I have been slacking on my journal obviously so I am going to try to recap what has been going on since the week after south island.

On January 15^th the boys and I went over to One Tree Hill Park to explore and see the different animals there. It’s really cool to see the world through a child’s eyes because they get so excited about the littlest things. While we were walking through the park, each time we saw a new animal or land formation Bailey would shoot off and go investigate while Brooklyn and I followed. Bailey had a great time and he plays so nicely with his brother. When we got home after hours of playing in the park we decided to attempt making ice cream in a bag. I remember making it when I was a kid and it was such a blast so I figured we’d give it a go. Luckily it was a success and we added yummy fruit to our vanilla ice cream. It only took about 5 minutes but was completely delicious!

The next day I took the boys to the Library for the very first time in their lives and explained to them that we don’t need to buy books all the time when we have a wonderful library with tons of books available that we can check out anytime. It was a hard concept for them to grasp but Bailey found some sweet drawing books and Brooklyn and I had a great time reading children’s books while Bailey was taking a peek around. There are so many books and possibilities in the library and it just amazes me that the children think you have to buy everything. Hopefully we can learn the value of reading and use of the library while I am here and it will continue after I leave.

Our learning just continued on Friday, January 17^th when we ventured out to the Auckland Museum again; this time with Bailey as well. Brooklyn was enthralled with the sharks and sea life as always while Bailey was more interested in the science subjects such as: Volcanos, earth quakes and other things like that. We spent the most time on the 3^rd floor however, which is focused on all the wars. Most of our focus was on WWII and Adolf Hitler. I don’t know if any of you have tried to explain the horror of WWII to a 7 year old but he was having a really hard time with it. He just couldn’t understand why the people in Germany just let Hitler do all those terrible things to people. After an hour and a half of explaining that Hitler had tricked the people and in the beginning they thought he was there to help and bring good to the country but then he started abusing his power, Bailey was still full of questions. I explained to him that he could learn more about this subject from the museum library, the public library, reading articles or books online and many other places. He was so excited he came straight home and asked Kent if he could research Hitler and war on the computer. Unfortunately, war and WWII is one of those subjects that may or may not be appropriate for his age but I figured he is going to learn about it sometime anyway and I didn’t want to squelch his want for knowledge now so I took a chance and spent the time explaining it to him.  

 Ashley and I tried stand-up Paddle-boarding at Point Chevalier for the first time ever on the 19^th. You would be amazed at the amount of strength it takes to stand up on a board in the ocean! I am very proud to say I stood up and I never fell in, not even once. Overall it was a really fun time and I’m super glad I did it. I want to try surfing next I think. Unfortunately, Ashley didn’t have as good of luck with the paddle boarding. After we were done there we grabbed lunch at Hell’s Pizza which contrary to the name was absolutely delicious! We took our lunch back to the house and ate out on the deck before changing and going shopping with Sina down at the Onehunga shopping center. I found a super cute tank for $10 and it was wonderful to catch up with Sina for a bit. Ashley ended up staying over that night and we made a yummy dinner of pasta, garlic bread and veggies (just for me since she doesn’t eat fruits and veggies). Annabel came over and brought dessert where we cracked open my birthday wine and had a blast telling stories and chatting until the late hours of the night. I seriously love Annabel, she’s a great friend and we get on so well, I’m lucky to have met her here.

I had the house to myself Monday since Nicole, Kent and the boys had left for Omaha the day before, so I just cleaned, did some last minute packing and relaxed until Alessandra came to pick me up later that afternoon for our “week long camping trip to the Coromandel”. Just so you know the back story I met this girl on Facebook as all we Au Pairs do but I usually don’t just go spend a week with someone I have never met so I was rightfully nervous. Also we didn’t exactly have too much planned which was a bit sketchy for me. In any case she ended up being super nice and we had a great week. The weather was horrible when we got to the Coromandel however, and she had to head back to Cambridge for a funeral anyway so I just headed back with her and explored the city while she was at the funeral. Cambridge is a small farm town mostly famous for their work with horse breeding and racing. I had a great time walking around and seeing the monuments as well as these gorgeous churches. There were some amazing Stain Glass windows in the “white church” (St. Andrew’s Anglician Church). The detail and intricacy of the color in the pictures was just magnificent. There is also a very large clock tower in the center of town which is quite picturesque and gives it a London-ish feel. Despite getting soaked with rain I had a lovely time exploring Cambridge and was glad I had been able to accompany my new German friend back to her host home there. 

ya this is what i do to pass my time... why not wear a viking hat right?

   After the funeral, she picked me up again and we headed over to the Hamilton Gardens. Unlike the Auckland botanical gardens they have set areas where they have themed the gardens after iconic cities throughout the world. I was least impressed with the American garden because it was probably based on something out of California with a Marilyn Monroe portrait, lots of cerement and a pool with a few shrubs around. The rest of the gardens were actually very cool. India and Italy were my favorites. It amazing what they can do with plants and themed items, there in the garden. Luckily the weather cleared up a bit and our plans for the rest of the week were looking a bit brighter. We decided to head to Rotorua instead of all the way back to the Coromandel due to the unreasonable weather. Rotorua turned out to be a wonderful plan though and we had a blast!

