Sri Lanka

So basically we have been feeding elephants, white water rafting, eating, body boarding, swimming, and been under constant cloud cover.  It is rainy season here in Sri Lanka but that makes for really good waves for body boarding which I did yesterday.  I was almost drowned when I accidentally nose dived into a wave.  It felt like forever before the wave let me up.  White water rafting was really fun and after the rapids we were floating down the river and we decided to go for a swim and the guide said that there were vegetarian alligators and when I was in I said to my sister those vegetarian alligators where about to go carnivorous.  It has been really fun here and I might miss it.  There is kind of too much to remember but we have basically done the stuff I listed above oh and we went on a safari but other then that it has been traveling.  I will try to keep up with my blogs even if we do not have internet.

Sri Lanka/Malaysia

I'm not really sure when the last time I blogged was but we have had horrible internet.  So in Malaysia we went and saw temples and botanical gardens and stuff like that.  We met some very nice people including a mom and her daughter who is doing the same thing as us but they are almost done.  If you go to Malaysia all they have to eat there is rice and noodles.  We were sad to leave because we met people and because it was pretty nice.  Then we went to Sri Lanka.  We got here a 5 days ago and it has been pretty fascinating.  So far I have seen Tuk Tuks, fed baby elephants, rode an elephant, seen a cultural dance, walked up over 1000 stairs, saw 2000 year old paintings on ruins, and visited Kandy.  So right now I am in Kandy Land.  I think I like Sri Lanka better then Malaysia because it is cleaner and I feel like there is more to do.  My blogs are going to be every now and then depending on the internet.  Anyway riding elephants was the scariest thing I hace done on this trip.  Feeding baby elephants was really fun and it was like handing somebody food and them grabbing it with there arm.  I HOPE to start the youtube channel today but do not get your hopes up I will let you know in my next blog if it is up or not.

Sad News

So today we went and ate with somebody for brunch and went to drop my dads camera off at a store so he can get it fixed.  When we got back I got my school books so I could do school at the pool.  I finished my first book then got hot and went swimming.  While we were down there somebody came and fixed the internet.  The sad news is my blogs are going to start slowing down because over summer and some during Europe we will not have the best internet so do not expect a blog everyday anymore.

Today

Movies.  That is literally what we did all day.  We watched movies and are still watching movies.  Tomorrow we leave at 6:30 in the morning so we can fly back to Penang.  That is all we did today, nothing interesting.

Les Miserables

Today we went to the mall and were going to look around.  First we went and ate at Chillies and I rank that meal 2nd out of all the meals we have had on this trip.  One reason was it reminded me so much of home and the corn on the cob was amazing.  It would be a regular portion at home but to me it was enough for an elephant.  I ate like a fourth of the chicken, a fork full of mashed potatoes, all the corn, and a slice of bread the size of my palm.  Afterwards I was feeling sick because I ate so much.  Then I kind of really wanted some Starbucks so me and my sister begged my dad until he caved.  Then I asked if I could just go back to the apartment but then realized that might cause a domino affect.  Of course it did and my brother and sister wanted to go home too.  My dad was kind of mad but while they were gone they picked up a few movies.  First of all he got season 2 of Revenge and I was excited about that.  Then I saw they got Les Miserables and had to watch it.  It was pretty good.  It was a lot of singing but it was still good.  Oh yeah I forgot to mention that we think they were pirated movies.  Still we got some good movies then we parted ways.

Lightning

Yesterday we literally sat around watching a movie or blogging.  Later in the afternoon the loudest lightning storm hit.  For maybe 10 minutes we watched the lightning because it was coming down in strikes and the thunder afterwards sounded like you were in a room that echoed a lot while playing the drums as loud as possible.  My dad got his camera and was trying to take pictures of the lightning and got a few.  Across the street workers were working on an apartment complex and the lightning hit while they were up there but they stayed up there until it really started to lightning.  One guy stayed up there but I think he got down pretty soon afterwards.  Then it started pouring down a lot of rain.  After that we ate and Indian dinner and parted ways.

Monkeys, and Falcons, and Toilets Oh My!

Ok so I was too tired to blog yesterday so I am going to do it this morning.  Yesterday we woke up and went on another tour around the city with the same guy and he kept my ipad safe over night so we got it back.  For the beginning of the tour it was only me, my sister, and my dad.  We went to see the national museum and national monument of Malaysia.  Next we went to the palace that was being converted into a museum and it reminded me a lot of my grandma.  After that we were going to go to the orchid park and bird park.  We went to the bird park and it said it was the largest covered bird aviary in the world.  They had lots of cool birds including a Southern Cassowary, Black Swan, and Indian Blue Peafowl.  We also saw an ostrich that was at least 7 feet tall.  We got really hot and started to move a little faster so we would not disintegrate.  We decided to have a small lunch so we would not be starving later.  I had ice lemon tea and we got a fruit plate to share.  If you do not like the way a zoo smells then I suggest not eating papaya.  The other fruits were good though.  After that we decided we did not want to go to the orchid park.  So we went and picked up my brother and mom to go feed the monkeys and falcons.  We were also going to go see fire flys in a boat while going down a river.  We also brought toilet paper with us because sometimes they just do not have toilet paper.  I can't remember  if I told you guys about the holes in the ground or not but sometimes thats all they have.  So we first went and fed the monkeys which was pretty cool.  When the guy handed my dad the bag about 4 were on his shoulders or hanging on his arms.  Then when my sister got this bean thing one leaped of his shoulder and just sat down on hers.  They were like pets.  It was just lounging there with its arm draped over her head.  They would snatch the bag away from you if you were not careful.  I did not really want a monkey on my shoulder but my sister handed me one of the bean things and I handed it to a monkey sitting in front of me who was acting like a real person.  At one point a baby monkey was trying to get on my sisters shoulder but it was falling so my sister caught it and handed it the bean thing.  When we were leaving a monkey hopped up on the car and just sat there but it finally got off.  The next place we went to was to go feed the falcons.  We got in a boat and drove down a river and the guy tossed chicken skin in the water and the falcons would fly in and snatch it up.  They did not even touch the water.  It was not the best thing we did.  Then we went and ate and went back to that place so we could see the fire flys.  We went on a boat with no lights in the dark down a river with alligators and a stream that could sweep you away during a lightning storm.  Then when we went and saw the fire flys it was like blinking lights in the trees.  After that we went back and were looking at some fish with these other people and found out they were from Oregon.  I feel like every single person we meet from the United States they are form Oregon.  After that we went home and went to bed.

Kuala Lumpur Day 3 and 4

Ok so on day 3 we decided to go to the aquarium and a place where you dye silk.  We went to the taxi stand but every single place we called said they were not sending a taxi.  My dad got pretty mad with all the companies.  Then we called somebody and they got somebody for us at 2 pm.  We went and ate at a restaurant and headed back to the apartment.  A little while later they came and were confused a little but we hired a guy for 3 days to take us around Kuala Lumpur.   So that day we went to the aquarium and we have seen way better.  The thing was that we have already seen the majority of that stuff in the wild.  Anyway after that we went to a place to dye silk and I was not that happy with mine but everybody else said it looked good.  Then we went home.  I finished math for 7 grade and so all I have left is about 80 lessons.  69 lessons in History and about 12 lessons in literature then I will be done with school until August.  Since I do about 10 lessons a day I will be finished pretty soon.  The next day we woke up early and headed to see some temples waterfalls and monkeys.  It went by fast so I will just hit the big details.  We went to a temple and walked up 277 stairs and tried to avoid getting hit by flying monkeys for no reason.  My mom got pick pocketed.  My sister was pooped on by a bird a lady put on her to take a picture.  My dad held a snake.  We did not go to the bathroom all day because all they had were this toilets that were basically a hole in the ground.  My sister peed on her foot while trying to use one of these toilets.  My brother was charged by a monkey.  A monkey tried to take my dads flash off his camera.  I forgot my Ipad in the taxi so my dad called and he said we could pick it up when we get back in his car tomorrow.  Oh and the waterfall was not that great because they have made concrete stuff surround it like a dam and made it a swimming pool.  New Zealand was way prettier.  I really miss New Zealand.

Kuala Lumpur Day 2

Today we woke up and did school for a while then walked to the mall.  We found a place to eat but we all split up.  Then of course my brother bought something then me, my mom, and brother went back to the apartment.  We had to let the driver in so she could get something then we separated and went to do more school.  Then I read a little then went into the kitchen and did more school with my siblings.  Then made some noodles and sat here and started blogging.  Right now my sister is playing music and my brother is being stupid and dancing.  I can't even look at him.  He is acting like a dying walrus.  Help me.  He just said "I danced til I can't dance no more."  With a really southern accent.

Kuala Lumpur Day 1

I really do not like internet sometimes.  I made this on pages then posted it on my blog.  So today we flew to Kuala Lumpur for a few days and we are staying at my moms friends house.  When we were flying I was really stressed out and I wasn't sure why.  Then towards the end of the flight I found out.  It got pretty rough while we were descending because it was about to rain but it was hot and windy so I was glad I was not on the next flight.  Then we took a car to my moms friends house and there house is by far the nicest we have been on this trip.  My mom and dad went to the store on foot because it was pretty close.  So us, as in the kids, decided to watch a movie.  We ended up watching August Rush.  It was a really good movie. During the beginning my parents walked in and looked like they took a shower in there clothes.  While they were walking back it started pouring buckets of rain.  While they dried off we ate linner and watched the rest of the movie.  When that movie was over we watched The Odd Life of Timothy Green.  Also a very good movie.  Then we all went to bed.

