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 1-4 May 3, 2008

Day 1: Wellington to Picton

I was given the honor of the passenger seat for most of the ride down to Picton. We planned to arrive with enough time for me to purhcase my bus and hostel vouchers and then get on the afternoon boat to Picton. As we got closer to our destination, however, it became clear that we were cutting it too close. While booking my accomodation, I frantically explained my situation and was able to be put on the evening ferry at no extra cost- the only downside being that with Daylight Savings now arrived, the 6:15 ferry meant I wouldn’t get to see any of the beautiful sound as I embarked on the three hour ferry ride.

I arrived at 9 into a very dark Picton, as apparently the under 5000 residents don’t make much for an active night life. I was picked up by a shuttle to take me to the hostel and the German driver and I  made small talk where I found out that he was working and traveling around for one year. When I asked if he was going to stay in New Zealand for that whole year, he replied that the thought so in order to “practice my English, get work experience, and I don’t know…. maybe be inspired?” I couldn’t help but laugh at how casual he was about it- like it was on his to do list, but only if he had time. You know… do laundry, mow lawn, practice English, get inspired?

I arrived at the hostel and before I even had time to go to my room and drop off my stuff, I was thrusted my complimentary apple crumble (no where near as good as Heidi’s with apples fresh off the orchards) and went to the dining room. I ate without a word and listened to an older Scottish woman with an empty box (yes, box.. backpackers buy them, I learned, as they can be air-sealed again and don’t have to be consumed in one sitting) in front of her explaining to a group of Europeans how American was as arrogant as Nazi Germany- “No offense.” she said to the apparently German man beside her. You can see why maybe I stayed quiet.

I went to my room- nicknamed “the swamp”- and found that out of the 7 other bunk beds, only one had a body in it. I immediately felt a kindred spirit to this other traveler, for if he was in bed doing sodoku at ten oclock, then clearnely I couldn’t be a loser. Although I couldn’t possibly fathom what the other people were doing in this town.

Day 2: Picton to Nelson

So. I’ve decided that guide books should be allowed to be more blunt and honest in their description of of towns and not make every city sound so positive and adorable. Instead, they should just say it as it is–  maybe this will be my new career path. Here’s an example. “Good for 2 or 3 hours of entertaining walks and views, you don’t need to spend any real time in Picton.” Just save me the trouble, you know?

After getting up early, something that was going to be a habit on the bus tours, and having time to kill before I meet the first bus of my loop I decided to explore the series of walks that overlooked the harbor. I decided for the 1km rather than the 8 (c’mon people, it is my holiday) and started off. I should have perhaps realized that the reason it was 1km was because it was straight up rather than the 8km that went all the way around. Regardless there were some beautiful views!

 

After my morning exercise, I returned to town to wait for the Magic bus. It turned out to be an educational ride, with me learning all about the timber and forestry industry in Nelson and the South island. (see, “Did You Know” post.)

We got into the small (but larger than Picton) ocean front town of Nelson around 3pm. Again, in New Zealand most things close at 5pm so I had two hours to peruse the sights and I did pretty well— it also helps that everything is so close together. I saw the beautiful cathedral- which I would soon find that almost every town has one-

and the botannical gardens next to a gallery.

They have a small (again free!) museum that I wandered through and there are several small studios and craft galleries in this artsy town that I meanedered through on my way to certain stops. I do, however, have a Lord of the Rings Spoiler Alert! If you believe that the “one ring to rule them all” was in fact cast of the fires of Mordor then DO NOT READ ON.

Because…

In this small town of Nelson is the actual jeweller who designed and crafted the actual ring. And where you too can purchase your very own replica for upwards of NZ$900. If you want to read more about the making of it, the website has tons of behind the scenes information. http://www.jenshansen.com/thering.aspx

At 5, when the town essentially shut down and there was an hour left of light, I thought I would head out of the city a ways towards the striking ocean scenery that we had driven in past in order to catch a New Zealand sunset over the water. This proved more difficult than expected as  I never actually made it to the ocean front! Instead, I found the Port of Nelson and heaps of timber to be exported

and the marina where I still took some nice pictures of dusk  

and started walking back into town before it got too cold. I treated myself to a nice dinner- glass of wine and all- to celebrate my embarking on the trip. I will say, though, that I think I’ve figured out why many travellers keep such detailed, thoughtful and introspective journals. I think it’s out of boredom and lack of anything else to do!

