Month: October 2023

Our Visit To The Stone Cottage

This last Tuesday our whole school was lucky enough to go to the Stone Cottage. Our schedule was at 10am. We walked on the footpath cheerfully while we were reflecting on what it was going to look like inside the Stone Cottage.

When we arrived at the Stone Cottage we walked around because there was another class inside. We were introduced by Terry and Patrick, and we learned that Patrick was a historian. Patrick told us that this Stone Cottage was not the original one, it was relocated from Mt Wellington (near the McDonald) and moved to Panmure in 1971. The whole entire Stone Cottage was rebuilt and opened in September 1972. Terry then showed us some pictures of what Panmure used to look like.

We went inside the first room, it was really voluminous. There was an old woman sitting on a chair, her name was Josephine. There was a fireplace and pictures of old people in the 1900s. Terry told us that the men stayed in the room drinking tea and beer, (the men loved drinking beer and tea) and also talked a lot about their day. Phoebe Dunn was 13 years old when she made embroidery. Woman loved doing embroidery.

Then we went into the kitchen, there were old plates and cups. There was a doll on a high chair, Terry showed us a mustache cup that the men would use to protect their beards from getting wet. Mustache cups had a semi circular ledge of the rim, they were invented to protect the extraordinarily magnificent mustaches of the 19th century from the effects of steam resulting from hot drinks and beer. The people in the 1900s loved mustaches so they would grow them long.

 

Then we went upstairs, Terry told us to hold the railing because the stairs were steep and to duck because it was small. Terry showed us a room where

the children slept, there were old clothes that were given to charity. The bed was miniature.

 

I really enjoye

d visiting the Stone Cottage and seeing all the old things that were there. I wish we could go back there again seeing the stilts, bellows. We said bye to Terry, Patrick and Josephine, we crossed the road and went back to class with a smile on our faces.

 

My holiday experience

During the school holidays my family and I went to Rotorua. When I woke up I got ready and had my breakfast. My family put our bags in the car, we put our shoes on and hopped into the car. I was amazed when mum said said it was going to take us three hours to drive there but I was still so excited to leave.

Our first destination was Whakarewarewa, Redwood forest. When we arrived we were astonished to see how staggeringly beautiful it was. We checked in and walked up the curlicue. At first I was feeling a bit nervous but when I walked onto the bridge I was feeling so thrilled. I learned that Redwood trees live to about six hundred years on average but can reach up to two thousand years and that Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle came to Whakarewrewa Redwood forest in 2018.

It started pouring  so we decided to go to our hotel. When we arrived we saw that there was a swimming pool and a spa. We checked in and went into our hotel. It looked so cool that I started running to find the bedrooms and there were 4 bedrooms for us to sleep in. My Dad, my brother, my uncle and I waited for the rainfall to stop. When the rain stopped we went out and checked to see the pool, it was numbingly cold but I had the bravery  to put my feet in and as soon as I put my feet in I jumped straight  out of the pool. My brother and I wanted to go and swim so we went back and changed into our swimming togs. We went into the pool and my  body was freezing cold but we continued to swim,  my entire body was numb for hours.

The next day we went to Skyline Rotorua. I was feeling so elated when we checked in and rode up the Gondala to go on the Luge but we went to eat breakfast first. It was so delightful, when we went to the Luge I was riding slow because I didn’t quite know how to drive it yet. Then my Dad taught me how to drive it properly, and in a minute I started driving fast. I think my Mum didn’t like that so she kept telling me to slow down because she thought I might get  hurt.

On the very last day in Rotorua we went to my brother’s Godmother’s house. We knocked on the door and as soon as they opened the door their dog came jumping on us because he was so excited to meet us. When we went inside their dog was jumping everywhere so they took their dog to the backyard. We ate some food and talked. The part I loved the most when we were there was when we got to play with their dog and got to pat him. We had to have a sleepover there  because we had stayed there until late talking and having fun.

I enjoyed staying in Rotorua for a week and seeing my brother’s Godmother and we had so much fun. Finally we said bye to everyone especially their dog and also Rotorua. We hopped into the car and drove home with smiles on our faces.