Dumb Catchup

Ok so for the past few days we have not had internet.  So we got to a hotel on Wednesday and it did not have internet and it was late at night the first day.  In the morning we woke up and went to eat at the Fat Dog and it was really good.  Then we went to the post office and picked up a box so we could ship some stuff back.  When we had that sorted we laid around enjoying the day off.  I only got a few hours of sleep that night.  In the morning we woke up around 7 and got ready to take Fat Amy back to Jucy.    And no, I did not spell that wrong.  When we arrived  we hurried and put are/our bags into the shuttle and headed to the airport.  We got there around 12 and you could not check in until 2:45.  So me and my dad fixed the overweight bag problem and went to eat after the others got back.  Then we waited to check in.  When we did we headed to security and waited the 3 hours until the plane left.  Then we left New Zealand and headed to Melbourne.  I am writing this now so we are still at the Melbourne airport.  At 3:30 in the morning we will leave for Malaysia.  So for 2 days the schedule is get here at 12 take off at 6 get to Melbourne at 8 (4 hour flight but there is a 2 hour time change) wait for 6 hours.  Take off at 3:30 take a 8 hour flight to Malaysia.  Land.  Have 4 hours to go through customs and stuff.  Take off again for a hour flight to Pe Nang.  Check into hotel and rest.  That is what tonight and the beginning of tomorrow will be like.  Now there will be a 13 hour time difference.  It will be harder to communicate with you guys back home. When we got there everybody basically took a nap.  When I woke up it was like 9:30 at night and my parents got here with the food.  It turns out the car broke down and they had to take a cab back.  Anyway I was basically sleep eating.  When I woke up the next morning it was 7:18 a.m..  I looked out my window and got excited because I saw a squirrel.  In New Zealand there were like no animals and then you get here and they have tigers and snakes.  Later we found out that the “squirrel” was really a monkey.  Yes we can see monkeys from are/our room.  The day went on and we just kind of hung out enjoying not having to be on time at a certain place.  Then I went and watched a movie because there was nothing else to do.  During the movie I started playing Wipeout on my Ipad.  Then my sister burst into the room demanding to play.  In the next few minutes I ended up with bruises and it felt like a broken nose.  Then we got some food for dinner ate and went to bed.  I was waken up this morning by my dad at 7:30 and he said you could hang meat in my room because it was so cold.  I got up did some school which took forever because the internet is slow and read a book for school.  Then my mother and brother bribed me into going swimming.  I went and swam for a good couple of hours.  Then we went to the little store in the parking deck.  Then later in the day we went to the night market and ate and went to look around.  We found lots of illegal stuff going on in there.  Some stuff were pirated movies and knockoffs.  For example for about 19 dollars you could get a pair of beats.  They were not very good knockoffs either.  You could tell the difference in real and fake beats.  Then they had Louis Veton purses for about 8 dollars.  When we got home we were all sweating and tired.  In the morning we were picked up by a nice person who would be the guide for the day.  The first stop was the butterfly farm.  It was pretty coo.  If you can remember from one of my previous blogs my sister is afraid of insects.  When we got in there there were thousands of insects flying around or crawling on the floor.  When one of the people who worked there picked up a horned stick bug my sister lost it.  She started crying and wanted out of there.  During this whole time there was a butterfly on her hat and she didn't know.  I knew how she felt with the fear and all because of whale watching.  I felt bad for her but my brother was laughing and my mom was telling us to ignore her and my dad was trying to calm her down.  Then she got better.  Then she started again when a butterfly landed on the bill of her hat and was crawling toward her face.  My dad got it off and I kind of yelled at my mom and took my sister to the exit.  She was still crying when we got out of there.  Then in the building there was a museum so we went to that.  Then I thought she cried at a butterfly farm.  The next stop was this coffe and tea place and we bought plenty of that.  Then we went and got money and headed to this fruit farm.  I didn't know you could make nutmeg juice.  It was pretty good.  Then we headed to this temple that I do not know the name of and there was this HUGE sculpture of this lady.  I also found out that I am year of the dragon.  My statue compared to my siblings and parents made theres look like a toy a 2 year old would play with.  Then when we got done looking at that we went to the snake temple.  Snakes go in and out on their own.  They are pit vipers which are poisonous snakes.  They are not defanged but the incense in the building kept them calm like smoke with bees.  While we were there we got to hold a boa constrictor.  I was kind of freaking out because it wrapped its tale around my arm.  After that we went to the store and headed home.  In the morning we woke up and tried doing school.  At one point people decided to do some renovations upstairs.  My mom was really getting annoyed so she took us to the pool.  While we were there we met a 9 year old girl and her mom from South Africa who were basically doing the same thing we were.  They have been gone 9 months already.  Then when we got home my mom pulled back the back of my swimsuit and gasped.  My sister laughed and took a picture and showed me.  Where my swimsuit was my skin was paper white.  Where it wasn't was the colore of a apple.  It is a good thing I have my dads skin because when we get sunburnt it turns into a tan.  It doesn't hurt that bad.  Also when I saw this I said it might hurt a little later and my sister said that was the understatement of the year.  Later we ordered some food and started to watch tv because there was nothing else to do.  Then my favorite show was about to come on but my brother, sister, and mother wanted to watch this other show where you could see animals eating other animals.  My dad wanted to watch the other show with me.  Then I made the argument that you could see that show just by looking out the window.  They won so I got super made and said Beyonce is coming for them.  Then I went in my room and started playing the ukelele.  Then I started writing this blog.  

Birthday

So today was my birthday but I still feel 12.  It did not really feel like my birthday today either.  I woke up did 10 lessons of school and did random stuff the rest of the day.  Then we went and ate with the guy who runs the volleyball teams and it was really fun.  Him and his wife were really nice and the food was really good.  He let us keep are/our jerseys from the team and I was really glad so I could remember it forever.  He also gave us pins that say New Zealand volleyball.  They also talk about how Australia claims everything that is really theirs.  For example Keith Urban is actually a kiwi.  Then we came home and started packing because we head for the Auckland airport tomorrow.  It will take a while to get there.  We will arrive on Friday and depart at some time and head to Malaysia.  It has been stressful packing because my dad thinks all the bags are going to be overweight but I can easily tell because well, I don't know why.  That is all that really happened today unless you count getting a Coke .

Soreness

Today I woke up around 10 so I guess I was a little exhausted.  When I tried to sit up I just couldn't.  I guess taking your anger out on a volleyball gives you a shoulder and ab workout.  When I went downstairs my family minus my sister was talking about weight watchers so I asked what was going on and they said we are starting weight watchers.  I get only 19 points a day but they felt bad because everybody else gets over 23 points so they added 2 activity points.  They said I didn't need to lose much weight.  I have gotten skinnier over the past few months and volleyball and basketball helped.  Today I almost didn't eat the points because I was not that hungry.  Anyway after that I did 10 lessons of school then watched a movie.  I watched Trouble With the Curve.  It was a pretty good movie.  Then I did some more lessons and watched another movie because I feel drained today.  Do not expect videos tomorrow because I have not worked on 1.  My birthday is tomorrow so I hope I am not scratching of my skin getting scars from the sandfly bites.  Thats all that really happened today.

Day 2 of the Volleyball Tournament

Ok I am going to keep this short.  I woke up got ready for volleyball and left for Nelson.  We picked up the German girl and were on are/our way again.  When we arrived we started warming up for the game and we lost because the team was not playing so well.  I went in for a few minutes but they took me out.  I was angry at the other team and my team so when I did not go back in I got pretty angry.  After we lost we had a 20 minute break so I decided to let off some steam.  After 20 minutes of hitting the ball down at the floor and it bouncing back at me my hand was red and stinging.  People were looking at me like I was crazy because when it hit the wall it made a pretty loud sound.  They put me on a little more the next game but we lost that game too.  Then we had to change out of the borrowed jersey and go ref.  The guy who basically runs the volleyball gave me and my sister shirts which was really nice.  Then we went home after dropping somebody else off.  I forgot to mention this the other day but the coach said I was the shortest middle player in the country.  Thankfully this is not the biggest country with only about 4 million people total.