Nelson is known as the gateway to the Abel Tasmen, an apparently amazing National Park known for spectacular walks, kayaking trips, wildlife etc. Still, my time was limited and it’s just another thing to add to my list for ‘next time.’  I was on to Greymouth.

Day 3: Nelson to Greymouth

As previously mention, today was the second longest bus ride I would take. (Although! I didn’t get car sick once on the whole trip!) We stopped at a place called Cape Foulwind where we could hike around- and you can probably guess the weather. It was nice to get off the bus and stretch out legs for a bit, though, even if the weather was less than perfect.

We also- as previously mentioned- stopped in Punakaki to see the pretty impressive Pancake Rocks.

The Pancake Rocks are limestone formations that began forming 30 million years ago, when lime-rich fragments of dead marine creatures were deposited on the seabed, then overlaid by weaker layers of soft mud and clay. The seabed was raised above sealevel by earthquakes to form the coastal cliffs and coastline. The sea, wind and rain have since etched out the soft layers to form the unusual rock formations that are there today.

We arrived in Greymouth at dinner tme, and most people went on the brewery tour- as there were tastings and bbq dinner all included in the cost. And since it was the only thing to do. I however, politely declined, although I ended up meeting my new Irish roomates for a drink later that evening. The three girls who I was rooming with were just joining up with Magic the next morning and would be my travel aquantances throughout the first half of my trip.

Since there’s not much more to comment on about Greymouth, I would just like to pause and take a moment to say that backpackers are a rare breed- that I think I misjudged entirely. Some will think nothing of packing a hair staightener, make-up and heels along with their hiking boots and fancy out door equipment. This goes for males as well as females; maybe not the make-up part, but what people consider a ‘neccesity’ (knowing full well they’re going to have to carry it on thier back) would be an interesting case study. It was also somewhat of a shock to me when we’d stop for tea breaks or sight seeing, that many of these young, fit, active sorts who could eat granola for breakfast and not shower for days would hope off the bus for their next cigarette. Just goes to show, you shouldn’t have preconceived notions, as anyone has the right to travel the world!

Day 4: Greymouth to Franz Joseph 

I had signed up the previous day for a glacier hike through these activity sheets that they pass around the bus and then the driver signs you up for. Obviously, you don’t have to sign up for any and can plan your own thing but with the amount of time I had and  the convenience of having it all ready to go when you arrived in the cities the system worked well for me. The south island has vastly different climate and geological make up than the north island and as such you can see everything from forests, limestone formations, to snow capped peaks in the winter and glaciers year round. Franz Joseph is a glacier that’s been receeding for hundreds of years, but ironically, not melting. It just shifts backwards over time, but the guide said that the actual mass hadn’t lessened.

The short ride to Franz Joseph went quickly with two stops- one in the greenstone rich town of Hokatika and the other stop at Ross where we learned about the history of gold mining in New Zealand- we arrived in town with just enough time to through our belognings on the bunkbeds and rush to the town center in time to depart with our guide. With it being winter, the half day activities had to get off in time in order to be back and off the ice by dark. The half day glacier expedition left at 1 and had us back to town at 5, so we got our money’s worth!

I had previously asked the three Irish lasses, who were also doing the same hike, if they’d mind me joining them- for safety reasons. “Fook safety! We could use the cumpany!” was Orla’s reply. We geared up with the provided equipment, including everything from wool socks, gloves, hats, boots, “talons” for griping the ice, and rain coats and piled into the bus to be taken to the site. We had to hike along the river bed for approximently 45 minutes just to get to the base of the glacier

 where we strapped on the talons and headed up!

It took another 45 minutes, just for the whole team to reach the first little ridge… only about 100 meters in. Kind of puny compared to how massive the whole thing is, estimated with a length of 12000 meters. But still, that’s a hundred more meters than I’ve ever been on a glacier! At the top, Orla celebrated with a cigarette, and me by practicing my mountaineering poses.

Yes, that’s another tour group behind us…. and the ax in my hand is actually what our guide carried the whole way in order to chip out rough patches for us, since some the steepest bits had been carved into steps and required maintanence to keep them up.

