Hi there,

I am Paapu and I assume you know me already.

If Amma is right, you like to read about me more than anything else here! :D So, I secretly got here to write about my latest adventures today. Amma is in the kitchen looking away. Appa is in his own world with his laptop anyway. Let me type fast fast before they tell me its bedtime.

So, some days back Appa and Amma packed some big big bags with many many shirts and pants. I pulled out a few and pushed in a few else to help them, you know. Finally we took them all and went to this huge place full of..guess what? Panes! ( Ok, Planes. But I like to call them Panes) We got on one of them planes and I got a seat of my own! Appa-Amma seemed so happy that the flight was not full and they got an extra seat without having to pay. Anyway, I just stood there near the window and showed Amma each cloud that was passing by. She kept saying we were going to ..where was that..Newzee..oh, New Zealand. I did not care where we went. It was fun to be inside the plane! I got to eat cookies and fruits anytime I wanted , played with those pretty ladies in uniforms and dozed off whenever I felt like.

After a long long long time ( 13 hours they said), it started to get boring inside. I screamed and yelled to be let out. And, it worked! The plane came down to the ground and they opened the doors. I skipped and hopped outside into fresh air, finally!

As soon as we came out in the open , I remember Amma jumping and squealing, ” This is so much like Switzerland in summer!” No clue what that meant, but I like to see Amma jumping, so I smiled.

Appa rented a car and I was strapped in the baby seat. I hate that thing. Argh! But, Amma sat by me all the time and sang silly songs. Appa joined too at times and I mostly kept giggling.

The view outside my car window was great too.Green grasslands everywhere…rolling mountains and blooming flowers.

Oh..oh..those green grasslands had hundreds of pastures. Those pastures had hundreds and hundreds of cows! Even more sheeps! Many pastures were filled with just deers! Can you imagine? I kept pointing at them and telling Appa-Amma to look every time one passed by. But they stopped looking after sometime. I kept showing and naming the animals anyway.

They said we were in the ‘North Island’of New Zealand. I don’t understand what that means. But, I liked jumping on the hotel beds and eating at different places every single time. Also, the restaurants mostly do not have kids high chair. So, I got to sit on regular chair with Appa-Amma and create a big mess ;) I expected to be scolded. But, the uncles and aunties all around were so nice. Never a frown.

I loved the evening walk in that place called Auckland. The streets were buzzing with people. They walked around happily as if everyone had unlimited supply of lollipops. Nice. Oh, I got to eat ice cream with Appa-Amma. It was soooooooo good, I kept saying ‘Yummy!!’ at every bite while everyone looked at me and laughed.

At this other place called Rotarua, we stayed with an uncle and auntie. ( Bed and breakfast or something like that). They were older, but they loved me so much! They actually gave me lollipops and also sweet blueberry muffins! I saw Appa Amma eating so much for breakfast there. They took hours to finish. Looks like they found it all yummy too :)

That same place we stayed had a special swimming pool. Appa said it is a ‘Geothermal Spa’. Whatever it is, was wonderful! We all wore swimming dress and got into it every evening. The water was very warm and nice . But, Amma said I could stay only for 15 minutes because the water was from a ‘hot sulphur spring’. The fumes could be bad if inhaled longer. But really, what fun! I splashed and chuckled and kicked my legs in there. Appa Amma seemed so happy to do that too.

The ‘Thermal springs’ seems to be everywhere around there. We visited this special place called ‘Wai-O-Tapu’ ( funny name no? Me and Amma kept repeating it and laughing hard)which had huge crater size geothermal pools. The mud was bright orange while the water was strong green. Fumes kept coming out from them. Strange, I thought, but beautiful.

One bright afternoon, we went to this special place which looked dark and dingy. Amma said it is called a ‘ Cave’. I held on to Amma’s finger and walked along with other people. They all wore headlamps and torches. I was a bit scared but never showed it. And then, there was a river..inside the cave! That guide uncle made us sit on a boat and it slowly started moving on the soft water. It was so silent, so cool and so mystic. Then suddenly, the torch lights went off! All of them. It was pitch dark..and the guide uncle asked us to look up at the roof of the caves. You know what I saw? So many many stars!!! But, Amma Appa kept saying they were glowworms on the cave roof and how spectacular they looked in the dark.

But, I know they were stars and kept searching for the moon. The boat kept moving slowly in the dark…and I thought it was night already..so, fell asleep. Amma held on to me tight  and that felt good. When I finally woke up, we were walking out of the dark cave. What do you know..it was still a bright afternoon out there :)

The next day, we packed up and got into a plane again on another short journey. Appa said we are going to ‘South Island’.

I was happy in the ‘North Island’ and did not know why we had to go to the ‘South Island’ now. Anyway, more on that later.

My eyes feel droopy and Amma says it’s my bedtime.

Tata now. Will come back with more stories of my adventure soon. You know, there are Kiwis and kangaroos coming up ! So, come back again ok?

Ba-Bye for now.

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