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Hi everyone!!!
Well what a flash my 3 nights in beautiful Auckland went with!! What an amazing city, very vibrant and modern- a slight difference from the rolling hills of New Zealand I spent my time surrounded by in Wanganui!
So for the first time on the trip I really was Miss Independent!! After leaving my family in Wanganui airport (which was a quite emotional goodbye) I headed off on the same little plane for my 50 minute flight back up to Auckland. I arrived and found the airport shuttle bus and then checked into my hostel- all before midday!! I was feeling quite proud of myself actually :-) I then found some lunch nearby and headed for the city tour bus- my plan for the day!! I had a great trip around the city, stopping at a number of different sights in the city, including Mount Eden and also Eden Park- home of the All Blacks!! I then got off the bus at Auckland Zoo to complete my New Zealand mission- to see a kiwi!!! And over the next 2 days I didn't see one kiwi.............I saw 4!!!!!! They are quite amazing birds really, I was lucky in the zoo to watch a pair of them for about half an hour, burrowing in the ground for food and running back and forth around the enclosure- so mission accomplished and I was happy!!!!! I then reboarded the tour bus and headed back into the city to the Sky Tower (the needle topped tall building in the photo and the tallest in NZ). I went on a trip up to the top of the tower- 220 metres to be precise- and saw the amazing views from all around the city. I then had a cup of tea in the sky cafe before heading home for dinner and an early night!!
The next 2 days I had booked onto some sightseeing trips to see more of the North Island. I headed first to the Waitomo caves- about 2 hours away and was amazed!! We went on a walk through some of the most amazing old caves I had ever seen, and then boarded a boat to sail through and see the main attraction- a cavern lit with thousands of glow worms!! It was absolutely amazing, sailing through and it looked just like stars in the sky- just a wonderful experience!! On the way back we stopped at a large farm complex to see the famous New Zealand sheep- watch sheep dog trials and a shearing demonstration before heading off to our next destination- Rotorua. This is the home of thermal acitivity. We watched the large 'Prince of Wales Geyser' shooting from the ground as well as thermal mud pools which were amazing. Here we were treated also to a Maori cultural show, including the world-famous Haka and then a trip to the kiwi house where I saw another 2, very active Kiwiws!!! I returned again to the hostel for dinner and then bed again before my next busy day. I again boarded a coach tour and this time headed North up to the Bay of Islands- and it was just beautiful!! We went on a trip sailing through the islands, with amazing scenery and gorgeous weather- and then the treat of the journey, we saw a group of wild dolphins dancing around the helm of the boat. Just amazing!!!! I had never seen dolphins in the wild before, and I have to say it far exceeded anything Sea World or the likes could put together. This was certainly one of the trip highlights for certain!!!
This pretty much concluded the New Zealand trip- and what a great 18 days- a beautiful country with so much to offer!! I would recommend a visit to anyone, and I felt quite sad that my visit was over in what seemed like a blink of an eye.
But on with the show, I had to be up at 4am to head to the airport for my early morning flight back into Nadi. And when I arrived it really felt like returning home!!! I walked through arrivals, feeling far less nervous than the last time I arrived at this airport!!! As I headed out of the door a lady from the information desk grabbed me to check if I knew where I was going and what I was doing- to which I casually replied 'yes thanks I am fine!!' Then when the taxi driver didn't know how to get to the address I had given him I said 'Oh don't worry I will show you the way!!' He asked if I lived here- so I just said 'Sort of!!!'
And that was it, back to my South Pacific home, the children, maid and nanny came running out of the house to greet me and I was back!!!
Of course one of the first things I did was to phone Elenoa- and I shouldn't really be surprised but of course things had been eventful while I was away!!! She told me how sorry she was but unfortunately while I had been away the school had had to close a few weeks early for their summer holidays as they just didn't have the money to fund the rest of the term. I was really sad to hear this and Elenoa seemed upset but said they had just had to accept the decision. So of course it meant I didn't get to say goodbye to the children which was upsetting, but I arranged to meet with Elenoa the next day for lunch.
So we had a lunch which actually lasted almost 3 hours by the time we had caught up!!! It seemed the school were being taken to court for taxes owed- almost 14,000 Fiji dollars to be precise which was why they had closed early!!! She told me the story of how they had been promised their holiday pay on the last day (about 500 fiji dollars, which of course covered the holiday period and Christmas). The school had closed at 10:30am on the last day and the teachers had waited around until 3:30pm when they were each given 25 dollars (about 9 pounds)- all the school could manage for the break. It's just tragic to hear this, she told me how one of the male teachers had broken down in tears as it was his sons birthday the next day and he had promised him a party. So Elenoa and another teacher each gave him 10 dollars from their own 25. As I say time and time again on here, such an amazing and generous lady.
There was a hint of good news from the school though. Apparently it was discovered that a number of the pupils parents had been paying their school fees to the headmaster.... somehow though they had not been making it to the office!!!!! To top it off, during the last day prize-giving ceremony some debt collectors turned up looking for him and pretty much chased him around the school as he hid in the classrooms!!!! You just couldn't write it could you??!!! So anyway, finally he was given the sack!!!!! Elenoa of course was offered the job, but declined it (she likes to serve) so they will be looking for someone new when the school returns- so lets hope there is some positivity to come for the future of Nadi Christian Academy.
It was so lovely to see Elenoa and also return to my host family. I have had a great 3 days just catching up with different people and enjoying being back in the lovely and generous South Pacific culture. But as ever I don't stay still for long. As schools have finished myself and my Norwegian friend Annette head off this afternoon to the airport to fly to Tonga for a week!! I am just a tad excited!!!! Who knows what we will find there- but I am sure it will be a great next stage to my now rapidly running out adventure!!
Love and miss you all xxxxx
- comments
Hilary What another amazing time you've had!!! I skipped some when I read that the school was going to be Headless as I thought you were going to say that you'd decided to take over the running of the school and wouldn't be back. Hillyx
mike and virginia Hi Sarah, Sun still shining, has been very quiet. Was not quite the news you expected about the school, must have been very upsetting. Enjoy Tonga, still a lot more touring to be done Mike and Virginia