1/22/14

 In the morning Alessandra and I drove to Rotorua and went straight to the I-Site (information center) where we booked our hostel and also White Water Rafting at Kaituna Falls. After we got settled in and changed into our water gear at Cactus Jacks Hostel, we headed to the lake to eat our lunch before heading to the bus pick up for rafting. I love how everywhere in NZ there is water. Even in the middle of the island there are lakes and rivers everywhere. I might possibly by completely addicted to white water rafting now! It was so much fun! Not only was this the first time I had been rafting but we also rafted down the highest commercial waterfall in the world at a height of 7 meters. While we were rafting down the various rapids and waterfalls we nearly got sucked back in but the waterfall spit us out just in the nick of time luckily! Seriously it is such a rush and our group probably what made it so great. Our guide was awesome and there were also 2 Canadians and 2 Swedes as well with us.

Before Rafting

After Rafting! 

After the rafting we headed back into the city and visited this traditional Maori village and burial ground near a thermal lake. The carvings were so intricate and amazing to see as well as the buildings. Maori culture seems similar to the other Pacific Islander tribes; it’s very interesting to learn about and see. Another awesome thing we noticed there was that there was steam coming out of the earth everywhere, out of sewer vents, the lakes, everywhere because of the thermal activity in the area. Before heading back to the hostel we took a walk around the Green and Blue lakes. There actually was a noticeable difference in color however I felt like the blue lake looked greener than the green lake and vice versa, ironically. Our 5 k walk through the forest surrounding the lake was really peaceful and beautiful. Back at the hostel we made some cheesy pasta for dinner and chatted with some Aussie travelers for a while before heading back to our room. Our room had 6 beds in it so the 4 others in our room were from Spain. We chatted for a while before bed with them about the differences between here and Spain and what they were doing here in NZ. Apparently they are studying in Aussie but came to NZ for holiday.

look at the bumps on these leaves. they look perforated but that's just straight up nature! 

 1/23/14

The only thing about Rotorua that is off-putting is the putrid smell of sulfur all the time but its part of what makes the area so interesting so I guess we’ll have to pardon it. At 10 am we had an appointment to Zorb which is like a human-size hamster-ball that you fill with warm water and roll down a hill in. how fun is that? You’re right it was a total blast! We had so much fun. Everyone should definitely do it at least once although I’m not sure it’s worth the money for 30 seconds of fun, it was still really fun! Alessandra and I headed over to the Kuirau Thermal Park, which is a collection of thermal hot spots/ pools in the designated area. You could see how the heat had affected the land, plants and different sediments to create interesting formations, holes, and colors. There was a public hot pool there which was really cool to feel how hot the water was naturally from the earth. Next we headed out of the city toward Takapo to find the “hot and cold river” and “kerosene creek” (home of the highest HOT water fall in NZ, maybe the world). The Hot and cold river was really cool because there is a one way bridge and literally on one side it was so hot that I could only go in calf-deep because the water temperature was so hot and on the other side it was much cooler so we could go all the way in to our shoulders. Near the same area was the Kerosene creek but while we were on the way there we found this outrageously green lake. I’m not going to lie; I kind of was hoping that I could after I swam in it I would wake up with super powers or something the next day! It was a beautiful lake and eerily green but unfortunately, I didn’t wake up with super powers…oh well I guess I’ll have to try again at the next crazy colored lake I find! We journeyed on further down the road and found the Kerosene Creek hot waterfall. It’s amazing that just a short way down a path there was a nearly hidden waterfall. The water was so warm and relaxing so we spent a couple hours in the hot pools and natural hot waterfall. I think it was nearly 3 or 4 meters high, which is the highest hot waterfall in NZ for sure, possible in the world! After we were done at the waterfall we headed back to Cambridge to sleep and get ready for the Music festival in the morning. I introduced the deliciousness of S’mores to her. Unfortunately they do not have traditional graham crackers here so I had to use a substitute of Scottish shortbread cookies instead but it still worked and was yummy! She loved them and they were a total success of course! 

1-24-14

Parachute Music festival! So I went to my first ever music festival with Alessandra today. I’m afraid we may have been a wee bit tired but I think we still enjoyed it. Even though we were only there for one day we had a great time listening to different artists and groups. There were also some amazing dance crews there as well. We ended up seeing 14 out of 30 shows that were played that day. Some of my favorites were the Soorleys which is a family band from Australia, Lisa Crawley, a funky alternative/indie type music. Ruby Frost Half Noise where some of the highlights. We basically stage hopped the whole time and got to see a variety of artist from different genres as well as some dance groups like Fresh Movement which were completely amazing! Overall the music festival was awesome and we were happy with our day when we got home around midnight and headed to bed afterward.

1-25-14

The next morning I said goodbye to Alessandra, my German travel mate, at the bus station in Hamilton where I boarded an intercity bus to Auckland. When I got into the city I went straight to Aotea Square to meet up with Theresa and pick up our Color run Packets. After we were checked in and had our gear we headed home on a bus and I relaxed and un-packed the rest of the afternoon. After all I needed to catch up on a bit of sleep before I ran a 5k in the morning!

1-26-14

 Theresa met me outside my house and another group of Au Pairs picked us up on their way to the Color run. There were seriously thousands of people there. After searching for ages we finally were able to meet up with Zoe and her friend Morghan from France. Even though we stayed together during the race we ended up getting separated at one point but we all had a blast during the after-concert! Honestly after the 5K we were hardly colored at all; it’s at the concert where all the color fun happens. By the end we were all drenched in color and met up with our friends and head back to Auckland. It was a super fun experience and even though I’m definitely not a runner we had a great time and I would totally suggest it to anyone!