Winiata’s Blog

Do people ever pay attention to the reality shows on TV about real life tragedies?  Does the message in the gruesome advertisements about the dangers of car crashes ever really get through? So why do people still drink and drive, and make so many stupid mistakes behind the wheel?

The Olympics closing ceremony is on soon. This is the end of two weeks of Olympics and NZ has got 9 medals. In another 4 years the Olympics will be in London England.

They said the opening ceremony was good but I didn’t watch it. I think it was hard to see any because it was always on in the middle of the night. Watching Mahe Drysdale strive to do his best, and the Evers-Swindell twins make gold, was probably the best part of it for me.

Most disappointing was probably the BMX, this was the first year they had BMX and we have a world champion, Sarah Walker, so everyone was thinking she would bring home gold. But she only got 4^th. She fell over in the race but I think it’s unfair that the race for the medals is only one race, and the heats are averaged out over three races.

All in all the NZ athletes did pretty good. It took hard work and a lot of determination over 4 years for them to get that far. Sarah Ulmer could have added to our golds but I think she is retired.

Here are the top nine comments made by NBC sports commentators so far during the Olympics that they would like to take back:

1.  Weight-lifting commentator: This is Gregorieva from Bulgaria.. I saw her snatch this morning during her warm up and it was amazing.

2.  Dressage commentator: This is really a lovely horse and I speak from personal experience since I once mounted her mother.

3.  Paul Hamm, Gymnast: I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father.

4.  Boxing Analyst: Sure there have been injuries, and even some deaths in boxing, but none of them really that serious.

5.  Softball announcer: If history repeats itself, I should think we can expect the same thing again.

6.  Basketball analyst: He dribbles a lot and the opposition doesn’t like it. In fact you can see it all over their faces.

7.  At the rowing medal ceremony: Ah, isn’t that nice, the wife of the IOC president is hugging the cox of the British crew.

8.  Soccer commentator: Julian Dicks is everywhere. It’s like they’ve got eleven Dicks on the field.

9.  Tennis commentator: One of the reasons Andy is playing so well is that, before the final round, his wife takes out his balls and kisses them… Oh my God, what have I just said.

On Wednesday we got up early to have breakfast. When we were packed, we hopped into the van and headed off to Captain Tama’s Lagoon Cruise. At CTLC we got into a glass bottom boat, and go far out in the lagoon. Kata, Kori and I got to sit on the front with our feet in the water. The captain gave us some coconut oil that, when one rubbed it on our body, might help us get a tan.

After we dropped the anchor, the captain told us a little about the place. Through the glass, we could see the ground, and some coral and fishes around it. We were told that we could get into the water, so we took the honour of going first. When we hoped in, we found that it was a WHOLE lot deeper than I had expected.

This was the best part of my trip. The different colours of fish surrounding me were just incredible. The sight of all the coral and rocks was beautiful. Massive clams on the lovely coral rocks. Colourful fish swimming between the waving sea-weed, and the most awesome part about this is that you are a part of it.

We discovered a lagoon and inner reef area where marine life was abundant. We got to swim and snorkel among schools of colourful butterfly wrasse and triggerfish. We also saw giant crabs in their natural habitat. I swam upside down under the glass. After half an hour under there, I was picking up stones from the seabed, diving all the way down it was amazing.

Later we went to the island and we were given a BBQ lunch. After that we played this game where we had to look for crabs, and I found the biggest one. There was one which was bigger, but the guide said it was too dangerous to get it. There were heaps of crabs, but when I asked whose property we were on, the guide just said, “It’s cool, this is my uncle’s house!” But I got the impression that everywhere he goes he says that.

We were shown a skit about coconuts and a lavalava, like how to wear a lavalava in different ways. It was really funny, we all laughed when they got dressed up in a lavalava and put a coconut inside the lavalava, and sang a song as it swung between their legs.

