow) and ones they need to improve with pink. (it’s pink to “think about it”) It’s a system theh whole school is using for formative assessment and it works well. I think it especially works well with the young ones, who can’t read any real comments you’d write anyways but know if something’s pink they have room to improve. Of course, conversley, the “pink for think” marking I’d sometimes see has the same connotation as getting a paper back with red pen all over it, and instead of being looked at as a growing tool or something is now a dreaded form of assessment by some kids.

After lunch, I’d initiated a read-aloud of a chapter of a novel every day and had choose Charlotte’s Web- mainly because Heidi already had it.

On certain days the kids would be antsy and restless but overall they enjoyed the readings, and it was something I continued to do even after my full control was up. It was also great because when we’d go to the library for them to check out books, some would start choosing short novels, and said they wanted their parent to read a chapter to them everynight. (Caleb was raising his hand at that point to tell me what day is was in England. We’re still working on ‘relevant connections.’)

Another new thing for me to teach was phys ed, as I was used to schools that have their own pe teacher. The unit for the term is decided by the team, and ours was ball skills. At this age, the kids are only taught the skills to play certain games later, so I was for bounce passing and kicking. We’d go out to the cement basketball courts to use the lines already in place, and I’d have my whistle around my neck.

PE time could also be very hectic if you didn’t have it strictly organized— which I’d learned the hard way a few times with children and balls going in everywhich way. From then on, I was strict.

Finally, I’d had blast planning and teaching the Sir Edmund Hillary unit that whole school happened to be doing during my time in control.

I promise we had the last column completley filled out at the end, and I never knew so much about Sir Ed as I do now, but the kids really enjoyed the unit and what they would remember and take away from simple stories was really interesting to see. Also, the facts that are just assumed were also interesting- when we learned that Sir Ed put three flags in the snow, it was assumed that one was a New Zealand flag. Of course, being a commonwealth for Great Britian at the time, there wasn’t. The neat thing that I enjoyed was that this one topic could be dealt with at deeper levels all across the school.

Then, we also had Sir Ed Day Challenge, where each class would do something of thier own decision- we had children do relay races with a backpack about half the weight of what he carried, and some other classses had thier children drag tires, try and breathe through straws, etc. It was a really fun day to be a a part of.

Overall I had a great time in Room 8! It’s funny if you think that my presence in that class probably won’t be as memorable as their presence will be to mine, but it was still worth it. We had an amazing experience together

and some fun along the way!

Walk around the Block May 29, 2008

So… Due to a variety of circumstances, I found myself home really early today (3:30, people!) and decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather. It’s been rainy and cold as fall turns to winter down here, but today was sunny and clear.

Hence, why I decided to go for a walk around the block. Now being out in the somewhat country, where we actually live on an orchard, I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when Heidi said the “block” was actually about a 40 minute walk.  So I got my ipod and headed off!

It was that time of day (4:30 these days) when the sun is low over the horizon but still bright and the lighting is amazing making long shadows of everything. The kind of lighting they use in movies when people “walk off into the sun.”

I passed goats eating the underlay of orchards, sheep grazing, horses in paddocks and tons of birds. The majority of vehicles who passed me was just farm equipment. At one point, I could smell an intense fragrance of onions from a field where they had just been picked…. The afternoon was so calm and quiet, it was amazing to be able to think about where I actually was.

While I am looking forward to coming home to my city life with my family and friends, New Zealand definitely has some things to be missed.

Napier Weekend May 26, 2008

This weekend I went to stay with my supervisor, Leigh, and her family in Napier. It was just a nice little weekend to see some more of Hawke’s Bay and also an opportunity to meet up with another girl from the same university as me (but different program, as she teaches high school) as well as getting to go to the school where Leigh works part time, allowing me to see another school in New  Zealand.

 Leigh was nice enough to come and get me Saturday morning with her 5 year old daughter Olivia and her 3 year old son Thomas. We headed back to her house, had some lunch and then met up for coffee with Molly and her friend Kelli. Molly is teaching PE and health down at a high school in Wellington, and her friend Kelli came over with her to help her get settled and travel over the holiday but decided she loved it and changed her ticket to stay an extra month!

