Jiminy Cricket and Minnie Mouse

...you can contact me through my blog, my personal email, via facebook, or at mobilemarypoppins@gmail.com. Thank you all for your support so far!!

WEEK 7

Dear Lincoln, Lilliana, Leni, Juliana, Evyn, Jack, Faye, Chloe, Emerson, Lake, Rita, Violet, and Ella,

Okay, I didn’t really meet the real Jiminy Cricket and Minnie Mouse, I met Jimmy and his sister, Amelia, and he calls her Minnie so I gave them those nicknames! Jimmy is 2½ and Minnie is just 10 months old so she is just a baby. You know how much I love babies so it was a real treat to have one to look after, although there was a lot of diaper changing involved. In New Zealand, diapers are called “nappies.”

Jimmy and Minnie live with their mom and dad in the South Island, near Christchurch. Their dad has a friend in America who knows Lincoln’s mom and dad, so that’s how I know them. And their mom and dad also know Gus and Kate’s mom and dad, which is how I know them. If I keep going like this, maybe one day I will know everyone in the world!

I had a great few days having fun and hanging out with Jimmy and Minnie while their mom was busy being a bridesmaid in two different weddings in one week!

Jimmy just loves his books and I read him some of his favorites.

I liked the ones that rhymed, like Commotion in the Ocean, and Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy. A Dairy in what they call a shop that sells newspapers and candy and snacks in New Zealand. I also loved A Kiwi Night Before Christmas.

It’s like the traditional story, A Night Before Christmas, but with a Kiwi twist. They love doing that in New Zealand, taking something traditional and changing it around to give it a Kiwi twist. In A Kiwi Night Before Christmas, Santa drives a tractor that is pulled by sheep!

Jimmy also has a very special book called Herbert the Brave Sea Dog, which is a true story of a very brave dog who got thrown off a boat in a storm and survived for 30 hours in the freezing water. That boat is now owned by Jimmy’s Uncle and Aunt!

Jimmy's favorite thing in the world, though, is a John Deere tractor. I saw lots of these at Gus and Kate's farm.

A man of many strange interests, Jimmy also has a pet. It’s a spider! It’s called Pio.

Jimmy likes to swat flies to feed to Pio. He usually misses but his dad catches a few. I’m not sure how I feel about any of this!

There is a beautiful beach called Sumner Beach not too far from Jimmy and Minnie’s house. While their mom was busy doing her bridesmaid duties, their dad and I took them to the beach.

There are some fantastic rocks to climbs through and a huge big beach with very soft sand to play in.

It was a great day out. We also saw a big red bus that takes people on tours around the beach town and into Christchurch.

But the big red bus isn't quite as cool as Jimmy and Minnie's dad's big red car. He sells skis and he has the brand of his skis all over his car!

There was a huge earthquake in Christchurch about four months ago. Luckily no one was too badly hurt but lots of people lost their houses and offices and shops. Whole buildings fell down. It must have been so scary.

I was very lucky to be invited to go and stay with Jimmy and Minnie’s grandparents who have a farm at the bottom of the North Island. Jimmy and Minnie flew there, with their mom and dad and dog, Ouzo. It took them about an hour. I decided to take the long way, which took 13 hours, two trains and a ferry!

It’s funny that what takes an hour by plane takes 13 hours by trains and ferry. It took 12 hours to fly from LA to New Zealand. I wonder how long that would take by trains and ferry. By my calculations, it would be around 156 hours. You’d need a few good books for that journey!

I didn’t do much reading on my 13-hour journey because I was staring out of the window at all the great views. The train from Christchurch from Picton took 5 hours and went all along the coast of the South Island.

People are so friendly in New Zealand, whenever we passed them on the train they would wave.

When we got to Picton, I decided to walk around the town for an hour or so. There are plenty of interesting sights in Picton. I saw an Indian Ringneck Parakeet outside the Aquarium.

And that wasn’t the only Indian I saw in Picton. I found an Indian restaurant and got some lunch there and met Ashish, who is 10, his sister, Dimpy, who is 16, and their baby sister, Samiksha, who is 10 months. Their dad is the chef in the restaurant and he made me some of the best Indian food I have ever tasted in my life!

When I stopped to get a coffee in a cafe, I saw another very funny sign. I think the Kiwis might be the funniest people in the world.

Next I got on a ferry which took just over 3 hours to cross from the South to the North Island across the Cook Strait which is the piece of water separating them.

The Cook Strait can be very rough sea but the day I crossed it was nice and calm. I still felt a little sick half way across because of all the rocking of the boat. But it was all worth it because the views were spectacular.

When I got to Wellington, I got on a train and traveled for another couple of hours until I got to the station near the farm where Jimmy and Minnie’s mom picked me up. I was so happy to see her and get back to the farm for a cup of tea. I slept very well that night.