On Thursday we got to sleep in for ages. Then after breakfast we went for a bit of shopping but I was to discover that I had left my wallet behind. Everyone bought an ice-cream except me. Then we went to the perfumes of Rarotonga, a shop where they make perfumes and other stuff for your skin. After that we went to the snorkelling part of the coast. We swam really far out where there was a diving platform anchored off the beach, out to sea. Right next to it was a big rock with lots of fish around it. Kataroa went back to get some bread. When he came back with it there were lots of other big fish following behind, wanting to eat the crumbs.

After we went back to the cabins and we had a tournament like a triathlon, with three different games – pool, darts and table tennis. The problem was four out of the six teams all got tied. My team didn’t lose one game.

On Friday it was our last full day. Most of the day we spent with my aunty who lives in Rarotonga. She came back to pick us up. We went to her place again, we watched DVDs and we talked most of the day. Then we went to an Indian restaurant for dinner. After dinner she took us back to the cabins.

When we got back there was no one around, so we went searching and finally we went to the food hall where the dinners are served, and we found everyone there watching rugby. The All Blacks versus England. After a while my brother Etere decided to go back to the cabin and watch a DVD. Later on everyone else came back and we were told to get our bags ready.

When we got to the shuttle bus, we loaded our bags into the trailer and got on. At the airport we checked our bags in and they looked at our passports again. On the plane I was sitting next to my brother and Josephine. We watched another DVD, but that got boring so we listened to music instead on the radio.

Just before the plane landed in Auckland I looked out the window and saw that it had been raining. When we landed we went to the carousel to get the luggage and stood in line with everyone else, and waited to check out. Then we went through to the public area and our uncle Pompi was there to pick us up.

We got back and had to wait at uncle’s place for about 5 hours until mum and dad arrived. First I fell asleep and slept until noon. Then we played guitar hero on the big screen all the rest of the afternoon until mum arrived. Then we all had tea together, and when it got dark, we drove back to Te Awamutu.

Te Awamutu Intermediate kapahaka roopu went to Rarotonga on the 14^th of June this year. We left on a Saturday and we returned on Sunday the 22^nd of June. We stayed for 8 days at The Edgewater Resort.

We arrived at school on Saturday at noon and we all got into the van and one other car. There were four adults going, Mr McCabe, Tracey Paekau, and two of the mums, Aunty Mel (Kataroa’s mum) and Aunty Linda (Anahera’s mum).

We got to Auckland airport at 4pm and we did a final repack of the luggage. We had to weigh our bags and get then to the check-in. Everyone had the maximum limit on weight because we were also carrying most of the food we would eat while we were there.

After check-in, we went upstairs and spent almost an hour, eating dinner – McDonalds – and looking around at the expensive shops. My brother Etere put his wallet down while he played in the arcade, and that disappeared so already he had no wallet and we weren’t even on the plane yet!

Then we said goodbye to the families that were there, then we finally boarded the plane. I sat with Etere and Pania, and we played cards and listened to music on the headphones.

We finally got there at 1 am in the morning. My first impression when I looked out the window was of how small the island was, judging by the lights I could see. When we landed they put on the brakes straight away because the runaway was so short so it was a fast stop.

We got out luggage from the conveyer belt and we got it stamped and checked. There was a man in the corner with a guitar and he was sing a welcome song, and wearing traditional lavalava and a lei around his neck. We got a lei each from some big cook island local, then we loaded the bags and were off! We could just see the beach as we were driving past to Edgewater resort.

On that first morning we just went into the villas and crashed out in our room. It was so hot that the boys all took their shirts off, even to sleep. It was so strange because it’s winter in NZ and it was hotter than a NZ summer over here, even though it was their winter too.

We were also having another Saturday all over again, because we had crossed the international dateline on our flight. So on Saturday morning we ate a tropical breakfast of all sorts of fruits as well as normal cereal.

