Sunday, December 28, 2008

CHRISTMAS EVE AND DAY

We arrived in Switzerland on Christmas Eve. We went to my Grandma and Grandpa's house. In
Switzerland we usually open our presents on Christmas Eve but we were to tired and so we opened them
on Christmas day when my godfather was here.

It is Winter in Switzerland but there is no snow in the big cities. But at my grandparents place there is snow because they live on a hill about 900 meters above sealevel.
THURSDAY 18 UNTILL TUESDAY 23 DECEMBER 2008


We arrived in Bangkok (Thailand) at around 10 pm. Bangkok in December is usually cool. But cool in Bangkok means you can still wear shorts and T/shirts at night.... but it is not as hot and humit as in the other months.
It took some time to get out of the airport then it was already 11 O'clock when we reached the
hotel. In bed I watched the digital clock strike 12 thats when I started resting and try
to sleep because I knew that if I didn't I would fall asleep before half of my birthday was over. 10 years ago, I was born here in Bangkok so my mom asked me how I wanted to spend my 10th birthday, beeing back here in MY town. I said I wanted to spend my birthday in the hotel at the riverside.
For my birthday I got a huge chocolate bar, a rugby jersey, a tiny rugby ball, a ping pong set
and a test kit thats like an IQ test. For the two day's at the hotel we met few friends, swam in the pool
and went on boats that took people all over the river they're mostly used for bringing
people to work. On the 20 december we moved to our friends house and so for the next 3 days we stayed with them and we ran around their house, played ping pong, swam in the pool, watched movies and played all types of
things. It was a lot of fun and it was great to see them again.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12 2008
We left Taupo late in the morning. Just right beside the campground there was the highest bungee jumping bridge of New Zealand. My mom dared to try it. She jumped 47 m head first with a dip in the Taranaki river... she said, it was amazing!
After this adventure, we carried on with our 4 hour drive to Wellington. I was very excited to be back at the place where we used to live. The scenery on the way was again beautiful, many green hills with lots of cows and their calfes. And of course, lots of sheeps as well.
Once there we met our friends we were staying with.

The following days were filled with meeting old friends, lots of laughters, going back to places where we used to play and just enjoying our being togehter back in New Zealand.

Tomorrow is the 18 December. It will be your last school day before the holidays. I wish you all a very happy holiday and merry christmas and a very happy New Year.

I look forward to being back at school and meet you all on January 12, 2009

Sandro

Thursday, December 11, 2008

THURSDAY 11, DECEMBER 2008


Today we woke up and spent the morning normally (at this beautiful place that means going to the beach, collecting shells, playing with the water and sand and then having breakfast) but at 10 O'clock am, unfortunately,
we had to check out. My mom did the packing and check out, so my sisters, my dad and I had some time to play and other mini golf game. My dad won, I was second. After we finished the game, we got in the car and had a 2 hour drive to a place called
Taupo. On the way to Taupo we tasted delicious and famous NZ pies in a bakery at Rotorua. Rotorua is host to some of the world's most incredible earth forces. Once you get past the distinctively strong smell of sulphur, you notice a city with a fascinating combination of the bizarre and beautiful experiences that Rotorua has to offer. Rotorua is a Maori word that means The second lake. It was discovered bz Ihenga, a Te Arawa man, who named it after his father/in/law, Kahu-mata-momoe. The Rotorua district is situated in one of the most active geothermal and volcanic regions in the world. It sits astride a major active fault line which surfaces south of Taupo in the form of the volcanoes, Mt. Ruapehu, Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngaruahoe. It was on Mt. Ruapehu where my family and I used to go skiing in winter time (which is here in July and August).

New Zealand is truly a very beautiful and great country - and the people here are very friendly and welcoming.

How did the finals in Spirit go?

And - have fun at the christmas class party tomorrow. I wish I could pop in for a few hours!

Tomorrow I will start seeing all my Kiwi/friends when we arrive in Wellington. I am so much looking forward to all these parties.

By the way, New Zealand people are called Kiwis because the bird Kiwi is there national animal.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand is located in a continent called Ozeana which most people in Canada call
Australia. There is a myth to New Zealand that a native family from Polinesia were on a canoe fishing when
a storm blew them out to sea to survive they had to get food from fish, while the youngest of the
6 brothers, called Maui, was fishing he got a pull on the rope, so he told the rest of the family
to help him pull the heavy thing out of the sea which ended up to be New Zealand.
The family then called their friends over which called their friends over etc. and so New Zealand got populated.

A couple of centuries ago an english explorer came to New Zealand called James Cook trying to conquer New
Zealand, the Maori were there first. The war ended in a tie, so they made peace and joined each other to
form today's New Zealand.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

SUNDAY,7,DECEMBER 2008


Although it was a long day we didn't do much!
First we stood up at 2 o'clock am to head to the airport of Papeete, the flight to
Auckland took 5 hours. Once we arrived there, we had a quick lunch at the Auckland airport. Then we took a 4 hour drive to Ohope beach. Ohope is on the North Island of New Zealand in the so called Bay of Plenty. That is a fabulous place with an amazing long and wild beach. We used to come to Ohope many times during our living years in New Zealand: it was like coming back home! For the next 2 days we enjoyed, played around at the camp ground which had a pool, a volleyball basketball and tennis court, and this beautiful beach and other great stuff.

FRIDAY,SATURDAY,5,6 DECEMBER 2008


For these two days we were at a island called Moorea. Moorea is about an hour ferry drive away.
First we thought we were going to be there for only one day but then we found out that
there was a hotel with Bungalow over water. These are houses on the sea.
So we decited spontanealz to stay overnight.
The resort had a swimming pool, a pool table, lots of coconut trees and a colorful ocean of fish. We enjoyed snorkelling and playing / it was great.
For dinner we had a crepe. While we were eating the chef threw some leftover meet for the sharks in the
sea. There were two sharks approaching. It was amazing how quick they ate the meat.
The next day we had to leave Moorea to got back home to Papeete where we packed for leaving Tahiti and flying to New Zealand.