Maori Village and Rotorua

 Yesterday we arrived in Rotorua at a house with a river in our yard. Me and Mom had hopped into kayaks and paddled all around the river. We even saw a black swan. Then we took the owners dog Marley for a walk. Marley was very happy and ran so fast that I fell over and let go of the leash. The next day Mom said there was a Maori village nearby and that we should go check it out. So we drove over there and walked around. First we looked at the kiwi bird exhibit. We didn't think we would see anything but when we walked in two big kiwis scuttling around! Then we saw the geyser. Our guide said it only erupted once an hour but  we walked in on a huge explosion of boiling hot water. It started raining but I couldn't tell because of the heat of the geyser. Below the geyser was a big pool of bubbling mud. Dad was getting annoyed by the stinky smell of sulfur so we walked to the Maori village. The village had lots of huts made of grasses were the Maori people lived. Some huts were made of wood and had Maori carvings on them. I could crawl into some of them.

 After seeing the Maori village we went to a Maori cultural event. First a Maori lady picked this guy in our group to be the chief of tribe. The chief had to go up to a Maori guy and pick up this fern. This meant we came in peace so the Maori let us into their meeting house. Then the chief had to bump noses with the Maori which was like shaking hands. Then the Maori started tossing sticks to each other in a circle. They said this was a fun game they played. Then the Maori women took out poi balls and started swinging them around like crazy. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better they took out 2 more poi balls and started swinging those around too! Then the Maori men took out long pointed sticks and started sword fighting each other with them! Then the Maori men danced the Haka or Maori war dance, which had a lot of foot stamping and sticking out tounges. Then the show was over. I had a great time at the Maori village!

Walking with Marley.

Me and Dad with the geyser.

Cool Maori Carving.

Maori dance.

Me and Maori girls.

Maori hut.

Maori storage room.



Another cool Maori carving.

Cool Maori dude.

The Penguin Capital of the World Where we Didn't See a Penguin

Today we drove from Glenorchy to Oamaru. Oamaru is supposed to be the penguin capital of the world. They have both a Yellow Eyed penguin colony and a Little Blue penguin colony. Yellow Eyed penguins are considered the rarest penguin in the world. We were on a mission to see this rare penguin. We stood at the viewing area looking out over the sea hoping to see the Yellow Eyed penguin. The wind blew in our faces making our teeth chatter. We stood there for an hour and saw a few things that may have been penguins in the water, but do not have complete conformation that they were  penguins because the kelp moved around a lot and looked kind of like a penguin. We did see a seal on the shore, but he had normal eye color. So Dad drove us to the Little Blue penguin colony. Unfortunately you had to pay to see the Little Blues and we had already seen them at the Wellington zoo. After  trying to find the penguins we decided to check out the town. The town had this park with a really tall slide. I slid down it about 40 times. Then Dad saw this old fashion car and an old street with a lot of old limestone buildings from around the 1860s. We later found out that they sometimes have Little Blue penguins just wandering down the street. They had an awesome bookstore that had a ton of books on Antarctica (where I want to visit someday) with an actual sailboat inside the store. We also went to a bakery that had great pastries and bread. I loved Oamaru.

Me with an old fashion Bug.

Old fashion bakery.

Nat and Dad Little Blue penguins.

Yellow Eyed penguin sign.

The lookout where the Yellow Eyed penguins are supposed to be.

Me and Mom by the old fashion bakery.

Glenorchy School

After the Ice Bar adventure we drove to Glenorchy, a very small town with a population of about 300 people. There was a small school there and Dad asked the principal if I could go there. She said I could come to school for one day, so the next day we walked to school and my parents dropped me off there. The school was so small that they put the grades k-2 in one class and 3-6 in another. Unlike at my school all of the kids take there shoes off before they walk into class. My teacher's name was Mrs. Unwin. She told the class that I was from California. Then she told the class that they were using Class Dojo for the first time, a program that we use at my school. After explaining Class Dojo we answered questions about the Chicago fire! Then the bell rang for afternoon teatime or recess. We all had to put on sunhats and then we headed for the playground to play lava monster. The playground is like a huge obstacle course with a zipline and swinging monkey bars. After recess we did maths (that's what they call math in NZ) and the bell rang again for lunch. I ate and chatted with my new friend Izzy. Then Mrs. Unwin said it was time to swim. We ran into the swim area and changed into our swim togs (our swimsuits). Some kids had to swim laps but I didn't. Once we finished swimming the bell rang and school was over. I had had a great day at school! 

Me by this Glenorchy barn.

A little hike in Glenorchy with a pretty view!



Me by our house.



Me in front of the Glenorchy school.

RAINBOW!

