on Friday, December 12, 2008 3:24 PM
Hey hey! Clap your hands cos I'm updating on New Zealand Day 4 now! Be glad that the updates are coming in so quickly cos I'm free. Anyway, Day 4 wasn't really something good though it could be pretty interesting. But some things just happened along the way. But nevertheless, it was pretty much fun so read on!
We went to play the blokart first thing in the day. It was like a mixture of feelings cos this blokart thingy uses the wind to propel forward, and can go up to 100km/h! And the thing is it has no breaks. And so you have to use the string to control the sail or stuff. So everyone was pretty much anxious and excited. We were talking about if you crash or something, and you get disfigured. Hahaha. A lot of nonsense.
So we were separated into 3 groups. And fortunately/unfortunately, I was placed in the third group with lifang, caiying, liting, xiu wen and some others. Total about 15 of us. And so meanwhile, we watched the rest play. It was damn scary lah. Cos a lot people crashed. And the wind was really strong, so we had to wear 2 jackets! So cold! And then we sat on the grass patch and started singing to keep ourselves entertained first.
When it was finally our turn, we were like so eager to put on the helmets and gloves already. But the VERY SAD thing was that the person in charge said that the wind was too strong and too big, and it was too dangerous for us to have a go on that blokart thingy. Frigging sad lah! And then we had to stand there and hear his explanation and blah. He said that we were inexperienced and too light to support the thing. And that the 2nd group didn't listen to instructions, thus making it even more dangerous for us to go down.
One side of me was like "wah! I dun have to go down and get crashed!" But more of me was "what the hell lah. I fly all the way to NZ, and they dun let me play! I want the wind to go downnn!" But in the end, of course, we didn't play at all. All we could do was to take pictures with the thing itself. How pathetic.
But the most upsetting thing was that, the adults could actually go and play (!!!) And we were stuck right there staring at them play. So we were so sad (!!!) Cos everyone saw them play, so the few of us wanted to try our luck to see if we could play. And Mr Tafran supported me too. So I went ahead.
"Can we go and play?"
And our tour guide, Alan replied me.
"We have to go back to the bus now."
"Can we just have one ride???"
"GO BACK TO THE BUS NOW"
Oh sucks hell.
I think I was cursing. I may be, I might be, I must be.
What the hell lah. I paid so much to get scolded for nothing? Freak you upside down.
So yah. We took pictures. Take pictures of course must smile, but inside us, was WTH WTH WTH.
Anyway, lifang and me doing jumpshot! :D
A group photo with my besties while waiting for our turn.
And this is the blokart thingy that I was mentioning and blabbering up there.
Anyway, after that, we went to Tauranga Harbour? And we had pizzas for lunch by the beach! So shiok! And oh yah! There was a playground there and there was a swing! My heaven! So fun lah! Wheee! But I couldn't play for long cos there were so many people who wanted to play too. So I went to eat. And the wind was so strong lah! And my hair kept flying and piak onto my face so I had to ask Siang Kiat to help me block the wind while I ate. Thanks a million! Hahaha.After lunch, we needed to go down to the soft shore to collect shellfish (cockles!) So we had to take out our socks and shoes and roll up our jeans, sleeves and everything. Damn cold lah! Hahaha. And then we were briefed on what to do. So we went down to the shore, where it was like all muddy and stuff. And we started digging with our bare hands for the cockles. And Mrs Hua and her daughter was with my group, and along the way, I had to carry her cos she was afrad of something. Dunno some kind of snail or what. Lolol.
So while we were digging, there were like a lot of other creatures too. Wormms! So yah. We kept screaming and I barely did any work other than counting the cockles. Hahaha.
Oh yes. I forgot to mention this in Day 3's post.
Xiu Wen is not afraid of all these worms and stuff.
But she's scared of dogs and even pigs!
When we went to Marshall's farm, there was this pig that came chionging towards her and she hid behind me and used me as a shield to block her from that pig. So, the pig came chionging towards me instead and of course, I screamed! Hahaha.
Yupp. Okay. Back to Day 4.
So after the cockles thingy activity, we went to wash up at the toilet nearby, before going up the bus and we left to go planting! We went somewhere, I dunno where, to plant flax! So all around that place, there were lots of flax and we had to go and find a place to plant ours.
And starring me after planting my flax!
And here's Ahgwee appearing for the first time in my post today. 
