When we arrived at the hotel on South Island, the first thing we thought was: “is this the right place?” It was a beautiful stretch of land covering 2400 acres, and the only man made thing we could see (besides cars and roads) was a big yellow house. We rang the doorbell and were greeted by two little girls my age. “We’re looking for the lodge” Mom said. “Right over there” the taller one said. We were greeted by a woman named Rosie and a man named Richard. They led us to a table.  While they talked I kept thinking about the little girls I really want to play with them I thought. Just then the most unexpected thing happened. The taller girl came over and said her name was Victoria and the other girl was named Izzy. “Do you want to go swimming with us?” Victoria asked. “Yes!” I said.  I got my swimsuit and went with them to the little pool. It turned out that this was a family run hotel. Richard and Rosie were Victoria’s grandparents, and Izzy was visiting. Victoria and I became great friends and her dad Gordon played games with the kids. We went on a tour one day, with Richard, Victoria, and our family we learned about the dinosaurs, and how there were thousands of fossils and bones on the property. In the afternoon we stopped at a gorge and had a picnic. Then the kids swam, and Carter found part of a spinal bone of a sheeposaurus. Over the many days we did tons of fun things like: build forts, swim, play games like flashlight tag, eat yummy New Zealand food, watch the tennis finals, and learn new hand games. Everyone had a wonderful time because our hotel didn’t feel like a hotel. It felt like a home.