Then went to the markets and had a look around at all the local crafts. I bought a slingshot and some food. I loaned $20 to Etere seeing as he had no cash, and he bought the same as me.

After lunch we went on an island hopper, a tour of Rarotonga. We saw all the main attractions like historical sites, the hospital, town, and schools, and some other smaller islands that were part of Rarotonga.

On Sunday we ate another delicious breakfast and then at 9am my aunty Turama came to get my brother and I. My aunty is from Wairoa and she grew up with my mum. In Rarotonga she is a lawyer for an American company. Mum had arranged for her to get us and take us out for the day.  First she took us to the Mormon church in Rarotonga, and everyone else in our group went to another church. Then she took us back to her house and we had lunch there with her and her husband. After that we rode on her scooter around the lawn, and watch a DVD. The best thing about her house was her BIG TV. Later on she took us on a tour of all the back roads and we asked all these questions about living in Rarotonga and about everything else she showed us. That was awesome.

Back at the resort that evening we had dinner with everyone else, then we went for a walk on the beach. The adults were talking and making plans for the rest of the week and aunty Turama was helping them with some ‘inside info’ on what to do and see.

On Monday we went on the highland paradise tour, where we saw the sites like the old marae. The tour guide pointed out all these other places where the Cook Island gods had made sacrifices on a big rock. A lot of their gods were the same as our maori gods, like Tangaroa. We saw the rock that pointed the way to Aotearoa New Zealand. We were told about their early life on the island and other historical information about their tribes.

 Then we had a big lunch with taro and coconut and more fruit. In the afternoon we went snorkelling, and I saw lots of tiny fish.

On Tuesday we were supposed to hire pushbikes and ride around the island but that got cut off the itinerary. So instead we went to the shops all day. That night we had island night at Edgewater Resort. It was held in the restaurant on their stage. There was exotic dancing and drums and performances from the locals. We had a big dinner of roast meats and seafood and curries and lots of salads. There were loads of desserts and cakes and pavlova and chocolate so we ate a lot that night.

This is part one and part two will follow!

My brother Etere has gone to live in Groote Eylandt, it’s a place in Northern Territory, and it’s an island. The traditional owners of the island are the Anindilyakwa People. The island produces 25% of the world’s magnesium. You have to have permission from the traditional owners to live there. My uncle Keith is a park ranger on the island.

Saturday 28 June

Etere just called us from Groote Eylandt to say he arrived there safely, 5pm NZ time.
Their whole whanau was there at the airport to greet him, as his Aunty Anne had a birthday on Friday & the whanau were over there for that. Uncle Boy went out fishing early this morning, but he is due home shortly.
Etere is being shown around by Anne’s boys, and has settled comfortably into ‘their happy chaotic home’ (says Aunty Anne). They just headed down to the beach to see Uncle come in with the day’s catch.
What a relief to know he got there safely, and he assures his poor mum that he doesn’t miss us one bit!!! (Well, the jury is still out on that one, we’ll see in another week or so…….)

Sunday 29^th June.

Uncle Keith wrote…..Etere arrived safe and well and in good spirits. He’s already found what he likes to do – diving! Went for his first dive & loved it….caught 6 crayfish, a coral trout & a huge cod.
He reckons it’s hot at the moment, but wait until the end of the year, it’s REALLY hot. The only good thing is we’ve got the sea breeze…stops us from melting.
Etere was out in the sun yesterday and did not even burn. I thought his skin was quite pale …but he has already turned a bit olive.
He’s rather quiet, but he’s just finding his way at the moment…as he gets to know everyone he will probably participate in more activities. Last night he was asked by another friend of the family if he would like to go to a blue light disco….so that’s what he is doing tonight.
Love from Boy

