Welcome to My Home Marae..... Rapaki 🇳🇿🗿🏯

In Maori, you have a home Marae!

What is a home Marae you are asking, well it is..... The place of establish, where you are from!

While being in my favorite class of Maori I truly have had a deep deep embracement into the Maroi culture. What an amazing sight to behold!!! I have purely enjoyed learning from the Dr. Lloyd Carpenter, AKA Uncle Lloyd!!! Each class is a new experience, a new page, a new lesson to be tought! I have truly been blessed for this experience and cannot wait to all cherish it in my heart, no matter where life may take me! 

But since I could go on for hours, as you all know I will, ;), I will keep it short!!  I was able to go to a Marae, a place of ceremonial and cultural security, a place of togetherness.  And for me being an international student I did not have a home Marae but the folks at the Marae, Rapaki Marae, welcomed us as family.  Because that is what happens once a truce is reached. You become family! 

I am so honored and blessed to have had this experience as well with not just me but the whole Maori class!!!

It is Tikanga, translated literally means, correct process, but in the big scheme of things it means SOOOOOOO MUCH MORE!!!! And by the Folks at Rapaki offering up their Marae for us to become one of them, that is just one of the many forms of Tikanga!!!

I know the pictures will not do justice by all the feels that were felt and sights that were seen, but trust me I will tell you all about it!! ;)

Welcome to my Home Marae!!!!

A treat of welcoming!!!

 The closure of welcoming with tea!!!

 Acener and I.... of course... Embracing The Moments!!!!


A look into the Marae.... All Done by hand and each piece no matter how small has a meaning!!!!

Being Thankful and Content in My Home Marae!!!

My Maori 106 Class..... BEST CLASS OF THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE!!!!!!

Rugby ~ Welcome To This World, Robert!!!

I was able to check a New Zealand Must Do off my list last Friday, and that is go and embrace myself in a Rugby Game!!! :)

It was the Crusaders (That is our team, Out of Christchurch), versus the Reds (Queensland, Australia)!!!

What a Kiwi Experience!!! :)

I think these photos help capture how Spectacular this was, a lot different from a NASCAR race, or golf match!!! :) bahahahahhahah

The castle!!

Go Crusaders!!

Erin, AKA O (From Minnesota), Myself, Sadie (Colorado) excited for the GAME!!! :)

Every rugby game begins with these, yes folks you are seeing that right!!! :)

O and I celebrating because Crusaders just scored!!! :)

Sadie, Tasia (Canada), Jacob (New York), Yoka (Netherlands), Caley (Colorado), O, Richard (California), Lisa (Germany), Hakon (Norway), and I..... GO CRUSADERS!!!

The Rugby Field!!

Half Time Entertainment!!!:)

THE WINNING SCORE
Crusaders...58
Reds...17

This is LIVE Action!!! :)

NEW Zealand Police!!! :) Keeping us safe around the student/entertainment section!!! :)

                             Rugby Compared To Football (NFL) :)....Learning the Basics...101.....

What is New Zealand without a Kiwi sighting and No, I am not talking about the people native to NZ !!!!

                               A goal of Robert's...... To see a Kiwi in the Wild........ Check!!!

While I was in Stewart Island, during break, I was able to see not one but 6 live natural kiwis in the wild!!!

They are incredible creatures and I had to use a torch to find them because they are nocturnal!!!!
They are native to New Zealand!!!
SO they are very rare and you have to be VERY sensitive around them :)
Luckily I was with some other travelers as well!!!
So surprising, how many people have never seen one!!!
Seeing a kiwi was such a blessing, I was able to see something that not may actually kiwis, New Zealand people, get to see or have seen!!! 

Indulging IN Life :)

Getting some sand flies :)

Smiling for photos!!! :)

Please Fell Free To Indulge in Some Information About Kiwis!

Kiwi are related to a group of birds called ratites. The closest relatives to kiwi today are emus and cassowaries in Australia, but also the now-extinct moa of New Zealand. 

