Monday 13 August 2007

Slippery Customers!

I had a meeting with a few slippery customers at Farewell Spit!



(A spit is a very long thin piece of land which stretches out into the sea - have a look on the map to see where I was and what I mean...)

I look a bit worried here because I don't want to fall in, and the eels were hungry - I think they would have had me for breakfast!



It's OK though - here they are, and they did get fed!



There are other creatures loose on Farewell Spit too. Look at their website and see if you can find the answer to this question... Which creatures have been checking under the bridges? And what were they looking for? There's a New Zealand prize for the first pupil who leaves a comment with the answer!

Wednesday 1 August 2007

A Maori Evening

I had a very interesting evening at a Māori village and learned how to do the haka.

I thought the haka was a war dance done by the New Zealand Rugby team, but the Māori also do hakas for entertainment and recreation - and women do them as well!



Here I am sitting by a Māori sculpture. The Māori are the people who came to live here from many islands in the Pacific Ocean - they were they first settlers in New Zealand.



Lots of names and places in New Zealand have Māori origins - in fact, New Zealand itself has a Māori name! I will give a prize to the first pupil who can tell me what it is and what it means! Get commenting!