Tuesday 1 July
Uncle Keith wrote…..We just had fireworks here. We lit about $600 worth of fireworks in 2 hours, awesome! Yesterday Etere worked with me and two other rangers on building a board and chain road above ground, to protect the sand dunes and surrounding native vegetation from being ripped up by rogue travellers.
The Rangers also show him how to drink from a native plant growing wild on the sand dunes. It looks like a kumara, but you can chew it, or tip your head and squeeze the flesh and get the juice to drip straight into your mouth. It’s not bad either, a little bit like a milky coconut, not too sweet.
Today we took the Ranger boat for a run, about 26 kms out to sea. Etere got onto a nice queen fish just 3 kms away from the wharf, and boy was he excited! He did everything his uncle said, except get the fish into the boat. I was teasing him after that, saying we should call this Etere’s “Catch & Release Fishing Safari“…and everyone just cracked up laughing, including Etere. He actually reminded me of Pompi.
About half an hour later he caught 3 trevally, the largest being about 4-5 kilo.
Love from Boy.

Tuesday 29^th July.

We got a call from Australia last night. Etere just got back from 3 days out camping with the TO’s (as opposed to abbo’s) TO = Traditional Owners – of said island. They went bush, stayed in tents. When we asked ‘did you pack everything up when you came home?’ he says ‘no, they live out there permanently (in tents)’. No power, only a genny, oh, and cell phones of course!!
When they leave (presumably to go walkabout) everything is left as is, and no one takes stuff, just remains untouched until they return.
TO’s took him hunting for bush food, bugs and stuff, a small echidna (must be the oz equivalent of a tuatara).
Etere says “….just used sugar-bags for lizards and mud crabs. YES we saw crocs. In fact I saw my first wild croc, but it was heading into the water and I stayed well away. We were cooking on an open fire, on the sand.”

Sounds like he is having experiences he could never hope to have here in T A. But I’m sad that he’s gone not because I miss him (which I don’t!), but because I have to do all his chores as well as mine! I thought that since he’s gone there’d be fewer dishes (hehehe), but there’s still heaps of work!

But, I get to sleep in his big red bed, and have all his blankets too, so that’s alright.

On Sunday, the 13th of July my mum, my cousin Bronte and I packed a bag each and left home for Mt Ruapehu. We drove for two hours to Pukawa, to the chalet where we were going to stay for the next two nights. Pukawa is near Turangi, and my dad helped to build the house that we stay in  over there.

When we finally arrived, we went inside and were greeted by some of my dad’s uncles and aunties. Mum started talking to them, while my cousin Bronte and I sat on the couch and ate biscuits. Then we saw another car arrive outside. We rushed outside to see who it was, and it was my cousins Maurice and Clint from Wairoa. They had finally arrived, and they were spending the next two days with us.

While they were talking, my cousins and I caught up. I was buzzing with joy because I love being around all my cousins. When they come, mum usually gives us money, and we go places and have fun. The last time they came, my older cousin Eden had a baby, and a lot of people came to stay our house, which was really fun. 

After mum had finished talking, we went upstairs, unpacked all our gear, and started cooking dinner. I was really excited about being with my cousins because I thought one of two things would happen. Either mum would give us lots of money, or we would go somewhere fun and exciting. We chatted for a long time that night and discussed what we were going to do the next day.

We were going up to Whakapapa to go skiing, but we couldn’t decide if we should do skiing or snowboarding. I am the only one of all my cousins who has ever skied before. We couldn’t make up our minds, and we went to sleep that night still uncertain about what we were going to choose.

The next day I was awoken by a light right above my eyes. It was 6 o’clock in the morning, and we were having a very early breakfast. We were in a rush, even though it was really early. We got changed quickly and loaded the car with our supplies and hit the road.

We travelled for about half an hour, then we pulled in at a rental shop. We all got out and raced inside. I looked around for the coolest gear, and I found lots of snow gear, but I couldn’t get it because that wasn’t what we had come for. 