Real Volleyball Tournament

Ok so today we woke up at 8:30 and got ready and headed to Nelson.  In the car were my grandparents, uncle, mom, dad, brother, sister, and a lot of bags.  Today my grandparents and uncle left to go home and we sent them with some of the stuff we did not need.  They packed the night before and they have more then just 3 bags.  It looks like 3 bags on the outside but really on the inside we have big bags down to little bags in there original suitcases.  The good thing is they are not overweight either.  So we went to Nelson for day one of the first real volleyball tournament.  We only had 3 games today but we are in the top bracket.  The first game was against a pretty decent team and they beat us.  They won the first 2 then we won one and then they won the last one so it was best 3 out of 5.  The second game was really easy but the team came back in the third set and almost beat us.  During the game it made me pretty mad that the team we were playing was ahead of us because they were supposed to be pretty easy.  So when it came my time to serve I just hit them as hard as I could and that cooled me down a bit.  Also when I served it kept going to the same person so I guess I was spot serving without even knowing it.  We won that game.  Then we had a break and I was starving because I had only eaten two apples which is not that smart when you are about to play a sport.  They did not really have a concession stand but they were selling hamburgers, apples, and candy.  Not a very big variety.  So I made my sister split a hamburger and we bought a bag of apples.  Before this my grandparents left so we said goodbye and my sister and grandma cried a little.  Anyway after we got all that we went outside with two of the players.  One was the nice German girl and the other was a Kiwi. That is what New Zealanders are called.  We shared the bag of apples with the rest of are team because there were a lot.  Then we went and took score for another team and got ready for the next game.  It is not very smart to play two games take a break and try to play another.  You just are too zapped of energy and don't want to get up.  The team that we played were the best in the bracket.  They looked like they could be in college.  We lost.  Then we took the German girl home and headed back to are/our  base camp.  We ate dinner and basically laid around until it we were tired.

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Ok so the reason I have not been blogging is because we either did not have internet or because my eyes are messed up.  You will find out why my eyes are messed up later.  Ok so I can't really remember much so I'm not sure if this get's all the days I missed.  So I think Friday my time we went into Motueka   to do some random stuff.  So we drove around we stopped at this place that the German girl said was really good for fruit ice cream so we went in and we got to pick what kind we wanted ours to be.  I picked raspberry and strawberry and it was some of the best ice cream I have ever eaten.  Then we went back to are/our house.  In the evening when it was LOW TIDE we went and got pippys and found some more stuff.  The next day we had volleyball so we kind of did are/our own thing until we had to leave.  I'm soo confused.  Ok so before that on Thursday we played some in a volleyball tournament.  Before we picked up two German girls who we talked to and all of that and they were nice.  Don't worry I'm not that attached.  You know what I'm talking about person who I talked too.  So I'm just going to skip to the day we leave and head to Kaikoura.  So we woke up and got packed and ready to head to Kiakoura.  We left around 1.  We planned to go whale watching and swimming with seals.  And yes I said swimming with seals not dolphins.  Just before we got into town my mom looked over and saw seals on some rocks by the sea.  So we pulled over and we all took pictures and stuff like that.  They sounded like dogs and they were pretty cute.  So when we pulled into are/our motel it had a giant lobster on the front.  I don't mean a 2d lobster I mean a 3d lobster.  The rooms were pretty nice and we went to eat at The Green Dolphin and it was really good.  There chicken here is so much better then at home.  The chicken here is free ranged and not processed.  There are a lot of KFC's here too.  Anyway when we got back I took a shower and put on a sea sickness patch so it would kick in when we went whale watching and seal swimming.  When we woke up we went to the whale watching place and they said that we were not booked at all but they said that we could go at 3:30.  The sea sickness patches cause dizziness and dry mouth and that is not a very fun combination.  So we went swimming with seals and it was amazing.  You got really up close and they fly out of the water and dive beneath you.  I got good video.  So I'm going to go a little off topic for a second.  I am going to start a youtube channel so I can put videos of what we done up for you guys to see.  I may put a direct link on my blog so you can watch it on the same page.  I hope to have it up by my birthday, March 12.  Ok so back to the seals.  It was really fun and one even brushed me while swimming by.  When we had to go back I was sad because that was one of the best things I have done.  After that the day pretty much went downhill.  The only upside was for my birthday I got this attachment for my camera so I can actually see what I am videoing.  That is the only bad thing about the GoPro camera.  So when we got to the whale watching thing I was already stressed out about how rough it might be and all of that.  Then they asked us if we were ok with sea sickness.  Immediately I freaked out and told my mom I couldn't do it.  The lady also said the captain would not let my grandma on if she took her cane because it was supposed to get a little rough.  Well that freaked me out even more.  And then they said there was a chance that we could run into a storm.  At that point I was on the edge and if you poked me I would fall of the edge.  So we got on the boat and headed out to sea.  They talked about how if you get sea sick that you could use the barf bags that were proven to work because people from all over the world have used one just like it.  Then they said all they could do for you was give you some sympathy.  Now I was on the absolute edge.  Then I started to get a little wavy so I flipped out and wish I passed out.  I didn't but when I told my sister she pointed to the barf bag and said I could use that.  Falling and falling and falling. Then BAM!  I lost it completely and broke down and cried for like 10 minutes. I finally calmed down and at that point it got rougher and they started looking for whales.  We saw three whales surface and dive into the great deep.  That one picture everybody wants of a whale tale was taken several hundred times.  I was so excited to see land when we got back.  We drove home that night.  In the morning we were all a little rough.  My eyes are messed up because of the patch.  They will focus then get blurry.  Then my eyes will dilate then go back to normal.  It makes everything hard to read and do stuff.    I can't really remember what we we did that day but I'm sure we did something.  Finally today we woke up and went kayaking and paddle boarding around the bay.  It was really fun and my brother freaked out and would not paddle or open his eyes because he was scared.  When we were done with that we went back to the house and showered.  Then I went up to my room to do some school and practice my ukelele.  I learned Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Happy Birthday song, and a weird version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  That's all I can remember and I think some is out of order but of well.  My grandparents leave tomorrow and it's kind of sad because that is like the only other people I have seen then my own family.

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Ok so this would be called Catch Up but I am tired of saying that.  So we went on another trip to Christ Church.  We woke up really early and left so we could get to the train on time.  When we got there I was getting stressed out because there were a lot of people getting on and of busses and trains and I also felt like we were in the way.  I finally followed my dad outside because he was feeling the same way.  The train ride took forever but it was fun.  When we got there we just wanted to get to the hotel so the cab I got in took us the way that had more stop lights.  When we got to this one area we had to sit for like 20 minutes because of traffic.  We found out that the Chinese New Year was going on and it was the lantern festival.  There was also this meadow and it was filled with dandelions and you know I just don't like dandelions sometimes.  You won't get what I am trying to say.  It is an inside joke.  Anyway when we got to the hotel there was a mix up and somebody took one of are two rooms.  You have to remember that my grandparents are here.  So we just went to are/our room for a minute.  Then people got hungry so some went to eat and the others stayed home.  I was in the other group.  While they were gone I had a horrible shower because the little pump that was soap for your hair and body was empty and I did not realize that until I was in the shower.  When they got back they gave me my food and it was literally meat and some chips.  I was starving so I just went ahead and ate it.  When we woke up again at another early time we called a cab and headed back to the train station.  We rode back to Greymouth  to are/our favorite motel.  I am not sure if I have said this but I have not seen a single hotel here.  They are all motels and they are pretty nice.  So we got there and chilled out for a few minutes.  We tried different methods to cure the itchiness of the sandfly bites.  My dad got a cigar and basically burnt himself while my mom and I got clear nail polish and covered the bites.  They both worked but the cigar helped more.  We also found out there was a Gypsy Fair going on and people with big busses with balconies and bedrooms were driving down the road.  Then me, my dad, my mom, and grandma, and grandpa went to go see the pancake rocks and blow holes.  This was cool.  The pancake rocks looked like stacks of pancakes and the blow holes were holes in rocks that connected to the Tasman Sea in this little gulf type things and when big waves would come it would shoot water through the blow holes like steam.  Then we went back to the motel.  We woke up again and started for home.  When we got back to town me and my sister were dropped off at volleyball because it was starting right then and my sister had to go barefoot because she did not have shoes.  It was fun because we got to pick teams and just play against each other.  Then we went home and ate dinner and all went to are/our rooms so we could get some rest. 

Pictures

Today I woke up around 7:30 to another loud bang.  This time it was my brothers phone that fell of his top bunk.  So I decided whats the point in going back to sleep.  So I went downstairs got ready and ate some breakfast.  When I got down there I saw that like everybody else was up.  So my grandparents wanted me to play me a song on the ukelele so I did.  Then we started talking about random stuff and then we got onto the subject of pictures.  From that point until lunch we watched videos and looked at pictures.  There are enough  pictures to look at.  By the way in one blog I think I said defiantly instead of definitely.  So when lunch rolled around we stopped looking at pictures and ate.  Then until we had to leave looked at more pictures.  We had to leave early so we could pick up two other girls to take to Nelson for the volleyball tournament.  So today we met two New Zealanders who were actually exchange students from Germany.  Their accent was pretty cool.  When we got there I was not really looking forward to playing.  I found out I would be playing with 17 year olds.  I thought I would not stand a chance at going against these girls.  I did pretty good in the first game.  We won that one.  The second game was against a really good team that has been to real tournaments.  We lost the first and second match but we were really close on the third match.  This game was best 3 out of 5.  During the third match the coach put me in and I really did not know what I was doing.  My sister backed into me and blamed it on me and then at one point she got mad at me and said, "I'm going to kill you."  The next point we won so it was my turn to serve.  My sister lit a match and ignited the fire inside me because at that point I was full of rage against her and the other team.  Three aces later I was still burning on the inside.  An ace is when you serve the ball and the other team doesn't even touch it before it hits the floor.  What they didn't know was that a 12 year old just did that.  So I played pretty well until the end of the game.  I showed good control after the game because while the other team was doing up-downs I wanted to walk over to the coach and say I was 12.  Oh so tempted.  When we dropped of the nice German exchange students we went to KFC-and yes they have that here-and ordered a lot of food because we had a pretty big group.  We had leftover.  And then we watched 20/20 and how celebrities kids tell paparazzi to go away and stuff.  Then we heard about the cruise that had a fire and had to be towed to Alabama.  Oh and if you had not heard of it before, go to Goat Edition Taylor Swift on Youtube.  Very random and pretty funny.  They also have more but that is one of the best.  I think that is the ONLY song I will ever listen to by Taylor Swift.