 

The weather this weekend was not ideal, but at least it was familiar, so we talked over coffee and then split up to look at some shops and said we might try to meet for dinner or drinks. After checking out the Napier shops, Leigh and I had to go to the lovely hotel called East Pier to meet my host teacher and her husband for drinks at the bar/hotel their son-in-law manages. It really is on the pier and has a great view!

 

Adrienne and her husband Tony also live in Napier and Tony is a principal of another primary school in the area who hosted GST students on occasion so he knew Leigh and welcomed me to come visit during the next three weeks, as they even have a deaf student who uses a Cochlear Implant. I don’t think she actually signs, but it’d still be interesting for me to see.

 Napier is a beautiful ocean-front town, but really increases in popularity over the summer. This is THE Art Deco city- and every summer they have a huge Art Deco festival where people from all around the world come to bring old fashion cars, dress up and have parades and picnics in the art deco style.

 After drinks with Adrienne and Tony, we headed home to grab some dinner and have a check-in with Leigh’s family before heading off to meet Kelly and Molly for more drinks! Leigh took us to “the strip” where there are four or five nice bars next to each other, and leaving her husband to watch rugby with the neighbor. Little did we know that everyone at the bars would be watching the rugby match as well, but no matter. We had a great time, chatting away ourselves.

 

We talked about tomorrow’s plans as the girls didn’t know when their ride was leaving so we tentatively agreed to meet up the following day. Back at Leigh’s house, I headed into my “sleep-out” which is like a separate unit from the house- almost like a mother-in-law that has a bedroom and it’s own bathroom. Leigh says that they sometimes rent it out during the really popular concert or art deco weekends when the accommodations are booked out in the city. It was divine!

The following morning, I got up and going as Leigh was going to drop me off at the Napier Prison tour at 9:30. It was a really interesting tour, as it’s the oldest prison in New Zealand, and to see the accommodations, I was appalled to find out that it just stopped operating as a prison in 1993. Now, it’s been converted into a hostel where you can actually come and stay! The tour was enough for me.

 

 

We learned about the quarry across the way that the prisoners had to work at in order to build their own wall secluding them inside. Before the prison, it had actually been used as an army barrack during New Zealand’s 1860 wars between Maori tribes and the British (with some Maori tribes fighting against the British, but others joining with them to fight against rival tribes…. Sounds familiar.) It then began holding prisoners on their way out to the Catham islands and continued as a prision up until the 1990s!

There were  a lot of interesting stories- like about people being buried standing up as when they were executed they were considered such bad people that they weren’t even given the respect of having their soul be laid to rest, and their punishment followed them into the afterlife. Other stories told of how prisoners would make copy of keys in soap or mud so that they could escape and would take orders from what other prisoners wanted from town. They would then climb the wall and scale the hill into town below and run their errands, but always returned to their cell at the end of the day!

None of these stories can actually be confirmed, and are just collected from actual former prisoners, or guards, etc because the government apparently keeps all the records confidential. Interesting as they don’t release how many people were executed or the maximum number of inmates, etc. We did see the hanging yard, where hanging still happens today- but this time it’s clothes from the backpackers staying! (There’s a whole about four/five stones from the top where the rope came out from!)

 

However, hanging stopped in 1879 and New Zealand banned capital punishment back in in 1957! At  the end of the tour we were able to take fake mug shots, which I of course took advantage of!

 

 

Leigh picked me back up on her way back from shopping and we headed home to plan the rest of our day. We decided to meet up with Molly and Kelly before they headed out of town and go over to the Filter Room- an ale and cider house. It was a wet afternoon and apparently people had the same idea us, for it was pretty popular for 12:30 on a Sunday. It’s a really cool place, where for ten dollars you get 6 decent size classes of your choice from about 10 beers or 10 hard ciders! Leigh and I split a tray so we picked three each- I of course picking ciders- and tasted away. Here are the Washingtonains enjoying their beverages down under!

 The girls’ ride back down to Wellington came to pick them up around two so we said our goodbyes and as they headed back down south, we headed back to Leigh’s house for a relaxing, rainy Sunday evening.

