In Their Own Words.....

On the eve before their departure from NZ back to a cold and snowy UK, I asked the girls for their thoughts on NZ and what they had seen and done. Here is what they said, in their own words....

Ellie (age 9)

The roads are very quiet in the country and in the UK it would be busy.

Going up on the mountain in the helicopter was very exciting, and the snow landing was weird because it was summer!! We saw Mount Cook, massive!

The people are very friendly and when you are in your car they wave and I think they are very proud of their country.

The whales aren’t something you see everyday in Worthing, and we saw Kiwi’s and it is the only place in the world where you can see them.

I loved the trams in Christchurch. We had a really funny driver who was taking the mickey. We went to the museum in Christchurch and I learned more about the Egyptians. I learned most of it from the book Aunty Helen is writing.

We had teppanyaki at a Japanese restaurant where the chef cooked it straight in front of us. Cool!!

I tried new foods, I tried crayfish, prawns, cream soda (I love it!), broad beans and raw peas in their pods from Aunty Helen’s garden.

We used the gardens special places to play farms, especially in the vineyard and orchard (where we kept our horses). I helped in the garden by watering the plants and digging up potatoes, I helped Aunty Helen weed the new herb garden.

I didn’t like being ball-girl because I wanted to play tennis, I was better at tennis than Caitlin.

I loved Peter and Susan in Narnia. We sat in the VIP seats and had our dinner delivered to our seat – we had pizza and drinks. Aunty Helen and Uncle Warren live near where they filmed Narnia and there was a special exhibition of photographs in the local village. Some of the local people were used in the film.

Summer is gentle, like our dog Frosty. It’s nice to have a dog here in New Zealand to keep us company because we miss our dog. I got a little bit homesick, but Aunty Helen said this is normal.

I want to come back because I will miss Helen, Warren and Summer.

Caitlin (age 6)

It’s stunning (her words, not mine!). It’s very fun especially the Antarctic Centre and the jet boats and the helicopter ride which was very exciting. I wasn’t scared. It was very high up.

I think it is funny that the people are called Kiwis. I think Kiwi birds are cute and friendly and funny beaks. I was very brave in the dark Kiwi house.

I loved Science Alive in Christchurch. The best bit was Glow in the Dark Golf!!!! We also went to Aunty Helen’s library in New Brighton, it was fun because there was loads of things to do.

I learned to eat with chopsticks at a Japanese restaurant. I was the best! I have tried lots of new foods, and I now love salmon, raw peas in the pods (Aunty Helen grows them), choc milkshake ice-cream and broad beans.

I learned to do the poi’s and the New Zealand 12 days of Christmas song (a Pukeko in a Ponga Tree).

I liked helping in the garden and digging up potatoes.

I was good at being ball-girl in the tennis court – better than Ellie. I met Rebecca and Luke and they taught us a game on the trampoline called “Crack Egg”, it’s fun! I can now do a double seat drop on the trampoline, I played on the trampoline almost every day.

We went to see Narnia, I love Lucy and Aslan but I didn’t like the pizza we ate in our seat that the lady bought to us. I didn’t like the White Witch because she was bad. We saw the fur coats from the film at a gallery in the village, I love Lucy’s coat.

I love, love, love Summer the dog. I will miss them all. TIMMY!!! (Caitlin’s new word!). Warren taught her that!