October 31, 2009 - When we got to Tonga there was a regatta.
There were fun activities like a corn hole tournament, a costume party, kids fun day and two races with our boats. We would
have a passport and go to different restraunts and stores and get a stamp from each one. Then at the end of the regatta we
would hand it in and get prizes. We won a safari cart ride, whale watch tour, and lots of other things. We were
happy to get back in touch with Monkey Feet, Honey Moon, Vagabond Hearts, Lucy Blue, Love Song, Light foot, Anamos, Catmousses,
and HipNautical. Then we met Zen with Tom, Monique, Cameron and Cole. It seems that Tonga is a place to connect back up with
boats you know and to meet new boats.
There are a lot of little islands at least an hour to two hours apart from each
other. My favorite islands were Port Maurelle, Nuku, and Hunga.
Then we went to Ha'Apai and visited the school.
There was an American peace corps worker who taught the kids how to speak English. The boys and I went to school for a couple
of days. When it was Halloween we wore our costumes up to the school. At first the kids weren't sure what was going on
but Melanie the peace corps worker explained it to them but it was still a little bit funny. Some of the girls names that
I played with most were Ongoongo, Mona, Nila, Ana and Lenila. They were a lot of fun. We all had a lot of fun in Haipai.
December
10, 2009 - New Zealand's History
As part of their schooling Caroline and Grant reviewed a children's history
book of New Zealand. After their lessons they wrote a composition on one are of NZ's history. Attached is Caroline's
composition.
In the early 1600's the Europeans started to come to New Zealand. They brought lots of items and just
came to explore. Some did not last long, some stayed and made friends, and some just became dinner. Whether or not they stayed
or became dinner, it is all great history.
Able Tasman was the first European to come to New Zealand. He anchored his
ship in the Tasman Bay. The Maori blew their horn so Tasman blew his back. They didn't realize that they accepted a challenge
and three of Tasman's men died. Able Tasman named the area Murderer's Bay which is now called Golden Bay. As you can
guess Tasman didn't stay long after three of his men died and that is true.
Captain James Cook was the second European
to come to New Zealand. Cook's ship's name was the Endeavor. It was 1769 when Cook got to New Zealand. Nicholas Young
was the first to spot land which is now called Young Nick's Head. Captain Cook traded nails, iron, and kumara (sweet potato)
to the Maori. Cook went through a short cut which we call Cook Strait (pretty obvious). Captain Cook left New Zealand and
later went to Hawaii. Sadly Cook died there. Bad luck, Cook, you should have stayed in New Zealand.
When the Europeans
came they effected the animals. The rats came on the ships. They took the bird eggs and that did not make the mother birds
very happy. By the rats taking the eggs, it decreased the number of birds. Seals also started to decrease. The Europeans killed
the seals. They made seal hats and sold it to America and China. They animal population is no getting bigger again.
Not
only did the Europeans effect the animal population but they also effected they also effected the Maoris. When the Europeans
came to New Zealand they brought muskets. The good thing was that it helped the Maoris to hunt but the bad thing was that
it also made it easier to kill and many Maoris died. They also brought the flu. Many of the Maoris died from this. The Maoris
thought that their gods were failing them.
Like I said, "All New Zealand history is fascinating, no matter what
happens."
February 2, 2010
When I was out traveling with my family around the South Island of New Zealand
I saw and did a lot of cool stuff. We saw a lot of cool animals, went to a ton of cool places and did a lot of awesome activities.
I will tell you about most of them but not all because it would be too much.
We saw two different types of penguins.
There was the yellow eyed penguin which is the rarest penguin in the world. Not only did we see the rarest penguin in the
world but it was feeding it's chicks. We also saw the Little Blue penguin and they are the smallest penguin in the world
the weird thing is that they only come out at night. Then we saw some seals. We saw elephant seals and they are the biggest
seals and are quite ugly. Then we saw New Zealand Fur seals.. They used to be used for hats and other clothes which is hard
to believe because they are so cute. We saw tons of birds like the kea and they are the alpine parrot, kiwis and they are
nocturnal and the Albatross which are the biggest flying bird. The thing we saw most of was sheep. We saw sheep after sheep.
As you can tell we saw a lot of animals.
Three of my favorite places were Dunnedin, Queenstown and Nelson. Dunnedin
is where we saw the Albatross, Little Blue Penguins and fur seals. It was so cool when the Little Blue Penguin touched me
when they were walking on shore. Queenstown was nice too we went on some hikes and on one of the hikes we even made a snowman.
That is where Grandpa and Uncle Doug came to visit. My favorite place so far is Nelson where the boat, NZ friends the Franklins
and most of our boat friends are.
A few of my favorite activities were the luge, zip trek and Ernslaw. We did all those
activities in Queenstown. The luge was so much fun I did it with mom. I did the zip trek with Uncle Doug and Grant. We went
back and forth 4 times. We all did the Ernslaw. We road the boat over to Walter Peak. We got to feed the sheep, touch the
antlers of red deer, watch sheep get sheared and try weaving wool. Those were my favorite activities.
All the things
I told you about I think you should see and do if you come to New Zealand. New Zealand is great so far.