Tick Tock

Today I woke up to a big bang.  When I looked over I saw that my brothers computer fell of the top bunk onto the floor.  He woke up like five minutes later and asked what the noise was.  I pointed to the floor to answer his question.  Then I realized my grandparents were coming today.  When I woke up I got ready ate breakfast-for the first time in like 20 years-and started school.  I just read a bunch of poems by Shakespeare and Robert Frost and answered questions.  I heard that my school is pretty easy compared to some peoples back home.  Then we started cleaning.  Around the time we were basically done cleaning it was time for my sister and mother to go and pick up my grandparents.  It was about a three hour drive to Picton.  During that time I got the sheets from the drying rack outside and made the beds.  Then I waited and waited and waited.  Finally I got really bored and went to do some random stuff.  For the first time in at least a year I got on instagram again.  Then I read some more for school and sketched some random stuff like the logo for my ukelele case.  Then I went downstairs to make dinner.  I made the most complicated meal in the world. Mac and cheese.  After my first incident with it I was hoping to not burn it.  It turned out all right.  Then I went to watch a documentary on Queen Elizabeth and what it was like to grow up in the palace.  Then I made some tea and watched My Kitchen Rules.  If you have not heard of it it is because it is based on people from New Zealand and Australia.  The two people I wanted to go home did.  Then random shows came on but I stayed downstairs because I couldn't think of anything else to do.  When they did arrive at 9:30 we had a short time to talk because everyone was tired.  My grandpa came in saying "The roads could not have been curvier."  I laughed at this because in the past two months I have seen curvier.  Then my grandma wanted ice water.  In New Zealand they basically do not believe in ice so you have to go to the store and buy these little things where you can make ice.  Also there is not a freezer in the fridge so you have to go outside and get it.  Then we asked them how Winter was going and they said it was in the 20's and it was snowing and sleeting.  I answered my saying it has been in the 20's here to because 20 degrees celsius is about 70 degrees and it can range from 50 to about 85.  Then we all got ready and went to bed.

Stupid Computers

Last night I started to download a movie when everybody else was not using the internet and at the rate it was going the previous night I figured it would take about ten days to download.  When I woke up I was surprised to find it was done downloading.  So I decided that I wanted to watch it.  When I started to watch the movie my computer sent me a message saying that my startup disk was full.  When I looked at the storage it said I had 0 gigabytes out of 120 gigabytes.  I was very confused because it said that the memory was full because of other.  My memory can get full with applications, music, movies, photos, backups, and other.  It said that other was basically 95 percent of what was taken.  So I started to delete old files, movies, and pictures.  I finally took it to my dad and said that he needs to try to fix it or I was going to throw it off are balcony which is basically a cliff.  So he did and checked the software and stuff.  Finally he just said that I need to delete more things.  Now I just pulled it up and it went from 2.56 gigabytes free to 68.23 gigabytes free.  So I guess I am all good now.  Then I started to do school. And FINALLY I decided to start literature.  Well I kind of got addicted to it because all you do is read a story from this book and answer questions.  I love to read so you get sucked into the stories and you keep reading and you realize that you just did six lessons.  Also before I started school the internet messed up so we went with no internet until about 8.  We got these little internet sticks though a while ago so we used those.  So while I was doing more lessons then I usually do my dad came up and asked if either me or my sister were done using one of those internet stick things.  I just had to finish one more lesson and then I took it down stairs.  Then I started to get impatient because Revenge was coming on tonight.  That is one of those shows where if you watch one of the episodes you are sucked in until they stop making them.  And guess who is sucked in with me.  My dad.  Nobody else likes it because it is like a girl getting revenge on people who have messed up her life.  There is a lot of fighting and planes blow up and stuff like that.  Anyway when it finally came on I sat there and watched it and that hour of my life went by really fast.  When I went up to bed I got on this drawing kick and decided to try and draw Senaca Crain of the Hunger Games because he has this really weird mustache.  I thought I did not do so bad either.  Then I went to bed while waiting for my grandparents to get here.  They arrive tomorrow.

Wet Dog and Volleyball

Today we did school and waited for volleyball practice.  On are way to practice we talked for a minute and my dad said "I have never seen the water so low," and my sister said, "IT'S LOW TIDE!"  I laughed at this because just about every time we drive by the ocean it is low tide and somebody always asks why the water is so low and my dad says, "IT IS LOW TIDE!  WHY CAN YOU NOT JUST GET THAT IN YOUR HEAD?!"  So we had a whole conversation about that at the table while eating dinner.  In the first practice (12-14 year olds) I felt like an idiot because it is hard to understand New Zealand accents because they talk really fast.  I realized that we Americans talk very slow compared to these people.  Anyway he told me a couple of things that I just could not make out.  Finally I figured it out.  People just don't care about practice here and they do not try hard.  In the second practice (15-17 year olds) it was better and I could understand.  The team I played with during the tournament was supposed to go to one court and play with the team I will be playing with this week.  It was good because I did not really want to play with all the boys and girls who did not care enough.  Brazilians were there too and they just kicked the ball like a soccer ball the whole time.  This practice was way more fun.  When we got home my dad was making dinner.  We had pineapple, pork, weird vegetables,  and rolls.  It was all very good but when I was cutting my pineapple into parts one decided to fly off my plate and onto the ground.  So I picked it up and put it on my brothers plate.  He could not figure out which piece it was until he asked if it was the one with the hair on it.  So he put it back on my plate.  So we were talking and I had just finished my pineapple and I look down and see all the pineapple eaten.  That includes the piece that fell on the ground.  So when I said that I think half the people at the table choked.  My mom said this was funny because of the face I was making and the way I said it.  For dessert we had this little pie thing with fruit on it.  When we ate it it had the taste of how wet dog smelled.  So I just gulped it down as fast as I could because I liked the outside and the inside just not the middle.  Later I just ate strawberries.  I never thought I was going to get a brain freeze from a strawberry.  Also channel two has some of the best shows I have ever seen.  This one show called Revenge is really good and I am excited because tomorrow night it comes on and I think someone dies.  Not happy about the dying part but the fact that it comes on tomorrow.

Zeal and Abel

Today we woke up and went to this weird beach.  I call it weird because high tide comes in and when it starts to recede you can literally watch the tide go back out in just a couple of hours.  When we got there it was still high tide so there was no beach to walk on.  Then the water started to recede so we could walk on the beach.  We found shells that were really flat.  Also my sister found a starfish on a rock.  It was about the size of a penny.  After finding out the beach had starfish me and my brother started looking for them determined to find some.  The water receded enough for me to walk to a sand bar.  When I got over there I went to see what the birds were looking at.  When I got over there I saw two starfish the size of my palm.  I went and took them back to the bucket.  At one point we found three or four perfect sand dollars.  Also when the water receded enough to look through the seaweed I found a whole colony of starfish.  I went and showed my parents.  We found a lot of starfish.  My dad said we could each take two back and dry them out so we could take them with us.  I named mine Zeal and Abel because we found them in New Zealand and in the Abel Tasman Sea.  My sister named one of hers Patrick.  After that we looked for pippys.  They are like clams or oysters.  You can eat them so my dad wanted to collect a few.  When we got back we laid out the starfish and sand  dollars and went to take showers.  I was really hungry when dinner rolled around.

Day 58

Once again this will be a very boring blog.  All I really did today was practice my ukelele and do school.  All I really did for school was read.  I only read because I had a lot of reading to do and that was all I wanted to do.  In a few days we are going wale watching and swimming with seals so it should get a little more exciting other then "I did school today."

Day 57

Today we just did school and lay around.  I enjoyed today a lot.  This will probably be a very boring blog.  It will also be short.  I was doing school which involved reading Swiss Family Robinson.  I had to read this for school last year too so I know what happens.  I am now over 2100 views for my blog.  People from all over the world are reading it.  I know some from New Zealand, Brazil, Korea, and Germany have read my blogs.  That was only a small list of some countries I know of.  I can't believe I have already been gone 57 days.  It can go by really fast.  My grandparents are coming to visit us next week and I think if we do what we plan to do they will be overwhelmed with traveling.  I already am and the traveling has been spaced out a little bit.