We had to start back as the sun was already ducking behind the hills, and we had another hour and half to get the bus. We made our way back, starving and freezing— but alpinists! 

After warm showers, we met for dinner at the local pub where some of the Magic gang were going to be. We heard about other people’s adventure (helicoptering to the top of the glacier and then jumping in an ice water pool!) and shared plans for the next stop of Queenstown.  I’ve also learned that travelling is a very social activity for many people, and they’re always looking for the “hot spot” in whatever town they’re in that night. The hostels encourage this help to their local economy by proving “free shot” coupons good at certain bars, or other deals to get people out and spending money. While I’m all for having a good time at home now and then, I’d rather spend my money elsewhere in New Zealand.

As a result I finished my meal and headed back to bed to prepare for the long ride into Queenstown.

City Girl on the Farm (Day 2) April 17, 2008

After possum hunting, what more could I expect to get out of my trip to an operating New Zealand sheep farm? Little did I know that we had arrived on “crutching” weekend. Crutching is when… God, what IS crutching? As far as I can tell, crutching is when you shave off a strip or so of hair around the behind of the famale sheeps.  This helps with hygiene to keep the flies away from items that might get stuck… however, it’s apparently also more to ease the job of the ram who will be visiting their pasture in about a week.

Ronnie lives and works on the 1400 that holds 3000 sheep and 500 cows. The sheep’s wool are sold at auction everywhere, until they’re about six year old and then they are sold for meat. The cows take apparently from 1 and 1/2 to 2 and 1/2 years until they are ready to be sold for meat. That day he was crutching about 450 sheep, and wanted to get them all done by lunch time so we took off right after breakfast.

On the way however, we ran into a few obstacles:

Once we got near the shed, Blair took me to a flat bit of meadow where he said I could try out the four wheeler for myself. He gave me some instruction, but I made him promise he’d stay on the back with me just in case.

 

Apparently,  Blair doesn’t keep his promise, as after a few meters I looked over and there he was running besides me!

 

Regardless, I got the hang of it! And I have to admit, it’s a little addicting.

Unfortunately, we had to get to work. Ronnie and his daughter had already started… They have heards separated into different stables, where they wait their turn to get crutched.

 Then once they’re in the closest pen, they have to get hearded into the line by the sheepdogs.

It can take a little effort, of course, but it all works out in the end and they’re in order waiting to be ‘crutched.’

I have to admit, that it reminded me all of the movie “Babe,” with all the commands and sheep running everywhere- just obviously minue the pig.

Of course, I had to try for myself. When asked for a review of how I did, I was told it was “decent for an American.” 

It can take forever just to shave a simple strip around the whole herds’ butt. And if you’re curious as to exactly how dramatic the results are, then here you go.  

Before:

After:

We finished the lot, with Sarah herding by command and Heidi hearding by generic noise. Ronnie did most of the crutching with Blair doing some light relieving. I, of course, was resident photographer. On the way back to the house, Blair and I took the scenic route, with me getting the grand tour of the farm.

If you can make out the slightly blue building to the slight right of the terrain, that’s where we were had been doing the shearing before we set off on a tour of the property lines. We made it back for lunch and cleaned up to pack for home!

I couldn’t have asked for a better New Zealand farm expereince….and in fact, when I returned to school one of the teachers who knew I was headed up there asked me how it was. When I replied enthusiastically that I crutched a sheep, she said ‘That’s more than I’ve ever done!’ So there you go- I’m more a kiwi than you’d think!

 

City Girl on the Farm (Day 1) April 15, 2008

Blair and Heidi have been talking of taking me up to ‘the farm’ since I’ve arrived, which is run by family friends. We decided that this would be a good weekend to go, and I had no idea what to expect. I’d be lying if I said that images of red roofed barns and something like Old MacDonald didn’t cross my mind.

Blair’s soccer season has started up and so we went to his first game. Regardless of the score- which shall remain a secret- the disposition was good as they headed for a local pub for traditional drinks. Although my drink was commented on when we got to the table as a little strong for that time in the afternoon, I couldn’t pass up a New Zealand staple of what they call RTD’s. RTD’s are pre-mixed, ‘ready to drink’ beverages. Jack and coke in the same bottle, people!

