When I come home a month from tomorrow, I wish I could bring more than food and little gifts. I want to bring New Zealand’s health care system, as well as their Holiday Parks and ecotourism, and maybe some hokey pokey ice cream as well.
Upon leaving Taihia and Waitangi Day (an overwhelming historical event that will have to wait for it’s own dedication), we traveled to a beautiful holiday park centered at Donnelly’s Crossing. The park consisted of little cabins, a kitchen, a gorgeous river, and best of all… a playground. The trampolines and swings had us constantly entertained, and the friendly, wide grass spaces left lots of room for us to spread out and enjoy.
Leaving our shoes by the riverside, some of the girls waded through the river in the hot sunlight, crossing down to a sandy beach where we dipped our toes and cooled off from a long day’s drive. Later that night at dinner, we were all talking loudly about how much we enjoyed the river and the grounds, when Mackinnon (our teachers’ son) mentioned something about feeding the eels that night. We laughed, pretending to be amused by his taunting joke, and turned back to our food.
Not a joke.
They were not joking. Later that night, when we followed Meg and Mac out to the water to “feed the eels”, we found ourselves unable to speak for several minutes, imagining what had been swimming beneath our feet. After awhile I got over my shock and um, distaste for the eels and started trying to touch them…I have no idea where the scared, shy Caroline has gone, because for the entire trip I have been more than willing to jump/fall/raft/grab anything that comes my way. These green fellows were no exception.
After that we made our way to another Marae, where we stayed for two nights. In our time there we had the pleasure of going horseback riding, snorkeling and learning how to weave flowers out of flax. The flowers were beautiful, wrapping in the national, and distinctly Maori, sign of a Koru. There had been a funeral a few days before, and we decided to leave the flowers for the woman who had died.
Maori treat their dead differently than our culture does, and watching this unfold was incredibly interesting. We went to visit Jackie, not a graveyard, and we talked to her as if we were meeting her. She was introduced as a proud, gracious woman, and when we had the idea of leaving our gift to her the family was overcome with the sense of mana (closest translated with the english word of pride) that came to them knowing we were there to support their loss, and her life. Jackie died due to complications with depression, illuminating the darker side of the current Maori culture, and I’m really touched that we could make a difference to their family.
Tonight I am entering my second night at another holiday park, where we have spent our days exploring the famous glowworm filled caves. Turns out that the “black water rafting” is actually floating on a tire through eel infested waters! Good thing that I’m not that scared of them anymore, because it would have been torture to wade through the river in the pitch black, knowing they were all around me. We rock climbed, belayed (or absailing as the NZers call it), rafted and explored.
We're all little kids again
The last bit of excitment occurred when I managed to cut my finger after the rafting expedition… everything is 100% fine, but I did get a preview of the excellent New Zealand health care, free of charge and incredibly healthy! Getting hurt was a blessing in disguise, because I got to see a different way of taking care of people, and I have to say that I like this way better!
Tomorrow we leave for a youth hostel, and in the next few days we will be hiking Tangaroa’s crossing, spending time at a Marae and doing home stays in Wellington. I hope everyone at home is doing well in the snow, I love you all and miss you so much!
Wish you were here. No seriously, I really do...