According to Māori legend, Poutini the taniwha (supernatural being) was a guardian of pounamu who swims up and down the west coast of the South Island. One day he travelled north to the Bay of Plenty and came across a beautiful woman named Waitaki and instantly fell in love. Although she was married to another […]
Arahura Greenstone Hunting Read More »
New Zealand is home to five species of kiwis. The brown kiwi is the most common and is only found on the north island. The great spotted kiwi is the largest, while the little spotted is the smallest. The tokeoka can grown larger than the brown kiwi. And then there is the rowi. The rowi
I Helped Save a Rowi Kiwi Read More »
For the final week that the family stayed in Auckland, Aleah and my friend, Miriam, came to visit us. She is super into Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit, so one of the must do activities was to visit Hobbiton. It was far enough away from our Airbnb that we made an overnight trip
Kayaking with Glow Worms Read More »
For my first day of birthday we had two events. The first event was an acting, fighting thing. We weren’t quite sure what it would be till we got there. We knew there would be archery, axe throwing, and fake sword fighting but that was about it. We descended down some stairs and checked in,
Two and a Half Days of Birthday Read More »
Over the weekend Aleah, Mom, Dad, and I, plus Busia and Tee, left Auckland to see a bit more of New Zealand. The first activity we did together was to experience a Māori village. The Māori are the native people of New Zealand, although technically they arrived fairly recently, as recent as just 800 years
Exploring a Māori Village Read More »
One of my first group activities with other kids in New Zealand was Surf Life Rookies Sunday Fun Day. Surf Life is an organization for kids to practice useful pre-lifeguarding skills and have a fun day in and near the water. Rookies is the thirteen year old group which I took part in. The first