After, we headed up to the farm. We first stopped at Blair’s father’s house as we had driven to the soccer game separately and this was a place on the way out of town that we could drop off a car overnight. Blair’s father was away so we didn’t see him, but what I saw instead was an amazing view from the end of his drive! No wonder my grandparents from Hawaii said they considered moving here!

After consolidating cars, we were really off!

This was the puppy’s first long trip in the back of a truck and after a rough start:

 

he settled down. I did too, as it was a long windy two hour trip to the farm, and this time I was prepared with a common anti-nausa pill called “Sea Legs.” The bottle says “May cause drowsiness,” and I’ve decided that instead of any sort of anti-nausa medicine they’re just massive tranquilizers.

We left late in the afternoon so by the time we arrived to the farm it was dark. We stopped to let Rum out and could barely see the lights from Napier….

 

We arrived in time for ‘tea,’ and afterwards Blair took me out to experience possum hunting. Possums are a huge pest here but amazingly their fur is unbelievabley soft, and if you can catch enough (apparently around 20), you can get NZ $100/kilo! Ronnie (the farmer who runs the 1400 acre farm!) said a couple possums had been in messing up varying sheds across his property. So we took off to take a look.

We zoomed around tracks that Blair has been travelling on for the last twenty years. I could hear the river and feel temperature changes as our altitude increased, but other than that I was lost in the blackness. Blair was successful and I got my first experience of possum hunting! It feels a little weird to be smiling, but I did get handful of the soft fur to take back!

All in all a very eventful day- if only I knew what Sunday was going to hold!

A Day in Room 8 April 10, 2008

So.. I thought I would give you a day in the life of room 8, the first grade equivalent class where I work. While all of these pictures aren’t from the same day, they come together to give you an idea. And, of course, I had to throw in some ‘blog worthy’ material as well.

8:10 Teachers are supposed to arrive around now. But of course, some are here much earlier (and leave earlier) and some roll in closer to school starting.

8:30 “Backpack bell” tells students when they can go into the classroom and hang up their backpacks and do thier jobs to get ready for school. Before then they are supposed to play outside but many teachers let them in before- especially as the days get colder.

8:50 School begins

Role call. In case you can’t tell, the students all have uniforms so it’s that much harder to identify them— and even harder when they have their bucket hats on. I’m always lifting up the brim to see who I’m talking to.

After taking role and doing announcements, etc., there is about an hour of instructional time before we stop for “Brain break.”

8:50-9:50 In room 8 we use this hour for phonics and writing- flashcards, white board writing of what sound you here, shared writing (where the teacher models whatever they’re working on in their writing) and then writing groups. Most children are writing in their writing journals at this time, and some groups have guidance from a teacher, or another activity once they’re finished.

Students in room 8 writing furiously (Get back to work, Caleb.):

 

It’s interesting how much the teachers are focusing on classroom noise level now, after just coming back from a workshop were they were told that New Zealand classrooms are the noisiest ones in the world. Sometimes it feels like noise can also be a sign of productivity and learning, so when it’s dead quiet I have to resist the urge to make silly noises or something….

9:50-9:55 til 10:00- 10:05 Brain break (Teacher can decide at a natural break but around the ten oclock hour and never more than ten minutes.)

This is where children are instructed to bring fruit or water for this time of day to have outside as a morning snack. Any other type of food isn’t allowed- only fruits. This is sometimes the only fruit the child will have in a day, and since Frimely, just went from a 4 to a 3 on the economic scale, it was implemented school wide this year. (Prior to that, some teachers where doing it at their own decision.) Schools that are a level 1 are provided fruit daily for all the students- although they never know what it is until they go get it that morning.

Room 8 students enjoying their brain food.

10:00-10:05 until 11:00: After brain break, there’s about another hour until morning tea (ie recess). This is the time we focus on our reading. They read ‘big books’ everyday for a week, where the teacher reads and then the students learn to read/follow along. This is the first thing that I’ve taken over in the class and it’s helped to have me build rapport with the children and ease into instruction. Although it’s hard to keep up the enthuasism by Friday. Afterward, the children might do an activity or something to journal about relating to the book, while the teacher or I calls up and works with the groups we haven’t heard read yet in guided reading. Right now, I just take the same group every day for a week to give me some consistancy in planning. If students finish the journal activity then there is a ‘reading board’ that tells them literacy related activities they can work on (writing a letter, practice spelling words with a white board, word games, etc)

The week I started reading, the Big Book was Going on a Bear Hunt and the children worked on a book review. The frist day they were told to illustrate the cover of the book.

