Halloween

For the first time in many years, I cut out a pumpkin!

New Zealand

Monday, October 19--LAX

 I have been planning this trip for ages, and with the help of my travel agent, Sheila, I think I am finally ready!!!

6518 miles and 12 hours later, I was there!  It's very strange to leave LA on Monday night and arrive in New Zealand on Wednesday morning...I missed Tuesday, completely!

After landing in Auckland, I connected to my flight to Christ Church on the south island.  The landscape from the air wasn't what I was expecting.  I'm thinking tropical, like Hawaii or Fiji, and I got green, rolling hills like Ireland. Very beautiful.











Wednesday, October 21--Christ Church
After I checked into my hotel, I had the afternoon to wander.  After several false starts, I finally found Higley Park, a 350 acre park with beautiful flowers and a river flowing through it.

Evidently, there had been a huge wind storm that morning,
uprooting this tree and taking the asphalt with it.  That's
a lot of power!



Right outside of my hotel was this trolley that provided city tours, a great way to see the sights.  The obvious thing that I noticed was all the damage caused by the two powerful earthquakes they had a few years ago,  a 7.1 in 2010 and an 6.3 the next year.  Interesting fact...they take their rugby very seriously. One of the first things replaced or repaired was their ruby field!

Thursday, October 22--Christ Church to Queenstown
After the bus picked me up at my hotel, we were on our way to Queenstown by way of Mount Cook and lots and lots of beautiful scenery and quaint little towns.  We were only maybe an hour out when I spotted these deer, and blurted out, "Are those wild?!"  As it turns out, they raise them for the meat and antlers.  Yep, I was a little embarrassed.  But, it was really cool to see so many deer in one place.

Mount Cook is New Zealand's tallest mountain, measuring 12,218 feet.  And like Mount Rainier in Washington, most tourists don't get to see it because of cloud cover.  I was lucky and had wonderful view of this magnificent mountain.

Lake Pukaki lies at the foot of Mount Cook, and is one of the most beautiful lakes I have ever seen. The color is spectacular, a very vibrant turquoise blue created by glacial flour, fine grained particles of rock created by glacial erosion carried into the lake by rivers.

Coming back down the mountain, the lake was so calm, it became a huge mirror!

 Friday, October 23--Milford Sound, Queenstown

This morning, the bus picked me up at my hotel and we made our way to Milford Sound. The scenery was amazing.  One of the first places we stopped was Eglinton Valley, a valley carved by the advancing and retreating of a glacier thousands if not millions of years ago.

Further down the road, we passed through this wonderful tunnel
of trees.

All along the road there were spectacular rivers and waterfalls.  We even stopped at one and fill our water bottles...pure, glacial water...nothing tastes better!

 As we got nearer to Milford Sound, the weather turned very cold, and the waterfalls started to collect ice at the bottom instead of a flowing stream

The Chasm had to be a favorite stop of mine.  

Milford Sound is actually a fjord.  A fjord is carved by glaciers while a sound is created by water.  It was very cold, overcast, and there was some actual rain.  I was very happy to have my coat and scarf to try to keep warm.  But the scenery was worth the threat of frostbite!  As our boat headed out toward the open sea, we passed by waterfall after waterfall, each more amazing.

We actually backed into one, a great photo opportunity!

 As we left the waters of the fjord, we were in the Tasman Sea...

...and the view of the fjord after we turned back around was  fantastic.  It's easy to see why so many early explorers miss this opening to the land found up river. (Only, it's really not a river!)

 And maybe my favorite picture of the entire trip.  This was not taken in black and white!

  On our way back to Queenstown, we came across this...

 We arrived back in Queenstown in time for me to go to the top of this...

to view this...

 and this!

Saturday, October 24--Queenstown to Christ Church--Auckland
It was cold when the bus picked me up this morning...1.9° C, which translates into 35.5° F.  The bus driver said that they were actually skiing in the mountains until 3 weeks ago!  But, there was a beautiful clear, blue sky, making for some amazing views.
New Zealand makes it's money from tourism and agriculture.  Because I was there for their spring, there really wasn't too much tourism evident, but ever where you looked, you saw evidence of agriculture.

Cattle, raised for both meat and dairy

Sheep, lots and lots of sheep.  Because it is spring, it was lambing time, so there were lots of little baby sheep.  So cute to watch them jump around and play.

Beehives...

...and vineyards...

...and wonderful fields filled with vibrant colors.

Lake Dunstan is a man-made lake with an interesting history.  According to our driver, the original town of Cromwell had to be relocated to a new area above the newly formed lake.  They took apart many of the buildings and relocated them, leaving some of the old town intact.  They even added a few cars before they filled up the lake, to make it look more authentic.  Scuba divers have been down to see it!

During my entire trip, I was fascinated by the road signs...

But funniest ones had to be...

Sunday, October 25--Auckland
Last night, I flew from Christ Church back to Auckland, on the north island, and made my way, by city bus, to my hotel. Today was my "free" day, so I decided to sleep in (I have had to be up, dressed, and checked out of my hotel by 7ish every day so far) and see what Auckland had to offer.
One of the highlights was a catamaran sailing tour of the harbor.  I would like to say it was relaxing, but there were a few times that I really thought we were going to capsize!