I had all my own gear, but my three cousins had no proper clothing because it was their first time on the mountain. One of the staff showed them where to find the right gear, and then they tried it all on for size. After the fittings, we went to the counter where we were going to hire them. While we were there, mum also bought us the lift passes that we would need on the ski slopes, so we wouldn’t have to worry about lining up again when we got up there. By now we were 30 minutes behind schedule!

We drove the rest of the way and we parked at the top of the Bruce road. There was snow on the ground alongside where the cars were parked. We leapt out of the car and began playing with it right away. Mum told us to hurry up because we still had to get snowboards and boots at the rental place in Happy Valley.

By the time we got everything, it was 9am. We had a snowboarding lesson at 9.30am, so we had to whip through rentals. I was really excited when I was given my gear because I felt like a professional using a snowboard. After we had geared up we were sent to the flag, where a group of other snowboarders were waiting. After joining the group we were given an instructor, and then we were off. In the lesson we were taught how to turn and all the basic moves. It was really fun because I was excelling and getting better and faster, while my cousins were falling behind. 

After 1 1/2 hours of being taught, we just wanted to get down those slopes and try out what we had just learned. I was powering down the hill, and I had to wait for ages down the bottom while my cousins came down. We spent the whole morning having races, trying some new tricks, or just sliding down on our butts just for the fun of it. 

After lunch we met our other 3 cousins and an uncle from Pirongia who were also skiing. They were staying the night with us at Pukawa, so we were even happier to see them. We spent part of the afternoon with them, then we tried going down really fast, and going backwards on the boards. 

By the end of the day, my cousins and I were soaking wet, and really tired. We couldn’t wait to get changed. On the way to our accommodation, we grabbed snowballs and bombed my uncle’s car. That was a great laugh, my uncle didn’t look too happy, but we didn’t care.

When we arrived home, we stripped out of our snow gear and sat in front of the heater. We talked about our day and if we were going to snowboard the next day. My calf muscles were aching, so we decided to go to the hot pools. We packed all our togs in the car and left.

When we arrived at the hot pools, we looked into a nearby river for some fish, but it was too dark to see. So we went in and got changed into our togs. We could see the steam rising up, even though we were outside. I tested the pool water by sticking my foot in first, and the water was so hot that it felt the opposite, it felt freezing cold. The temperature was so diverse that at first my body couldn’t tell whether the water was hot or cold! 

After a while, I slowly lowered myself into the pool, and the pain seemed to go away. It was really relieving, and I wanted to stay in it for a long time. We stayed in the pools until we got tired, then we got dressed and drove back to the chalet. 

The next morning, we knew what we were supposed to do, so we got straight to it. After packing the car, we zoomed off towards the mountain. We had decided to snowboard, but we also wanted to toboggan, so we thought about doing half a day of each, but we couldn’t make up our minds.

After rentals, we went down to happy valley, and we snowboarded for a while, until I started to think about going higher. I asked my cousins, but they wanted to stay in happy valley. After going down a few times, I just gave up on my cousins and went up to the rock garden on my own. It was the next trail up, and it was steeper and more challenging than happy valley. 

As I rode up on the chairlift I studied the trail, so I knew where I would be going. The Rock Garden was awesome for the first time down because of all the steep parts, so it wasn’t boring. When I got to the bottom, I was reunited with my cousins, who had finally come up.

We spent most of the day in the rock garden, learning some new tricks and getting better at snowboarding. We went over bumps, and sometimes we tried doing some jumps. One time, we even went off the track and onto another track which lead straight down to the car park. 

After lunch I wanted to go tobogganing, so we got the gear, but we had to walk all the way down to the car park, then walk all the way back up, then we had to walk even further up to get to the tobogganing area. 

The place was just a hill with a marked out area where people were sliding down. Once we saw how fast they were going, we raced up that hill, got on our sledges, and zoomed down the hill. One time, my cousins and I rammed in to the side, and crashed! We were laughing our heads off, because we had both set each other up to crash. 

