Friday, June 10, 2011

New Zealand is beautiful

Saturday, June 11

Lake Te Anau, New Zealand


We arrived at the Holiday Park lodging around 4:30 pm, Friday, Kiwi time. Most of us slept on the long flight from LA to Auckland despite the howling baby, and we were eager to get off the planes and buses and walk. This small town, where we are spending the first three nights, is beautiful. We are by the third largest lake in NZ. The mountains and hills rise over the lake forming some beautiful scenery. There was alight rain yesterday when we got here but today is sunny. It is cold. I had to buy some possum gloves already…of course I knew I was going to buy something from possum before I ever left Houston.


Milford Sound is on the agenda for today. It will be a two hour, winding road, bus ride and then a two hour boat cruise around the sound. We have to shoot the scenery quickly as the sun sets early and it is dark by 5 pm.


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Monday, June 6, 2011

THE KIWI GROUP




The New Zealand - Fiji group takes a break to gather for the group shot. Summer school started today at SWHS. We leave on Wednesday and we are getting very excited.


FRONT ROW: Lauren, Carson, Brianna, Alex Somoza, Sarah, Makenna, Van. BACK ROW: Cathy Bottoms, Brittany, Alee, Miles, Kevin, Michael, Lindsey, Kelsey , Pam Karter.

Our National Geographis leaders will be Peter and Gemina.

Our National Geographic Photographer will be Ulla Lohman. Check out her website.
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Sunday, June 5, 2011

Off for the fourth adventure

Wednesday, June 8 will begin the fourth summer trip with the National Geographic Student Expeditions program.  I will be traveling with 14 students, another SBISD teacher, and two NGSE leaders.  

Stay tuned...
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Sunset on the Amazon

Sunset on the Amazon
We had some of the most spectacular sunsets. Our cabanas over looked Piranha Laguna. From our open air lodge you could see the most beautiful close to the day.

National Geographic Ecuador Group

National Geographic Ecuador Group
We gathered with Massimo (front and center) for a group shot before he had to leave us and return to Italy. We are all back in Houston now and have made many wonderful memories.

White water tubing

White water tubing
In freezing cold river water, our group loaded onto two tube rafts for an adventure ride. Lots of gasping for breath as the cold water hit the body, lots of screams as your tube raft headed into the rapids, and lots of smiles from everyone.

Watching and waiting for Hummingbirds

Watching and waiting for Hummingbirds
Biologist, Nicki, names some of the birds that we are trying to photograph.

TARABITA

TARABITA
Day four started with a ride across the canopy in the tarabita.

Bug Hunting Hikes

Bug Hunting Hikes
In the evenings, when it is not pouring down rain, we hunt along the road for nocturnal critters. It is quite entertaining to see the students excitedly looking under leaves and rocks. I would have to say that Callie and Madeleine Ham won the most critters found award for our time in Mindo.

Making Chocolate

Making Chocolate
As one drops the cocoa beans into the press the other pushes down and out come delicious chocolate. We had bananas, kiwis, apples, and pineapple to dip. We even had left overs....wish I knew where that tub of chocolate was.