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Gemma's Travels
hi all,
well im back from the east and it was amazing it was very chilled especially as there was only 2 of us on the bus and the driver andy who was so cool. the first place we went to was a little village called gisbourne and we stayed at the surf chalet which we had to ourselves so we slobbed around aND WATCHED THE VIDEO OF 'WHALE RIDER' WHICH IS VERY AUTHENTIC AND FULL OF THE MAORI culture, i def reccommend it if anyone wants a taster as to maori life. the east is 76% maori so we had to make sure we respected their culture and tradition- we learnt so much about their life and values. the second day we went to where 'whale rider' was filmed and then went on to a rural farm which was pretty cool, we did bone carving that afternoon and i made a pendant. then as there was just the three of us again we built a big campfire and sat around it chattin half the night, it reminded me of being at dunfield. the next morning me and imogen got up at 6am and we walked for 15mins up a hill and we were the first people in the world to see the sunrise, how cool is that! although i was knakred and then i went on a 'proper' 2hr horse ride, we went along a beach and up and down mountains, i had a horse called just juice who was meant to be good for beginners but she was greedy and kept stopping to eat and when we were crossing the stream she decided she wanted a bath and dunked, which although annoying and fairly scary (in case i fell off) was absolutely hilarious as i got dunked up to my waist as well, the others couldnt help me for laughing but i eventually got control - riding a horse is harder than it looks but i really really enjoyed it. that afternoon we went to a lighthouse and climbed up the 736 steps on the hill to get there, about 5steps down i twisted my ankle - typically it couldnt have happened at the bottom so i had to hobble down all the other steps and im in tubigrip again, im getting very clumsy this year! anyway that night we went to a families house and it was really cool as we got to treat that as our own place as well except for the fact that someone else cooked for us, in the evening the three of us went to the hot tub on the beach and sat in it for 3hrs just chatting, and also because we didnt want to get out into the cold air. it was lovely and such a relaxing holiday away from travelling!!! i got back to taupo this afternoon and the weather is miserable, im here until monday when the next bus comes to take me to river valley. well done ash for passing your driving test, i dont have your email address so i cant email you. well done mrs ward for going through with it :-) dont worry mum theres nothing else 'mad' that i fancy doing, just a bit more horse riding and gentle activities like glacier walking up franz josef lol. take care everyone and keep in touch!
gem xxx
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