Volleyball Tournament

Today we did not do anything but sit around and wait for the volleyball tournament.  With each passing  minute I got more and more stressed.  I wasn't sure if I was going to be playing on the same team as Hailey or on my own age team.  Then I started to wonder if they were going to be amazing.  When we got there Hailey found some team mates she knew so she went with them.  Then Allen, the guy who coaches, asked if I was going to follow them.  So I ended up playing on a 15 year old team.  They do this weird thing called saucer.  I did not really understand it until the second game.  I did not play a lot in the first game but Allen made me play in the third set.  Everybody was confused because of the weird rotation.  Even with everybody confused we won.  So before the second game he showed us how the rotation worked.  We were much better in the second game.  I got to play more and I got to serve.  Serving is my stronger suit.  My sister has been serving but missed some on purpose so she wouldn't serve the whole game.  I thought that by serving I could redeem myself from the previous game.  I served really good rockets at them and they could not return the ball.  I won us a few points but then I saw we were getting close to 20 so I served it out the back.  I felt that I had finally earned my place on the team.  He wants me to continue to play on that team.  He also said if I keep going to my age group practices he said he knew who he could use for demonstrations.  He also said I should probably practice with the 15's too.  I am not sure what I am going to do yet.  I want to say thank you to all the coaches that taught me volleyball.  If I didn't have the best coaches I wouldn't be as good.

Paddle Boarding

Today we woke up and headed down to the beach.  When we got there we rented some paddle boards.  We meaning the kids in the family.  A paddle board is like an oversized surf board that you stand up on and paddle around.  At first I went to the other side of the little bay.  It got rougher there and there were more rocks and kayaks to avoid.  So I paddled back to where my brother and sister were.  We decided to have a race.  In the first 15 seconds my brother fell of of his board.  A minute or two later I was at the finish line.  My sister didn't want to finish it because I was a good few meters ahead of her.  Speaking of meters I have been using those terms more.  I have learned a lot about myself on this trip.  I learned that I can contain my rage more then I release it.  I guess that is a good thing.  Today on the other hand I have defiantly  not contained it.  I hope this can carry on to tomorrow because I have my first volleyball tournament tomorrow.  In volleyball I can let of some team by hitting the ball as hard as possible when I hit.  For the rest of the time here I will be playing in a tournament every Thursday.

7 Day Challenge

Well today I woke up did school then my mom came and asked me if I wanted to get a facial and my eyebrows done.  First of all I don't even know what a facial is so as soon as she said that my immediate answer was no.  Then she asked me if I wanted to get my eyebrows done.  I know what this is because I have an older sister and a mother.  My sister told my mom I was going to grow a unibrow if I did not get my eyebrows done.  She said that like two weeks ago.  So what was going through my mind was "Do I have a choice?"  In the end I was in the car headed to Nelson.  What seems like three years later we made it.  We were kind of late.  So the lady pulled me in the room with my mom and finished in less then five minutes.  In the end I felt like the penguins here stripped of their feathers.  Two hours after that we left.  We left two hours later because my mom and sister both got facials and either a pedicure or a manicure.  Once again I do not know what a pedicure or a manicure was.  So I asked my mom and she told me the difference.  When we got back home I asked my dad if he had heard any news about if the people who found my computer could ship it to us or not.  Luckily it will be here in the next two to three days.  Then I was bored so I decided to go do something other then sit around on my butt all day. I ended up working on my book and writing a song for my ukelele.  I also started sketching some of the stuff in the book.  I think I am loosing my ability to sketch.  I also found out that I will be playing in a volleyball game this Thursday.  I feel like my birthday is planning a sneak attack on me because it is coming up way to fast for my liking.  When I turn thirteen I know I will still feel twelve.   I also think that for the next week we as in people reading this blog and me should try to break at least one bad habit.  I think I am going to stop drinking soda.  Some friends back home did this for a new year revolution and they could do it.  If they can then so can I.  The other habit I am going to try and break-this may be surprising to some of you-is how I wear my hair.  Every day I wear a low ponytail.  When I say low I mean so low if I went any lower it would be on my neck.  So I am going to try to raise it up a little.  I am doing this mainly so people will stop bugging me about it.  I am probably stubborn enough to do it too.

New Zealand Volleyball

So today I went to my first volleyball practice.  I thought I was going to stink.  I found out though, that I still have some volleyball skills.  They do not do positions here.  It is kind of weird for me now.  Also you can not set the first ball.  New Zealand rules are different then American rules.  I also had the choice to stay with my 13-14 group or be with the 15-17 group.  I chose to stay with my age group.  The guy said-not to be mean-I would be one of the better players on the team.  I really wish I was back home playing with my normal team and amazing coaches.  I did not really talk to anybody at practice either so I didn't meet anybody new.  I plan to change that next practice.  You would not believe the sports you can do at school here.  The list includes volleyball, net ball, soccer, sailing, snow skiing, cricket, rugby, and equestrian.  That is just a slightly bigger list then what we have back home,

Catch Up 2

I can't exactly remember where we went next so I will start with what I remember.  On the next little drive we almpost ran out of gas but we made it to a town right on time.  Then a couple hours later we got to the final destination.  That drive took us about seven hours.  On long drives like that I think about random things.  I have realized that while we are in the car and nobody is talking that I just think.  I think about random things like how touchscreen works.  I came to the conclusion that it is friction.  Also my brother and sister wear there monster beats and listen to really loud music.  My brain takes the songs and kind of plays it over and over in the background then if I start to think about the music it comes to the front.  Anyway when we got to the next place I got a queen sized bed.  The only problem was we did not have internet.  Because of are week trip people think we are dead.  ATTENTION! IF YOU ARE READING THIS THEN WE ARE NOT DEAD!  So we went to sleep and woke up on Valentines day.  This day I remember best.  We drove about a hour and a half to get to Milford Sound.  On are way there we entered the Fiord Lands.  The Fiord Lands have huge mountains that are snow capped.  Since it is summer time the snow melts a little bit.  This causes there to be a waterfall about every two seconds on the mountains.  They can look small but are huge.  You can only imagine how big a waterfall is when it looks big from half a kilometer away.  So we went through this little tunnel to get to Milford Sound.  You can not go that direction during the day because of rock falls.  These are huge avalanches of rock falling off a mountain onto the road.  You might not want to not get stuck in one of those by yourself at night.  When we got to Milford Sound we borded the little boat we are going to stay the night in while we cruise around the Milford Sound.  I was a little afraid of going on that boat because we had to turn around in the Tasman Sea.  The Tasman Sea is extremely rough.  While we were cruising around we saw a huge waterfall.  The guide said the waterfall was bigger then Niagara Falls.  I didn't believe him.  Anyway we got near are area where we would stay overnight then a big group of dolphins came and were following us in the boat.  This boat holds about thirty people.  So all those people were going to each side of the boat to watch the dolphins jump out of the water.  There was a little dolphin that they said might be two to three weeks old.  Once we parked for the night it was only five.  So we had a choice of kayaking or going on a boat ride.  I chose the kayak and made my dad too.  He was unstable in the kayak.  It looked as if everybody else was fine in theres including me.  I kayaked over to see if I could see some of the most rare penguins in the world.  I paddled near the shore and saw three.  The guide said that I was very lucky to see them.  When I got back in the boat the guide was talking about how sometimes the seals come and feed on the fish attracted to the lights on the boat.  He also said that the little deck in the back can have a seal on there resting.  But he said that is during the night.  We went to dinner next and had the most amazing meal.  It was not as good as Jane's who owns Haurata but still very good.  Then my brother and sister went back to the room while I went with my mom and dad to see some videos and pictures they have taken.  One picture he showed us was the roughest time in Milford Sound.  It looked rougher than the Tasman Sea  Then shortly afterwards he showed us a picture of the Tasman Sea.  Just slightly rougher.  Just looking at the picture almost made me throw up.  The next morning we woke up at seven so we could eat breakfast.  Then we turned around in the Tasman Sea which wasn't too bad.  Then we had to pack up.  I got everything packed so I went to read on my bed.  That day we drove as far as we could and stopped by a place to visit the main Cadbury factory.  The guide was really finny and nice.  They also gave us a lot of chocolate.   Because my brother did't want to I got to drop one ton of chocolate.  Then we drove more and stopped at the next place because it was getting late.  In the morning my dad got an email asking if we had lost a computer I knew it could't be me but when my dad told me to check I could't find it.  So right now it is with the people on the boat waiting to get shipped back to us.  So I'm using my moms computer.  We drove home that day.  The next day we did not really do anything.  Now finally today I have volleyball practice with some New Zealanders.  I really hope I don't stink at it.  Also this doesn't sound like me but I am starting to write a book.

