Bay of Islands (Russell/Paihia)

Well, another amazing weekend accomplished here! I just got back from a weekend trip to the Bay of Islands. I can now understand where the name comes from considering there are said to be 150 islands. The bay is surrounded by adorable towns, two of which we went to this weekend (Russell/Paihia).

We arrived in Russell on friday night to meet family friends of the secretary at my school. We stayed at their "bach" which is more like a beach home. It was gorgeous, but arriving in the dark we did not know the exact location until we woke up in the morning to find we were right in the harbor overlooking sailboats, turquoise water, and native plants everywhere. They have their own fishing boat, sailing boat (since the man is the lead carbon fiber design engineer for the prestigious NZ sailing team), and just sould their yacht unfortunately.

We went up with absolutely not plans, but were invited out on their boast for the day saturday. It was so much fun. We went fishing, swimming, and cruised around the sea. Amazing enough I went fishing and caught fish!!! I think over the course of the day we caught over 15 snapper. We then stopped at a beach on one of the islands and the guys prepared our snapper. It was incredibly tasty and said to be one of the best fish in the sea (the cheek is the best part)! Us girls decided to stay on the beach for a couple of hours and hike around some rocks, without shoes on (which is not uncommon for kiwis) as the guys went diving and came back with a bucket full of scallops. Later that day I learned how to shuck scallops, it was really fun!

Sunday, we took a speed boat (the "fastest boat on the sea") to Cape Brett and the Hole in the Rock. It was a 1.5 hour trip to this amazing landform. It is basically a giant rock with 2 caves, it is pretty cool!

Overall, it was probably my favorite weekend so far! The weather was amazing and we got to spend some time not doing the "tourist" sort of things! It was incredibly relaxing, and who could complain about staying somewhere so amazing for free!

Half way!

Kia ora!

I only have 3 weeks left of teaching...Oh my gosh!! It is really getting down to the end, and hard to believe that I may actually have to decide what to do with my life!! (I think living with mom and dad for the rest of my life is probably the best option!)

It's hard to believe I am half way through with my time here. School has been going pretty well. It is hard to get used to allowing the students so much freedom, as well as having so much time that does not involve learning! The main things that are taught here are: reading, writing, and math...science/social studies is rarely taught. My class did start swimming this past week. Two days a week for 1/2 hour we walk down to the pool and swim! It is great. The school's outdoor education is amazing...I think it is probably the most interesting aspect, and the one thing I hope I am able to implement into my classroom one day, along with a few other things! It has been described to me that in America our teaching style is to focus on teaching "knowledge" of facts, and in New Zealand the focus is not on the content you are teaching it is on "how to gain the knowledge."


I just got home from a road trip through the Coromandel Peninsula. It is beautiful! It is an area about 1.5 hours from Auckland. Once you get there you drive up the left part of the peninsula, and then drive down the right! The views are amazing, the road is incredibly windy, sometimes unpaved, and incredibly narrow! It is worth mentioning that we were traveling on their main roads...New Zealand is notorious for not posting road signs, not improving roads, and having 1 lane bridges!


There are tons of great hikes to do on the peninsula. We took a 6 km. (4 mile) hike to Cathedral Cove. It was a fairly easy hike that traveled along native bush with blossoming flowers and ended at a gorgeous beach where a giant rock stands with a hole in it!! It looks a lot cooler than I explain it as. It must be pretty cool, because parts of The Chronicles of Narnia were filmed there!

Not far down the road from the hike is a beach called Hot Water Beach. You have to time it perfectly and arrive within 2 hours after low tide. You need to bring your shovel, because all you do is dig a hole in the sand and allow it to fill with water. The water will heat up due to the volcanoes surrounding the country, and basically all you do is lay around in the warm water! It is pretty interesting!

Here is just another way of solidifying the phrase: "what a small world!" When Alli (the girl I traveled with) and I checked into our hostel we heard 2 girls talking and new they were from the USA. As we began talking to them we realized they were past UM students! One of them went through the education program and is now traveling through NZ for 3 months. The other girl is originally from Belt, and knew of some people I know of in Helena...what a small world it is! They were a few years older than me, but it was crazy meeting people from my home!! Hostels are truly the best way to meet people!

Another great way to meet people in New Zealand is to travel to the pub and have a few drinks! Don't worry...we experienced it on Saturday! This weekend was the rugby world cup. New Zealand Kiwis were playing Australia (a huge rival) and they won. The pubs get packed when either of the New Zealand teams are playing rugby, and it is a good chance that rounds will be bought for the whole bar if the team wins.

I should get going, I have a professor from the USA coming to visit me tomorrow and none of my lessons are planned!

Miss you all...HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
xoxoxo Kylie

Waiheke Island, Rangitoto Island

Well...I am not sure that words or pictures will ever give justice to the beauty of Waiheke Island. A 30 minute ferry from downtown Auckland, Waiheke is a small island where there are tons of vineyards! Yes...we did take a tour. We signed up for a wine tasting tour, but did not know there was an olive festival going on on Saturday. Needless to say, we got to travel to 3 different wineries and enjoy the olive festival.

Waiheke is on average 5 degrees warmer than Auckland (9 F) and it was gorgeous. Everywhere you looked the sea was in full view, flowers are blooming, Pohutukawa trees are beginning to bloom which means it is going to be getting warm soon, and people were surfing, sailing and kayaking all around. It's a lot like home in such a way that it is densely populated, people are pretty laid back (a lot more than home) and I would love to live there!!!

