I was very fortunate to have the opportunity for my last school visit to be in Thames on the Coramandel Peninsula.  I was also very fortunate that my advisor lent us his beach house so we could afford stay on a few days and get to know the area.  Due to a couple days of pretty solid rain, we did not get to see as much of the peninsula as we had hoped to, but what we did see was fabulous.  I have added it to the list of places I hope to visit again some day.

I visited the Moanataiari School where there is outdoor learning happening every day of the week. They were so welcoming and had so much going on that I felt like it was a wonderful grand finale for my school visits.  They have amazing outdoor murals.  The one I love the most is of animals, and little leprechaun, to represent the countries where the students are from.

Things have been pretty chilly and often windy and rainy around Wellington for the past few months, so it was a welcome break to get two amazing days of warm, sunny weather while we were there.  When I say warm, I'm talking 70 degree max, not warm-warm, but warm enough to put on my swimsuit and hang out on the beach for Mother's Day.

Since our return, I've mainly been sitting at the kitchen table trying to finalize my project and write all of the reports that are due to Fulbright USA and Fulbright NZ.  Additionally, I have a presentation coming up that I am preparing for next week at the Victoria University Wellington, my host university.

We had a surprisingly eventful Monday evening last week.  Den got it in her head that she needed to try Beef Wellington while she is in Wellington, although it wasn't really named for the city. However we were all game to go along.  After all it was a great excuse to hang out one more time before she and Tim headed back to Washington.  While we were at the restaurant, David Koechner was seated next to us.  As it happens, my friend Seth had met him a couple weeks before and was invited to play background music for a gig of his. He and Seth got to talking and decided to go over to the open mic comedy night at the bar down the road, so we all joined.  It is hard to top when you begin your week with something that fun.

I feel so lucky that I happened into taking Kura 211 which was a Maori pedagogy class geared toward pre-service teachers.  I learned so much about the dual cultural education system here, and it has really prompted my thinking about creating space in my classes to honor the cultures within our community.  We had a lovely time of reflection during our last class day, and the we share kai (food).  The students in the class loved the bookmarks I gave them that my students at Cunningham had made for me to share.

I am also very happy to have made a friend of my instructor.  Craig and his fiance live here in Island Bay, so we have had the opportunity to hang out with him socially.  They both have spunky personalities.  He and Patrick seem to be kindred spirits of some sort, and last night Craig started teaching Patrick the basics of scuba diving....in his hot tub.

Tuesday night was bitter sweet.  We had a great indoor picnic at the empty flat of Den and Tim. As always it was fun hanging out with the group and doing crazy things that Den suggests, however, as Seth put it, there was a great elephant in the room.  No one wanted to talk about Den and Tim's time in New Zealand coming to its end, which, of course, means we are all shortly after.  Poor Den had to go straight back into the classroom with not even one day to recover from the flight.

One other special thing that happened this week is that Zelda got to perform on the welcoming side of the Powhiri at her school.  A Powhiri is a Maori welcoming ceremony.  It usually takes place at a Marae, but many of the schools here are now using them to welcome new students into their communities.  When we arrived Zelda was welcomed to Island Bay like this.  On Wednesday she got to help welcome the students who are starting school at the beginning of term 2.

The first thing I have to say about the South Island is that we did NOT have enough time there! We had eleven days, but it simply wasn't long enough.  Every time we turned a corner their was a new and spectacular view.  I could happily spend two months just hiking around.

We started our trip with a visit to the Okarito School House on the west coast.  It is now available to be rented out as a bunk house, and we were able to sleep there while visiting the glaciers.

By far, visiting the glaciers was the most exhilarating and saddest part for me.  We got to see four stunning glaciers that are rapidly disappearing.  If we ever do get to go back, they will likely be completely melted.  We saw the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers from the west side of the island. Then on our return we drove up the center to Mount Cook National Park and got to see the Tasman and Hooker Valley Glaciers.  The latter two were harder to see as the moraine walls have been crumbling down on top of them as they recede. 

