I WANNA BE MAORI!!

yeah its true..i wanna be maori. like, the people are so cool and laid back, and their culutre is mucho fascinating :) going to te puia was fun!! its this museum like thing where you go through and learn things about the maori peoples and some stuff about new zealand. i think we had the best tour guide, the rest, from what we saw, seemed to be, not as interested or as upbeat as ours. we got to see the largest geyser in the southern hemisphere. we got to go into a kiwi house, where they make it nighty night so you can see the kiwis. they said that the kiwis are related to the ostrich and the emu. if you know anything about those birds, you know that they're flightless and that they lay a big honkin egg. thus the kiwi lays a big ole egg too. the comparison they gave was a human woman (sorry men) giving birth to a 30 flippin pound baby!!!!!!!! ahhhh !! ouch. :/ we learned that kia ora is hello in maori. the tribe we visited is the only one to touch noses twice...the first touch meaning you (as your elders) greeting them. the second touch means you greeting the other person. when we went to the village and we were greeted by the maoris with the haka (which is used in many ways, but used mainly as a challenge) . thery make some crazy faces!! i love it !! ha later my mom, dad, kate, jennifer and i went downtown to celebrate new years with fireworks!! it rained a little but according to kate, ron and and his lit degree, claim that rain signifies the bringing of new beginnings, and the washing away of the old.

today we got up to take a bus from rotorua to napier. we went to the beach, which is just across the street from our hotel, and then to eat and get some gelato. :) yum.

i think i caught a cold from the kid who sat behind me on the auckland to rotorua bus...ugh horrible little kid germs. they spread like wild fire.

ow! i just banged my knee on the armrest of the chair!! (awwwww)

goodnight everyone!

happy new year (:p i got to celebrate it first!!) hehe

love yas

deuces.