The next page they were supposed to draw the characters, and as I was going through correcting them, imagine my surprise when I saw a character that I didn’t quite remember from the story!

11:00-11:25 Morning Tea All the kids go out for recess and another snack, and if a staff member doesn’t have duty they report to the staff room. While I’ve never seen all the staff there for lunch time, all the staff come out for morning tea. There is coffee, tea, milk, and ‘biscuits.’ (ie. cookies…) Everyone is especially excited when it’s “cheese and cracker day” and I’ve already heard rumors of the games staff members see trying to see who can take the most without getting caught and then a reprimand in the announcements the next day. (ie. “Let’s remember to try and share and leave enough for everyone, etc.”) Apparently the standing record is 13. Regardless, it’s a pretty nice thing to have every day. At the end of morning tea is when the staff bulletin is read, or announcements simply made by the principal, or if he’s off site, then the most senior staff member.

11:25-12:30: Another hour block before lunch. Here is when room 8 does our math and handwriting. The math groups are similar to the reading where some groups might work directly with the teacher and others on a activity, and then once completed get activities out of their specific groups bin- which is leveled appropriately but labeled like ‘pyramids,’ ‘cubes,’ etc. Currently we’re working on a measuring unit, focused on capacity. Direct teaching of handwriting is something new to me, and in fact they from some of thier letters completley different, like lowercase k’s! (Too hard to explain.) This next week, I’ll be taking on teaching all the handwriting as well.

12:30-1:20 Lunch time! Lunch late in the day breaks up the day so nicely, so that it feels like it flies by! The duty for lunch time is split into two shifts so that teachers can still grab a bite. On sunny days, the staff room on the second floor opens it’s veranda doors and I can look out on Te Mata peak while eating on a picnic table. Often, I’m the only one out there, but I’m not going to let any of the rays pass me by.

1:20-2:50 Back to the classroom for the last hour and a half. This is usually split up into two 40 minute sections or so. Often we use this time for catch up, art projects, physical ed (which the teacher is responsible for teaching.)

Here is Johann showing off some art we did after the Redwood trip:

His bare feet is a common trait of New Zealand school kids, who come to school with shoes, but take them off within minutes and go without for the remaining of the day- including tea and lunch time.

2:50 Home time— well for students, anyway.

Again, there is no busing, so when school is over children wait for parent pickup, get taken to day care or walk or bike home. Teachers are supposed to stay until 3:30 at the least, with most leaving around 4 until 4:30…. I work with my host teacher planning as much as possible, preparing for the next day or week. Heidi is also my ride home, so I try and let her do as much as she needs and we’re usually some of the last to leave and home by five pm.

So that’s a day in room 8! I’m sure I left things out, but with ten more weeks, I can only imagine the stories to come.

Weekend in Wellington April 8, 2008

After the Redwoods, I was feeling exhausted but excited because I was off to catch a bus to Wellington for the weekend. American Adrienne (from the winery trip) had called and invited me. Since there is not too many places that make for a good weekend trip from our location, it made sense to head down to Windy Wellington, as it’s known. I owe Adrienne a ton for looking into buses and hostels to stay at, here they call them Backpackers. She reserved us “rooms” at a cheap place but with a great location, and we worked out our bus times. We would meet downtown Hastings at the bus stop to go on the 3:50 but we returned on different buses, as I had to get back earlier Sunday for a reflection paper and my sanity.

Heidi was great to take me down to the bus station directly after work and I met up with Adrienne. After saying our goodbyes to our respective host families, we hopped on the bus that pulled up right at 3:50. We slung our bags under in the cargo hold and walked up the steps. Since you buy your ‘tickets’ online, they have a print out of everyone’s name who is supposed to get on at what stop, so you don’t have to actually show them a ticket or anything. (It also lets you pay as a student without really even anyone checking. Although I really am!) So imagine our surprise when the driver didn’t have any record of either of our tickets. Turns out two buses both depart to Wellington at 3:50…. so back down the stairs we went and back to waiting on the bench. As we walked off, someone else waiting in line chuckled, “Welcome to New Zealand.” Kind of embarrassing.

