Thermal pools

 This is me with my cousins, Camryn (left) and Maya (right).

 

 The thermal pools were so hot and with all the minerals in the water, it changed into this color.

 

 I still wonder about this, it is also a thermal pool, but it is neon green.

 

 I remember that this thermal pool was called Painter's Pallet because there were different minerals in the water that made it different colors in specific areas in the giant pool, as you can see in the picture. 

 

 On one side its clear, but on this side it was steaming. It smelled, horribly, like rotten eggs.

 

I forgot were this was in the thermal pools, but it looks cool with the greenish color circle that is in the middle.

 

 

 

These are the Thermal pools on New Zealand. They are in different areas, but mostly on the North Island. They smell horrible because of the sulfur, but are said to be good on the skin with all the different minerals. In some towns with thermal pools, they make them in to pools for tourist to relax in. I didn't want to go because I thought that I would smell like rotten eggs when I got out. I could have washed the smell off, but my hair can hold a smell for the longest of times, so I had no interest in going. Back in the 1700, people from all over the world came to see these special springs to bathe. Most of them were soldiers from New Zealand or allies that were based there. Even before England took over, the Maori bathed in the springs in tiny villages. I went to one of the villages and saw all of the homes and springs. They told us that some of the houses were abandoned  because of springs coming from underneath the houses. This is dangerous for the people because if you are too close for a long time it can kill you. They even cook their corn and other foods in the springs. Their corn is the best I have ever had in forever.

The Moeraki Boulders

 

 

Going to the site of the Moeraki Boulders.

A really tall one, taking picture with Mom, Wendy, and me.

Mom and I still staring at boulder, Wendy watching us stare.

Sorry about it being sideways, me on top of boulder, with a little of Dad's help getting me there.

 Dad pretending to be hatching out of a egg.

 



 Me pushing boulder.

 

Mom and I.

 

Wendy just staring at the ground.

 

 

 

 

 

Don't these boulders look like they were marbled? Well, these are the Moeraki boulders, a series of boulders that are perfectly round. It is weird that they are this shape, but it is true.

 

 

They were a legend that the Maori told about a boat called the Arai Te Uru. It traveled around the bay, but then sunk leaving the reef as the hull and the seeds on board the boat that they carried with them, as the Moeraki Boulders.

 

Then there was the scientific explanation. It started with clams and other creatures who lived in the sand thousands of years ago. They died and stayed in the same place for centuries. Growing around them was mud and dirt cementing together making a round like ball. Then, the ground in front of them broke off into the ocean and it became cliff. After that, the dirt and ground were slowly eroding away to the boulder, which then fell out of the cliff and rolled onto the beach.

Funny story time (Bathrooms and boys)

      I am now back in Tahiti and boy, is it hot! It was at night and since we were in the marina we had to use the bathrooms in the marina that are only for boaters. You needed a key to get in that only the people in the marina can get. Some of the boaters are locals who only live on boats and some were families. So, I needed to take a shower and I walked up to the bathroom door. Well, the light in the bathroom was on and last time Mom went in a local lady was in the bathroom, weirdly just sitting on the sink counter. So, when I saw that the light was on I thought it was the lady, although it scared me a little at the thought of having a person in the bathroom just listening to me shower. But, I sucked it up and walked in to find something much worse.


     A teenage boy around my age was just sitting on the sink counter. I stared at him, just processing the situation. He said something to me in French, but he didn't sound threatening and I slowly closed the door. I looked up to see that it was, in fact, the ladies. So, why was there a boy? I turned around and began to speed walk back to the boat. Still confused, I bumped in to Mom, who asked me why I wasn't in the shower. After I told her the situation and pleaded that I should have a shower tomorrow, Mom and I marched into the bathroom, but the boy was gone.
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     I was relieved that he was gone, but still wondered why he was there. I still didn't want a shower because I was afraid that he would be back, so we walked out the door. While we were walking I saw him again, but he had friends with him. Then it hit me; a dare. Maybe the other boys dared him to go in and wait for a woman or girl to show up and then run for it. I was still a little shocked but the next day I had a shower and I never saw the boy again.

The Weka

Front of a Weka

Side of a Weka

 

 

 

    When we were in Jackson's Retreat, we stayed in a nice, little holiday camp. It was pouring rain that day and we camped under a little  hut (it was so cute!). Anyway, I was looking at the chart of birds in the lounge that only have the South Island birds and I saw a chicken-like brown bird which had the bottom half of a kiwi and the top half that had a long neck and a short beak.

 

    Then I heard my mom say, "Hey, there's a kiwi out here!"

 

    I walked over to the door to see the same bird that was on the charts. I laughed and said," That's not a kiwi that is a Weka."

 

    That same night, Dad went to our tents to get some food when sitting on top of the bin of food was a Weka, trying to peck its way through the plastic. In the morning when I woke up, I heard a low thumping noise. I went outside to see, thinking it was the Weka pecking at the bin again. But, it was just the Weka making a low thumping sound in their throats. After we left in the car I said to my parents, "Those Wekas are mischievousness and curiosity in one little brown ball."