I was excited to get to go to Leigh’s school with her on Monday. Leigh only works every Monday and Wednesday, doing consistent relieving (i.e. substitute) work for the various professional development days that consistently happen at her school so it’s a great opportunity for me to see another New Zealand school.

 

A “Try Dive” May 23, 2008

This week we went over to Blair’s best friend’s, Hamish’s, house for dinner.

Hamish (Hay-mish) and Blair work and play together— they are especially fond of looking up 80’s rock ballads on YouTube and, of course, duck shooting. We went over on a Monday evening, with Hamish fresh back from a weekend out fishing on his boat. He entertained us with a great meal and drinks. Blair was especially pleased…. (Can you figure out who Heidi and I think he looks like?)

We had to get up early the next morning, so we left Hamish to finish of the bottle of wine- but not before he had asked if we wanted to go for a “try dive” on Wednesday. His girlfriend Tory is a dive instructor and would be back later that week if we wanted to go for a FREE SCUBA dive- where they gear you up and teach you the basics in a swimming pool.

I wasn’t going to turn down a free SCUBA lesson so Heidi and I said we were in!

Wednesday after school, we headed into Napier to meet her at the dive shop. We loaded up our gear

and I got fit for a wetsuit. They said I could take it off and then get into again once we got the pool- but I decided that I wasn’t going to get in and out any more than I had to!

and then headed over to the public swimming pool. Heidi and I were lucky in that no one else had signed up for the dive that night (which is open to the public to try for free, also!) and we had Tory all to ourselves. The pool, however, we didn’t. There was swim practice going on in the lanes besides us, so I can only imagine what they thought as we waddled into the swimming area and I goofed around taking photos getting pumped up.

I was having a great time, hamming it up for pictures….

 until it came time to actually start the whole underwater breathing thing!

Heidi had no qualms and just plunged her head in the water! When I hesitated, Tory said she’d hold my hand, and I didn’t refuse! We went through a series of exercises, building up to independent swimming. First, you just stand in the water and put your face in to practice breathing, then you practice breathing with your eyes closed (as many people who panic take their masks off, or they think if they can’t see that they can’t breathe, etc…). After that, you go down on your knees underwater and practice breathing completely submerged. Tory held my hand for that one, too….

But once I got the hang of it, I was addicted! Tory got out and took some pictures of us and we got to “have a play.”

This is me completely submerged, looking up from the bottom of the pool!

It was funny swimming with the swim teams lapping back and forth in the next lane as even though we have a ridiculous amount of gear, I somehow felt so invisible slinking along the bottom. I had to resist the urge to like go up and pinch their bottoms!

We left exhausted and starving and I slept great that night! Tory said that after 3 pool sessions, book work and 3 open water sessions you’re considered certified for life! It’s something I’d consider looking into once I’m home and having the financial resources as I know it can be expensive. If only my mother still had all her gear from her old SCUBA diving days!

A Day at the Races May 15, 2008

Before I was off to South Island I was so lucky to have an opportunity to go to the race track! They have a track that is apparently used for both dogs and horses- but the only time I heard of dogs being there was for an actualy dog show. Anyways, when I first saw it, I pretty much squealed and told Heidi that I had to go there at some point during my stay. My horse-betting father didn’t raise me to turn down a horse betting opporunity- much less an international one. Once I saw the schedule, I realized this might be harder then I anticipated as their “season” is very scattered, with maybe a race a month and it could be any day of the week!

However, there was one Saturday that I could go and it was right before the south island trip. I was stoked! I was even bragging about it to other staff members and found out that Lynda (who teaches next door to Heidi and is a star!!!) is also an avid horse fan. We made plans to go together and had a great day out.

In fact, our principal is a great fan of the races and gave us a membership pass- which is what you need to sit inside rather than just out on the bleachers. Once inside, we found him and he then gave us his friends’ so that we both could go. We felt very “flash” in the Members Only place… thanks to these little tokens.

Also, while the weather wasn’t the best, when the sky cleared there was a  beautiful rainbow coming right into the track- which he felt MUST be indicative of good luck.

