My last full week in Auckland...

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The end of week 5 is upon us!
I can't believe i've been here for over 5 weeks. It's scary. So as not to disappoint, this week has been just as busy as any other!
The week began waiting for fruit. Again.Once it turned up 45 minutes late we were presented with apples, nashi pears and rock melons. Seeing as it was late, we logically counted out low maintenance fruit (ie it didn't need chopping up) as quickly as we could and had just started sending it out the classes when Susan, the deputy head walked in saying that she had just received a phone call asking that we use the melon as it wouldn't last until Tuesday. And so, we had to recall all the apples and start speed chopping melons! Eventually that was completed and I spent the rest of my morning helping with admin. During morning tea, Josephine (one of the girls in Kauri team) and I randomly decided to see if we could figure out the chords to 'Colours of the Wind' - from Pocahontas - a song I am doing with Kauri team choir - on the Ukulele. SUCCESS. Well, half anyway, we can play all the verses with the ukulele - Very cool :D. At lunch, Milly and I decided to sample 'Muzza's Pies'. This is a pie shop just down the road from school that all the staff have been telling us to visit for a while and so we ventured down there and treated ourselves to a Chilli, sour cream and cheese pie for me and Milly a chicken and apricot. 😊
On Monday evening, we all went out for dinner to a Korean restaurant nearby as it was Daniel's birthday and I successfully managed to eat a curry with heavy metal chopsticks! (A challenge I assure you)
Tuesday was a day full of ukulele. We have started teaching ukulele in lessons, having finished with elastics. Obviously I am very much enjoying my uke playing but having a class of 30 children trying to play them is a different matter - I am getting very good at playing C chord, singing 'Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree' (this only has C chord in...) and tuning ukuleles. They unfortunately need tuning after every lesson as they get knocked about a bit by the kids which can take up to half an hour - I think i have the notes G C E A tattooed in my mind :D
In the ukulele lessons we also show the children how good they can be at the uke if they put their mind to it by showing them some videos of a Canadian guy by the name of James Hill who is an incredible player and has been playing since he learnt at school. Check him out on youtube playing 'one note samba' he also manages to drum whilst playing a uke. V. cool.
Tuesday also saw Puriri team choir, and we were singing 'See you later Alligator' and 'Hine e Hine'. The latter was finally sounding good by the end of the rehearsal as i had managed to get across the idea that this was infact a lullaby and that singing at the top of your voice isn't always the best thing.
Wednesday was similar at school with a lot of uke playing, tuning, then Kauri team choir who are sounding better all the time and know most of their two songs off by heart now. After school Milly and I did a bit of shopping and I managed to buy a hard ukulele case so hopefully it will be easier to transport home and won't get damaged. After that, a big group of us went down to our favourite- Mt Fuji for a leaving dinner as Claire, our Australian friend, was leaving for Christchurch on Thursday, Tess leaving to continue her travels on Friday and Milly leaving for Perth on Saturday!
Thursday at school was much the same with lots of ukulele, chopping rock melons, and watching the Maori group practice for Saturday's Pasifika festival. After school we got ready to go out to Fusion again - free drinks simply cannot be turned down - most of the group were pretty tired however and after some drinks and games which involved popping balloons against a member of the opposite sex, we headed back to the hostel. Friday was also full of ukulele, and pie. The caretaker, Steve was retiring and so at break, there was a massive spread of food put out; scones, hot cross buns, melon and this bacon and egg pie which most closely resembled quiche in pastry - amazing and very popular out here, i'm surprised we haven't discovered the wonder in England! The afternoon was a leaving assembly for Steve in which Daniel and his advanced uke group played a piece they had written and Puriri team (the littlies) choir sang for him.
As Friday was Milly's last night, we spent most of it packing but had time to make ourselves pancakes!
Saturday was Pasifika festival. We got up early and went for a last breakfast next door in starbucks and as Milly was checking out I was asked by the owner if i wanted to move next door into Gemma's room so that we would have a roommate we knew for the next week. As we were leaving for the festival about half an hour later i ran up to my room (which i had fortunately tidied the night before) and had to move all my stuff (which is rather a lot surprisingly) next door! So i have a new room and roommate now! We said goodbye to Milly and then went to catch the bus to a place called Western Springs where Pasifika was. Pasifika is a celebration of culture from all the Pacific Islands, some of which I had never even heard of! After wandering around the various stalls selling food and wares from each country, we sat down to watch Owairaka (our school) perform. They did fantasticly well and looked the part aswell with the girls all having fake tattoos on their chins etc... Unfortunately it then started to rain. We decided to head for the bus stop but it appears that everyone else had aswell. 45 minutes later I was pushed onto a bus home whilst the others were left waiting in the shelter of the bus stop! We evenutally all made it home on various buses however and spent a quiet afternoon in. I think most of us were pretty tired by this point in the week.
Today is Sunday. My last weekend in Auckland. Most of the others have gone off on a trip today to Rotorua and Waitomo to see glow worm caves and mud pools, this was a very expensive trip however and after the purchase of my ukulelele case in the week i decided a cheap weekend would suit me better! So today as it is sunny and beautiful I am going on a walk around Auckland with my camera to see what I can see :D

Plans for the rest of my trip are as follows -
Working at Owairaka until Wednesday
Thursday midday - fly down to Queenstown (South Island)
Thursday evening - stay at Base Hostel in Q.Town
Friday morning - collected from my hostel by Kiwi Experience bus and travel to Dunedin - climb the steepest street in the world, visit the cadbury factory
Friday evening - stay in Dunedin
Saturday - Dunedin to Invercargill - spotting sea lions, penguins, waterfalls, beach walks
Saturday night - stay in Invercargill
Sunday - Invercargill to Te Anau - Stop in Riverton to visit the Paua factory, McCracken's Rest, Manapouri
Sunday night - stayin in Te Anau
Monday - Te Anau - Milford Sound Cruise - Queenstown - a cruise in Milford sound and back to Queenstown via the edge of lake Wakatipu
Monday night - stay in Queenstown
Tuesday morning - Wanaka sightseeing trip to Lord of the Rings filming locations
Tuesday afternoon - see Queenstown!
Tuesday night - stay in Queenstown
Wednesday midday - fly up to Auckland
Wednesday night - stay back at BK Hostel
Thursday - final trip around Auckland - possibly a harbour cruise if money permits
Thursday afternoon - Fly home to England
Friday morning - Home!

Hope that sounds exciting and stops some of you worrying about my whereabouts whilst I am travelling by myself!
In other news - various school people are in NZ in the next week so I hope to meet up with them in Auckland and down in the South Island!

Keep well

Bethan

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