There are five species of kiwi. All are endangered...

Brown kiwi... (Apteryx mantelli)

Rowi... (Apteryx rowi)

Tokoeka ...(Apteryx australis)

Great spotted kiwi/roroa.... (Apteryx haastii

Little spotted kiwi... (Apteryx owenii)

~ There are about 70,000 kiwi left in all of New Zealand. We are losing 2% of our kiwi every year – this equates to 27 per week.

~ Kiwi are mostly nocturnal. They are most commonly forest dwellers, making daytime dens and nests in burrows, hollow logs or under dense vegetation.

~ Kiwi are the only bird to have nostrils at the end of its very long bill. Their nostrils are used to probe in the ground, sniffing out invertebrates to eat, along with some fallen fruit.

~ They also has one of the largest egg-to-body weight ratios of any bird. The egg averages 15 per cent of the female's body weight (compared to two per cent for the ostrich).

~ Females are larger than males (up to 3.3 kg and 45 cm). Kiwi are long-lived, and depending on the species live for between 25 and 50 years.

                                                         Cultural Importance

~ Kiwi are a symbol for the uniqueness of New Zealand wildlife and the value of our natural heritage.Kiwi are a significant national icon, equally cherished by all cultures in New Zealand.

~ The bird itself is a taonga (treasure) to Maori, who have strong cultural, spiritual and historic associations with kiwi. Its feathers are valued in weaving kahukiwi (kiwi feather cloak) for people of high rank.

~ Due to the cultural significance to Maori and the traditional knowledge about the bird, tangata whenua are a key stakeholder in kiwi management. For a number of local iwi and hapu throughout New Zealand, this relationship between tangata whenua and kiwi has been formally recognised as part of their Treaty of Waitangi settlement claims, which encompass specific references to species recovery work. This includes the Ngai Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998.

🍀 Is it the Small Things???

Robert's New Zealand Goals.... Find a New Zealand 4 leaf clover..... Check!!!

                              New Zealand 4 leaf clover!! 🇳🇿🍀

For the last few months I have walked by this Clover patch each and every day to class, thinking to myself, "Hey I wonder if there's a four leaf clover there."

I just never had the time to look at this Clover patch and see if there was one in it! 

But I was able to have five extra minutes before class started the one day, and so I went to indulge in the patch.....

Looking at this Clover patch, would you behold, I had a lot of people ask me, "Robert, what in the world are you doing?"
And when I said I was looking for a four leaf clover they were like, "Good luck you're not going to find one! I have never even seen a four leaf clover before!!!"

And as they were saying that I bent down and............

It is the Small Things, we tend to miss!!!

Thank you dear Lord!!!

In front of Ivey Hall :)

Freshly Picked and ready for class, Ecology actually :)

Simply blessed to live!!!

Being Inquisitive :P

Top to Bottom of New Zealand.... Welcome to Spring Break...WHAT AN Adventure!!!! :)

On April 2 through the 19.......
I adventured on Spring break and was able to go to the Very top of New Zealand as well as to the very Southern point of New Zealand as well!!!
I was able for the first week to have a great friend that I met here, Tanner, accompany me on this amazing tiki tour adventure!!!!

SO let me give yall a very quick recap because you all know how long it could actually be :)......

1. We took a train from Christchurch to Picton!

2. Then we took the Cook's Strait Ferry to watch the sunset into Wellington 

3. Spent the amazing weekend in the Nation's capitol Wellington......we even got to see and go to the Beehive (like the White House) :) 

4. Then we took the Kiwi Rails train from Wellington and went up and explored throughout the whole North Island to Auckland!
5. Then we went and indulged in Hobbiton...yes to Hobbiton..... and some amazing glow worm caves.

6. The next day we went to Waiheke Island and was able to zip line, yes my fellow friends, I said zip line...... Another first for Robert I was so excited :-)

7. We were then able and blessed to go to Rotorura and spend three days at one of our friend's, Andrew, house with his loving family and experience what the "living life" kiwi style was all about!! He even lived on a farm!!!