In fact, five minutes within walking inside the gates, we ran into Lynda’s former principal (apparently horse racing is a principal’s thing here…) who was working as a Steward. He led is into where the winners get taken for drinks and brie, and where we got to have a glass of champagne! He told us that we could sit at his reserved table on the top floor and then even gave us tickets to lunch at the fancy restaurant! It was fantastic!

We weren’t, however, so lucky on the track. I never cashed a ticket, although Lynda had two small winners. She was quite pleased- as she should be!

On our way out (as Lynda had another engagment that evening), we stopped by to say goodbye to our principal Malcolm. He had just finished the Term and was off on sabbatical so I actually wouldn’t get the chance to work with him very closely, but he was so hospitable in the time I was with him at Frimley.

All in all, Lynda and I had a great day and I get to say I’ve had another kiwi experience!

 

South Island Trip Day 10-13 May 5, 2008

Day 10: Lake Teakpo to Christchurch

We departed this beautiful town and arrived into Christchurch in early afternoon. Christchurch, or “ch-ch” as it’s locally called,  is said to be the most “English” city in all of New Zealand, and when you arrive it’s easy to see why. They have a town square that centers around a catherdrawl, red telephone booths, and a huge park and botannial garden.

I was off on errands, as I had to to the post office and pick up a new rain jacket before the shops closed(story to follow.)  Afterwards, I had a late lunch at what was my favorite thing in churstchurch, the Art Center.

 

What looks like an abadoned buildilng is actually part of a series of old buildings that have been restored and now hold upwards of twenty galleries and shops,  cafes, even a movie and play theater. I wandered athrough the halls and around corners looking at the shops after lunch, where you could watch people carving word, or creating pottery. Somehow I ended up at the fudge shop… weird.

Afterwards, I felt like I should head over to what are supposed to be spectacular Bottanical Gardens and have a look around. I walked in and did the first, shortest loop I came to, when I suddenly just felt exhausted. It didn’t help that I knew my hostel (and bed) was less than a block away. I went back to just ‘rest’ for a minute when all of a sudden I was waking up and it was after 6:00. I feel bad that I didn’t see much more of Christchurch, but it was obvious that ten days on the road was getting to me. I went down to make my dinner and just hung out in the lounge the rest of the evening, gearing up for what I knew was going to be a very exciting day in Kaikoura.

Day 11: Chiristshuch to Kaikoura

I was excited as I knew Kaikoura was to be another wildlife experience, but this time for marine life. KaiKoura itself means “eat” (kai) + “crayfish” (koura) so the town is known for it’s seafood. I had signed up for the whale watching expedition, as they say you can see them all year around off of this coast! The weather had also been exceptionally good the whole time I was on the south island, as it’s supposedly winter here but the sky was clear almost every day! In anycase, they said that rain was coming in, so with my new rain jacket, I wasn’t going to let anything stop me from seeing the whales!

We arrived in Kaikoura and when I got dropped off at my hostel, I opened our own window in the room was was breathless. The view was stunning. I had to stay at YHA hostels the whole trip (buying bulk discounted vouchers to keep the cost down) and I frequently found that they were a little ways out of the city center, but I didn’t mind walking to the whale center while this was the view.

 We got on the boat, with a sea sickness and bad weather warning in affect, took off. The reason that there are so many whales and dolphins around is that within a short distance off shore is a huge underwater canyon, where the nutrients are apparently irresistable to the marinelife. Sperm whales in particular are common sights year round, and what we were looking for today, but at the right times of the year you can also spot Orcas and even Blue Whales (the largest animal on earth.)

They had a GPS loction already of a Sperm whale, so we took off towards the deep canyon and came across one right away! The crazy thing is that we only see less than 10% of their body and with them being the second largest animal it’s hard to even imagine how much is under the surface.

 

Also, I learned something I always wanted to know, which was how the sperm whale got its name… C’mon- admit it, you’re curious too. Well, If you know what a sperm whale looks like then you can envision the huge, sqaurish blob that is thier head. (google it if you don’t) So, apparently, the first people that ever caught a sperm whale, cut into it and all of this white-ish stuff oozed out, which they assumed to be part of the males reproductive system. Only when they then caught a female and the same thing happened did they realize it must be something else, but the name had stuck. In fact, what it is is that they have like a large cavatiy of like waxy whale oil- that’s found in the blubber of all whales but only the cranial cavity of the sperm whale. There are several theories, one being that it cools and warms to help the whale sink and float…. but regardless- the name is forever!