We went down that hill several times, until we finally got tired, and slid back down to happy valley. We spent the rest of the afternoon snowboarding again. I did my best jump that day, and landed without falling over. I was so rapt that I kept falling over the rest of the way.  

That was the best day of my holidays, and I sure made the most of it. A great day spent up on the mountain left us so tired that we couldn’t even be bothered putting our clothes away, we just dropped them in the hallway, which didn’t please mum very much. 

That night was long and relaxing, but we were too tired to go to the hot pools, so we just rested on the couch and watched TV. As we ate dinner we thought about all the wonderful things we had done that day. I was really keen to do it again, but I knew we weren’t going up again tomorrow.

The next day we slept in so long that my uncle had been fishing for over an hour before we actually got up! But apart from the moaning the morning was pretty good….NOT! We had to clean the whole place up, which meant sorting clothes and packing our bags, vacuuming the house, sweeping the deck, doing the dishes and loading the car. We just couldn’t be bothered, but we still did it.

As we got into the car, I was really sad because I knew I wouldn’t be seeing my cousins again for a long time, and we had had such great fun together. But we had to say our goodbyes and leave. My cousins were going back to Wairoa and I was going back to Te Awamutu with mum. I was hoping that I would be able to do this again this season, and I can’t wait for the day when I will be able to go all the way to the top of Mt Ruapehu on my snowboard. 

I aim to improve in tech arts (music, art, food, sewing, wood work and especially science).

This I have completed by attending tech arts as often as possible. I’ve also been better at science by becoming a science monitor and completing my science fair project and becoming a finalist.

I aim to be a good role model as a House captain.

I’ve done this by attending singing assemblies often, and trying to make a good impression when I’m up on the stage. I’ve also tried my best in inter house sports.

I aim to improve on my instrument (tenor saxophone) by doing practice 4 x a week.

I have definitely become better at playing my saxophone, but I didn’t quite get to practising 4 times a week.

I aim to try my best in sports. Also, I want to be better in Cross Country by getting fit.

I think I have tried my best in sports by getting involved in more sports and practising them. I have seen an improvement in my cross-country running because I’m getting furtherer ahead of most people when we run.

I aim to extend on my kapahaka experience by attending every Noho (live in) and joining in every event and competition they attend.

This year I have learnt many more songs, and I’ve attended as many meetings as possible.

I aim to work well with others (Term 1 work group) and by myself.

I have been a bit better when working with groups, but I still need to work on this.

I aim to get my work finished early so I won’t have to worry about anything for the rest of the week.

I have completed this aim with some of my work, but I have had times where my work was handed in late.

I aim to improve in my ICT skills (multi-media experience, typing, and computers) by practising at home on my computer.

Typing on the computer has become easier for me now because I have done it more times, and I am becoming faster. I am also more confident on the computer, especially on the internet and my blog.

I aim to write an interesting post on my blog every week and write a constructive comment on someone’s blog.

I have tried to do this, but lately I have been too busy to write a blog post and post a comment.

I aim to improve with my reading, which means going to the town library every fortnight and reading a book each week.

I think I have become better at reading, but I haven’t been going to the town library every week.

Oh I just can’t wait to till Saturday. All this work and preparing has finally paid off. At 7-15pm on Saturday a plane is departing Auckland International Airport for Rarotonga! And my brother and I are boarding. We’re spending 8 days in Rarotonga, and here are some of the activities –   

Sat 14th – arrive Rarotonga 1am, sleep. At 9am, Punanganui Markets. After lunch, full island tour with Island hopper vacation.

Sunday – Cook Is. church service – Afternoon free        

Monday – Highland Paradise tour till noon, then afternoon free.

Tuesday – going to Fruits of Rarotonga for swim/snorkel.      

Afternoon free, then Island Night dinner & show at Edgewater.

Wednesday – Capt Tama’s lagoon cruise at 11am.