Ours arrived in due time, and we boarded, both excited for our trip. We chatted a while, but unfortunately, after half and hour on the bus (following a dehydrating, exhausting walk) I was feeling sick from the bus. I excused myself to an empty pair of seats across the aisle and tried to sleep. I woke up about 30 minutes before the end of the first half- as we had a about an hour stop at 6:30 in the city of Palmerson North for dinner. The fresh air was nice, but I wasn’t able to eat anything for dinner. I was already humiliated enough for Adrienne to be seeing me like this and didn’t want to make it worse. We had to get back on the bus by 7:25 and took off again. This time I sat up front and Adrienne sat behind me, I tried to sleep again, but as the ride went on, I only felt worse. Adrienne has now joined the elite group of people who have traveled with me and seen my weak stomach in action. She was even so sweet as to ask the bus driver for the plastic bag that his meal was wrapped in. Thank god I didn’t need to use it.

We arrived in Wellington around 9:45 and was lucky that the hostel was almost directly across from the bus/train station. We checked in and paid a total of about US$35 each for two nights stay. Not too bad, but we were staying in the ‘dorm’ fashion rooms.

I don’t know what I was expecting when we opened the door, but it’s probably obvious I never had a classic college experience as my first thought was “they let boys in here?” There was a group of about 6 Englishman, getting groomed and ready for their Friday night out on the town. I crashed on the first empty bunk bed, and didn’t get up for the rest of the night. I listened to our roommates from England, Chile, Germany, and Canada pre-funk and Adrienne joined them for a short while before returning to climb on the top bunk.

Since I’d been sleeping on and off since about 7 the previous evening, I woke up fairly early on Saturday– I had wanted to get to the Te Papa Museum that I’d heard so much about when it opened at 10. Almost nothing in New Zealand is open past 5pm, and I wanted to see the museum and go to some shops. Adrienne got up shortly after and we were off for our day in Wellington… too bad it was wet and windy. I’d heard that Wellington was similar to San Francisco and today was no exception. Fog and mist rolled in early in the morning that broke into rain early in the afternoon. This was my view on our morning walk.

The museum was unbelievable. People kept saying how you could spend days there and now I easily see why. It was also a shock that this six floor museum, with permanent and rotating exhibitions is completely free to the public! I also kept thinking how much my mom would be awed and amazed by this place. With exhibits like this how could she not?

After roaming all six floors and a stop at the gift shop, we decided to dry out and get some lunch then continued our perusing for the last two hours that the shops were open. It was gray and drizzly but our mood was still bright! Once the stores were closing their doors on us, we went to check out the cable car (See, I told you. San Francisco.) You take the 3 minute ride up the hill to see what on a clear day would be a beautiful view of the city and sound. Today we just saw the clouds!

There’s also a botanical garden that was fun to walk around in while waiting for the cable car to return us to downtown. Unbelievable, there weren’t very many people walking out and about. Weird.

We were tired from all the walking and wanted to grab a bite to eat before we went to the…. RUGBY game! Adrienne had heard from a colleague at her school that there was a popular rugby game the one night that we were in town! How could we pass up the classic New Zealand experience!?

We bought the cheapest seats and asked everyone we saw all day if the stadium was covered…. and had no idea to expect once we got there. After a picture of the “beehive” also known as parliament building,

grabbing a bite at the hostel, we followed the crowd to the “cake tin” (guess what it looks like).

We lucked out that our cheap uncovered seats were just on the line of the overhang (and that the rain had lightened up) so it wasn’t uncomfortable to watch the game. Just confusing. As far as I can tell the rules of rugby are as follows:

1) Be aggressive. (B-E Aggressive.)

2) When the ball is brought inbounds, try to be the tallest player so you can catch the ball first. I keep thinking how they should apply this to jump balls in basketballs.

 

3) Kick far. Doesn’t really matter who catches it or where you aim, just kick far.

From all the learning and new exposure, it was nice to come accross something that was comforting:

My own personal bottle of wine!