The other fun adventure was going to the top of the Sky Tower.  It's over 1,076 feet, 51 stories.  I was a little nervous because of my fear of heights, but I didn't want that to stop me, so up I went.  The view was great.

I even went back at dusk to see the city lights.

Monday, October 26--Waitomo Glow-worm Caves, Hobbiton, Rotorua

This turned out to be quite a day...filled with activities from morning until long past my bed time.

First stop, the Waitomo Glow-worm Caves.  Pretty spectacular, but I can't take credit for the pictures since there was no photography allowed.  

This was outside of the caves, where we enjoyed a delicious lunch.

Next up, Hobbiton.  To prepare for this, I actually watched the first Lord of the Rings movie on the flight over.  But, nothing could really prepare you for this amazing place.  It is the actual set used in the movies; the Shire where Bilbo lived and Frodo's journey began.  I have way too many pictures for this blog entry, so I'll pick just a few of my favorites.

The Green Dragon

Funny story...after the tour, we all went into the Green Dragon for a complimentary drink.  They offered a dark ale beer, apple cider, and a ginger beer.  I opted for the apple cider. Mistake!  One big gulp and my throat burned and my eyes watered.  It was hard cider!  Lesson learned, ask before your swallow.

Last stop today was Rotorua, home to the Maori people.  I have been abundantly blessed this entire trip.  I'll admit, it's a little scary traveling by yourself halfway around the world.  But, there have been people to help me all along the way, and tonight was no different.  My bus was to drop me off at my hotel 15 minutes after the shuttle from the Mitai Maori Village was supposed to pick me up.  I was going to need to get a taxi to get there.  As we were driving along, and the hour was getting later, I decided that I would just skip the village experience.  Then, as the bus slowed for a stop, I noticed the sign for the Maori village.  I rushed up to the driver, asked him if that was indeed where I was supposed to go. With an affirmative nod, he made a u-turn and dropped me off.  They stored my luggage until after dinner and the show, and all was perfect.

The hangi dinner was cooked under ground and was delicious.

And then there was a show, complete with singing, dancing, and a lot of tongues sticking out, their way to show aggression.

Tuesday, October 27--Rotorua
This morning I saw a couple of the local sights...

Geothermal activity and the training school for wood carving and weaving at Te Puia

And a sheep sheering demonstration at the Agrodome.

Wednesday, October 28--Lake Taupo

Definitely, the most exciting thing I did this entire trip...a jetboat ride to see the Huka Falls.  It wasn't just a boat ride, it was a thrill ride, going 60 MPH, passing inches away from the side of the river and overhanging trees, and doing 360° spins.  

This afternoon, I took a bus back to Auckland, arriving just in time to go to bed.  Tomorrow is going to be an adventure!

Thrusday, October 29--Auckland to Hamilton to the airport
I saved the best for last, a trip down to Hamilton to attend the temple.  This is actually the reason I chose to come to New Zealand.  One of my bucket list items is to attend all of the original temples, the ones operating while a was a youth.  I had to take 3 bus rides and a taxi to get to the temple, but I wasn't going to let that stop me.  Again, I felt the Lord's help in this trip.  I was able to get on every bus early and actually arrived at the temple in time for the 11:00 session instead of the 1:30 session. and that was such a blessing.  There is an MTC in Hamilton, and all of the missionaries were at the 11:00 session.  It was a great session, with all of those  missionaries, but when I passed through the veil and into the Celestial room, I was overcome by the spirit and started to cry.  I have never felt the spirit so strongly.  The only explanation that I can come up with is that it was the spirit of all of those "baby" missionaries.  It was an experience that I'll always remember and treasure.





















One taxi ride and one bus ride later, I was back at the airport, ready to go home! And the "Gods" were sad, because they cried all the way, the only real rain I had the entire time!

Before I close this post, I want to include some random thoughts and pictures, ones that I don't want to forget.

The skies were gorgeous

Hokey pokie ice cream is delicious; vanilla with toffee bits

It takes awhile to get used to seeing the traffic coming at you on the wrong side of the street!

New Zealanders are crazy about their rugby..especially their pro team, the All Black.  The World Cup finals are next week, so there was a lot of country pride being shown.

The Wooing Tree--Many years ago, a couple bought this land to build a winery.  They were overseas, so they worked through their developer.  They were told that there were lots of trees on the land that would have to be removed, and they agreed.  As the locals heard that the "wooing tree" was about to be destroyed, they banned together and started a campaign to save the tree, Evidently, there were stories about the tree being a popular spot for locals to woo their lovers, marriage proposals were made there, and even babies were conceived under that tree.  As you can see, the tree was saved, became the name and logo of the winery, and is now a favorite spot for marriage proposals and weddings. 

It kind of reminds me of when they tried to remove the fire pits at Huntington.  It only took a day or two before the public uproar started, and they were put back in!  I can't imagine the beach without a cookout!

At Lake Taupo, there is a golf challenge...money made if you can hit a hole in a raft set out in the lake.  Yeh, right!!!  I guess I didn't inherit my dad's golfing ability!

I have never been so far away from my kids before...

and I hope to never be that far away again!