My Last Weekend!

This weekend was my last in New Zealand. It was definitely one to remember!

Thursday night I babysat my host sisters and our Nana took us and some of the cousins to see Christmas lights in a nearby neighborhood. For those of you in Wisconsin, it is kind of like Candy Cane Lane, except you can park your car and walk! It was super cool to see and the Christmas cheer was evident.

One of the cousins and Boo!

The street:

A Christmas Kiwi :)

Friday night was the Year 6 graduation disco dance. During the day was a formal graduation ceremony and the disco was the fun part! All the students and teachers dressed up and we danced the night away (until 8pm). The parents at Tiri go ALL out for the graduation, with a huge variety of food for dinner and decorations, including a full red carpet. There was a DJ in the hall (auditorium) with a really fun playlist.

Me and the girls ;)

Saturday morning Jess, Miriana, and I left bright and early at 6:15 to head to Rotorua. Miriana often vacations in Rotorua with the fam, so she was the perfect person to show us around! On our way there, Jess took the Hobbiton tour and Miriana and I went shopping for awhile. I was pretty exhausted from the night before so I spent a lot of time sleeping in the car as well, haha.

We got to Rotorua and had lunch at a really yum lunch of chicken teriyaki and sushi (my favorite). Then we found our motel and then headed to Te Puia, a large cultural center with performances, a geyser, a Kiwi bird sanctuary, which all finances a wood carving and weaving college where students come to learn those traditional Maori art forms.

First we attended a traditional cultural performance, which was SO cool. There was a haka, a love song, and many other songs performed by the singer. This all took place in a (not official) marae (ma-die), which is the traditional meeting place of an iwi (e-we) or community of Maori people. It was such a special time to respect New Zealand's native culture.

This is the marae:

Here is the group performing a song and dance.

After the performance, we headed on a guided tour through the whole center. Our tour guide was AMAZING!! She was so knowledgeable and passionate about Maori culture and the other parts of Te Puia. There was a honeymooning couple on our tour with us and she weaved a rose for the husband to give to his new wife!

Te Puia runs a weaving and carving university for students to learn traditional Maori skills, and we were able to walk through the school as well.

There was a really beautiful rose garden by the Rotorua museum and I thought I should snap a few pictures for my dad!

We drove out to the famous Green and Blue lakes, both just a few minutes away from Rotorua. They lived up to their names! Green Lake was a gorgeous emerald green and Blue Lake was so beautiful. The pictures don't do them justice.

Saturday night we went to a Redwood tree walk. It was one of the coolest experiences! We got to walk on bridges three stories up, suspended among the huge Redwood trees, and it was at night, too. There are lights throughout the walk hanging amongst the trees that are made from tree waste and they are incredibly beautiful. Here's a link to see pictures of it!:

http://www.treewalk.co.nz/en_US/

After that we got ice cream and went to bed, still tired from the disco and then a full day of sightseeing! Sunday morning we checked out of our motel and started heading back to Auckland, stopping in Hamilton along the way. My host dad's sister lives there and met us at a botanical gardens (that was free!), where we spent the morning walking through them. They were so beautiful! Each garden had a different theme, including a Japanese contemplation one, an American modernist garden, an Indian one (pictured below), amongst many others.

There were also many gazebos throughout the garden.

And a garden based on a book written by a Kiwi author in the 1800s about setting up a garden party. The house kind of reminded me of the Gilmore Girls house!

After that we headed to brunch and I ate the MOST amazing, yummy Buddha Bowl!!! It was seriously so delish I had to take a picture which is out of character for me, haha!

When we arrived back to our house, we hosted the Year 5 team over (Miriana is the Year 5 team leader) for dinner and drinks! It was a great way to spend the last part of a weekend.

Sunday night I looked out my window and saw this view, so I had to snap a picture. As the sun sets on my time in New Zealand, 'thankful' is the only word I can come up with.