After the local team tied in a controversial game ending call (that was on the news for days), we wandered back to the hostel and settled in for the night.

I had an early bus to catch back, but gained an hour of sleep from our Day Light Savings! It’s just starting fall here, so we “fell back” and now it’s brighter in the mornings and starting to get darker in the evening. I had picked up some lovely herbal ginger tablets the day before while we were out and it seemed to help with my car sickness and this time I was able to see the beautiful country side on the four and half hour trip back to Hastings.

The farther north I got the better the weather and I arrived in Hastings a little before noon to a beautiful day. New Zealand is actually great to travel by bus in, if you have the time and the stomach for it. I’ll have to plan what I’m going over the two week holidays that’s coming up, as I wanted to see the south island. They have a cool bus service where you buy a ticket and can hop on or off the route any day so you can stay in cities as long as you wont and skip over the ones that aren’t interesting to you… We’ll see! So many things to do and so little time. Some days I wish I didn’t have to go to school so I could just go and do amazing things and then blog about them!

Redwood Adventure April 6, 2008

This past Friday, I was able to join Room 8 along with four other classes from the school to go on a fieldtrip to a local redwood grove. They are located in Te Mata Park, at the base and more in the valley than Te Mata Peak- which is obviously a peak and on higher ground. The students were given strict instructions to wear their every day clothes and pack lunches and good walking shoes. They were also given a clipboard of activities to do once we arrived down in the redwoods, but first they would have to hike for about 25 to 30 minutes.  For some this was a challenge, but overall they did amazingly well.

We took the bus there, but they don’t have yellow school buses in New Zealand. The buses that we took are the exact same that ones that I was later going to take from Hastings to Wellington, just like a Greyhound. I sat next to an adorable boy from my class named Willie. We tried to play “I spy” for a little while, but it didn’t last long once I was reminded that he doesn’t know his letter sounds yet. (Him: I spy something that starts with D. Me: Dirt? Him: No. Me: um… driver? Him: No. Me: K, I give up. What? Him: Blake!)

We gave up and just took pictures instead.

One parent who was supposed to meet us there ended up going to the wrong “car park”- parking lot and never ended up meeting us- so I was able to take her group, which really only consisted of two boys- Caleb and Kavahn.

We went off walking and Caleb was the most inquisitive about things that we saw and/or heard. Everytime he wanted to ask a question or show me something he would call me name. But of course, the way he says my name is adorabe– it’s like it’s two syllables “Miss Ay-ch! I hear a bird!” With four classes of 25 or so children, and about 6-10 parents per class we were quite I sight to be seen walking through the trails.

It was a beautiful walk, and I was taking tons of pictures, of course for my own memories as well as to share with the teacher. Here is an example of my scenery.

I should have known that me snapping away would only intice the children, so when they asked if they could take my picture I felt like I couldn’t say no. I felt like how my mom must have when she would relate stories of me taking pictures when I was young. “Can you see me? Are you sure you can see me now??”

Not a bad shot of Miss H.

Once we arrived in a little grove, the children ate lunch, ran around collecting “treasures,” and completing the activity on thier clipboards before we had to head back to make the bus. I tried to take a video of Caleb  telling stories- first about some dangerous fishing grounds and then about his treasures. I turned the camera while recording and haven’t figured out how to edit the movie let alone really format it for my blog. But since I’d had request for a clip of their accents, this is the best I can do for now. I’m sure I’ll get much more advanced by the time this trip is over. You’ll just have to turn your head… I like at the end how he’s so excited about the fossils he found, yet no one is listening to him… so I’m nodding to him over the camera.

 

The fossils he found are in fact real. A parent from another class told me about how eons ago this whole place was underwater and it’s not uncommon to find fossils of shells through out the grove.

