Raglan and the Extreme

During my last week of student teaching, Darnie took McKenzie and I to Raglan so that we could enjoy the beauty of the coast. I have been to quite a few different places in New Zealand, but Raglan is by far my favorite place. I wish we could have spent more time there. I was enthralled with how calm the water looked for as far as my eyes could see. There wasn't anything in the distance except water; no islands, no buildings, etc. We pulled up to the hill top as the sun was setting behind the clouds, which cast some perfect colors on the sea.

While McKenzie and I walked along the beach, Darnie went into town for fish n chips. The sand was a dark sand, unlike the light colored sand you usually see when you stroll along the beach. During the day the sand gets exceptionally hot because of its dark coloring. The color didn't change the way the sand felt between my toes. It was such an enjoyable little stroll.

Upon Darnie's return, we learnt that along with the fish n chips she also purchased a fried Moro bar for us to share. A Moro bar is a candy bar native to New Zealand. It is chocolaty and caramely and nougaty. Fry it up and you have a delicious treat.

Enjoying our deep friend chocolate

I am so glad I was able to experience the beauty of Raglan. This is a hot surfing spot for many people. Last Wednesday I actually shook hands with a world famous surfer who lives in Raglan and frequents that very beach. He goes by the name of DK. I learnt that he has surfed all over the world but one of his favorite places to surf is Banzai Pipeline in Oahu (which I have also been to) because that's where he gets to ride some of the biggest waves.

Me and McKenzie

Last week was my final week of student teaching. I finished teaching on Thursday and I felt as free as a bird. No more studying, no more tests, no more classes, no more university responsibilities (with the exception of my closing seminar). Evelyn (my aunt) and her friend Beth decided to spend their spring break in New Zealand. They traveled along 90 Mile Beach for their first part of the trip and then met up with me in Hamilton on my last day of teaching. In celebration of my completion of student teaching, we enjoyed a delicious homemade lasagna with the Polley family. Friday morning we headed off to Rotorua to go...ZORBING! This was my goal while in New Zealand. I wanted to do lots of things while there but the thing that absolutely HAD to be done before I left was zorbing.

Zorbing began in New Zealand and currently it is the only place in the world where you can do it. However, I learnt that they are opening a zorbing place in Tennessee so those of you that want to go but are low on the funds to get to New Zealand, head to Tennessee instead.

Zorbing is basically rolling down a hill in a large, inflated, plastic ball. Some people prefer to go dry, meaning they are strapped inside the ball as it rolls down and they go upside down and everything. This just sounded sickening to my stomach and I had heard that going wet was much more fun. So I went the wet route. I suited up (kept the socks on because 1-wearing socks with your swimming suit is totally sexy and 2-they recommended that you keep them on) and got excited.

This is a zorb

Taking my zorb (without me) to the top of the hill

Excited and ready to go



Taking me (without my zorb) to the top of the hill



Once to the top, they put water (blessed warm water) inside the ball and I dove right in (literally dove; they said I had to dive in with a running start and according to Evelyn and Beth I had a really good dive)



If you look closely, you can see that I am standing up inside

The man unlocked the gate and told me to start walking forward. So I did. And down the hill I went.



The ball rolled and I sloshed around inside the water (there are many ways to liken this experience with being a fetus) I sloshed around in the fluids...



You can see me inside! It's like an ultrasound!

And sloshed some more



My head is near the exit, perfect birthing position, right?

I never went upside down, just moved around a lot but I still managed to feel a little dizzy.



Ready to greet the world

This part is different; it's not safe to come out feet first when actually in labor



But it's the same in the sense that once you're out, all of the water comes rushing out with you

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!



It's a girl!

On Saturday we hadn't had enough excitement so we went luging! I hadn't ever been luging before and I quite enjoyed this experience. A gondola took us up the mountain. These kinds of things always make me nervous because we're so high off the ground and the cable could snap at any moment! (Yet flying in an air plane even higher in the air doesn't concern me a bit! Strange...) We made it safely to the top though and picked out our sexy helmets which we were required to wear for the luging and the lift rides back up (basically the next two hours).

Inside our gondola

Our sexy helmets



Waiting for our luges



After taking the scenic route (which is required for every one's first ride) we took the lift back up and were able to see the tracks and people coming down



I waited up top so that I could take some pictures of Evelyn and Beth. I also took a few scenery pictures while I waited.



The second time around, Evelyn decided to be brave and take the intermediate track



And Beth decided to keep on the scenic track



After our second run, Evelyn rode up the lift alone. Brave soul



When we reached the bottom of the hill, we loaded our luges on the conveyor belt, hopped on the lift, and headed up for more!



Beth coming down the scenic track



Evelyn coming down the intermediate track



After our third run, I felt brave enough to ride up the lift by myself. (I just don't like how unstable those things are!)



I even got brave enough to take a cool picture!

Evelyn and I both ended up on the advanced track for our last ride while Beth continued on the sceneic track. The advanced track was pretty fun and if I were to go again, I would skip the intermediate and go right to the advanced! I have a need for speed and there are more hills on the advanced track which provides a lot more speed.

After luging we went to the Kiwi House and took a little tour.

We got to see some kiwis in a natural habitat. We also heard a kiwi's mating call, which according to our tour guide doesn't happen often; she's only heard it a few times. Lucky us! It was a fun little tour. Kiwis are interesting birds with really no point in life. The female lays eggs, the male incubates them, the female goes somewhere else to lay more eggs, the male incubates them. Neither the male nor the female help the baby kiwis learn how to provide and live; they just supposed to know. They spend their lives eating, mating, laying eggs, and incubating. Yet for some reason, New Zealand feels the need to preserve this unique animal and that's where the Kiwi House (where we took our tour) comes into play. It was a very interesting tour.

We stayed with the Polley's on Saturday night and then drove to Aukland on Sunday. It was an interesting Easter Sunday because we didn't go to church. Everyone in New Zealand was watching General Conference so we wouldn't have had typical Easter services anyway. We shopped, took pictures on the pier, ate lunch, and found our hotel out by the airport.

We parked at Sky City which is right next to the Sky Tower which is a lot like the Space Needle in Seattle. We opted to not go to the top but Evelyn and I toyed with the idea of bungying from the top. As it turns out, they don't offer bungy jumping services, they only allow jumping services. There's nothing bungy about it. You jump and you free fall and then slowly land on a target. It was ridiculously expensive so we opted out and watched instead.

Here she comes...and BOOM she's landed

The Aukland Sky Tower

I stayed with Beth and Evelyn in a little hotel until about 3:30am when they took me to the airport for my flight to Australia...