Easter Holidays

The school system hear has a unique schedule. One school year consists 4 terms that are divided by short, enjoyable vacations, also known as holidays. During my first school holiday I packed up Dora the Explorer, aka my 1990 Honda Concerto, and left Napier heading south for a 2 week excursion of the southern Island. I stopped in Wellington to watch the Hurricanes Rugby game with some friends. After, I caught a 2:00 AM ferry across the Cook Straight which separates NZ’s north and south islands. The ride was easy and the waves rocked me to sleep for most of it. I awoke to find myself on the south Island in the town of Picton at 5:30AM. It was here that Dora and I enjoyed our finest sunrise drive ever. Just north of Kaikoura I came across an early morning surf session. I stopped watch and capture some photographs. Back on my way, my kind nature convinced me to pick up a hitchhiker. He was an odd man, mid-forties, bad odor, and had been jobless for eight years. A few smelly hours later, I finished my pro-bono therapy session and arrived in Christchurch. It was here that I reunited with my parents. After a quick stroll through the botanical garden’s and a dense catching up, the three of us were starting our two-week tour of New Zealand.

On Banks peninsula just outside Christchurch is a small French settlement of Akaroa, where the worlds smallest dolphins live. Kind of cool but not as fun as the one track road with “no tar seal” we chose to drive on to get there.

A pleasant drive through Canterbury’s farm lands lead to Mt. Cook New Zealand’s highest peak.

“ If that’s central Otago Pinot Ill be back for that as well”… Central Otago is home to great wine, snowboarding, bungee, Queenstown and heaps of tourists.

Hey all,

I have recently finished my first term of teaching down in NZ and am enjoying my first school holiday. It was a bit of a challenge to get used to a whole new school system but after a few novas mistakes I think I am getting the hang of it. I finished school on Thursday and spent the night with teaching friends drinking beers, playing guitars, and singing songs while looking out over Hawkes bay from atop hospital hill in Napier. The next day I drove down to Wellington and caught up with some old friends while we watched the Hurricanes tie the Crusaders in a controversial rugby test. After the game I was off to catch a 2:30 AM ferry to the south island. Caught a few “z’s” on the boat then was off for a sunrise drive down the east coast of the south island… Beautiful! I noticed some surfers in the water on the drive down so I figured it was a great place to take a break from driving and just enjoyed the sunrise while watching some southern rippers.

A few minutes south of the surfers I picked up a hitchhiker and rode with this crazy dude for the next two hours until I got to Christchurch. I am not sure about picking up hitchhikers but after thins guy I may hold off for a while. When I got to Christchurch I got a phone call from my parents and with perfect timing we both met up at the hotel.

Being the favorite child in my family it was no surprise that my parents were dying for their chance to come down to New Zealand and visit me. After we met up we spent the next two weeks traveling NZ in my sweet 1991 Honda Concerto. We saw everything from Mt. Cook, Milford Sound, to the beautiful west coast beaches. This Country is awesome!

Art Deco, Napier

Ocean Beach, Napier (my favorite surf beach)

Napier Harbor ( out front of my place)

Ocean Beach, Napier

My whip

West Shore, Napier

Napier

Hope all is well back in the states. I have recently moved up to Napier, a town on the east coast of the North Island, to start teaching. I have been teaching for 4 weeks now and am starting to get used to the different systems. School is really fun but completely different from the United States. I am teaching 2 physics classes, 1 year 11 science, and 2 year 10 science. The school environment is relaxed but the kids seem to be well behaved. They hold doors open and call me sur. Things that I probably don’t deserve. Although they are well behaved, education seems to be underappreciated by most kids. I am enjoying observing the similarities and differences between the schools back home. The schools here involve a lot of Maori tradition and they had a big welcoming ceremony for me and another new teacher during the first week of school. It was a new experience for me but it was really cool.

Napier is a town that was demolished by an earthquake in the 30’s and was rebuilt in an Art Deco style. To celebrate this last weekend was an Art Deco weekend, and everyone in the town dressed up and drove old cars. It was pretty cool the whole town looked like it stepped back in time and everyone got real into the era. My new roommate Rob and I got dressed up and went to a picnic in the park with some friends we met the night before.

Out side of school I have been doing my best to learn how to surf and heading to local spots every chance I get. Two of the teachers at my school are awesome surfers and have been doing their part in teaching me. It is a lot harder than I expected but a lot more fun as well. The surf spots around hear are nice but the only get good swells a couple times a week so you have to be ready to go any time it good. I am also playing soccer with a group of guys from work once a week. We are not that good but we go to the pub for a beer after every game. That might not help us get better but it is sure fun. I have started to learn about cricket and went to my first international test a few weeks ago, and am going to watch New Zealand play Australia next week.

A couple weeks ago I went back down to wellington to see some friends that a heading over seas. We had a “hangi” for one of my friends that is leaving. A “hangi” is where you dig a pit and put hot rocks in the bottom the chuck some meat in there and cover it with dirt after about 7 hours you dig it up and have a feast. This was my first time but I must say that the meat cooked under dirt is pretty tasty.

Hope all is well back home!