Travelogue - New Zealand Part Two

We are now in Australia so I had better finish up with the New Zealand adventure.  I will say it again; what an adorable country!  And FYI, NZ escaped the ravages of Cyclone Pam - we got rain, plenty of it one day, but it moved out to sea fortunately and no real damage was done in NZ.

We pretty much covered the entire North Island - we had no time to do the South Island and we hear there are even more sheep on that one and the rugged mountains you've all seen in Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit.

What I enjoyed most about this country is that the scenery changes constantly.  In one area, we went speedily from farms, then snap! we're in a desert where the army does all of its training and it looks like Nevada and then all of a sudden we're back in the forests and mountains and then around the bend it's soft rolling hills covered with sheep.  We drove a ton and it never got boring because of the  variety.  Here's the rest of the trip in pictures.

Napier is a port town that is charmingly built in the Art Deco style and surrounded by crop farms.  We ran into a couple more missionaries in that town and attended church there too last Sunday.

We left farms and entered Mountains on our way to the lovely city of Wellington.

Down at the harbor, a boy kept diving in to the water from various heights of the ladder and his dog would cry every time he did.

Area for military training

A few miles down the road the desert changes to this.

In the city of Hamilton, we looked for and met up with a young man serving a mission there who is from back home in NH and we were so thrilled we found him!  We bought him and the group he was with a couple dozen donuts from a Dunkin Donuts we found down the street - and how convenient we could offer a bit of New England to him!

Before leaving NZ on our last day we went to the delightful little LDS temple in Hamilton - it's been there since 1958.

     Good bye Aukland.  Farewell NZ! ❤️

New Zealand Part One

I am in love with this country!  It is so dang pretty!  Clean and prosperous, lovely people, breathtaking country side that changes constantly, tidy towns, bountiful national pride, and happy cows and sheep everywhere.  It's forest, farm, lakes, hillocks, and mountains, and the coolest fern trees woven in with pine and many trees I have never seen before.  And the ocean - dark sand and heavy surf and teal water.  Vineyards, citrus groves, and corn fields.  And I love the signs on the sides of the roads that tell you to drive safely and put your "sunnies" on.  And stop and buy your veges here (pronounced veegees) and no "I" in the spelling.  And the signs that advertise kennels for dogs and a cattery for the felines.  How cute is the word cattery?

We arrived last Wednesday morning (Tuesday morning back home - we lost a day but we'll get it back) at 5:30 am, dropped our bags off at our hotel, not able to check in that early of course, and in our dead tired state, wandered all over Aukland waiting for time to pass and places to open, and loitering at parks and the harbor until they did.  For two days we explored this wonderful city on foot and on the hop on and off bus; museums, parks, gardens, aquarium, neighborhoods, the harbor, the gorgeous University campus, and an aerial view from the 1076 foot iconic sky tower.

Then we rented a car and set out to see the rest of the North Island.  Here are pictures of some of what we've seen so far.  Wednesday through Saturday.  Tomorrow is Sunday already here!

Lady Knox Geyser

We went to an area covered with geothermal pools, sunken craters full of boiling mud, lakes and puddles where the water temps are boiling, steam rising from holes in the ground, waterfalls where the water is hot, strange colored water from different minerals, geysers, etc.  This area is near the town and lake called Rotorua.  I love the color below.  Downside - the area smells like rotten eggs!

The white dots are sheep

One of our churches - out in the middle of just farm land - there were sheep on all three sides of the property - how fun is that?

This group was waiting for our scraps as we finished a picnic dinner tonight.

That's all for now!

Off To The Land Down Under

We are heading to New Zealand and Australia today for three weeks!  First of all, because it was on both of our bucket lists and secondly, and this occasion gave us the opportunity to have it happen sooner than later, we are bringing this guy home with us!

He's been gone two years, gone serving faithfully, joyfully and selflessly as a missionary for our church.  Can't wait to see my wee bairn!  I'll probably post now and then from Down Under so I don't overwhelm you with a huge one at the end of the adventure.  Sweet as!  (as Dane would say).