Learning Opportunity

Activities In New Zealand

By: Paden Cuthill

Date: January 27, 2010

Hi there! We have learned from three outstanding activities that New Zealand has many exciting sights and animals. The three activities were exploring Aoraki/Mount Cook, horse trekking, and encountering dolphins. For each of those activities we learned a couple interesting facts.

Firstly, at Aoraki we learned that Sir Edmund Hillary (the first person to climb Everest) trained climbing Mount Cook so that he would be prepared for the great expedition up Everest. At Aoraki we went to the Southern most sky observatory where we learned about the vastness of the universe, the millions of galaxies and the black holes that are 10,000 times the mass of our sun and warp time. Aoraki was a great pedagogic experience; it even has snow.

Secondly, horse trekking was a stupendous activity. We went trotting through a scintillating, sapphire colored river. Walked up steep slippery, slimy mud hills. The horses were outstanding when we did those things. They walked at a marvelously, smooth pace and they didn’t buck either. My dad’s horse tried to run-away with him on it and my brother’s horse followed. My mom’s horse tried to continually nip my horses butt.It was extremely funny. We learned that if you treat your horse nicely it will treat you nicely.

Lastly, when we encountered dolphins we went on a boat that took us into the Pacific Ocean. There we jumped into the water and swam with the dusky dolphins. We learned that we have to entertain the dolphins, not the other way around. The best way to entertain a dolphin is to sing. If we didn’t entertain the dolphins at least we entertained the crew left on the boat with our singing. When we saw the dolphins there were about three hundred of them. The dolphins liked to chat to one another. They were fantastic animals in their natural habitat, the sea.

Overall we learned quite a bit. It was a superlative experience.

Miss You All

Paden + Family

Lochmara Lodge

Hi! Two days ago we "tramped" 18.6 kms into Lochmara Lodge, which is a resort on the South Island of New Zealand. Swimming in the bay late at night we saw phosphorescence in action. Tramping about during the day we learned about how New Zealand has reforested trees.

Firstly, I’d like to talk about the phosphorescence. Phosphorescence is a reaction from good algae eating bad bacteria. When I dove into the dark, murky water at 10:00p.m. it chilled my body. My first thought was to get out immediately but as I stayed in the water a luminescent glow was emitted from my body. It looked like my body was sending sparks in different directions as I moved in the water. It was the coolest thing I've seen this trip!

Lastly, the reforestation that has happened in New Zealand is quite significant. New Zealand is reforesting because they are selling their trees to make 13% of New Zealand's money. Lochmara started planting trees but all of a sudden they weren’t planting them and the trees were growing like crazy. Reforesting will always be a big project for NZ.

We had a fabulous time there!

Miss U Guys very much!

Paden + Family

Sailing

Hi there! A couple of days ago we went on a week long sailing trip! We were having a lot of fun on the boat. We didn't usually sail, we motored.

When we were sailing we got up to 8 knots with our mainsail and jib up. The waves got really rough, the wind was howling, our voices were lost in the wind! We were rocking from side to side, while the waves splashed on the ship! Our lifeline on the boat was skimming the water; it felt like we were sinking. Our mast almost touched the sparkling, luminescent water. We all got a little sea sick. It was a fabulous experience!

When we were motoring we only got up to 3 knots. We saw some dolphins! Closely, the dolphins were swimming by our boat. Graciously the dolphins would swim stealthily through the water! They were like a needle sewing fabrics together. Sparkling in the sun the dolphins gave us a show!

We where on our way to Russell when we saw the dolphins. In Russell we saw a Fig tree/Ficus Mactophillia that was planted in 1876. Unique, rough, knotted, smaller, branches engrossed the tree trunk!

Miss U Guys

Paden + Family

Waimarino

Hi there! Today we went to Waimarino. It is an awesome adventure park with a Blob, a Gladiator Pole, and a Hydro Slide.