Thursday – mountain trek, climb to needle and Wigmores     Waterfall

Friday – whole day free. Go to airport at midnight; fly out    to NZ at 2am.

 It’s going to be such a cool experience and I hope ill be able to do it again.

My uncle Winiata Hamlin is a policeman in Wairoa. He has been involved in a CACTUS training programme for at-risk youth in Wairoa. CACTUS stands for Combined Adolescent Challenge Training Unit & Support.

It has already been tried in Picton – a boot camp for young people has lowered youth crime in the area by 82%. Mike McRoberts comes from Wairoa, so 60 Minutes travelled there to see exactly how the initiative works, and whether it could make a difference to a town where a quarter of all crime is committed by under 17 year olds.

With relentless physical training, very early starts, and group punishments for individual slip ups, boot camp is hard work.  Twenty-five young people started the training with varying degrees of motivation. The group were aged between 13yrs and 16yrs old. Some were volunteers and some were recommended for the training.

CACTUS is a programme of physical training developed from the Armed Forces programme. It is designed to extend a young person’s mind and physical capability. The CACTUS course runs for eight weeks, with three one hour training sessions per week of progressively harder physical routines.The programme also includes career education, motivational speakers and mentoring with a view to having youth reach their full potential. CACTUS aims to grow and develop the skills and attitudes young people need to take part in society, now and in the future.Source – developmentwairoa.co.nz, 60 Minutes  (02-06-08)

My dad works as a yardman at Timmos ITM. He drives a forklift, loads trucks with packets of wood, he sells timber, and he prepares order requirements for builders.

On the 16^th of May just before the bell rang for home time, I noticed dad’s car in the car park of our school, waiting for me to come out. We were going to a graduation ceremony in Rotorua that at the time seemed so important to him.

The graduation was for my Dad because he did a training course and was getting a certificate for wood product manufacturing Level 2. Because my dad had taken part in one of these courses, we were all invited to a party where we would see him receive his certificate for completing his course.

This year the FITEC training organisation held their graduation for all participants at the Blue Baths in Rotorua, a small city located in the central north island of New Zealand.

As I hopped into the car, he checked that I had my seatbelt on, and then he zoomed out of the school’s driveway. On the way to Hamilton (a city where my mum works), dad picked up my two brothers, then left town in a cloud of dust!

Once we arrived in Hamilton, we parked dad’s car at mum’s school and got into mum’s car. Then we continued our journey onwards to Rotorua. On the way, I got a little bored and decided to annoy my brother, which resulted in arguing and fighting in the back seat. After an outburst from an angry mother and an upset baby, we agreed that I had learnt my lesson.

When we arrived at our destination, I was given the instruction to look out for our hotel. Luckily, I spotted it just as we were almost reaching the edge of Rotorua. The hotel was about five storeys high, but we only had a room on the ground floor. We quickly unloaded our bags and got changed, getting prepared for the celebration.

As we travelled along the main road towards our venue, we had a lot of problems. We couldn’t find the right street, time was ticking on, and Dad was starting to get a little desperate. We went up and down the same street several times just to find that the street we were on wasn’t the right one! By then we were running about half an hour late!

Once we found the right street, we didn’t know which building we needed. So we searched up and down the street, sometimes driving all the way around buildings. After a while mum finally gave up and stopped to ask directions at one of the hotels. To our great surprise, our correct destination was just across the street! All that searching for nothing!

Anyway, after we had found a car park and parked the car, we proceeded through the doors of the ‘Blue Baths’. As we walked in we were assured that we weren’t too late, because they were running late themselves.

While dad went to register at the registration desk, we settled down and found a spot to wait until the hosts were ready. Nearby us was a table loaded with hot and cold drinks and cups. My brother and I guzzled coke, one glass after another, as we were thirsty from the long trip.

Finally we were allowed into the venue. We had a seat near the front and we waited patiently while the formalities were carried out. Then each graduate had their name called out. They had to go up onto the stage and get their certificate. Each certificate was framed and wrapped in a ribbon. Everyone clapped after each group was done.

