You'll be glad to know...

...that this is the last of my New Zealand posts. I was debating whether or not to even put this one up, but the gloominess of our Oregon spring and summer has persuaded me.

First, a short lesson on the Maori language. I know that you have been skimming over the Maori place names because they are intimidating. I tried to get my choir at church to sing a Maori hymn and, my goodness, I got such resistance that I gave up!

It's really quite easy, from a little white girl's perspective.

The Maori language has five distinct vowels, the same as in English. When vowels are placed next to each other, both are pronounced. Most vowel sounds are short, with long vowels being designated by a macron.While the vowel pronunciation can vary from one word to another, you should be able to manage a fairly accurate pronunciation by making sure that you pronounce every vowel in a word.

There are ten consonant phonemes in Maori: h, k, m, n, ng, p, r, t, w, and wh. "Ng" is a strange one, articulated at the back of the throat.  "Wh" is pronounced as an "f". So you can imagine the fun that Australian comedians have with names like Whakapapa. 

So, on my last day in Onemana (can you say it now? On-eh-mah-nah) we took a short drive to Whangamata (Fan-ga-mah-tah) and walked on the beach.

It was a glorious morning.

These two were in their element, as usual, and managed to scrounge a thing or two from the tides.

I could have spent all day, paddling in the surf and letting the sun burn my retinas.

Some marine creatures come to a sorry end on this beach.

That one eye is rather disconcerting, eh what?

It's been raining today in Oregon. This seems like such a distant memory already.

All too soon, we had to leave for the airport.

But not before I visited this.

The world's most sophisticated toilet.

It speaks to you.

And plays music.

And flushes automatically.

And locks electronically.

It proved to be too much for me and I couldn't get it to lock.

It kept flushing instead.

I was videotaping the whole thing but it is too embarrassing to post.

And finally, one last view of the Norfolk Pine.

You can tell them by the star at the top.

And then I came home.