First, of all I’d like to inform you guys about the Blob! The Blob is a big air mattress on a river. One person sits on the Blob on the far side of the river. The other person stands on a 50 foot platform above the Blob and jumps down on the close side of the Blob. Then the person on the far end is launched into the air. If you don’t land on your bum when you hit the river you get really bruised. I launched my brother, my dad launched me, and a stranger launched my dad. I was the one that went the highest. We felt excitement rush through our bodies as we soared through the air. When you hit the water it feels like hitting cement. It was outstanding!

Secondly, I’d like to talk about the Gladiator Pole! The Gladiator Pole is a pole over top of the river. It stands on two triangle ends that float on top of the river. One person on one side of the pole and the other person on the other end of the pole. Then the two people wrestle and try to make the other person fall into the water. When one person (or both people) fall into the water it is over and the last one to fall in wins. It is really fun!

Lastly, I’d like to talk about the Hydro Slide! The Hydro Slide is a water slide! It's like no ordinary water slide though; you go down in a kayak instead of on your bum! You can go forwards or backwards. The Hydro Slide has a drop-off at the end of the slide! When you get to the bottom of the water slide you land in the dark, deep river! It’s very fun to go down backwards! After, when you’re on the water, you glide about 20 feet! It was amazing!

Waimarino is an awesome adventure park that was made for kids! They have many more activities than were mentioned in the paragraphs above!

Hahei Beach

Hi there! Today we went to Hahei Beach! The sand was a nice brown, the waves were a crimson blue, the tide was crashing in delight, the sun was shining cheerfully on us; it was the perfect day! We also went to Hot Water beach where we dug in the sand and got hot water. You had to sit in the water when the tide came in otherwise you got scalded. We had a really nice pool! It was the perfect temperature, and the perfect length. Underneath the sand was geothermal activity that heated the water. This is the same thing at Rotorua. Hot Water Beach was overly crowded with people at the "hot spot". You couldn't walk one step without running into another person. It was still an amazing experience!

While at Hahei, we stayed at a friendly Kiwi's bach on top of an exquisite hill. We saw everywhere from where we were staying! The birds were singing their cheerful tune. You could hear the waves crashing and happily meeting the sand!

During one of the days that we stayed there we snorkeled a cave. Going through the peninsula cave we saw tiny fish that were trapped in by the tide. It was pitch black, the water was freezing cold, you could feel fear creeping in as every step you took you could imagine your worst fears. In addition we went through a dry cave that also went through the peninsula. Boulders were everywhere and we had to scramble our way through to the other side. It was absolutely amazing!

We are loving it here in NZ!

Miss U Guys

Paden + Family

Kauri Grove

Today we went to Kauri Grove for a "tramp" which means hike in New Zealand and then a Dairy Farm! At Kauri Grove we saw the Kowhai or Silver Fern which is New Zealand's national flower. We also saw a tree trunk that looked like a duck. We also saw Kauri Trees! Here are some pictures that we took at Kauri Grove!

We didn't take any pictures at the Dairy farm. We were able to milk cows with these suckers that are attached to the teats where you get milk from. Then the machine sucks the milk and puts it in containers. Each cow on a NZ dairy farm produces about 20L of milk each day. My dad also went sailing and caught a cray fish. It was really big!

Rotorua

Hello! Today we saw hot pools at Te Puia. They were scalding hot. Some of the water was green, yellow, orange, and grey. The sulphur in the pools made it change the waters color. It was really stinky. I went bungee jumping from 42 meters (142 feet). My brother did a swoop, that's where he starts high up and swoops down; it is sort of like bungee jumping but in a straight jacket. We both did a free falling simulator. We were flipped and twirled. We also did a ZORB BALL. That's where you climb into a big ball and people fill it with water then zip you in and roll you down a hill. You can choose to go in a zig zag path or straight down. We took some scenery pictures of New Zealand. How are you guys? Are you having fun in school? Did it snow yet? Let us know if anything exciting happens.

Paden + Family