Today, Sunday, I met up with my 3 USA friends and we took a fairy to Rangitoto Island. This island has no one living on it because it is an active volcanoe. It is not too active, so we didn't get to see any lava! It is very interesting to note that the ground is a lot warmer than usual due to the volcanic activity underground. The hike to the summit was not too pretty, but once we got to the summit it was a 360 degree view of Auckland, Waiheke Island, and numerous other islands. The water around is the most beautiful turquoise, blue, and green colors I have ever seen. It was interesting that there is not much wildlife on the island, a few birds/spiders/bugs were seen. There are birds and bugs, but nothing else. I guess when you are living in a country with absolutely no insect/animal/snake/etc. then you don't realize how lucky you are that you can hike at your own desire!

When we arrived back to the mainland we were waiting for our bus, as usual (we spend hours waiting for buses and riding them I feel), we saw some Maori's catch a stingray right off shore and it took 3 of them to carry it back to their vehicle, an old honda accord, where they just threw it in the trunk! What a culture! On friday I am hoping to take the day off from school to attend a culture day that is going on.

Hope all is well! xoxo

Rotorua and more!

Hello again! I just made my first post last night, but I am sitting at school this morning as a usually do waiting for my teacher to arrive. She lives 1.5 hours away from school so she usually does not get here until last minute!

The first weekend I as here I met us with 3 US teachers (Jaime, Melissa, Jenny) and we rented a car and drove 3 hours south to the "tourist" destination on Rotorua. Renting the car was quite an experience as the do drive on the left side of the road and the driver is on the right side of the car! There were no accidents and we didn't even get lost! We also stayed at a hostel (quite nice actually) that was the size of the bathroom at home!

When we arrived in Rotorua we took a gondola ride up a "mountain" and then each of us rented a luge to ride down the hill. We started on the scenic ride, and eventually ended on the expert lane where we each caught air after going to fast over a jump.

Melissa and I then went inside an 11' ball filled with water and soap called the Zorb (google it) and rolled down a hill. I will try to post some pictures eventually!

We also went to a Maori (native peoples of NZ) ceremony where they performed and did the famous Haka dance. At the end we were catered to a traditional Maori meal that had been cooked under ground.

On our way home, we decided to take a 3 hour detour and stop in Waitomo to take a tour through caves and jump in a raft that took us deep in the caves to observe "heaps" of glow worms about our heads. They were amazing! I would like to go back and take a trip that is offered in the caves called blackwater rafting! I am not sure if I will have enough time.

Last weekend we took a ferry into the city for $5 and walked around. We were not there very long so I am going to have to go back! We took a tour of a marine museum called Kelly Tarlton's which is underground in an old sewer plant. It was amazing, there was one whole section where we got to observe penguins. Another section where there we huge stingray and sea turtles. The last part was when we hopped on a conveyer belt into a glass tunnel where sharks, fish, and stingray were floating all around us!

Tonight is Guy Fawkes day...a little like 4th of July in which they buy fireworks. They are celebrating the fact that Guy Fawkes was not able to bomb the British Parliament.

Time for school!

~Kylie

My first two weeks!

Hello all! I know I have been here for almost three weeks now and I have not been able to e-mail or contact all of the people I have been meaning to. A couple of the girls I have met that are also here from the USA gave me the great idea of making a blog for all of those who want to read about my time in New Zealand! I am just going to warn you that I may not update it as often as I should, but I am going to try my hardest to update once a week!

Life in New Zealand is amazing! I am surrounded by 365 beaches in a country that is smaller than the state of Colorado. I am living in the North Shore of Auckland (population 1.4 million). I am able to walk to Campbell's Bay Beach in 20 min. and take a bus to a number of beaches in under 15 minutes. The weather has not been gorgeous here, although it is beginning to warm up. Auckland is said to be able to have 5 seasons in one day, I thought only Montana could do that!

I am staying with a family just 5 minutes away from my school. Tracey is a yr. 1 (kindergarten) teacher, Dave is some high rank in the NZ Navy, Holly is 6, and Connor is 5. The are a great family, and have provided me with some great ideas of exploring!

School has been interesting. My first week here I went on a "camping" trip with the yr. 4 (3rd grade) class. We stayed at Long Bay in a Lutheran Church retreat center. Needless to say, there was no camping. My private room had a view of the beach not more than 200 yards away. Breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, and supper were all catered! The class spent an entire day doing outdoor activities on the beach. They also spent a day "tramping" around cliffs, and another day was spent learning about outdoor education.

When I finally got into the classroom I realized how much small group work the teacher spends on mainly literature and math (maths in NZ). It is a great concept and the kids seem to do quite well with it. The reading program in the country is said to be one of the top 5 in the world, so hopefully I will come home with some knowledge to implement in my classroom one day.

My class is composed of almost 30 children coming from at least 6 different cultures. I love the fact that we are somewhat of an international school, although it is very hard to communicate effectively to all of the children. My teacher is a "senior" teacher who has spent a number of years in the classroom. When she is teaching the class she is great, but tends to get sidetracked of all of the other roles she has taken as being a "senior" teacher.

I know this is long, but hopefully the next ones will not have to cover so much!

~Kylie