Ice Bar

Today in Queenstown my parents and I were eating some awesome tacos from Taco Medic when we realized that Taco Medic was right next to the Ice Bar. My awesome Dad asked the Ice Bar dude if I was allowed to go in the Ice Bar by myself and he said I was. This nice lady named Rose gave me a parka and gloves because the Ice Bar was -10 degrees Celsius. She opened the door of the Ice Bar and I walked inside. I could hear loud music playing. Rose gave me a glass of mango and pinapple juice in a cup made of ice. Even with gloves my hands were still cold. I sat down on a chair made of ice. There were animal skins on the chair so my bottom didn't freeze. There was a sculpture of two kiwis made out of ice and an air hockey table made out of ice. If you looked more closely you could see pictures carved into the ice chairs. There was an Olaf and Elsa sculpture in the corner of the room. There was a chandelier hanging on the ceiling made out of ice. Everything in the Ice Bar was made out of ice! When I was done with my drink Rose let me smash my ice glass against the wall. It was really cool to be in the Ice Bar!


Me in front of the Ice Bar.



Me in an ice chair.

Olaf ice sculpture.



Ice chandelier above ice mammoth sculpture.



Ice fireplace.



Inside Ice Bar view.

Ice kiwis sculpture and ice air hokey table.

Me when I came out of the Ice Bar (wearing kiwi mittens).

Rob Roy Glacier

I have been excited about going to Wanaka for the whole trip, so when we finally got there I was super pumped. We checked into our hotel and then we walked downtown.Then we bought some chiken cordon blue and had a picnic by the lake. Dad decided we should go swimming in the lake so we put our suits on and hopped in. Once we got cold we got out and walked home ( managing to lost twice).

The next day Mom woke me up early so Dad could drive us to the Rob Roy Glacier. It only took about 45 minutes to get to the glacier but we had to drive on a super bumpy dirt road. When we finally arrived we hiked up this mountain (in the rain) until we got to this lookout peek where we could see a beatiful blue glacier surrounding a bunch of mountains covered in snow. After admiering the glacier we hiked down the mountain. At the end of our hiked we crossed a rope bridge, battling the wind in our faces. Unforchantly my bulldog hat blew off of my head and into the river bellow. I will never forget how I lost my hat at a glacier hike in Wanaka.

Me and Dad on the rope bridge.



Dad with some cows.

Mom's millionth picture of me.



Me and Dad hiking way in front of Mom.



Rob Roy Glacier!



Pretty view!



Another picture of Rob Roy

Fuzzy scarf bandage.

Me and all my glory!

Sandflies and Wildlife in Okarito

After the awesome time in Hokitika we drove to Okarito, home to the rarest kiwi bird in the world. We wanted to find the Okarito kiwi so we walked on this trail hoping to see it. Instead we got attacked by sandflies, saw a Tui, and saw a bell bird. When we got to the end of the trail we had a great view of the Alps which were all covered with snow. Then we went to the beach to try to see a Royal Spoonbill. Of course we didn't see it but we did see one of the White Herons, very rare in New Zealand with fewer than 100 birds alive today. Then Dad decided to go mountain biking and I rode on the the handlebars. We peddled onto a boardwalk and there was a little kid in front of us and Dad stopped abruptly and I went flying off the handlebars and I hurt my ankle. Luckily it wasn't too serious and it healed after Mom put ice on it.

The picture I took of Mom and Dad at the beach.

The picture Mom took of Dad and I at the beach.

Pretty mountains!

Me and Dad with sideways hats!

More pretty mountains!

Even more pretty mountains!

Us hiking in Okarito.

My handmade, sand Royal Spoonbill.

Eel feeding

After Riwaka we drove to Hurunui Jacks which is in Hokitika. We were staying at this place called The Nest that was really tiny but offered me legos and a doodle book. Plus they also had this super cool dog named Dennis. Once we settled in Dad and I put on gumboots (which are really handy unless you fall in a lake like me) and went exploring with Dennis. The next day me and my parents got up early and went mountain biking. I rode on the handlebars of Dad's bike. We biked on the bike trail until we were too tired to bike any longer. On the way back Dad biked through a huge river. When we got back from biking John, the owner of the house, said we should feed the eels in the river. John grabbed a cup of cat food (instead of bacon) and we followed him as he walked toward the river. After John moved the cup around in the river a few times 3 short finned eels, one of which was a hundred years old, swam over. They flopped up onto a rock to get their food. Dad and I were wearing gumboots so we stepped into the river to get a better look. We watched the eels until they swam away. We had a great time at Hurunui Jacks.

The little shack we stayed at called The Nest.

We went to Dorothy falls (which I forgot to mention).

We also went to the gorge (which I also forgot to mention).

Me at the bottom of the gorge.

Dennis, my favorite dog in the world!