July 6 - Redwood Forest, Luge, Homestay

Sleeping in the Marae was an adventure.  And it's nice to know that robo-calls can find me even in New Zealand.  Let me preface with the information that my ringtone is Scott Joplin's "Entertainer."

Outlets were at a premium in the ceremonial room.  I brought a power strip,  but it was on the other side of the room.  So, I made five others happy,  and we all plugged in. At 4:00 a.m., I got my robo-call. Oh, well!

After a wonderful stay at the Marae, we took a home through the forest along the Redwood Memorial path. One of the girls at the Marae, Kahourani, bonded with our girls and spent the night with us and accompanied us to the forest and luge. The redwoods were California redwoods. There was a slight rain but it didn't affect our walk at all. We saw a lot of silver fern in the forest, too.

It was raining lightly when we took our luge rides, but not enough to dull the enjoyment.  I was sad the students couldn't get a better view of the city, but they loved going down the mountain.

Our lunch was the most fantastic buffet ever.  The selection of items was vast.  Truly was a wonderful meal.

It was a two-hour drive to the pick-up point for the homestay. Along the way we stopped for some L&P soda. It's New Zealand favorite, made in Paeroa. It's similar to Sprite.

We met up with our homestay families and headed off with them. Courtney and I are staying with Anne and Doug Tomlinson and their daughter, Sam. Delightful family. I took pictures of everyone with their family when they were picked up. I'll post them, and others, hopefully tonight.






























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