A Pickled Parrot, Rain, and Squished Ginger Kisses

Well this week has been an adventure. At school I have been taking more and more responsibility with my teacher having me teach the whole day because he had to be out for commitments with the school. So we have been pretty much thrown head first right into teaching.

A picture of my classroom and my lovely students busy at work.

Nothing like getting a note from a student!!

Wednesday was Halloween and boy did we have fun making scary stories using our spelling words and then reading them with a flashlight around our campfire. I read The Cremation of Sam McGee some found it scary some didn't but thats okay they are older so it is hard to get used to what that age is like. We also got together with room 13 (Elizabeth's class) for some murder mystery dinner party and relay races outside. They got to act like frankenstein, a pirate, spider and a ghost and boy was that fun! I dressed up like Katniss just with a braid and army pants so nobody really knew but in my heart I was all dressed up for Halloween. I also got to pass out candy to all the neighborhood trick or treaters which was very few compared to at home. One boy even gave me a huge hug for giving him candy a far cry from the crazy kids at home.

My students were very interested in Hurricane Sandy and if all of my friends and family at home were safe. So we looked at some pictures and a map of where everything happened so they could get a better understanding of what exactly did happen and what a hurricane even is for some of my students. Everyone here has had us all in their prayers and are very concerned which was very sweet and kind of them.

On Friday right after school we were headed up to the Bay of Islands in Paihia. It started off going all wrong right from the beginning as we headed to the train we ran to the other side only to find out that one was not our train so we had to run to the other side for the one we already were at. I am sure everyone thought we were nuts. Then we got on the naked bus just the company we did not have to get naked! haha but that was quite the experience with winding and twisting roads the driver went very fast but it still took us a very long time to get there. When we finally did reach our destination at 9 at night we then had to find our backpacking hostel never thought I would stay at one of those and it was a very nice experience. When we finally did find the sign to the Pickled Parrot our place we were walking up the driveway and out of nowhere a huge pot hole came up and grabbed my leg making me fall hard on the ground. I was fine only a scraped knee and m dignity gone the real causality was the delicious ginger kisses which is my new favorite cookie here. They were nicely tucked in my bag waiting for the moment when Elizabeth and I would eat everyone of them. Well when I fell the thing that stopped me was in fact the ginger kisses in my purse :( When I took them out they were all smushed in one big mess. That was not the last of things to go wrong oh no there is more. Once at the Pickled Parrot the lady said she had been expected us and that our cruise was in fact cancelled for Saturday so we had to call Ross by 10 which did not give us much time. Ross said he would hook us up with a nice dolphin cruise and so we would see him in the morning.

Once we woke up we were so excited ready to leave everything behind us until we opened the door and it was raining. Well we got ready put our big girl pants on and made the best of it. Once we got to the ferry and met Ross he was a very nice Australian who gave us a nice deal on the dolphin cruise a free ferry ride to Russel (a small island with the first church in New Zealand and many other interesting facts) and a free hot drink of our choice. A good deal this day was looking up!

We got on board our dolphin cruise and even though it was raining we knew we had to make it the best we could because when is another chance we will get back to the Bay of Islands...probably never. So we had a good time laughing and joking and getting wet from the rain and still managed to get some magnificent pictures which just shows you how beautiful this country really is.

This is Turtle Island!

And yes we did see dolphins...we were at the front just like Jack on Titanic!

We were headed out to the farthest point on the Island which is called Motukokako or Hole in the Rock. We were actually going through the hole in rock. On the way there it was raining pretty good but that didn't stop us we wanted a good spot so we stayed on the top and rode out the waves. This rock is just in the middle of the water and we made it all the way through without hitting anything. It was incredible and we got some good pics with our spot. There was also a very cool lighthouse on a hill that was in operation until the 1970's you can even see the house where the light keeper lived along with the path they took to get to the lighthouse.

Our hike!

One of my favorite parts of the day was the stop at Oteheibay which is an Island that American writer Zane Grey used to live on. Now people can come and camp here but you have to make it their first it would be quite the boat trip alone. When we got off the boat right away the colors of the trees and grass blew me away everything is so green and lush here. We decided to go on the walking trail which was actually more like a hike up a mountain but all the pain in my calves was worth.The view was magnificent with the clashing of both hills and meadows and ocean. I think New Zealand is a really nice mixture of what I imagine Ireland to be like and then Caribbean areas it is really amazing to see.

 

Once we climbed back down we toured a few more places but it got so rainy we stayed inside. We then got the opportunity to go over to Russel which is a nice little Island that has some cute little shops and the oldest church in New Zealand. The have a lot of history here with the Maori people and then the settlers. This Islands was a major harbor and had a bad name for having over 30 bars and brothels for sailors to take a rest. When we got there we were starving so we thought what a great chance to try some fish and chips fresh right from the water. We went to a little place called Sally's and boy was it good. It even makes my mouth water from the picture. When we got done eating it started pouring so we hopped back on the ferry and went back to out place for a cat nap. Once we woke up we ventured back into town but most shops were closed so we got a nice dinner and back to the Pickled Parrot for some fudge and movie time.

In the morning we were back on the bus and back in Auckland in no time! It was not exactly the weekend we planned for but we did have some laughs and good times even when everything went wrong. Well it is Sunday night here so we have school tomorrow full control now hope my kiddos like poetry and electronic communication which we are starting tomorrow. I hope everyone is doing well I miss you all very much.

Until then cheers.

PS. Dad this is for you. The fish are just starting to make their way back to New Zealand so big game fishing people are all making their way over and in this picture all those little bubbles are thousands of fish looking for food. The captain said he has seen some big marlin come out of these waters. Pretty cool