Eventually my dad’s name was called out. He went up and mum took a photo but it didn’t come out because the lighting wasn’t right. At the end of all that, we just had to wait while the waitresses brought out big trays of food. There was salmon on pancakes, chicken kebabs, meatballs, and other stuff. I really enjoyed that part.

After a while, we decided to go back home. On the way we asked if we could get McDonalds, but there was another problem. The McDonalds was on a corner and we couldn’t find the entrance into this strange place.

It was a repeat of earlier, driving all the way around the building to enter, and still finding ourselves in the wrong place! Frustrated, we searched around but couldn’t find an entrance so we decided to enter through the exit, and go in the wrong way. Then we got our food.

Once dinner was over we returned to our hotel room. We got changed and settled down to watch sky TV. I was thinking about what fun we had just had, then mum came up with an idea. She wanted to go outside and have a late night swim in the heated pools. As we stepped outside, I noticed the temperature had dropped and it felt very cold at this time of night.

Anyway, we had a look around and managed to find the biggest pool first. We dipped our feet in but it was only a little bit warm. Then we came to the smaller pool, and we were surprised because it was really warm, so we jumped right in. Then we saw that it was a Jacuzzi. We sat in there for a while, and turned on the air jets, that was pretty cool. We had the whole place to ourselves.

After some time, we chose to get out and change for the night. Once we got back to our own room, we settled in bed and turned on sky TV. We watched it until midnight, and then mum told us to turn the TV off because we had to go to sleep.

First thing in the morning, we got up and decided to search for the gymnasium. As we were getting ready to leave the rooms, mum noticed a short-cut down the stairs, so my brother and I agreed to go and check it out. Luckily for us, the short-cut led straight to the gym. Mum and dad said they wanted a sleep-in and that breakfast would be at 9.00am. So we took our brother Jordan with us and went to try out all of the workout equipment. Then we wandered around the motel grounds some more.

When we went into the restaurant for breakfast, the sight we saw was amazing. There were about ten tables spread out, covered with all sorts of food. The first table had hot drinks, and then another table had all sorts of cold drinks and juices. One table had all kinds of cereal, another table had fresh fruit, tinned fruit and dried fruit. Next to that was another table with toast and spreads, split english muffins, blueberry muffins and a range of pastries.

Then came the hot food, every kind of breakfast food that you can imagine. Bacon, sausages, scrambled eggs, hash browns, kumara, mushrooms, baked beans, pancakes with maple syrup….the choice was endless! There was even a table full of oriental foods like noodles, rice curries and wonton soup. This was traditional breakfast for Asian people. My brother and I tried almost everything, we just ate till we were stuffed full.

At about ten o’clock, we went down to the motel pool, and stayed there swimming till noon. Then we got dressed, packed our bags and loaded the car. We couldn’t wait to go on the luge, a tourist attraction on a hill where you ride down in these little go-carts. I think it’s really fun. We had some discussions about what we should do for the rest of the day.

First mum wanted to go to a market which was on in a nearby park. While mum and dad were having a look in the bookstore and the market, my brothers and I played on the rope structure. We were supposed to stay there for about half an hour, but ended up playing for an hour. When we finally decided to leave, our car battery was dead. Now we’re stuck there for another hour, waiting for the AA man to come and start our car.

After that we were able to leave, and mum and dad decided to cancel all other activities and just go straight home. By then it was 4.00pm and we had to get back home. That’s when my brother Etere and I started complaining, because we really wanted to go on the luge. As usual, mum was not going to change her mind, and kept reminding us that we were late and had to leave Rotorua.

All of us fell asleep from our swim and our big breakfast. I really enjoyed the weekend away and my favourite part was definitely the breakfast because we got to eat as much as we wanted. Dad was happy that we all got to go away together as a family. Mum was just happy to get home.