You Can Haka If You Want To

This was our last full weekend in New Zealand and boy was it an amazing one! We went to Rotarua which is a tourist area for vacations and has many attractions for everyone in the family. On Friday after school we hopped in the car with my host mum and her son along with Elizabeth for a very exciting adventure. There is nothing like a road trip! As we were traveling to Rotorua it stared to rain a little (side note this week has been really rainy and stormy we even had a tornado close by that killed 3 people and injured some as well) from the rain came a perfect double rainbow just like the guy in the youtube video it was so perfect! We had a little bit of singing in the car and before we knew it we were there.

If you look closely: Double Rainbow!

Once we made it to Rotorua we made ourselves at home in a beautiful little condo that Jan was able to get through work. It was really lovely and nice and homey. We had to get some sleep because in the morning the real excitement would begin. We were going to go zip lining through the jungle! This was definitely our adventure while here in New Zealand. They are kind of known for having adventurous stuff here and it is a really nice place for tourists as it gets very popular with many places to stay and explore here. So on Saturday morning we woke up and got to The Canopy Tours which took us in a van to the forest of course we played a quick game of two truths and one lie to get to know one another and before we knew it we were there. Once there we had Dan and Phil as our zip lining and forest experts to show us the way. We got in our harness and helmet on and we were ready to go. They didn't give us much direction but said don't touch anything metal and have fun sounded easy enough. Dan would go across to the other side and Phil would harness us in and then it was take off. One by one we would go across flying through the jungle a lot like Tarzan. At first it was really scary because you feel so unstable and really if something went wrong its a long way down but after the first time it is such an adrenaline rush that you keep wanting to do more. We also got to leanr a little bit about their conservation efforts with various birds in New Zealand. Right now they said there are only about 40,000 Kiwis which is the nickname of the people here so they are really trying to protect them and hope to get the population up. It is so peaceful and quiet out in the forest it was really beautiful and relaxing to walk through.

I'm Coming in Hot Dan!!!

 

Tough Guys: Group Shot

After our incredible zip lining experience we then had to decide what to do next. We wanted to do something outside because it was such a beautiful day so we got in out Togs (bathing suits) and headed out to Kerosene Creek which is in the woods a bit but it is a beautiful creek that is hot all the time it is a natural hot tub! It felt so nice and relaxing even though you would get the smell of eggs (sulfur) sometimes and little tiny pebbles all over in your swimsuit it was a great treat to such an exhilarating morning. We took a drive around town a little bit but then we had to get back because we had a traditional Maori cultural night to get ready for.

The Maori people are the indigenous people of New Zealand. The Māori originated with settlers from eastern Polynesian, who arrived in New Zealand. The culture here is very important to every New Zealander and it is taught in the school we are at right now. It really is a beautiful culture with very strong bonds to each other, their past, and also the future. We got picked up and then went to a village that is a little outside of town. The driver was really funny and we had to pick a chief of our bus to meet with the chief of the village so that we would get accepted in as guests. Our chief was pretty good and he was from America from Michigan even what a small world after all! When we entered the village the people came out and did a dance of peace and offering us into the home. Sometimes they can look really intimidating because they make facial expressions like animals and have tattoos on their bodies which we found out means many different things in their culture. I love watching them move because they are so passionate about every step they take that it makes me wish I had a deeper connection to my own ancestors.

After we were accepted in they had small huts and at each one someone was there waiting to tell us a little bit about what might be happening or what we might see in the village. It was very interesting they had games people might play, weaving, training for people in the army, woodwork and tattooing. Along with the Haka which is any type of traditional dance for men along with what women would do to entertain. The Haka is a type of ancestral war cry dance or challenge that was used to get them pumped and also to intimidate their opponents. I love watching it being performed because even though I'm not getting ready for anything it still fires me up. The All Blacks which is the rugby team here does it before every match I think it is awesome that they take that part of their history and incorporate it into something that everyone can do. Students in my class know the words and will do it sometimes which is awesome because most aren't from Maori descent. 

Agility: Similar to the ladder drill

Haka Men

Weaving

We then got to see a beautiful performance from everyone singing traditional Maori songs and also doing some dancing with weapons and other things they might have done so long ago. As we were learning about the history our dinner was being cooked in the ground. It gave the food a really earthy taste and boy was it delicious. We had chicken, fish, lamb, stuffing, potatoes, kumara, pavlova, and so much more. Needless to say we were stuffed as we walked to the bus. On the way home our bus driver said we all had to be the entertainment so each country had to sing a song that originated form where their homeland. It was so much fun we sang Born in the USA because we didn't know what else to sing but we didn't know much of it! The best part was when we went around the road about probably six times singing She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain just going in a circle. The whole experience was amazing and we had such a blast every step of the way.

Our food cooking!

Sunday was the day, the day we had been waiting for we were going to HOBBITON! Now to some this may not seem like a big deal but to us it was. This is the village they created where the hobbits live in Lord of the Rings it is also known as the Shire. Some of you may recall on Americas Next Top Model they went to New Zealand and did a photo shoot in the hobbit holes yes it was the same place which just added to the excitement. This place is really out of the way and located in the rolling hills on a farm that Peter Jackson found and asked to use to create the Shire. The have over 40 hobbit holes of various sizes to account for all the dwarves and wizards that shoot on set this is the trick they use to make Gandalf look so big! This is the only movie set that has stayed up and looks exactly the same it even has wash hanging on the lines. Our tour guide was really nice and told us all of the little sercrets that happened on set along with things to look for in the movies. It was a gorgeous day and at the end of it we got to have a beer in the Green Dragon Bar what an awesome day Tyra would have been proud of my smizing abilities.

Here are some pictures to show what we saw it would be impossible to describe!

Work that hobbit hole!

And that was our adventure in Rotorua probably one of my favorite weekends we had such a good time and got to do so much it was awesome.

This week at school has been busy with the Christmas concert and getting all loose ends tied up when school is done on Friday. The Christmas concert was quite the experience. For one it was outside which would never happen at home and also it was very family orientated there was a lot of food and people could come and go. We tried a sausage sizzler which is a sausage in a piece of white bread with tomato sauce (ketchup) it was really good but they said they have those at all fundraising events. My class and Elizabeths did a song together called Smile we worked so hard on it that we hoped they would step up to the plate and perform well and they did! It was really fun to see all the syndicates perform and get all dressed up although it did not feel like Christmas!

We have also been working on music and the students in my class got into groups and formed their own bands taking rubbish and making it into rock. Today they had all day to find things to make into instruments and then perform for me the judge. They did such an awesome job and are very very talented in singing and dancing as well. It was such a fun project and great thing to do the last week of school when everyone is ready to be done.

A few of the groups busy at work getting their bands organized!

Today on 12-12-12 we got to see The Hobbit and it was awesome. I read the book when I was a senior in high school and it all started coming back to me as I was watching. It really was awesome to get to be here to see everything especially when they filmed the Shire and we had been to that same place. I can't wait for the next two to come out so i can remember how it ends!

We only have a day and a half with our kids left I don't know where the time went but it sure flew. The weather is so beautiful here right now i am not looking forward to the cold but I am excited to see my family and friends and for it to feel a little bit more like Christmas.

Pohutakowa: NZ's Christmas Tree

 

Not much time left so I will be seeing you all very soon! Get ready America we are coming back home!

Kia Ora