This past week was my birthday, and so I took a break from all my endless homework to do some fun things! Since my birthday is in May, it's normally in the spring, but here in the Southern hemisphere, May is fall! Fall is a perfect time to drink hot chocolate, so that is one of the yummy things I had. We also had cake and ice cream. What do you like to eat or drink on your birthday?
I also biked to Cornwall Park. It's about a 30 minute bike ride, but still inside Auckland! Just like Honolulu, Auckland has lots of different parts. Cornwall Park is in an area called Epsom, and nearby are the neighborhoods of Remuera, Onehunga, Ellerslie, Penrose, Newmarket, and Mount Eden. Where do you think these names come from? Do you think it's important to know the names of places? When we were biking back from Cornwall Park, it was quite rainy, but when we got on the train, a rainbow appeared. There are many words for rainbow in te reo Māori, but one is "āheahea." It's not the same as "ānuenue," but it is similar!
Near Cornwall Park is a hill called Maungakiekie, which means "mountain of the kiekie vine." Another name for it is One Tree Hill, because for a while, there was only one tree growing on it. Maungakiekie is actually a volcano, and it is over 28,500 years old!
