My Travels - Curious Karibella

2023-01-302023-02-10

New Zealand Update

Hello everybody, a quick update on the goings on of NZ. What we’ve been doing, how amazing New Zealand is and mabey a weather update. 🙂

Sunny, Hmm, There’sWind

Starting with two and a half long wait in Bio Screening in the airport. We get outside and enjoy the sun ☀️. Get to the air-bnb and go electric scootering through the area. Hmm, there seemes to be alot of wind and clouds, Whatever 🙂 We get back and as soon as we get into the house it starts raining and storming.

Rain Rain go Away Come Again Another Day (or never)

Rain, Wind, School, More Rain, Violin, Rain i think you get the picture. 🙂 We went to a trampoline park and the Rain was so bad that the roof was leaking onto the trampolines! We were driving to dinner in at least four inches of water. Driving home from dinner was a whole new world! It was Rainy! What a surprise, it was no joke though, there was about two feet of water on the ground. Some small cars had water covering the fenders and all of the tires! We got home safely and I went to bed with rain pounding the window 🙂

Rain is Going To be The Last Thing I see

I cant believe it, Its still Raining! Its like were in The Pacific NorthWest! For those who dont know the Pacific Northwest consists of the states Washington and Oregon in America. It did actually get sunny for like an hour in the morning and we were feeling good about the outdoor Elton John concert at 7:30pm that night. Jokes on us, as soon as we get in the car to go hiking at a waterfall, it started raining! Driving up in the mountains close to the coast was fun! It was super rainy and we saw signs of mudslides all the way! At one point we drove past a section of the road where the hill had slipped and the road cracked! While driving we came across three “road is closed” signs.

Karekare Waterfall and Beach

We finally got to the waterfall area and it was a five minute walk to the actual waterfall. It was actually pretty cool! I finally had a chance to take a long exposure photo! I have to add that it was Not raining while we were walking to the waterfall but on our way back it was raining. There was a Black sands beach right by us so we went to it. When we got there, it was raining. We got out and everyone else had taken their shoes off but I kept mine on. I ran from the entrance to the coast guard building while the sky was dumping buckets. I was as wet as you can get or so I thought. I had to walk under all the water pouring off the roof at the coast guard building to get to the beach! I was thoroughly soaked and I was so Happy!

Running in the rain is one of the awesomest things, unless it is cold. I had to take my shoes off to cross the river that flows to the ocean and I left them on the bank. We played on the beach for a while but the water was freezing and none of us had swimsuits.

After the first beach we drove to a different beach and got Real Fruit Ice Cream. Most things advertise their products as real but in NZ Real Fruit Ice Cream is out of this world! It is soft and creamy and has real fruit in it! I got the passion fruit flavor and it was delicious. We stood on the beach until it started getting cloudy so we went back to the car and drove home.

2023-01-292023-02-11

A Day Zip Lining on Waiheke

Bright Orange Fungus Growing on on the side of a tree on waiheke

When I woke up this morning, I did not know what we would do or if we would do anything. I went downstairs, and Mom and Dad were talking about some place we could go. I soon figured out that we could go zip lining on an island that Mom really wanted to visit. I remember our last zip-lining experience in Mexico with some very good friends. Me Zeb, B, Mom, and Dad were in the car and off to Waiheke! Dad said we had to leave in fifteen minutes, and I was still eating breakfast! Fifteen minutes is plenty of time to get out the door if you are not going slow.

The Ferry

You usually take a ferry to get to an island by a car. Thankfully our car could transform init a boat, so we did not have to deal with the annoying discomforts of a ferry. I’m completely joking! I don’t think any machine can transform the way I was talking about. We did take the ferry, and it was very comfortable sitting in our car for forty-five minutes. 🙂

Batch vineyard and Restaurant

For lunch, we went to Batch Restaurant. It was also a vineyard, but we did not taste wine. The Venue was super pretty, and the service and food were terrific. It was a restaurant where you ordered a couple of shared plates. We got Duck and short ribs. In my opinion, the Duck leg was way better, and it tasted like a holiday. We had a Gluten Free red velvet doughnut and Hokey Pokey Ice Cream. Hokey Pokey Ice Cream is Vanilla Ice Cream with honeycomb toffee in it. It is so good, and I would highly recommend it! We went to the Zipline after lunch and waited for a little before the adventure.

