Point Chevalier

I have a feeling that the other teachers at Colwill Primary School would not be too happy if they knew we went to the beach today, while they still had to be at school all day teaching, We definitely aren’t complaining though! When we first got off the bus, we were a little confused about how to get from the bus stop to the beach. So, we went into the nearest gas station and go directions. As we were walking out the door, however, we ran into Christine’s mentor teacher! It was so funny because we were expecting her to be at school, and she was not expecting us to be at some random gas station in Auckland. Soon enough we found out that she had called in a sub—or what they call a “reliever”—because her niece broke her arm and needed help for the day. It ended up being a great thing though because she ending up driving us right up to the beach, maximizing our time at the beautiful beach.

The beach was surrounded by trees, so when we first got there, it was still covered in the shade from the trees. It was still wonderful!

When we made it to beautiful Point Chevalier beach, we spent the day lounging around, reading, swimming, and finding the coolest seashells yet! One of my favorite parts of the trip was seeing all the elderly people come down for an early morning swim. It was pretty empty when we first got there, but soon the coast was filled with their bobbing heads. Quite the life to just leisurely walk down to the beach and go for a swim every morning! We had some more “fun” bus adventures today. Somehow everything always works out, but it definitely takes longer than we expect it to. I’m curious to know if the American public bus system is more reliable than this Auckland bus system.

Can you see the heads of all the elderly swimmers? At one point there were probably around ten out there!

At Colwill, the years are divided up into four teams. My class is part of the Puhutukawa team (I think a puhutukawa is a tree with whero—red in Maori—flowers). Our Puhutukawa team had a Sausage Sizzle this afternoon, full of swimming, softball, sausages, and team games. Jess and I went to support the team, and ended up learning how to play a fun new game called chicken, involving a rubber chicken and lots of running around. Maybe one day I’ll get a video of the kids playing it because I’m sure it would be quite entertaining to watch. :) It was fun to see the kids with their parents and siblings. They are just so cute and I love them already!

It was hard to get good pictures because we were so busy playing the games, but here are a couple. Many more to come!