The next day I got taken on a tour around the farm.

It’s a very small farm compared to Gus and Kate’s. They have sheep and cows. I saw an area where they shear the wool off the sheep using one machine to hold the sheep, one very sharp electric razor to shave off the wool, and a big hinged wooden box to press all the wool together.

On our walk, I saw lots of cows.

I don’t know why but I find cows funny. I think they have funny faces, especially the ones with lots of different spots on their faces. They look like they are wearing make-up!

Some of the fields had bulls in them (the bulls are the ones with horns) so we had to get out of those fields pretty quick because sometimes bulls can chase you. Jimmy and Minnie’s mom got chased by a bull once, when she was 8. She ran all the way home and when she got there she fainted! She was obviously still in training to be a fearless Krazy Kiwi. Which reminds me... I forgot to tell you that Gus and Kate’s dad was flying in a helicopter once and it crashed into the side of a mountain and he and his friend had to wait for two hours in the snow to be rescued. Gus and Kate’s mom had to be especially brave while she was waiting for the new that he’s been rescued!

I loved all the different trees on the farm, especially the ones with beautiful pine cones, but my favorite tree was the one that was hit by lightning so it got burnt out and became this weird shape that looks like a face.

Jimmy and Minnie’s parents love playing in that tree (they are like little kids sometimes, they are so much fun!)

When we got back from our walk, we found Jimmy was trying to take one of the motorbikes out for a run. Luckily he didn’t find the keys. Ouzo looked like he was about to try riding the other one!

Jimmy's granddad called us over to the swimming pool because he’d found a frog swimming around and was trying to catch it.

Jimmy and his mom thought it was all very funny. The frog was caught in the end and set free in the paddock.

Later on, Jimmy’s granddad showed me the symphonium.

This is a very old-fashioned music machine. You could put a penny in the slot on the side and wind it up and it would play music by rotating this huge metal discs inside. Compare that to clicking a track on your computer!

I was sad when I had to say goodbye to Jimmy and Minnie. I had so much fun with them and I will really miss them, but I think I might be back one day because they have become very good friends of mine, as have their mom and dad.

I got the train back towards Wellington and on the way I stopped off and I met some cousins I had never met. That’s the cool thing about New Zealand. If you came here you would probably meet people you are related to, or people who know someone you know, or people who know someone who knows people you know. That's just how it seems to be. It's a pretty magical place.

In Wellington I stayed with one of the best people I have ever met. A girl called Phoebe who also knows someone I know. Her dad is my friend’s friend. She let me stay in her house and I had the best day out in Wellington.

I took a the cable car up to the Carter Observatory. I was very excited to find an observatory because (as Lincoln knows) I love stars, and it was the second one I’d found in New Zealand.

The first was near Gus and Kate’s farm on Mount John. It was tiny. But it had the funniest sign I had ever seen.

The Carter Observatory in Wellington was a beautiful building and there was a weather center nearby with lots of interesting information about New Zealand’s position in the world.

There was also a human sundial. All the hours are written on stones in a semi-circle and if you stand on the right spot (which depends on which month it is) and hold up your hand, it will tell you the right time. This man did it and the sun told us it was 9.30am and we checked our watches and it was exactly right!

The Carter Observatory is in the Botanic Garden so instead of taking the cable car back down, I decided to walk all the way down to the city.

I’m so glad I did because I saw lots of different sculptures and a beautiful rose garden.

There was a memorial waterfall and a plaque with a beautiful poem engraved onto it.

I saw the big Seddon memorial and learnt all about Richard John Seddon who was the longest serving Prime Minister of New Zealand form 1845 to 1906.

He was sometimes known as King Dick. Clearly the tradition of Kiwis giving absolutely everyone nicknames goes back a very long way!

My favorite sculture was the stone steps that turned the word BODY into the word SOUL by changing one letter at a time.

This man's favorite sculpture was clearly the one by Henry Moore, but I think his dog was more interested in me!

I really loved Wellington. I think I could live there one day. I found a vegan café that made me the best breakfast I have ever had, a great organic store called “Common Sense” and a bookstore with beautiful second-hand books of poetry form local poets.

I also loved all the old houses nestled into the tree-covered hillside. It was pretty much the most perfect place I could imagine to live. It was my idea of paradise!

But for now I have to keep going on my travels so I had to leave to go back to Auckland for my final week in New Zealand. Wellington will be waiting for me!

Next week I will tell you as much as I can about New Zealand before I leave. I did lots of research for you, and my helpers, Emily and Josh, worked hard on this project too.

Still missing you all. Stay well!

All my love,
Susie

xxxx