On our way back in, we’d heard about a school of Dusky Dolphins so we decided to swing by and take a look. Sure enough,  there were HUNDREDS of Dolphins. They were leaping and doing flips, and swimming right next to the boat. It was so exhillerating. I took a short (shaky, but I blame the boat) video just so you could try and get an idea of how many there were all around us but my uploading success must have beena fluke as I can’t get it to work this time. You’ll have to settle for a solitary dolphin- but it’s doing an impressive flip, up close!

 

They dropped us back off at the center at the end of the beach and the bad weather that had eluded us for most of my south island trip finally turned up, and the mile walk back home was much less enjoyable. Thank goodness I had my new jacket.

 

Wait, you might ask, why did I NEED a new, albeit very cute, rain jacket)? Well, good question… I was going to omit this part of the story, but then I remembered  that I didn’t believe in censorship and was stuck.

I was doing really well with this whole carry-everything-on-your-back-new-bed-every-night trip UNTIL… Dunedin. I should have known that staying in two days was going to make me too complacent and I was on the bus for only about twenty minutes, when I realized that I had left my black, rei, waterproof (in otherwords, can’t live without) rainjacket hanging peacefully on the back of the door. I was pissed… and embarassed, so when I arrived in Ch-ch, I had to get a replacement (thanks again, Mike). I called the hostel, who said if I sent them a prepaid package, then they would send it to me at Heidi’s- assuming it was turned in- but who knew how long that would take and I didn’t want to take any chances. Darn good thing, too. That night was stormy but I was content reading and packing up for my final day on the south island tomorrow.

Day 12: Kaikoura to Picton to Wellington

A day of travel and not much sight seeing to get my back on the north island… We left Kaikoura and arrived in Picton miday, just in time to grab some lunch before hopping on the 1:45 ferry. I grabbed a seat in the front of the vessel in the area of the in-demand reclining chairs and also where I could see some of the scenery.

 Arrving in Wellington I grabbed some dinner and just chatted with the girls in my room until time for lights out. One of them had spent a month or so in Austrailia and send 200 postcards! Now, let me just break this down a little bit for you…. the cheap postcards here are NZ$0.50 but to send internationally is NZ$1.50 so that’s at least NZ$2.00 per postcard. NZ$400– you following? That’s equivilent to US$311.99! All I can say, is that I can think of tons better things to spend $300 on… although who knows. She probably has better karma than me… 

Day 13: Wellington to Hastings!

Today I slept in as long as I could, but the check out time at the hostels is usually ten am, so can’t have too much of a sleep in and still have time to get ready and packed. I stored my backpack and went off in search my a leisurly brunch and read my book. I also completed my first ever So-do-ku, which I know has been all the rage for a while, but I’m a little behind. I bought a book for my bus ride back, and little did I know then what a good investment it would be.

I explored the downtown area a little more and bought the new Flight of the Concords CD (Yes, Mike. I’ll mail it to you after I burn it) They’re a local music duo/comedy that has started becoming popular in the state- pretty funny if you like that dry “Office” type humor…

Back to the hostel in time for lunch and to walk to the bus stop. The bus was right on time at 3:00 so I should have been rolling into Hastings at 7:45. However, little did I know was that right outside Wellington was a horrific accident on a two lane highway, where a truck had gone off the road and into a house! about thirty minutes outside the city we stopped and didn’t move again for two hours. Blair was still there to meet me at the bus stop a little after ten, and I crashed shortly after. With two days before back to school, I had to recover from my vacation!

All in all, I’m so thankful that I went on the trip, as the things I saw and did are once in a lifetime. I’ll be gaining a lot of experience this upcoming month with my “full control” in Room 8 and time is going to fly! While my future posts may not be as exciting (or detailed) as these from my south island trip, I’m sure they’ll still be worthwhile reading.