We walked outof the grove and returned to school hot and exhausted. It had been drilled into the students (and me) that there was no toilet at Te Mata so I had been very skimpy on my water intake and came back with a horrible headache. I figured it wasn’t going to be that big of a deal since I would just sleep on the bus I was getting on directly after school to head to Wellington for a weekend outing…. of course, that didn’t turn out the way I’d hoped. Read on…

Easter Weekend March 25, 2008

A very eventful weekend with my new family! Went over to Heidi’s parents for dinner on Sunday night and Heidi’s nephew (Jonte- pronounced Jaunty) and her boyfriends’ son (Lochie- pronounced Locky) both brought their bikes. Biking is huge on this island, and starts at a young age- be it pedal or motor. They build ramps for themselves and pedal all around the house and orchards. They’re nice boys, if a little rough and loud, and Lochie is only over ever other weekend to visit his father. Jonte in particular and I have bonded, and he has been a wealth of knowledge for me already. He taught me the difference between corn and maize plants (although they still look identical to me) and we went for a ride around the orchard together on our bikes. He was much more agile, and I ended up getting bumped and whacked on my helmet with tons of kiwis as we rode through, but still a fun evening. (Lochie on the left, Jonte on the right)

The next day Heidi took me and Jonte for a trip to a local landmark on the way to dropping him back off at his house in Waipawa. (It’s pronounced Why-powa and when they were talking about it with their accents for two days I thought he lived in a horribly racist place called White Power…)

The landmark is called Te Mata and has a cool legend behind it. It’s a giant laying down (head on the right to legs on the left, can you see it?)

It’s a legend about a giant who feel in love with a different Maori tribe’s cheif’s daughter and put through a series of tasks as a result. The last task was to take a bite out of a mountain (which has a gap in it right above his head) on which he choked and died and lay where he fell.

We drove out to the peak on what was a beautiful day! While we were up at the peak, we saw people jump in their hangliders off the cliff about three feet in front of us! It was nerve wracking just to watch, so I can’t imagine being brave enough to run full speed off of a cliff— although I can’t imagine the view once you’re up there.

On the way back, we stopped off for ice cream at what has to be the prettiest ice cream parlor I’ve ever been in!

and then took Jonte on to Waipawa. He was thrilled to show me his chickens and eggs, and was appalled when I told him in Seattle that when I get chickens I can only have three-he has twelve. Jonte is 7 years old and sells his eggs for NZ$5 for a dozen and NZ$3 for half a dozen. Heidi and I bought the half a dozen they had at the time.

Blair (Heidi’s boyfriend) went off to work for a few days this morning. He works for the council (local government) where he tracks, traps and counts possums which are a local varmit here. They watch the populations to make sure they don’t get out of control apparently. He packs up a lot of gear depending on far out he’s being sent.

So today Heidi and I went off to Napier, to pick up a few items and take a look around for me. It suffered a major earthquake in 1931 so when all of the buildings were rebuilt it was in the popular art deco style of the day. As a result this little ocean front town is filled with the most amazing art deco buildings.

Back home it’s time to get ready for my first day of school tomorrow! I meet my associate teacher before school and then the students and just jump right in! I’m sure it will be great once I get going, but I’m very nervous.

Orchard home March 23, 2008

Today is my first full day as a Kiwi resident, so I took the time to explore my new surroundings. I’m living with another teacher from the school I work at and her boyfriend. The two of them rent a house on tons of orchard lands, so I went out exploring. It’s so beautiful! They grow kiwis, pears and apples. The pears have already been picked and the kiwis will need to be soon as well as the apples. The landlord takes care of all the maintenance, so we just have access to all the fruit but no responsibility! Perfect!

The kiwi orchard was my favorite, only because of the canopy the vines created. I thought it was mysterious and magical in a certain way!

Apparently, the male kiwi plants grow slightly taller so that when it’s time for pollination it’s easier for bees they to then pollinate the females. And also since the females are the only ones that product the fruit, their growing lower helps the pickers, since there’s no point in the males taking up the lower canopy and blocking the pickers from the kiwi fruit.

They also grow pink ladys here which are my favorite apple! $2 lb at the store now for free in my back yard. Tempting enough to eat right off the tree!

But DON’T!

The white marks are from the chemical sprays so they need a good washing first. Still, some how I think I’ll manage.

 

We also found a neighboring corn field where the corn was ready to be harvested. Heidi says that you can tell when they’re ready by when the cornsilk has turned dark. So we did them a favor and picked some corn. I’m going to be an awesome farmer yet!

Check out the many more pics by clicking on the right, and hopefully Flickr and I will have worked out our kinks by then. However, in order to see the pictures in the correct order you will have to go to the “Orchard Home” set.