Catch Up

Ok so we have had internet problems so I have not been able to blog, do school, or skype people back home.  The day we started driving was Thursday or Wednesday for you guys back home.  We drove until we got to this one point where we got out to go look at this bridge.  We thought it was just going to be a bridge you can walk across to get to the other side.  Well you can go across the bridge, pan for gold, and come back on this zip line thing.  The bridge was pretty scary.  It turned out to be wire that was as round as a quarter  with some tubes of metal for the hand rail and the sides and floor were that metal stuff you can use for a fence.  It was very bouncy because my dad decided to add an extra hop in his step.  Well we walked around for a bit then I went panning for gold and got some pretty good slices.  Then me and my dad went back across the bridge to watch them come down the zip line.  My brother and sister went first and said it was pretty cool.  Then my mom  came across but right in the middle she grew an extra set of arms and legs.  It turns out that she made one of the people who work there come with her.  It was pretty finny.  The motel we stayed in was pretty good that night.  I had to sleep on a futon.  The next day we left that town and headed toward the next.  We stopped at a national park to go on some trails.  On the first trail we got down to the end and took a break.  You had to go through this little cave to get to the bank of the river.  When I got there I saw a huge rock maybe three feet away from the shore.  I thought I could get up there pretty easily.  I was wrong.  At first I tried to build a bridge with some rocks.  The water got pretty deep really fast.  The rocks did not work so I took my shoes off and waded into the water.  I couldn't lift myself up because it was too high.  There was this log kind of out further that leaned against the rock.  I was about to give up but I finally stuck my foot on the log crawled up and made it onto the rock.  I climbed to the top and my dad took my picture.  When I got down he showed my the picture and there was one ray of sunlight shining on my head.  We all thought that was pretty funny.  Then we got to the next place and it was really nice.  We woke up the next day and I got to pick what we did that day.  I choose to go on a tube, that you would go down on a slide with, down a river which led to a glowworm cave where you got to stand around drink hot chocolate and have a little candy bar.  It sounds pretty easy and fun but after hitting about three million rocks with my but I knew that this was not fin and games.  For some reason I always went down the fastest on the currents.  The water was warm in the river but then we got out.  I forgot to mention they make you put on a wet suit with booties a long sleeve shirt and some nice warm socks.  When we got to the spot where you enter the glow worm cave you had to slide down on this piece of plastic on a mud slide into water.  When I flew in I thought I was going to get hypothermia.  The water was extremely cold.  Anyway we floated into the cave and didn't go far because it got deep pretty fast and the water got colder.  When we were by this little underground waterfall we had hot chocolate and a candy bar in the dark.  The glowworms glow in the dark a pretty blue.  After that we walked back to the car and headed to the shop.  When we got there you took your wet suites off and got in a hot tub.  Then we headed back to the hotel.  In the morning we had a late start because the car battery died.  But we finally made it to Franz Josef so we could ride the horses.  The mountains here are huge and snow capped even in the hottest month.  It looks amazing.  We went on the horse trek and I had a horse named Cheeto.  The horse was ok but she wanted to eat everything in her path.  Also my knee hurt while we were riding the horses.  That was not my favorite experience.

The Big Trip

Today we did nothing and then my mom and dad started talking about a trip to the south part of the south island.  The drive back would take 18 hours if we did not take any breaks.  So they figured part of it out and said that the best trips happened when there is not a plan.  I hope that it is a good trip.  It will last around 10 days and when we get back me and my sister will join the college volleyball team.  College here is 7-12 grade.  I'm not sure what the grades before are called.  I also forgot to mention that we were on a tsunami watch after a magnitude 8 earthquake happened in some islands just north of Australia.  I never heard if there was a tsunami or not.

Yesterday and Today

Yesterday we really did nothing because we couldn't find anything to do.  But today we went to Nelson to watch the beach ball volleyball tournament.  They would not have equal teams or something if me and my sister played.  If I understood correctly then I saw an Olympic contender.  It was either that or she tried to get in but didn't.  But she is ranked number one in New Zealand.  After that we drove around Nelson to find a place to eat.  We stopped at this little place and we ordered.  I ordered pork ribs and they were the closest things to what I would consider regular food.  I'm not sure how many there were but a little while later my family was just staring at me because they were all done and I hadn't even made a dent in the mound of barbecue and ribs.  So I got a takeaway box and we left.  At some point we ended up in a music store and for the first time in my life I saw an eight string ukulele.  It was very weird looking.  We left shortly after that and headed to Starbucks.  Me and my mom hate coffe so we always get something from the coffe free side of the menu.  It was really good.  Then we headed home.  When we got there I did school.  If I do the next three days of school all on math I will be finished with math.  I'm not going to do that but all I have been doing is science and math.  I finished grammer for the year before we left Haurata.  I have read 18 books and is working on my 19.  I will be finished with it today.  I haven't started literature yet and I have to rea a lot.  I think I'm not going to work ahead to ninth grade.

Bad Weather

I have been blaming the bad internet connection on the cloud cover.  Yesterday we had terrible internet and I could not get on my blog.  Yesterday we went to a dry cave and from several hundred years ago there were bones of extinct birds that have fallen in the holes to the cave.  It was really cool but a lot of people from the 1900's had came in and destroyed some of the stalagmites and stalactites.  We went home afterward because it was raining.  Last night a big storm came through and it was raining hard and the wind was really blowing.  The wind blew just right to make the sound of people screaming.  Also because of the pressure it made my sisters closed door bag against the frame.  All the sounds made it in my dream and turned it into a nightmare.  I finally woke up and it was 3 in the morning.  I went to bed around 1 and woke up only a couple hours later.  The wind kept raging so I read my book until 5 in the morning and the next thing I knew my dad woke me up for school at 8.  It was a sleepless night.  I am also debating if I should be in this beach ball volleyball tournament.  I do not like to loose and I'm afraid I will do terrible and make the team loose.  I do not want to drag everybody else down with me.  The tournament is tomorrow.

The Beach

I'm really starting to run out with some titles.  Yesterday we got to the next location.  I'm not really sure how to spell this town's name either.  Yesterday we just traveled so nothing interesting there.  Today we woke up and I decided to not do school.  We left my sister behind to do her school and went to a restaurant to eat.  Afterwards we headed down to the beach to have a look.  My dad said the beach was made out of rocks instead of sand.  Also the water is really clear here.  The water is about as cold as California beaches.  My brother wanted to stay at the beach, so my dad stayed with him and took pictures.  Me and my mom went back to the house.  Eight years later we made it.  Afterward we did nothing.  That is basically the day.  (This blog might not make since.)

1 Month Gone

Today it has been a month since we left.  My mom and dad went to the zoo again to see the animals actually come out but they left us, the kids, at home to do school and entertain ourselves.  Tomorrow we leave Wellington for this place on the south island.  My dad found out 93% of New Zealand is under water and we are only on a very small portion of it.  We have to take a 3 hour ferry to the south island then we have to drive another 3 hours to get to are next location.  I heard that today was the last basketball game and they beat the other team terribly.  Today was like the first time in weeks that I have had contact with people back home.  All they said was how they miss me.  If you are one of those people reading this than you could talk about stuff not like that.  Just a suggestion.

The Embassy

Today we went to the Embassy to watch The Hobbit.  This is where all the famous people went to watch the world premiere.  It was the most amazing theatre I have ever been to.  They also had the best 3d and surround sound.  Afterwards we went to the Wellington Zoo.  They had animals I have never seen before like the kiwi or african dog.  I also got to get really close to the giraffes.  I think I am going to start sending post cards to people.  I'm sad because I am almost done with math and that means I have to go to english.  I'm not looking forward to that at all.  We leave in just a couple more days.  I'm excited to be getting out of the city.  It is just way to busy for me.

Boringness

Today I literally did nothing.  I did not have to do school today so I just got a day off.  I have been practicing my ukulele though.  I can play a song which just repeats itself over and over.  That is all I have really done today except read.  I do know we are going to go see the Hobbit again where they had the world premere.

Planetarium

Today we went to the planetarium in Wellington.  It was the best one I have been to and I have been to a few.  We watched a documentary on weather in the solar system.  There were some amazing things.  On one moon, I think it's a moon, it rains diamonds.  I also learned about winds that are 8 times stronger then the strongest hurricane recorded.  Then since we are in the southern hemisphere there are different stars you can see.  They do not have the north star here.  They do have a constellation here that is in the shape of a cross.  It feels really safe here even during the night.  I thought walking around the city during the night would be like California.  It's not.  At some point we are going to try and go see the Hobbit again where the world premiere was.  They completely redesigned it and it has Gandalf on the front.  He is about 30 to 40 feet tall.    

Weta

Today we woke up and got ready to go to Weta.  Weta is a bug in New Zealand but there is also a company called Weta.  Weta is where they make props, armor, and bigatures.  They have made props for The Lord of the Rings series, King Kong, Avatar, and Halo.  It was pretty cool going through there.    We also got to see sculptures make the beginnings of props.  This one guy has been designing a statue that will be 100 feet tall and will be built in America.  They were also making trolls and a guy sitting on octopus tentacles. Bigatures are miniature  models of buildings or a prop they will use.  They call them bigatures because they said they are really too big to be miniatures.  Also if you see somebody fighting in what looks like really sharp metal in the background it is really rubber.  They make things look so real.  I have been learning songs on my ukulele today.  The hardest part about playing the ukulele is the strumming.  I also have been trying to draw the mutt in Mockingjay.  I have drawn at least 12 pictures of it and only 1 is really ok.  We leave Wellington on Saturday.  I have decided that I do not really like big towns.  Wellington is basically a little L.A.  I'm not going to miss it as much as Haurata.

The Museum

Today we went to the museum in Wellington.  I am not sure how to spell it and I am not going to try to spell it.  We got in there and ate at there little cafe and decided to go look around.  We came across a colossal squid found in 2007.  I think there is a bigger squid in Washington D.C.  We saw some pretty cool stuff and then we went to this part of the museum where you could ride a simulation to either go under the sea or be a person on the rugby team.  Also during the one with the rugby you jumped off a tall tower.  I hate rides.  I can't even ride kiddy rides at disney world.  My mom, brother, and sister went under the ocean then my dad, brother, and sister went on the second ride with the rugby.  They said it was pretty good.  We then went to the part of the museum that talked about the Maori people.  First of all I do not get good vibes about the Maori people so during this part of the museum I was kind of squeamish.  We got to this little building related to the Maori and went inside.  As soon as I walked in I got a headache that made me want to cut my head off.  I got out of there pretty fast and as soon as I was out my headache disappeared.  I do not know what happened but I did not like it.  Overall the museum was pretty good.  I also found out that New Zealand was, I think, the last place to be found on the Earth.  Afterwards we drove around Wellington.  So far over 1,000 people have visited my blog.  I'm not really sure why I have the most pageviews in my family but I do.   

