Poem written by Andrea Rudolph with and for the entire group of very happy campers: (If you publish it, perhaps you should ask Andrea for permission and credit Andrea and possibly the entire Kiwi group for inspiration?) Our Better than Average Trip Active Adventures had everything planned For a better than average trip to kiwi land Our fearless leaders, Rachel and Koru In every instance knew what to do They prepped us on schedules and weather every day And tried hard to make us listen to what they had to say Koru always steered us in the right direction For finding trails and Pinots of perfection Rachael had to patiently repeat Our menu options so we could choose what to eat She was always there to help us climb And cheered us on time after time Rachael and her accent were really cute Her seeiven and eeigs always made us hoot The food was delicious morning and night From breakfast to barbecue it was always just right Each day we had coffee and muesli to eat Often Pavlova and (if we were good) a special treat Koru told myths of Maoris and war His tales were creative and never a bore He showed us plants like the silver fern This land is so varied theres a lot to learn About many birds he gave us the scoop And warned us about the wacky wekas poop The Hectors dolphins near the beach were rare They amazed us by doing flips in the air At the wildlife center we saw kiwis being fed And heard how theyre kept safe till they are bred We marveled at the kiwi eggs size That filled up the female almost to her eyes Possums, an invasive species, are major pests Eating kiwis and forests is what they do best Whether to poison them or use them for their fur Is hotly debated and not all concur The rain and wind made Foulwind a perfect name And the Tasman Sea is anything but tame. Riding the waves In Abel Tasman wasnt easy It was like a roller coaster and would have made George queasy Queenstown is the capital of all things daring, From bungee jumping and luge to parasailing At Franz Josef an earthquake comes every 300 years Its on the main fault line creating lots of fears Braemar brought us closer, running out to *** at night Sharing toilets and co-ed showers were also a delight We ran through the hills, and drank lots of wine Singing old songs and jingles and it was divine In the dark sky the stars shone ever so bright And made for a fabulous view our last night New Zealand is perfect except for the sandflies Which bite all our legs as they drop from the skies They even dare follow us into the van Where we smash them on windows as fast as we can Our photographers were an amazing lot And would do almost anything to get the right shot They took pictures of every breathtaking view As well as lots of our motley crew Julie, Gerry and Frank lugged gear everywhere So Frank could create a dvd to share Gerry led the trivia team from the west As they cruised to victory in our last contest We laughed and talked the whole day through Waking up to Georges cheers and positive view Jeannie his sidekick never seemed to mind Through everything she was patient and kind When she added her bra to the fence we all cheered The moment was tender and brought a few tears We could always count on Frank to come through With some daily tidbit about something new And Vesna was always stylishly dressed In outfits that matched and even looked pressed Frank, the model husband, brought her coffee in bed and gallantly swatted bugs dive bombing her head With her camera Julie could always be found She never minded lugging it around And always had a story to tell Of faraway places and people she knew really well Mike and Bonnie hiked steadily mile after mile But it was the waterfall that really made Mike smile Many sights looked like their Oregon coast But this was the New Zealand trip they loved the most When Lynette got sick we felt really bad But we really didnt want to get what she had Karen kept going even without her sister Even though we all missed her Karen Lynette Tom and Gerry may seem quiet But in the back of the van they had a real riot Talking about everything under the sun They laughed nonstop and had lots of fun Andrea was famous for her bathroom stops From talking toilets to smelly long drops Even though she had to go every time Everyone else got behind her in line Of our demerits Rachel kept track Who was naughty or late coming back In earning bad marks George was clearly the winner He gets the award as the biggest sinner While riding on Frank we passed the basket around Tim Tans and fruit were goodies we found Many of us discovered daily flat whites And drank local wines and beer each night. Everyone bought some manuka honey Even if UMF costs lots of money In Hokitika Andrea bought lots of jade with George helping negotiate the lower price she paid For Koru all blacks rugby is the team to beat And watching them do the haka was really sweet I tried really hard to write something clever To celebrate our group and the best trip ever Though our journey is over and we are all back home We can laugh and remember when we read this poem

| January 1970