Along the way we made some videos for my class and stopped at schools I wanted to visit for my project.  There was a lot going on in outdoor education and well developed school grounds that promote outdoor learning on the South Island.  Unfortunately the schools were having their fall break like us.  Fortunately, I had two people, one principal and one teacher, who were willing to meet with me anyway.  One very passionate student even came out on a Saturday to share what they are doing with me.  I really got some good ideas from this school.   There will be more about them on the toolkit page soon.

Due to limited finances, most of our entertainment has come in the form of hiking.  However, we were able to budget for a special tour of the glowworm caves and a short lake cruise at the town of Te Anau.  The cave that that the glowworms were in was amazing on its own, but sitting in complete darkness looking at these tiny little twinkling larvae on light up like stars in the sky put the icing on the cake.

I am constantly amazed at how quickly the time is passing here.  This week it seems to have accelerated even more.  The Stewarts just arrived and they have already left, and tomorrow I will have been here for two months.  That is almost the half-way point of the New Zealand portion of this adventure.

That being said, it was truly an awesome experience having friends from home here to travel with.  Our big adventure was to Rotorua where we found 'hidden' (they were mention on Google, so they weren't really hidden), free hotsprings and mudpots, we watched twilight settle over Lake Rotomo from the yard of our cute little rental house, and we enjoyed a lovely afternoon frolicking and picnicking at Ohope Beach. One the way back we passed through Napier.  It was rebuilt after an earthquake in 1931, so the architecture in the whole town is very Art Deco. More pictures of all the fun are on the Photos and Videos page.

We are also celebrating the birthday of Carlo and Felix who are 12 years this year.  Again a reminder of how fast time flies.  We celebrated with friends at home in January, and they got to have another party with some new friends here.

The past weekend was full of more fun with friends.  We saw Seth play his first big gig here in NZ and we celebrated Kate's birthday.  Our friends, the Stewarts, have arrived safely from Austin, and we got to spend the weekend with them touring around Wellington and Island Bay.  They have gone to the South Island, but we will meet them when they return on Thursday to head off to Rotarua.

Last weekend we had a lot of fun exploring the area.  

Friday, the 6th, was Waitangi Day which commemorates the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi between the British settlers and the Maori people.  There are definitely different interpretations of whether the treaty is being honored properly.  It has been very interesting to hear several perspectives.   Everyone seems to agree that the mis-translation of the original treaty is the cause of the disagreement, but they also seem to agree that the mis-translation was just that and not intended to deceive.  It was suggested to us to go to the festival at Porirua because it is a more multicultural event, so we did, and it was.  We had a really good time.


On Saturday we visited Te Papa Museum in downtown Wellington.  We went to a temporary exhibit on Tyrannosauruses.  Turns out T-Rex was just one type of tyrannosaurus.  We spent three hours at the museum and barely saw half of one of the four floors, so we will be heading back tonight to continue our visit.

Sunday we drove a couple hours to Cape Palliser to see more seals.  We saw a whole colony this time (see the video of the babies on the Photos & Videos page).  It was so exciting!  We also visited the light house which is the southern most point on the North Island of New Zealand.

It has been a busy week.  On Monday we attended a Powhiri (a special Maori welcome) at Victoria University.  We certainly have been made to feel welcome where ever we have gone.
 
We got Zelda enrolled at Island Bay School on Tuesday, just in time to take part in their Powhiri.  We were so excited that we already knew one of the waiata (songs) from the day before. I've been singing it all week.  She is already making new friends.  Her school is very progressive, so I'm looking forward to spending some time there to learn what I can from them.

Felix and Carlo are enrolled at South Wellington Intermediate School (known as SWIS around these parts).  They have to wear uniforms, which is a first for us, but they like not having to think about what to wear in the mornings.  They are very excited to have recess again.  Even the middle schools have playgrounds here!

Both schools offer a lot more time for kids to socialize and have unstructured play.  They get 45-60 minutes for lunch. They have to sit and eat for the first 10 minutes.  After that they are allowed to go play and have a choice of several different areas to choose from.

Bruno and Andrea arrived safely on Wednesday afternoon, which makes our family finally complete here!  I've been making lots of connections, and  I began classes and school visits (see Idea Toolkit page for more info) on Thursday.

All and all, I think we are off to a flash* start. Now it is Friday and time to continue exploring! 

*As far as I can tell the use the word 'flash' like great or awesome.