Eco Zip Zip Lining

Hills of Jungle and vineyards surrounded Eco Zip, there were only three Zip-lines, but they were still really fun. The first line was called Vineyard cruise. It was a very creative name, given that you cruised over a vineyard. The second line was called Jungle Cruise because you were cruising over Jungle. These people were very creative with names. The third one was the biggest and longest, so it was named shorty. I’m joking, it was called…. I don’t remember, but from now on, it is named Shorty.

After we flew through thick air ( I don’t know why people call air thin if you are not at high altitude, it is rather thick near sea level) we took a long walk through the Jungle. We saw 400-year-old trees and a one thousand and something-year-old tree. Near the end of the hike, we came to a tree about two feet wide and fifty or so feet tall. Our guide told us it was a tree that the Maori used to build canoes, and at its oldest, it grew to eight meters wide and so tall that I can’t remember the number! After we saw the big tree, we came across a large pile of rocks. We all thought it was a grave marker of somebody who had died while ziplining, but it was just a pile of stones that people had made. It was not very interesting. The exciting thing was a palm tree. I am not pulling your leg here; these palm trees were OLD. A baby one that had not even formed an actual trunk was TEN years old and only to my knees. About two and a half feet tall. There were lots of these palm trees, and they were all so old. Older than cars and even the united states. It’s a little funny when you think about it, one of the trees was about six hundred feet tall. When it was about 200 just trying to stay alive and grow, meanwhile some hotheaded blokes got a crazy idea to start their own country.

“All alone, across the sea, when your people say they hate you, don’t come crawling back to me.”
-King George, Hamilton Broadway play

After ziplining, we took a rocket to the moon (we took the ferry back home). Zip lining was fun, the ferry was excellent, and New Zealand was Rainy! It was fun, but my other adventures that you can read about in New Zealand Update were totally tubular! For all who love Zip Lining, the BEST zip lining is in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. It is called Vallarta Adventures, and it is a once (or 100) in a lifetime experience; every person should do it.

Mom and dad coming off of Shorty the zip line

2023-01-162023-01-29

The Dive in Bora Bora

I have to admit Scuba Diving was not my favorite activity. My Scuba training was not a good experience, Thankfully my wonderful Mom Scuba dives and makes sure I have a good time and go slow. The first dive I ever did outside of training was amazing thanks to Mom. The dives this time around were both pretty awsome too!

I always wake up nervous before a dive so I did not eat much. When the dive boat came to our boat to pick us up I was ready.

Our first dive site was pretty close to our boat and it was called Anau. A-na-oo. The dive was roughly 40 minutes long and we went to 32 ft or roughly 12 meters. The coral was beautiful and my favorite part was the fish.

There were so many bright fish and things. Most people don’t know this but colors disappear underwater. They don’t actually disappear you just cant see them without special lights. Red is the first to disappear at around 20 ft then orang at a little over 50. Since we were only at 30ft I could see orange and all the other colors of the rainbow (except red and pink). One interesting thing that happened with colors is, I had hot pink nail polish on and it looked purple underwater.

Back to the actual dive. Have you ever seen a Giant Manta Ray? They can have a wingspan of up to 30ft wide! Note: Manta Rays are Not birds They are fish, they look like a sting ray. Sadly the rays we swam with were not that big, only 7-8 ft wide (roughly 2.5 meters) Manta Rays have big “ horns” on the front of their heads. They are not actual horns but fins. Reef manta rays have curved horns also know as devil horns. Manta Rays predators are large shark and Orcas (killer whales). A great show on Disney plus is called Secrets of the Whales. It has a very interesting episode on Orcas that I would highly recommend.

All in all the dive went really well, I saw a Barracuda (oooooooo Baracooda). that looked like it should be in finding Nemo, i saw lots of zebra looking fish and bright orange fish. I even cracked a joke about Deforestation because parts of the coral were all knocked over. I have to say, I was a little disappointed on my first dive when the coral was not all bright colors and the water wasn’t absolutely clear (Thanks a-lot Nemo 😒 tricking kids into thinking that the sea life talks 🙁 :). It is true that Disney movies don’t depict the real world to a T.

The Second Dive

Teavaniu was our second dive site and, you wont believe, We Went Beyond The Reef! Dun😦 Dun 😲 Dun! 😱 If you don’t know, I’m referencing to the movie Moana. A girl surprisingly named, Moana, goes beyond the barrier reef of her Island to explore the ocean and find Maui, demigod of the wind and Sea. Great movie for All ages and if you have not seen it and you love pineapple 🍍 you have to watch it!

