Kiwi House

There are no indigenous mammals in New Zealand; it is a country of birds.  The most famous of New Zealand's birds is the Kiwi, and all over New Zealand they have Kiwi Houses where you can go and look at them (for a fee of course). 

 We went to this Kiwi House in Otorohanga.

 This is what a kiwi looks like.  It is a pretty big bird with no wings so it is flightless and nocturnal.  The real kiwi we saw was in a dark enclosure and they had to wake him.  We couldn't take any pictures of the real kiwi.

 There were heaps of other birds to look at as well.

And one more picture of the kiwi.

Waitomo Caves

 Waitomo Caves (pronounced why-toe-mo) are famous for their glow worms.

 You can't take any pictures at all in the cave so here is a picture of us before going into the cave.

 And here we are coming out of the cave on a boat.

This picture shows what we saw once we were in the boat.  It was truly amazing.  It was like being underneath a starry sky with trillions and trillions of stars, but they were glow worms.  We saw some glow worms on a hillside in Victoria while camping last summer, but nothing like the glow worms in Waitomo Caves.  

Hobbit Motel

 Our first night in New Zealand we stayed at the Hobbit Motel near Waitomo Caves.  

 It was awesome.  Just like a hobbit hole.

 New Zealand is beautiful.

New Zealand Day One

 For months we had been anticipating our trip to New Zealand and today is finally the day!  We fell in love with New Zealand before we ever set foot here because of our wonderful and amazing Kiwi friends.  We flew from Sydney to the Auckland Airport and this walkway welcomed us when we got off the plane.

 After getting our rental car and a bite to eat (that's another story) we drove to Hamilton to see the temple.  It's beautiful.

Presentation Night

 Tonight at the Canberra Convention Centre, Canberra Grammar School held their annual Presentation Night.  The night was a night to recognize boys for their achievements in the Junior and Senior Schools.  In the Junior School, each teacher could give an award to six boys in his/her class.  James received the Effort Award in his class.  

 James is the third one from the right.

 James was also involved in the Year In Review.  They filled the stage with boys participating in sports, theatre, music, etc. that took place throughout the year.  James was involved in showcasing Taekwondo.  He did some fighting off to the side of the stage then the boys ran on stage to join all the other boys.

 We thought it was the best part of the night watching the Year in Review.  Very cool. 

 James was awarded two books for his Award.

 I'm so proud of  Spencer who finished one of the hardest years of any kid's life--seventh grade.  

And I'm so proud of James for having such a wonderful year in fourth grade.  

We are at the end of another school year so they are off to eighth and fifth grades.  Congratulations, boys!