We only have a day left in Christchurch but we have seen/done a lot. Today we went to a wildlife center and got to see some actual kiwi birds which are very rare. Then we went up on a gondola ride to the top of some hills and there was an amazing view of the city on one side and the water on the other! It was amazing! In a couple days we will be taking a train and ferry up to Wellington for about 3 days.

We are ending our first week in New Zealand! We have learned a lot about children's literature from bookshop owners, librarians, authors, and university professors . . . we have experienced many different New Zealand activities from the city to the beach, to the coast of the Banks Peninsula. Our students have mastered the city bus routes, shopped in local supermarkets for dinner supplies, and prepared meals in a Kiwi kitchen.

Today was one of the first really nice days that we've had so far in Christchurch. Most of us celebrated by going to the beach twenty minutes outside of the city. It was so beautiful and sunny. We played in the waves and attempted to body surf some...not very successfully. Then we layed out in the sun and started on the tans that everyone is expecting us to have while we got some reading done. It finally really felt like summer!!!

We went to Willowbank yesterday, which turned out to be a lot better experience than any one of us expected. We knew that we would be able to see animals, like Kiwis, but we had no idea how interactive the experience would be. You follow a dirt path that leads you over tiny rivers and throughout the jungle like enviorment to see the assorted animals. We started out by seeing little kids feeding eels that rose out of the water and ventured on to see deer that were not caged and would come right up to you and interact. Wallabees behaved this way as well.

Sunday we went on a trip to up the Gondola. It was in a city called Lyttelton, way up in the hills. The view was amazing of the city of Christchurch and the coast, which was huge! On the way up, there was random groups of sheep along the huge hillsides. To Kelly Stephens the trip up the Gondala was, "scary!" After getting to the top, we went around to take pictures and some people, such as Eric Phaff and I went on a hike. The hike was all down hill, really giving us a feel on the real New Zealand. The hike back up was intense, but fun. We were extremely sweaty and ready for the beach!

Hey everyone!

Hello everyone!!

After a long train ride and a long ferry ride we finally arrived in Wellington, the capital city, last night. It's fun to see a bigger NZ city than Christchurch. We went on a tour this morning around the city and it's so amazing how people have adapted to living in the hills. The buildings and houses seem like they're climbing the hillsides. A lot of the homes that can afford them have little cable cars or types of lifts that take them up to their front doors.

We made it to Wellington on Tuesday. We took a 5 hour train ride and 3 hour ferry ride. The ferry was HUGE!!

Today we visited the National Library to learn more about NZ children's literature. Lynne Jacket, who has been working with the collections for 30 years, gave us a fascinating history of the collections and then helped us find all the books of authors that we will study in depth for our final project. Lynne's enthusiasm and knowledge of the authors, both biographical and literary output was invaluable. We were able to consult handwritten reviews of all materials added to the collection until 1992 and also tap into the online Oceania reviews called The Source.