Back to the dive, I can really get sidetracked with just a little bit of humor! 😏 No more Jokes (for now) this dive was deeper by ten ft and seince we were right next to the reef and there was huge swells above us going to crash the party on the reef ( crash onto the reef) we had lots of fun swaying in the swells forty ft below the surface. The sea floor looked like it had roads running through it big enough to fit a car. All I had to imagine was some power lines and you get an underwater dessert. There was a shark and the usual bright fish. I kept seeing fish with weird patterns and crazy colors! Fish no matter how small are very fascinating!

Great Dive Site

I think diving in Bora Bora was the best diving I ever did. You don’t have to go deep and you can see some pretty awesome fish and sea life! We used Bora Bora dive Center but one of our instructors was not nice at all. One key thing for divers is you Can Not rent gear, you have to dive with an instructor even if your certified.😒 I can also now say that I dived at Bora Bora witch is a famous dive place. If you Scuba Dive, Bora Bora is a must visit. 😁

2022-11-082023-09-08

A Visit to Noah’s Ark

Yes we Literally went inside Noah’s Ark. Ok, they did not recover the actual Ark, It was a Replica. But life size and with all the cages for the vigorous animals and Noah, and his family. In this post I will address a lot of the big questions about the Ark and its contents as well as providing a list of things that surprised me. Please enjoy and learn a lot!

Most people including me (before the museum) imagine the Ark a lot smaller than it is and pink! ( I am kidding about the pink. 🙂 It is only a tiny bit smaller than the Titanic. It is over a hundred ft tall and at least fifty feet wide. How did Noah fit all the animals? God gave Noah the exact dimensions of the ship and God helped Noah fit all the animals (except wet one’s) in.

How did Noah feed and care for all the animas with only eight people? Each person had to care for 850 animals! (Gargantuan or small) The cages were designed so you did not have to go to each cage every day. (Side note, when we got there i thought mabey we were at Dollywood) There were water feeders and food troughs and the waste fell down chutes into a tray at the bottom for easy cleaning. All the humane and animal waste was emptied into the ocean via a chute. How did Noah build the zenuous (hospitable) Ark? He built it over many decades after Decades of planing and logging. His family helped him build it and they all traveled around the world with him on it.

How did Noah gather all the animals? I am going to give a straight answer to this question and other relative facts (i need 12-31 facts). He did not gather them. God gathered them and sent them to him to be with him. Now, he did not need to take all the animals like fish and some bugs. (Yellow moths went on board to feed the lizards) And not all animal species we have tuday existed back then. Also giraffes and elephants were smaller. Why did only Noahs family go on the Ark? They were were the only ones because the rest of the world was filled with sin and it needed to be cleansed.

Now for the Fun Facts you all have been waiting for.

How Noah could fit everything in so neatly!
Inside was way bigger than i expected!
Every inch of the outside had to be water-proof
little details could not be overlooked
Imagine living with all the smell and heat.
Zebras were also on the on the ark and lions!
Ark was the name Noah choose
Bears were alive then and on the ark!
There were even dinosaurs and two T-Rex’s
Ham and other meat could not be eaten til after the flood.
-Kangaroos lived and were on the boat.
Bugs were mostly left outside the boat but some had to be inside

2022-11-072023-09-08

Adler Planetarium

This post is all about the planets. I will cover every Planet except the Sun and Pluto. I learned all the information in this post from the Adler Planetarium in Chicago Illinois. My favorite planet is Saturn or Neptune. I wish Earth had more moons for us to explore and populate. I believe there are probably other life forms in other Galaxies or on other planets in our galaxy. I think it is really cool that we landed people on the moon but I think it is about time that we take another series of trips. I am Exited for you to read all about the planets and I hope you learn at least Five Fun Facts about each one! 🙂

Earth

Earth is the Planet we live on. (Duh) It is Blue and Green, these colors make up the ocen and gorgeous land. It is currently the only planet that can sustain humane life. The Earth’s health is rapidly declining and we should work to keep it alive and more healthy. If we don’t, start imagining living on the other planets, you will learn about them and their harsh conditions soon. First we are going to learn Five Fun Facts about earth. Along with a Fact that links earth to another planet.

3rd Planet From the Sun
Has Four inner Zones, Crust, Mantle, Outer Core, Inner Core.
The core is 800 miles in diamiter
The Crust is 5-25 miles Thick
93,000,000 Miles from the Sun

Our Relational Planet Fact for earth is….. Earth and one other planet have polar Ice caps. Please Guesse wich other planet before.

