This is crazy. I could never know how fast a year could pass. Only one year ago I was still at home in Switzerland and starting to pack. Now I am packing again; to fly back home. This is my last week at school and I am already getting my NZ flag signed and filling out my Leavers' form. We had the Formal last Friday and it was such a fun night. I went there in an old car, with Jess and Sheena. The driver took us for a wee tiki-tour through town and tried to calm us down but by the time we had to get out of the car we were still incredibly nervous. Glad I didn't fall though :-) I'll put up a photo soon. Love you all, see you soon!

So. I have started counting the days i have left. Only 39 days! I don't feel like I am ready yet to go home, there's so much more here to discover! But first I am going to sit the CAE exam next weekend in Nelson. I AM SO SCARED! Speaking is first on Saturday and on the following Wednesday it's going to be Reading, Writing, Listening and so on. The formal is in three weeks and I am superexcited! My dress has arrived, I ordered it off the internet. It's exactly the way i wanted it! I couldn't believe my eyes when we discovered that my host mum had a whole jewelry set in the right colours. It's beautiful :-)
Last weekend I was in Motueka with the Brass Band. I LOVE Brass Band. It's not just about playing music and taking part in a competition but also mixing young with older people. It's been so much fun. I also did two solos and got 2nd and 3rd. Haha Nick who accompanied me on the piano dropped all his sheets on the floor so I literally played SOLO. In just about four weeks time I'll be going down to Timaru where the Brass Band Nationals are going to be. I'm looking forward to that except that I am leaving the day after I come home. I'm leaving at about 6.30 in the morning so I am hoping that i won't fully realize that I am actually leaving...
Today I went to practice cricket in the indoor sports centre. My German friend Marie and i got freaked out by the electronic bowling machine though. So I've got a big painful bruise on my leg now. Friday was NCEA day which means you can go to school if you choose to. So I chose to go. No I could have lived without one more day at school. But I wanted to achieve my English Creative Writing and resit Biology and Chemistry which i both failed at my first attempt. So that was good. Good night everyone. Love xo

Lake Rotoiti

Hello back. So this week we went to the west coast for a few days. I hadn't been to this part of New Zealand before and it was worth going up there. The forests, the rivers and the beaches are just amazing. We did some walks and explored Denniston, an old coal miners' settlement which is on top of a hill. The coal used to be brought of the hill by coal wagons on an incline which still exists partly. The only way you could get up to Denniston (before they built the walkway and the road) was by climbing aboard a coal wagon and descending the incline in it. Most of the huts and tracks have fallen apart for the mines have been shut down for about 60 years. Beforehand I had read a book about that place so it was even more interesting to see what it was all about. The weather was good at the west coast -surprisingly- and we even had a swim in the sea. I've realised again that I never want to leave again! Here some photos...

The holiday home we stayed in

some arches -  i can't remember the name- that we explored

the beach at where the Heaphy track begins

The view from the top of the incline, coal wagons on the left

Some pretty flowers on the side of the road up to Denniston

The charming creek railway which leads to more mines...

...and a massive waterfall.

16'093 km away from home!

Hello everyone :-) Today we went for a walk up Wither Hills although it was real hot! I have learnt again that sun screen is necessary... 

I hope all of you have enjoyed a nice Easter Weekend. Last week i was tempted to buy a Lindt easter bunny but got disappointed because they were made in freaking Australia. Nothing against Australia. But have a look at this...

So I got to miss out on the Swiss bunnies... 

xxx Seraina

Easter Weekend. My friend Ramona who is travelling New Zealand came visiting me for a few days and we went on a trip to Pine Valley. I've got two weeks of holidays now. Next weekend we are going to the West Coast, right in the north to do some walks. Apparently these walks are more awesome if you do them in the rain so let's hope it's going to rain ;-) Jess and I are going on a tramp on Wednesday and Thursday. It will be part of the Queen Charlotte Track and we are tenting one night. This is going to be exciting :-)

Just the usual stuff

Now i've got less than four months left in New Zealand... I don't wanna go home back to school!!!

Here everything's fine. School is, as usual, not too interesting and not too boring. I was on Biocamp at Lake Rotoiti a few weeks ago which was pretty cool but we had to write a huge report about some kind of insects that live in water. Aoteapsyche colonica. Some kind of Sandfly I think. Took me the whole weekend! -.-
Holidays start in three weeks. Finally. We've still got some assessments to do before holidays like Research in Bio, group and solo performance in Music and Creative Writing and Reading Response in English.
I'm planning on sitting the FCE Exam in June so I'm attempting to study English regularly...which turns out to be quite time consuming. Therefore I've been studying the last few weekends and haven't been doing much. Fortunately, summer finally came back to Blenheim and makes people want to jump in the Taylor River after school - in Uniform. So that's all I have to say at the moment... Hope you are all good back home, looking forward to July. When I'm back home. No just saying :-P
Miss you guys, M3b, previous U2b and everyone else who I haven't included yet. Kiss :-*

Visit from my parents!

Love you Mummy and Daddy!

<3