The Drive

Yesterday we did not do much but I could not write my blog because we had bad internet connection.  Today we left Haurata and were on our way to Wellington.  It ended up being about a 8 hour trip.  It was not fun at all.  I did for the first time make myself sleep in the car without being interrupted by sickness.  When we got here it seemed too crowded compared to Haurata.  We have fast internet here.  We will be here for about 7 days then we will get on a ferry to go to the south island.  After that we will drive another 3 hours to are location that we stay at for the remander of are time here in New Zealand.  What I really want for my upcoming birthdays is to get a ticket to go see the world premiere of Mockingjay.  Probably won't happen but still. 

Piggy and Wiggy

Today, like any other day, I woke up and did my first five lessons of school.  Then I had nothing else to do so I watched a movie.  I watched Bridge to Terabithia.  I do believe this is way sadder than Marley and Me.  I guess I did not fully understand what the movie was about when I was younger.  Then I did my final five lessons and read some of my book.  Speaking of books, in school I have to read a book and I chose The Outsiders.  My mom said it was a good book but I am the type of person who likes sci-fi books.  Then we went to Jane's house (the owner of Haurata) to have dinner with the majority of the neighbors.  Before we ate Jane showed us the baby horse, her pet sheep, and the pigs.  Jane said all of there pigs are named either Piggy or Wiggy.  Except for one who was too fat and not the type of pig you eat.  Anyway she said that Wiggy was over there and they already ate Piggy.  Everybody laughed at that.  You had to hear it in person to understand why it was funny.  We rescued Marvin, who was a sheep, from dying between a fallen tree and a hill.  It was funny because all the sheep looked alike to me but Jane had a name for them and knew who was who.  Then we went to eat and it was pretty fun.  Some of the neighbors were really funny.  Why is it that everybody who can picks on me.  Why me!?  We went home around 10:10 and we were back before I knew it.  Tomorrow we have to start packing because we are about to move on to another city.  I'll be done packing in about two minutes.

The Camo Skirt

Today my dad came and woke me up at 9 I think because lately I have been waking up at 11 and I feel like I waste half a day by doing that.  I did my first 5 lessons this morning then got in the shower and went to my room.  Don't laugh at this because it is NOT funny.  This may come as a surprise to people who know me but I watched The Little Mermaid.  Not my type of movie but still it is not too bad.  I am not like my sister who LOVES princess movies.  Then I did my final 5 lessons of school all on World History.  Then I started watching another movie called Kiki's Delivery Service.  I used to watch that movie over and over on one part and crack up.  Now it is really not that funny.   Also I keep having flashbacks on previous trips.  The one that keeps coming to mind is when we went to Florida and went on a dolphin watch boat.  I remember that it was a glass bottom boat.  I also remember that my parents made me wear a skirt that was camo and had pink flowers on it.  Then only good part about it is it had boy shorts connected to it.  I think that skirt has scarred me for life.

Sting Rays

Today we woke up at 7 to get ready to feed the sting rays.  It started at 9 so we had to leave by 7:20 to get there on time.  When we got to town we missed are turn so we had to turn around.  When we did we saw a truck was coming in the same lane and it took my dad about 2 seconds to realize we were on the wrong side of the road.  When we finally got there we had to get waders so we would not get wet.  We waded out to the reef and stood in a single file line so the sting rays would not go in-between us, get scared, then stab us with there barbed stingers.  When we started feeding them you get a piece of fish hold it flat on your hand and let them suck it off.  It was a little scary at first but then it was getting more fun.  We got done with no accidents and headed back to shore.  When we got in the car my dad decided to go see the longest wharf in New Zealand.  It took about 30 minutes to get to the end.  People were jumping off of it into the ocean to swim.  Others were fishing of the wharf too.  We got tired of that and got in the car again.  My dad then said that he wanted to go see the light house and that we were half way there.  2 hours later we got there and you had to hike a hill to get there and not even go inside.  The only cool part was we were on the eastern most part of New Zealand.  We did not get to surf today because the waves were 6 to 8 feet tall and beginners should only ride 2 to 4 foot waves.  When we got home we decided to watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.  It is still going but I decided to go ahead and type this blog.  Remember to comment because that is basically the only way to communicate.  Good luck basketball team on the next game!    

A Fourth of the Red Walk

Yesterday I did not post anything because once again we literally did nothing.  Today we were going to go drive around the east coast.  We ended up not doing that but going on the red walk.  Only me and my sister went with my dad.  We did not realize how draining the days before today has been because as soon as we started me and my sister got tired.  My dad really wanted to go on the hike so he could take some more pictures.  This was a 12 kilometer hike and we only reached 1.5 kilometers when my sister wanted to go back.  We were so tired it felt harder than the green walk which was up mountains and over rivers.  This hike was over small hills.  My sister wanted to walk back on her own but my dad would not let her.  My sister kind of got mad and decided to keep going.  When we were headed up another small hill I could not go any further.  Hailey and I started hitting a tree with its own branch because we did not want to go any farther.  We had a discussion and decided to head back.  At the point we decided to turn around on we had gone just a little over 2 kilometers.  On the way back it was all down hill.  When we got back me and my sister were exhausted.  We did school and ate dinner.  Tomorrow we are going to wade out in the ocean and feed sting rays. (They still have their stingers.) Then we are going to see if the surfing is good.  Sadly we are leaving Haurata on Saturday here or Friday back home.  I could live here if we could.

Day 23

Today I did basically nothing.  I got up around 10:30 which is late for me and started school.  I have a schedule and if I follow it I will be done on June 1st.  If I follow the plan I have to do 18 lessons a day. Before I started this I calculated that I had 353 lessons left and 135 days until June 1st.  So I did my 18 lessons today and finished my grammer for the rest of the year.  Then I ate lunch and started to talk to my friends and family.  I have heard that some people at my school have been reading these.  I hope they are interesting enough for you guys.  Then I texted my friend Aryn and we decided to play minecraft on a server.  A lot of people can get on the servers and do things like build or fight each other.  We chose a hunger games server and we both got on.  Of course I died towards the begging so I could be a spectator and watch the games from above or on the ground.  The players that are still alive can not see you.  I watched her and told her where people were.  In the end she won.  This happened several times more.  Then she had to go because it was around 8 p.m. there.  Then my cousin skyped me and she had some friends over and we talked for a little bit.  My mom started cooking a breakfast dinner.  We had bacon eggs and crumpets.  Unfortunately they do not know what biscuits are.  Biscuits are cookies here.  Also instead of hot chocolate they have milo.  Milo is not as sweet as hot chocolate but it is still good.  My dad made a concoction with the milo and made a chocolate gravy.  It was actually pretty good.  My mom started reading my other blogs and she started crying because some were funny to her.  I am about to read some the go to sleep. 

The Green Hike

The day before yesterday we went on the green hike.  I believe it was the most tiring thing I have ever done. (If I have not been using good grammer in any of my blogs I'm sorry because I am not good at that stuff) Ok so on the map it said it was a 11 kilometer hike which is about 6 miles.  It also said it was going to take 4 to 6 hours.  You also have to remember this is in the mountains, through woods, on plaines, and you have to walk through some water.  At the beginning you start off going up some mountains but it is not too steep.  When we got to the checkpoint it started to get steeper and steeper to where we were on cliffs.  My mom is completely terrified of heights so she and my brother went back.  My brother was looking for an excuse to not go on the hike.  When they got back the internet guy was here so we have internet now.  Anyway me, my dad, and my sister kept on going.  Also the owners dog was not supposed to come but she got loose and followed me everywhere.  Of course the dog's name was Lulu.  She was the leader of the pack and she would wait at each checkpoint for us.  We got to this cave and it was pretty cool.  My sister stepped in sheep poop while we were in there.  Then we started moving again and we were just hiking on rolling hills.  It was not that bad until we made it to the waterfalls.  That was when everything started to go wrong.  You could go down this really steep path that was a cliff where you could go down a ladder to get to the waterfall.  I started to go on that path but I kind of slipped and almost fell off.  At that moment I decided to go down my own way.  You could slide down this pretty steep hill if you were careful.  When I sat down to go down I saw it was laced with these little cactus things.  I decided to go side ways standing up.  After 10 minutes of inching my way down I made it.  We hung out there for a minute and then decided to go up the ladder to get back on the right trail.  When I looked at the ladder it was a wood pole with clamps on it.  I wasn't so sure about going up it.  When my dad started to go up first he got to one rung and decided it might be too big of a gap for me.  My sister went up because I have longer legs than her.  When she got the the rung that was too big of a gap it started to slip I didn't mention it to her because I thought it would have freaked her out.  Afte a minute I started yelling at her to come down and she said she almost made it.  I told my dad about the slipping handle and he made my sister come down.  When she was down we looked at it again it had slipped 8 inches.  We had to go up the way we came and it did not take as long.  Then we had to make a decision of either going up and over a hill or on the path I slipped.  My sister went on the path with my dad and I started to go up and over.  When I got to the top my stomach shot up to my throat.  It was a really steep hill that led to a creek that went to the waterfall.  I ended up having to crab walk the whole way down with Lulu and get to the next checkpoint.  I was by myself doing this for 15 minutes.  I was afraid I was going to fall.  But I made it and my sister and dad were waiting on me.  We started hiking again and we reached another weird point.  We started following the arrows and we actually walked the bush walk and the green walk.  We got to some mountains and we saw the owner and her husband coming up the hill to get us.  My dad said he wanted to finish it and he walked the rest of the way.  When we got home we looked across the valley and saw a double rainbow.  When we got inside my sister sat down and cried because it was so hard.  Yesterday we did nothing but hang out because we were so tired.  