8. And then after that, Tanner unfortunately had a field trip he had to go attend back down in Wellington, so I went onto the Bay of Islands in North Island, as a Lone Ranger!!!

9. I was able to go to Cape Reinga, New Zealand's farthest place north and I was even able to sand surf, what an experience!!!!
10. And then after that adventure I flew, via Air New Zealand from Kerikeri, a local airport, down to Queenstown in the South Island of New Zealand.

11. I spent a few days exploring the famous Queenstown city. It was here where I found a DEEP PASSION for Segways!!!! Now every place I go that has a Segway is a super must!!!!

12. I went to Invercargill and Bluff and rode the Ferry to Stewart Island.

13. Stewart Island is where my last place to explore took action before going back to Uni!!!!!

14. I embraced in two days there before flying in a private local town plane, where I got to sit in the cockpit with the pilot, "I was called Passenger Pilot Carpenter" I was so thankful!! :-)
15. Back to Invercargill and then flew into Christchurch to end my tiki tour of an adventure of Spring Break 2015....but actually since the seasons are opposite it actually felt like Fall break!!!!!

Let me tell you being able to hit my bed when I returned back to Uni was a blessing!!!

There are SOOOOOOO MANY stories that I left out here, and I apologize greatly for that, but you all will know them, I think they deserve a personal explanation!!!! Typing and Reading just do not do justice!! :) 

If you have any questions in particular, I would love to answer them!!!!

So very honored to be experiencing New Zealand in the Land of the Long White Cloud!!!

Praise the Lord!!! 

 Our Wonderful RA Dalia dropping Tanner and I off at The Train Station to start our Tiki Tour!! :)

Tanner and I Embracing the Train..... and we adopted a new family in the background.....nothing like a family photo!!! :)

One of my favorite parts of the train...on the look out deck, that way when going through towns we could wave and smile!!!

Being Calm!!!

Here we are :)

MY FIRST EVER JELLYFISH!!!!! Luckily here in New Zealand, they do not sting!!! :) What a gooey sight to behold, but just as remarkable!!

Picton Harbor :) Breath- taking!!!

 Wellington Cable Car!!!! :)

 Our first ever Cable Car experience ever!!! One from Missouri and One from Pennsylvania accomplishing a first in New Zealand!!!

I think I can pull it off :)

Wellington Crab Shack!!! :)
Yum Yum Yummy

Welcome to the Beehive, at the Nation's Capital!!!! Like Our White House!!! :)
Front and Center!!!

One of the majestic blessings!!

And another!!!

One the train!!! Absoutetly love this!!! Embrace the Moment!!! :)

Life on the back of the train!!!

Love it!!!

Welcome to Auckland's Sky Tower!!! :)

I cannot believe I am here!!! :)

Night Time Sky Tower in Auckland!!! :)

Glow Worms Cave!!

Hobbiton Here We Are!! :)

Gandalf anyone??

My home!! :)

The town of Hobbiton!! :)

The Zip Lining Family!!!! They wanted a great photo idea, gave them a suggestion and here we are!!! :)

 Tanner and I about ready to experience the Zip Lining Experience!!!! :)

Andrew(Kiwi), Tanner and Myself embracing the Rotorura life!!!

Natural Springs in Rotorua!!!

Rotorua Museum : Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa

 SAND SURFING ON 90 MILE BEACH!!! :)

FARTHEST POINT NORTH OF NEW ZEALAND!!! CAPE REINGA!! :)

You are witnessing where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean Meet and Separate :)

Amazing!!!

 Swimming in the Pacific Ocean at the Bay of Islands!!!

Thank you dear Lord, for the Footprints in The Sand!!!

And It would not be an adventure without a Geocache!!! :)

Iconic New Zealand, My Friend.....The Sheep!!! :)

One of my NEW Favorite passions and interests....Segways!!! With the beauty of Queenstown in the background!!!
So Blessed!!! :)