Competition day 1

Today was to be our first full day at the competition and also the day before our booklet. Most of the day we studied and prepared for our booklet with breaks for meals (yay more food!) the only activitys where in the late afternoon. We started with the momento extange. Hayley and Anna started off rather shy at talking and trading with people but within short time they where trading and chatting with people from other affiliates (states and countries) 

Hayley- This was one of my favourite activities and I revived lots of cool items from all over the world! 

Straight from there we had the opening ceremony which involved lots of talking and flags. The girl carrying the silver fern flag looked really good in her Maori clothing and when the boy carried out the New Zealand flag with our national amthem playing we were all really proud and started singing our amthem. The Texan's had their 10 gallon hats over their hearts in respect of all national anthems. It was really cool to watch.

We went to bed as soon as we got back in hope of a good sleep.

We're off! Again.

We woke up super early this morning (4:00am (11:00pm NZ)) and took a 3 hour flight to Minneapolis (Minneapolis airport was amazing. It was like a little town it was huge but still accomidating) before taking a long walk through the airport and then taking a short one hour flight to Des Moines (said De Moine (it's French))  we cruised down to the local mall which was scary empty.

Louis- it was like a ghost town from a movie #GHOSTTOWN:0. (Yes it was open)

We spent the night in Des Moines after an amazing American dinner. 

Hayley- The meals were huge! America is everything times ten!

The next day, after a complimentary breakfast provided by the hotel. We took a shuttle to Iowa State University (which is huge!) we arrived and waited around for regestration to open. We got offered cheesy signs to take photos with.

We settled in and had a lunch at subway after a walk. We also talked to some people from other country's ( they all loved our accents!).

An Austrailian coach approached us about including a individual in our team for the dramatic presentation and we all agreed to have her with us. We met her last night and played cards with her.

We had dinner early but none of us were really hungry. There was so much to choose from! It was like a little all you can eat food court.

San Francisco day 2

Once again we caught the train and then the tram to the Fishermans wharf. We hired bikes from "bike and ride" and biked the Golden Gate Bridge. It was an amazing experience and once again the bridge looked like a post card. It was quite cold which explains the coats we are all wearing.

Anna- a definite icon of San Francisco. It was beautiful.

We caught the ferry back from Sausalito and ended up at peir 2 and we had to find our way down to peir 33. Upon arrival at peir 33 we boarded the ferry to Alkatraz. Alkatraz is amazing and I can't quite explain how intresting and fun we found it. Although it was scary to think of the people who died there and lived there.

Jonathan- I found it interesting seeing the grenade blast site and also knowing that a prision riot could get so out of hand that people lost their lives.

We had a dinner of Carl's junior (Jonothan took lots of pictures!) and returned to the hotel tired.

San Francisco day 1

At 8:00am this morning we left the hotel and got the complimentary shuttle to the San Francisco International airport.

      

We arrived at the airport to take the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transport)  train to Powell street from which we took the cable car to the iconic Fishermans Wharf.

      

                       

                       

We then went on a hop on hop-off-bus tour. The tour guide was very informitave and comical and gave loads of information about the sights, his personal opinions and the earthquake and fire of San Francisco. We had a quick (and healthy) lunch before going to the Californian Academy of Sciences.

                                   

The Calaforninan Academy of science had loads of information about nature and it also had and inside dome rainforest with various different creatures. We also attended a planterium session which explained theory's and information on dark matter and dark energy.

      

We continued on our bus tour and crossed the Golden Gate Bridge. It look amazing although there was some fog it added to the effect.

                                   

We then trecked to china town which was very authentic. We had a Chinese meal (it was so yum!) before returning to the hotel for a sleep.

We're off!

After rushing through the check in at Auckland International we board our flight. It was a long flight and we didn't get a lot of sleep but after 12+ long hours we arrived at San Francisco International Airport. 

                                    

        

This airport was huge and we spent a long time waiting to check in. We then got a shuttle to our hotel and had a short amount of time to chill out. The girls and Bill went down to the gym and the boys and Mrs Howard chilled out at the hotel rooms after exploring the hotel. We are now off to look around and grab a bite to eat!

Auckland Airport

We have arrived at Auckland International Airport.

Look who we spotted at the airport!

This is us just about to enter the check in. We have just said farewell to our family members we will miss you all very much. 

At the moment we are ready to get onto our plane.

Days to go

Only 27 Days until we leave New Zealand and begin our journey to USA to compete at the Future Problem Solving International Conference!!!