Mars

Mars also known as the red planet, is (true to its name) Red. Humans have been exploring it for years and have discover there was once water on this barren planet. Just to clear up any confusion, humans have been exploring it by employing robots and droids to do the work; not exploring it using themselves. Now for the Five Fun Facts about Mars.

Mars has two moons
Mars’ atmosphere is so impecably thin that water cant exist as a liquid
Mars is 142,000,000 miles from the sun
Fourth planet from the sun
Mars has four Zones, Crust, Mantel, Liquid outer core, Solid Inner Core

The Planet Relational Fact is, Mars has the Same inner zones as…

Venus

Venus looks like a swirl of Red, Orange, and Yellow and in my opinion looks like marbled doughnuts. There is not a-lot to say about Venus exept that it is big and a planet. Now the Five Fun Facts

67,108,000 miles from the sun
6 robots or droids have been sent to explore, none have returned alive. Of course they have not, there stuck there for the rest or there electrical lives!
Venus’ atmosphere is the thickest of all the inner planets
Venus’ has a dry, dessert like surface
Venus’ Volcanos are 10-100 times bigger than Earth’s Volcanos

The Planet Relational fact is , Venus and another planet same the same color range. The other planet is…..

Saturn

Saturn looks like a perfectly blended painted ball with rings around it. It is my favorite planet because of the rings ,and if you compare it with earth, imagine a watermelon next to a blueberry. The rings around Saturn are made mainly of Ice. The chunks of Ice range from the size of a house, a grain of sand thick. If you stood on the top side of the rings you could dig a hole through the rings to the southern hemisphere of Saturn! Now for the Five Fun Facts.

885,000,000 miles from the sun
This planet had no crust! It is only Atmosphere
6th Planet From the Sun
Its Rings are only 30 Ft tall
Earth is minuscule compared to Saturn. Compare a pillow to a blueberry.

The Planet Relational Fact is, Saturn is a Gas Gient just like……

Jupeter

Jupiter is also a gas giant and when I say giant I mean giant. It is 460.43 Million miles from the sun! It has rings but not rings like Saturn. Its rings are stripes of color on the planet itself. It is tan and red-ish in color and sits next to Mars and Saturn. Now for the Five Fun Facts.

5th Planet from the Sun
Larges planet (besids the sun) in our solar system.
It only had three zones! Atmosphere, Mantle, and Core
Had huge Aurora Borealis
Has five moons and one Giant Red Spot( a big storm)

The Planet Relational Fact is, Jupiter shares the sam amount of zones as….

Neptune

Neptune is very, very Blue. It had some lighter and darker spots wich are probably clouds. Neptune in my opinion is not a very interesting planet. It had atmosphere, mantle and core as its three zones. One interesting fact is that diamonds are forming and as those diamonds go closer to the core they melt into oceans. Humans probably cant live on a planet without crust so we probably cant live here despite the water. Now for the Five Fun Facts.

Has 14 moons
2,800,000,000 miles from the sun
Farthest planet from the sun
One Neptune year is 165 Earth years
Neptunes gravity is almost Earth like

The Planet Relational Fact is, Neptune is warmer than one other planet despite it being the farthest from the sun. The other planet is….

Uranus

This planet might be most peoples favorite planet for obvious reasons. I don’t know who choose the name but they were definitely not thinking about all the little kids who would laugh at the name. Despite all the pictures of Uranus being white it is actually light blue or turquoise. It has small white rings. 13 rings in all and you probably can’t see them without a very strong telescope. Now for the Five Fun Facts.

1,790,000,000 miles from the sun
Coldest Planet
Three zones, Atmosphere, Mantle and core.
Has 27 moons
One planet year is 84 Earth years

The Planet Relational Fact is, Uranus and another planet have three zones. That planet is….

Mercury

Mercury looks like our moon, but a-lot bigger. This planet is pretty uninteresting. It sits between the Sun and Mars. Its core is liquid, and now lets read the Five Fun Facts.

Has 0 Moons
Is much much smaller than Earth
Three zones, Crust Mantle and Liquid Core.
Closest to the Sun
Has no Atmoshpere

This is the last planet in our learning journey so I will link it back to our first planet, Earth. The Planet Relational Fact is, Earth and Mercury both have a crust.