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.

My Last Day in South Africa

Starting Off with Signal Hill Paragliding

I woke up sad, not feeling ready to leave Africa. In addition to packing, we were all getting ready for paragliding. I was not going to participate in the activity because I was too scared, but I was happy for my siblings and parents to do it.

First, we drove to the top of Signal Hill. At the top, the wind wasn’t right for launching the paragliding, so we got some rooibos tea and waited. When the wind was good, I got in a car to be driven down to the bottom and my family got geared up to fly. I talked to the driver all the way down and when I got to the bottom, I arrive just in time to see mom land. The landings were so smooth! You just floated right to the ground and stood up.

In hindsight I wish I had done the paragliding now that I know that it is fun and safe to do. I just get timid sometimes about new experiences that sound scary, like running as fast as you can towards a cliff overlooking the city and jumping off of it (which is what you do to launch paragliding off Signal Hill). Sounds very safe, right? Next time though, I think I will be up for it.

Before Africa I did not really have a favorite place in the world. Before Africa I was sure that Africa would be the last place our family went and we would all be bitten by snakes. Just FYI we did not see a single snake besides the snakes in the museum. I have decided that Africa is my Favorite Place in the international world! The people are amazing, the food is great, the climate does not completely kill you and it is an amazing continent!

Heading Off the Gluten Path

After Paragliding we started walking back to the house we had rented, but then mom remembered that there was a gluten free bakery nearby called Off the Gluten Path. It was a little far to walk, so we got an Uber, but when we arrived at the place, it was just an apartment complex. We figured out that the location on Google Maps was outdated and the real bakery location was on the opposite side of Cape Town, about a 30 minute drive away. When we arrived, it was not an apartment complex – it was heaven! I kept asking “is that gonna be gluten free?” because I wasn’t used to things like croissants, French bread, donuts, cupcakes and cake being gluten free.

For lunch I shared some pizza with Zeb and Bardez. I also got a slice of the red velvet cake. Me and Bardez were allowed to get some little things for the plane ride later that day, so I got a carrot muffin and a croissant. When we had to go, we were all sad, but I really did have to pack, so I was kind of glad to go.

Leaving for the Cape Town Airport

After getting back to the house from our Gluten Free adventures, I finished packing my bags. We had a lot to try and stuff in to our bags, and several boxes of souvenirs we had collected along our journeys in Africa. Dad got the boxes taped up and then it was time for goodbyes and calling an Uber.

It was sad to say goodbye to my dad and older brother and sister, who were going to stay for another week in Africa, but I was also kind of excited to have a break from them and go on an adventure with just mom and Bardez. We were heading back and going all the way to my grandparents vineyard in Oregon to help with the grape harvest which had just started.

22 Hours of Flying: Cape Town to Newark, Newark to Portland

Once we got to the airport and checked our bags and boxes we headed through security and into the airport. My mom was able to take us in to the British Airways lounge even though we were flying on United Airlines back to the US. The lounge was very nice and it was a great place to have a break before the long flight. They even had macaroons, delicious brie cheese, and Appletizers. You might be asking, what is an “Appletizer”? Good question. In the US we would call it sparkling apple juice. It’s like Martinelli’s. But, these come in convenient cans and are extra tasty. I was sad to say goodbye to Africa and Appletizers.

When it was time we boarded the plane for our flight to America. We were flying United Airlines this time, not Delta. The plane was great, but the flight attendants were not very nice. They were downright mean, as if they hated that there were customers on the flight. I did not like that. If I am ever a flight attendant, I would like to be a nice one. Maybe they were just having a bad day, or maybe they should not be working on a 16 hour long flight if they can’t be polite to their customers. Hopefully United Airlines will figure out how to get its staff to be happier, like Delta Airlines staff usually are.

Finally, Arriving at Zenith Vineyard in Oregon

After flying for 16 hours from Cape Town to Newark and then 6 hours from Newark to Portland we finally arrived to Oregon! We got in our car and drive to Zenith Vineyard. My mom said we had to stay awake until 7pm so we would not jet lag too badly. I tried my best, and made it just barely to 7. Tomorrow, it’s harvest time!

13,000 Miles Across The Ocean

A Swim before Flying

Today is August 4 and today we’re leaving for Africa! We did not have to wake up early but we woke up around 7:00. Mom told us to get a swimsuit on and race over to the pool. We did that and I was a little shy of swimming because I did not want to get wet right before going on a plane, but I ended up having an amazing swim. I did not have any breakfast so I waited till lunch. The time at the pool went a little too quickly, and I had to go home and shower and get the swimsuits quickly in the dryer so we wouldn’t have a wet swimsuit on the plane ride.

Off to the Airport

Getting out the door went too fast and most of us forgot at least one thing. It took a little while to get through the ticketing line because there were a lot of people traveling on August 4th to many different places. After we got checked in we went through security and we went to the Delta Sky Club and I had vegetables and chicken for dinner with hot chocolate. I got to watch some AFV before the start of our flight. When mom told me it was time to go get on the plane I got up and we waited in line and they boarded us. Us kids were all in one row.

A Flight to Nowhere

Now we were all watching shows or listening to music and they had fully boarded the plane. We waited about 10 minutes and 20 minutes then the pilot said that in New York there was a bit of a problem. New York and Paris were our layovers. Paris was a 10 hour layover and I think New York was only one or two hours. In New York they said that there was a storm so they were not letting anyone fly in or out of New York. They said that this was going to go on for about two hours so naturally, instead of having to sit in a stuffy plane, they let us go back into the terminal and do as we pleased. We went inside and waited for one hour, two hours, three hours, four hours, and five hours. I ate a lot of chicken and vegetables and drank a lot of water. While we were waiting mom and dad were talking about flights and finally they canceled our flights to Paris and worked on rebooking us on new flights to Johannesburg.  We went to get our bags but we had to wait a little while in the bag terminal for them.

Take 2: Swim, Airport, Fly!

The next day we also went to the pool and we had pizza for breakfast lunch or brunch. It was Domino’s cheese, so good. Again the pool time ended much too quickly and we went home to dry swimsuits and I showered and then we went to the airport again. Everything was running perfectly and we got on a flight to Atlanta, Georgia. When we boarded the plane I was like wow this is a really big plane for a flight to Georgia, it’s only 1 hour! It was still a pretty big plane for such a short flight. The flight did not pass quickly sadly but we eventually got to Atlanta and when we did we went to the Sky Club. We did not have much time. At the Club they had a really good food: beef and rice with butter and vegetables and gluten-free brownies in packages! I got some steak and rice and then I put some rice in a coffee cup with a lid and a couple of packets of butter and ate it on the plane. We each had a brownie and then may have taken a few for the ride.

A Surprise Upgrade

At the gate we found out three of us had received a complimentary upgrade to the business class – full lay down to seats! Dinner was mediocre but we were on a plane and the food wasn’t going to be a home-cooked meal. I did not sleep well. I woke up many times to drink water and put my eye mask on. I did not eat the breakfast that they served because it did not look appetizing. When we got off the plane it was around 5:00pm in Johannesburg, South Africa. The flight was 15 and a half hours long! We went through customs, got our bags, and got a taxi.

Loot from Delta Sky Club