June 10th 2011

I absolutely did NOT want to go hiking this morning.  I am not a hiking person at all, and on top of that it down down pouring. All I could think of was "this is my nightmare."  We had to walk forever to get to the bus stop and then the bus never showed up, so we back tracked back to a different bus stop but not all of us could get on the bus.  By this time I was soaking wet and cold.  But since I did not really want to go hiking I knew if i stayed back I would not be hiking as long.  By the time the bus came and we all got on the bus we only had an hour or so to walk to the entrance (which was at least a mile away) and then begin the hike, finish the hike, and walk back to the bus stop.  When caught up with Mr. Schagrin, he was with a group who wasn't going to be hiking as much.  I decided I would join his group.  We all decided we would go into the gift shop because it was warm in there.  Also there were some pretty cool things, I was taught how to count how old a tree was.  After that the decision was made that we were going to hike for a little bit, for me this was pushing my limits, I was all wet and cold and the last thing I wanted to do was hike but I stuck through it with a smile on my face, I didn't want to ruin the moment for anyone else.  So we hiked about half of the short trail and it was actually more then I would have to begin with, mainly because it was raining.  After the hike I went back to the hotel and then we got ready and headed off to Rangitoto College! The kids were so nice! One of the best parts of the night though were being able to watch the Moari students preforming the Haka. It was sooo awesome I loved it! The intensity of the dance was just amazing.  All I could think of was that their performance was so much better then the one we watched at the hotel the night before.  My pen pal was super nice, her name was Laura.  She loved all her candy I got her and she made me a really cute little keychain thing and then gave me some pineapple lumps.  I thought it was really nice that she brought me a gift.  The food there was interesting and not really what I expected and I didn't know exactly what I was eating.  After we ate we got to learn the Haka dance it was so so so so so so fun!  Everyone got really into it.  All of the students I met were really nice.  But they had a lot of questions.  Laura's friend Charlotte was really cool and had a really good taste in music.  I am so happy I got to visit the school! It was probably one of the best parts of New Zealand!