And lifang, my bus partner and planting flax partner and my everything partner! :D
After planting, we had a sort of debriefing/briefing session before going to Marae. And I dunno what's wrong with me, but I got a headache and felt like vomitting, so I couldn't absorb anything that the guide was saying. It was so bad that I almost fainted. Blackout. So I called lifang and squat down somewhere. And because we were going to Paparao Marae, there were many things that we needed to take note. Like all the dos and don'ts, and they needed to teach us how to do the welcome thing, where we had to touch the other person's nose with our own nose and say Kiaora. But I was really feeling unwell and needed to eat medicine already so I went to tell Mr Tafran if I could board the bus first. But he "huh?" me instead and walked away. Like wth lah. I was already going to die and then I was ignored. Gawd. The reason why I went to him was cos I couldn't find all the female teachers. Blah. And oh well, I survived it and finally went back to eat my medicine.
So many complains for today right! Hahaha. Anyway, we departed for Paparoa Marae, and we recieved the traditional welcome, the powhiri. So we had to line up and wait outside until we were invited in. And all these while, we were led by Atul who needed to do all the stuff infront.
And then we went in and was welcomed by this guy. 
And then the ladies sang for us. And as a return, we also needed to sing. So we sang "Home". And yah. We practised hard for it!And then we lined up again and this time, we needed to do the welcome thingy with the local people there. So it was Kiaora kiaora kiaora! Anyway, Kiaora meant greetings/thank you.
And this was our dining hall. The food was nice lah! And during dinner, we were all wondering how they got all their food cos all these while, we didn't see any markets or whatsoever, and a supermarkets come in a far far way from each other. There were hardly any shops, people, cars, but loads of meh mehs. Hahaha.
Continuing... This was where we slept for the night. All the guys and girls slept together in this hut-like thingy. I cant remember the name already. And there was only one pillar supporting it. It's like the heart. And there were mattresses provided for us, and we were not allowed to step on the mattresses. The pillows were only meant for the head. Legs, butts, anything else is not allowed to touch it. o.O
There were cross stitches all over the wall. They used cross stitch to express their thoughts and feelings.
And this was our bed!
We went outside after that, before dinner to look around. Many of the rest went to the field behind to play catching. Lol. Then the rest of us stayed around for pictures! 
And this was the toilet! Very pretty, clean and cute! By the way, the place we are staying at is actually a visitor's centre. The marae people don't stay there. Only when there are visitors or any events like wedding, funeral, then they will gather here and then stay over. Other than that, they have their own homes near this centre.
And this was a place in the toilet!
Outside, waiting to eat dinner.
After dinner, we had performances by the Maori teenagers. So they sang and danced! And we had to join in too. Super hilarious. The girls went first and then the guys. Both did different things but it was entertaining lah! And then we took group photos!
Yupp. Then we went back to where we were sleeping, then there were some stories told by the guide before she ended the night with a prayer. Then we snatched the toilets to bathe, and went around playing daidee at night. Hahaha. Oh yes. I wrote all my reflections then. I think a lot of people during the night eh. Hahaha. I heard some when I woke up in the morning. I'm not telling who did. :D
It was frigging cold in the morning cos apparently, the heater was turned off, and the windows were opened. So we were freezing to the max! Charmaine and me kept laughing at something, *secret secret* while screaming that we were super cold. Hahaha.
Anyway, I will post the rest on the next post! This is super wordy and not so many pictures cos my camera's spoilt and all these are taken by my girlfriends! (♥）
Reflections that I wrote (It was pretty much the same as what I wrote above) --
The thought of being able to try the blokart really filled me with anticipation. The wind was great! That also meant that we could get a ride on it. Dividing us into 3 groups, apparently my friends and I were in the last group. Waiting eagerly while watching the others having fun with the kart in the wind, we were thinking when it would be our turn.
Finally, when we were ready to put on our gears, we were told that the wind pressure was too high and it was dangerous to play. Disappointment was definitely spelt all over our faces but we had to accept that fact.
However, the adults still got to play and I tried asking Alan if we could go for a try, but instead was rejected with a flat "Go back to the bus now" twice in an impatient tone. This really put me off, as he could at least explain to us nicely (though they did already).
Anyway, searching for cockles was better and fun!
Next the planting of flax was also something unusual. However, I felt a little uncomfortable and giddy and requested to board the bus first but *one teacher* only gave me a shocked look and totally ignored me after.
How infuriating!
