Monday morning came, however, and I was feeling prepared for
the day. I knew what my plans were and thought that things were going to go
considerably well. My day started pretty well and the students were engaged
with their maths (yes, math does have an “s” on the end of it here) lesson. They did wonderfully with their reading
lessons as well and the day was off to a great start. However, things started
to change when the substitute teacher who was in the room started to aggravate
the students and turn their moods around. Because of this, we had a very rocky
afternoon with students who were getting very upset and started to have
behavior problems. We made it to the end of the day but I was feeling a little
anxious after what had happened.
Because of how poorly Tuesday went with the substitute
teacher, I made my co-op aware of this and she was able to be in the classroom
on Tuesday as a support system for me. Tuesday went better but there was still
something that was not working for me in the classroom. Wednesday and Thursday
came and went as well. On Wednesday, we were able to do some fun things because
it was Halloween. Thursday was a little bit better but something was still off.
I felt as though the students were not respecting me in the way that they
should be.
So on Friday, we made a change in the classroom. I
introduced a new behavior management system where my students were in charge of
their own fates. We created a point system where students can earn points for
doing what they should be doing in class and making positive choices but points
can be deducted if a student is not following the classroom treaty and showing
disrespect. Surprisingly, the students adapted really well to this change and
Friday was an incredible day. We were able to get a ton of work done and I had
a classroom where I finally felt like I was able to teach. It was perfect!
After school on Friday, Miranda and I quickly went home, got
our bags and headed for the train station. We had to catch the train by 3:30 so
that we could get into Auckland in time to get to out bus that would be taking
us to the Bay of Islands. Our adventure started at the train station, when we
almost missed our train because we were at the wrong track. There is currently
construction at the train station and we were quite confused. However, we were
able to get to our train on time and start our adventure.
The Naked Bus (yes mom and dad, we did have clothes on. No
worries!) was waiting for us and we got on right away to go on our adventure. I
know what you are thinking and I know, I never thought I would be taking a bus
somewhere either but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do! It was a long bus
ride down a lot of windy and narrow roads but we eventually made it to Paihia
where we would be staying. When we got off the bus, we politely asked the bus
driver how to get to the Pickled Parrot, our backpackers accommodations, and he
gave us directions. Again, I know what you are thinking about me staying at a
backpackers hotel. It was a little bit different from what I am used to but it
wasn’t terrible actually!
When we finally made it to our hostel about 6 and a half hours
after we had left Swanson and after Miranda had a little run in with a whole in
the pavement, we had a little surprise waiting for us. The woman who was
running the backpacker’s accommodation told us that Fuller’s, the company who
we had made our reservation with to go on a tour the next day, had called to
tell us that our trip was cancelled and we needed to call them to figure out
what to do. (We had no idea how they found where we were staying until we
realized that the company must have called Miranda’s house mum to let her know
the trip was cancelled because we gave them her phone number as a contact
number) So right after we got to our room, we made a call to Fuller’s and
talked with a man named Ross. He gave us some choices for the day but never
really made anything very clear. Basically, we knew that we were going to have
to be at the ferry station at 8:15 Saturday morning to figure out what we
wanted to do.
Needless to say, this was not the most ideal way to be
starting our weekend. We then went up to our room and we were slightly grossed
out by what we saw. Both of us were scared to find bugs in our beds and we
didn’t really know what to think. Eventually we were able to calm down and go
to sleep. We knew that we had an early day on Saturday and needed to try to get
some rest, if possible.
So Saturday morning came and we woke up extremely tired.
However, we rolled ourselves out of bed, ate some breakfast, and headed over to
talk to Ross. Basically, Ross was able to refund us our money and put us on a
trip that was shorter. It worked out pretty nicely, except for the fact that it
was expected to rain all day and the sky did not look very promising.
We got on the boat and started out adventure around the Bay
of Islands. It rained a little bit at first but it wasn’t anything terrible. We
were able to get some beautiful pictures and still have some fun. Right when we
started our cruise, we were told that there were dolphins in the area. Luckily,
we were able to go on the bow of the boat and see the dolphins! It was so cool
to see them in their natural habitat. Some of the dolphins were jumping around
and some were just enjoying a nice morning swim.
After the dolphins, the captain told us that we were heading to the Hole in the Rock a little bit early because he was concerned about the weather. The Hole in the Rock was what I was the most excited for. It is a natural formed hole in a rock (imagine that) but you can drive a boat through it. We had to leave the clam waters of the Bay and head out into more rough waters. Miranda and I decided it would be fun to stand on the top of the ship at the back and pretend that we were surfing! It was really fun and we were sure entertaining all the people. However, we did get a little wet from the boat crashing on the huge waves and the wind catching the spray but it was all worth it.
On our way to the hole, we saw this mountain that had the clouds
touching the top of it. We decided that it was probably Hogwarts and we were
waiting to try and find Dumbledore up in the clouds. Sadly, it never happened.
We also got to see the Cape Brett lighthouse, which was once
operational but now is a historic landmark. The lighthouse keepers lived and worked
in the lighthouse from 1910 until 1978, when a new automated light went into service,
When we got to the Hole in the Rock, it was beautiful. We were
able to actually go through the hole and see the inside of the rock. It was fantastic.
We also saw some seals perched on one of the nearby rocks!
We shot across the ocean again and ended up at another island
where we were able to get off and climb to the top of this giant mountain. At the
top, we had spectacular views and were able to see many of the islands. When we
were finished here, our boat took us to the town of Russell, where Miranda and I
had some amazing fish and chips. We also ended up going to a flower show (strange
I know) because it started pouring rain and the flower show was the closest building.
When we got back to Paihia, we decided to go back to our room
and take a nap. We napped for a bit longer than expected and by the time we got
out to go to supper, which was only 5:30pm, most of the shops were closed. Because
of this, we were able to have some delicious pizza for dinner and then we went back
to the room to relax, watch a movie, and enjoy some time on Pinterst :)
Now it is Sunday and we are back in Auckland, after another
long bus ride. I am very happy to be home and in a place that is actually clean!
I hope that everyone has a fantastic week and I will post again soon!
I miss you all a lot and hope to hear from all of you soon!
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