Boiling Mud??

Hello everyone! I've just returned from a three-day weekend in Rotorua and it was fabulous! It is a volcanic area and is actually built in the crater of an active volcano! Crazy! It's a little unsettling to think about while there... I have many stories to tell, but no time to tell them, so here are some pictures for now! I hope all is well! (oh, and the picture of the mud puddle is actually the world's largest boiling mud puddle. cool, huh?)

Have a great day!!

more of Wellington

The photo of the city is taken from the Botanic Gardens in Wellington. I took about a hundred pictures from there because it was so stunning! The other picture is in the Wildlife Sanctuary just outside of Wellington...there were a lot of trees and birds there...

Wellie!

These are photos from Wellington. The statues are right on the waterfront and the other photo is of Cook Strait from the backside of Te Papa...

Swimming Sports!

Woops

So for the last week or so, I've been thinking that I had already posted pictures from swimming sports and athletics day...turns out I didn't! My apologies- I will have pictures up tomorrow sometime.

I went to Wellington over the weekend and had a great time! I decided to take the cheap route and stayed in a shared room at a hostel in the center of town. I spent two nights sleeping in a room with five other girls, three of which were from Germany, one from Holland and one from Japan. It was really incredible to meet so many people, but sharing a room with them was a whole other story. Let's just say we had one girl who snored all night, one who stayed out all night, one who got up long before the sun both mornings, and one who had a nasty habit of turningn on the light when she came in after midnight. To say the least, sleep was not something I experienced in Wellington.

I did experience a whole bunch of other stuff though. I went to Te Papa, which is NZ's most famous museum, and saw the Monet exhibit, along with tons of exhibits on NZ culture. I went to a botanical garden, rode a cable car on a track that has been in use since 1900, visited a wildlife sanctuary (but since there is no native wildlife here other than birds, I pretty much just saw birds and trees), went to a jazz festival, and yes, I visited Starbucks. It was a wonderful weekend! I've been told Wellie (as the locals say) is the most beautiful city in the world, and I believe it! It's at the edge of a hill and right on the water, so it's very compact and accessible. The people are friendly and helpful and it seems that everywhere I went, I heard a different language being spoken. I'm quite disappointed that I won't get to spend more time in Wellie while I'm here because I feel like there was so much more to see! But, I saw the main things, had a great time, and came home with sore feet and completely sleep deprived- and not quite ready for a new week at school!

School has been going really well. I am now teaching four classes full time and am loving it. The students are great and the staff is more supportive than I ever could have hoped for. The work keeps me quite busy, so I find that I have very little time during the week for anything other than lesson planning. This is probably a good thing though, because most everything in Havelock closes around 5...

I hope everyone is doing well and dealing with all the snow! The weather here has made a turn and is getting rather chilly in the evenings. I would guess that it dropped to at least 60 degrees today! I have become so used to the heat that I had to put on long pant, socks and a sweater...

So long Lionel Richie...

What I can say about paradise is, when it rains, even though it is quite beautiful, it is boring! The thing about natural beauty is it's only fun when a person can explore it. When it is doing something the locals call "soaking rain", there is just no exploring to be done. It rained so much last weekend that a Lionel Richie concert set for Saturday night was cancelled, sending 28,000 fans home disappointed and soaking wet (and probably slightly intoxicated being as though the concert was meant to be held at a winery). I spent the weekend, or at least part of it, at Lake Taupo. I was going to post a picture, but decided it was just not exciting enough. I will describe it though...picture me in my rain jacket, squinting because I'm being sprayed in the face by rain, standing in front of a waterfall. Sadly enough, that was the only "picture worthy" thing I did over the weekend.

My readers who are teachers will appreciate this...Last Friday, the school held their annual swimming sports. Imagine 600-800 high school students separated into their four houses, decked out in their house colors and togs (swimming suits), standing around the public pool, participating in races and relays from 8:45am until 2:30pm. It was madness! We had another competition today called Athletics, which is essentially track and field day, but this one went on until 3:30! I will post pictures of these events so you can fully appreciate the madness of it all. Oh, and no big deal but my house, Rata, one both competitions. (I love having houses...it feels so harry potterish...)

I'm off to Wellington this weekend to see a Monet exhibit, visit a natural history museum, soak up some local artsy stuff and learn to Kayak in Cook Strait...I'm staying in a hostel for the very first time and will be sharing a room with six people! If you know me, you know what a huge step it is for me to actually share space with that many people. :) I'm looking forward to it. And for you Lord of the Rings fans, next weekend (I hope) I will be tramping along an 8-hour trek where some filming for the second? movie was done!

More pictures...

In Napier every year, they hold a large festival called Art Deco Weekend. It is a celebration, but also a way of remembering people who were killed in an earthquake that flattened the town in the late 1920's. When the town was rebuilt in 1930 something, it was done entirely in Art Deco, which was the style of the time. To help with the celebration, people dress up in styles from the 20's, drive their classic cars in a parade, enjoy listening to bagpipes, and watch tons of performers do traditional dances from all over Europe. It's amazing! I went on Saturday and took on the role of undercover photographer. I asked a few people for their picture, but found it much more fun to be sneaky...here are my best shots...

My apologies...I still haven't figured out how to type next to pictures, so please bear with me.... The photo on top is a stunning mother and child, dressed for a hot afternoon in town. At the time, and still now, they don't look even look real!

The photo of the pregnant woman ins my favorite. She is actually posing for another photographer in this shot. She is standing in the garden that serves as a memorial for the 170 or so people who died in the earthquake. There is such a peaceful expression on her face; she seems content in her life and the life she's carrying.

The picture of the couple walking together was another of my favorites. They had just posed for a picture and were walking away from the photographer. Not only are they beautiful people, but they look so happy! I fell completely in love with them after seeing this photo!

And finally, there is a picture of a couple riding old bicycles. I chose to include this picture only because I liked it...not for any significant or profound reason.

I hope you enjoy my pictures as much as I did taking them! Take care!