Surfing

Today we woke up at 7 so we could get ready for surf lessons.  We had to leave at 7:40 to get to Gisborne, which is a hour away.  When we got there it just opened and she said they tried to call to confirm the time.  If we were in the U.S.A. they probably would have sent us home but they are nice here and called Euan and he got us set up.  We got wetsuits and boards and headed out to the beach.  We went over safety and he told us how to find riptides so we do not get caught in one.  The very first time I got up for 2 seconds on my feet then wiped out.  Falling of the board is the worst because you get dragged under by the wave and you have to wait until it passes to get up.  I tried over and over and just could only get up on my knees.  I finally got tired of getting punded by the waves but one wave came and I went under and the board got ramed into my neck.  I had to get out for a minute to get my bearings again and went back out determined.  Then I finally got a wave and it is amazing to finally ride it.  The waves are powerful and it just pushes you along.  I just rode it and looked at the water.  Surfing is the hardest thing I have ever done.  We had to go back to the surf shop to pay for the lessons and I got a Rip Curl watch.  We were really tired after the lesson so went to town and ate at Two Rivers.  They had really good food.   Then we headed back to are house in the mountains.  Then we ate pizza for dinner and that is all we did that was interesting.  By the way the waves are much bigger than they look.

Singed Hair

Today we were planning on going to the rock slide since we didn't go yesterday but it has rained all day so we decided to just hang out again.  During a small break in the weather my dad decided to surprise my mom and brother by turning on the the hot tub.  The hot tub consists of a tub full of water by a heater connected to a propane tank.  You can just tell there is going to be trouble by looking at it.  I was in my room doing work when I heard this noise.  When I walked into the living room my dad was walking past me and he smelt burnt.  It turns out the noise I heard was a mini fire explosion.  While my dad was trying to light the gas to the propane tank a gust of wind hit spreading the gas and he lit it causing the flame to catch the gas and it shot up his arm and over his chest.  He has been complaining how he has patches of hair now.  When we looked at the instructions at how to start the hot tub there was a piece of paper next to it saying "DANGER You May Blow Yourself Up"  I thought that was pretty funny.  That was the most exciting thing today.  I am excited though because we have surf lessons tomorrow at 9 in the morning so we have to leave around 7:45 to get to town on time.  Tomorrow I should have a pretty good blog saying how terribly I did.

Jacked Up

Yesterday we were planning to go to the rock slide but we were all too drained so we just hung out at Haurata.  We woke up did school and ate.  Then I went and got my sisters card game called Jacked Up.   This game was a little confusing because it was called hearts and you use this phone app with a king on a unicycle playing the guitar.  It was a jacked up game.  My dad couldn't really figure it out.  In the end you did not want many tricks.  I thought I was loosing because I had only 4 tricks.  So I won.  Then after dinner we played spades with teams.  I was on my dads team and my sister on my moms.  We, as in me and my sister, did not know how to play so that's why we were on teams.  In the end if you won you got to get one of the last cookies.  So me and my dad were loosing by 29 so he played neil, whatever that means, and we won that so we got 100 points so that brought us back up.  We were still loosing until the other team lost points and we were in the lead.  Then in the end they played neil also and that was the last hand so we knew it was going to be a pretty close game.  It turns out me and my dad won by 1 point.  The score was 359 to 358.  During one of those hands I got up and went to my room for a second and almost stepped on a cockroach.  I just ignored it and went back to the kitchen.  I told my sister because she HATES bugs.  My mom went to go kill it and my brother and sister went to watch.  Me and my dad were just sitting there and then we heard them all screaming bloody murder.  I went in there and they were all screaming "WHERE IS IT!  WHERE IS IT!"  I was laughing at them.  Then my sister went into the other room and said cockroaches could fly.  My mom kept asking Jonathan if it was on her and he said turn around and it was on her shirt.  That sent another round of caos.  Now she was jumping up and down saying "GET IT OFF!  GET IT OFF!  JONATHAN GET IT OFF!"  We were telling her to calm down and I went over to flick it off and she thought I did so she started running away from me.  I told her it was still on her and she finally let me flick it off.  She said that she sprayed the thing a million of times.  My sister said if it landed on her she would have cried.  Then we went to bed.   

Home Sweet Home

I forgot to blog yesterday so I will fill you in.  We were still at the place in a town I do not know of and we were on the beach so we decided to go to the beach.  When we got there it was empty of people.  The water was warm and really blue and they had amazing sea shells that were not broken into a million different pieces.  We collected shells for a while but decided to cross a small strip of water to another part of land by walking.  My mom and sister stayed on the other side of the beach.  When we got over there they had mini conch shells and we found a jellyfish.  It was almost time for the tide to come in but we stayed over there.  I started freaking out because the water was rising where we crossed earlier and that was the only way back.  When I finally got my dad to take us back it was way deeper.  It went from knee height to lower back height.  I thought I was going to get swept away.  Then we went back the the weird house and took showers and avoided tea with the owner.  That was all yesterday.  Then today we were supposed to drive around with the owner and learn about the Maori people but we avoided that too.  We got to  Gisborne around 11:45 and we decided to look around a bit.  We ate and then went to the surf shop.  We are going to start surf lessons on Wednesday in New Zealand time.  The guy said we should not see any sharks.  I was all good after he said that until he said you need balance too and I don't have a lot of that.  After that we drove around for a bit and headed back to Haurata.  I was sooo happy to get back to Haurata because it is like home now.  I wish we could stay here the rest of the year.  After we got back we just hung out.  Tomorrow we are going on the rock slide again.  I think I might get more bruises if I do what I plan to do.  Read tomorrows blog to find out what that is.  Oh by the way my sister just showed me she did not have on pants.

Mini Trip

Today my parents started looking for a place to escape the rain over the weekend.  We looked for a few hours and we found some really cool places.  We were looking for a place with wifi and on the beach.  We saw really cool places but we settled for a little house thing in a town called I don't know what.  It is bigger then what we stay in the majority of the time but a little weirder.  I don't get a good vibe here but we can learn to surf and see the first sunrise of the day.  We ate a dinner of corn,  Doritos, and a peanut butter and nutella sandwich.  Not the best but still good.  Then we played logos and we went to bed.

Cuts and Bruises are Worth it Sometimes

Today like every other day we got up and started school.  My dad had to go to town to get some groceries while we were doing school and we were finished when he got back around 2.  It has been a little hot in the house since it is in the middle of summer and they do not have air conditioning here so we decided to go for a swim.  They do not have a swimming pool here  so we were going to go swim in a little creek thing.  They do not have really any animals here that can hurt you so you can walk in tall grass and swim in the creeks.  The person who owns the house said the best place to go was at the rock slide.  We did not really know what that was but we went anyway.  So about 5 minutes away there is this creek and it is flat at the top then there are smooth rocks that kind of form a slide into the lower part of the creek.  We were a little afraid to get in but I said who ever slid down the "slide" first would get 5 dollars.  My dad of course went first.(I did not give him 5 dollars) I decided to go and it was a little scary at first because you can pick up some pretty good speed.  We got use to that and it was really fun.  My mom did not want to get in the water because she is afraid she is going to get parasites.  I wore my gopro camera while we were doing this and got some pretty funny footage that I will edit and probably post somewhere.  While we were there the neighbors, 5 miles up the road, came for a slide too.  The only difference is that they brought boogie boards.  When they did it they went really fast and ended up in the middle of the lower pond.  They only wanted to do it for a minute so they left pretty soon afterward.  The only thing is that New Zealanders are really nice and they let us keep the boards.  This is when we started getting cuts and bruises.  When we went on it we fell off a couple of times on the way down.  It was worth it though.  I started trying to do a 360 on the board while going down and I failed a few times.  My mom and brother left a few minutes later only to return when they saw a cow.  They are terrified of cows after what happened on the yellow walk.  They wanted us to get out and go with them.  I was starting to go while my dad and sister got ready.  I still had not completed a 360 so I decided to try 1 more time.  Of course right before we leave I did it.  I got out before my dad and sister still and started walking back.  I got up to where my mom and brother were and there was no cow.  They said it was there a few minutes ago but I think they were hallucinating.  We got back and took showers and hung out the remaining hours.  I never even thought that was going to tire my body but now it hurts to lift my arms above my head.