Beautiful Bay

I mentioned last week that we had picked up the doctor and his wife at the airport and hosted them on the day that they arrived.  The last area doctor has been gone for about 4 months so they could not care for them like Elder and Sister Rowe had so graciously done for us.  Elder and Sister Anderson have a striking view of the bay and city and bridge and ocean all in one.  I just thought I would share a few of the photos I took from out their window.

This is looking out to the ocean

This is looking across the bay to the office.  Those three tall buildings are within three blocks of where our office is.

This is looking out towards where the bay and the ocean come together.

This is looking back towards Auckland.

While we were there the very first morning that they had arrived we saw a bird on the railing of the balcony.  I had never seen one and of course did not have my camera with me so I had to go online to get a picture and to figure out what it was.  It is called a rosella parrot and was so pretty and unique.  I
have a link here but am not sure it works.  If so, you will see the pretty rosella parrot.

ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QepFE_Oh684

A Math Lesson

I was at the market today to get some things for dinner these next two nights.  Everyone here shops almost daily because they want their produce and meats and fish etc to be fresh.  They do not like frozen meats I guess.  We have kind of gotten into the habit of going often ourselves.  I thought I would give you a math lesson today.

First off, every  price, no matter what it is that you are paying for, includes a tax.  It is called GST.  The receipts (which they pronounce with the p and the t at the end) show what that amount is.  If you go to a restaurant the price that you pay includes GST and Tip!  So it is not as expensive as it first appears.  That having been said, here in the math lesson.

I bought carrots.  They were on sale for $0.75 per kilo.    A kilo is 2.2 US pounds.  The money is $1 NZD to $0.80 USD.  So they were $0.29 per pound, including tax.  I thought that was a pretty good price.  Yellow onions were the same price.  I did not worry about GST on the carrots.

I bought two small steaks.  They are kind of like a ribeye.  They were on sale.  OK...let's do the math.  They are normally $30.99 per kilo.  Of that, $4.46 was GST .  They were on sale for $28.99 per kilo with $4.34 GST.  When you do the conversion into USD it was normally $24.99 less $3.75 GST or $21.99 for the meat per kilo.  So I got .4555 kilos which is 1 pound of meat.  When you divide it all up and subtract the GST I ended up paying $9.99UDS for the two steaks.  Now I am not sure you can really subtract the GST but in the US they would have added it back in so we maybe not as pricy as it first appear.

I also bought two boneless chicken breasts.  They were on sale as well.  They are normally $21.99 NZD less $3.30 equals $18.66 NZD.  They were on sale for $17.99 NZD less $2.70 to equal $15.22 NZD.  That comes to $12.57 USD.  OK, I bought .507 kilos which is just over a pound so I paid about $5.50 USD.  So I guess one can come to the conclusion that it costs a bit of moeny to live and eat here, that is unless it is carrots and onions!

I am sure someone is going to tell me that I have fuzzy math here.  That is certainly a real possibility.  I will not be offended if I am corrected on it but I would think you probably have more important things to do with your time right now....like listening to Anne Romney.  

I looked out my window...

It is Saturday here which means it is still a work day for us.  We "play" on Monday.  After I was ready for the day I opened my curtains and what did I see?

It really is starting to look allot like Spingtime!  It was so fun to see the blossoms on the tree.  I guess they are right in that spring will arrive on 1 September.  Just a week to go.

We were interested to see the report last night on Rock Center about the church.  We thought it was well done and for the most part pretty positive.  There was a 7 minute report on The Nation today....it is like 60 minutes I think...they reported on the Mormon church here in New Zealand since it is likely there will be a Mormon President in the US.  It was, for the most part, pretty well done too and not much to complain about.  Nice to see it.

We are going to continue to watch for signs of spring to share with you!

Wild Life

We were not disappointed yesterday at the kinds of wild life we saw.  Needless to say it is never going to be a big bear or lion or anything like that but interesting things.  I think I mentioned (or I meant to) that I have been hearing what I thought were Canadian Geese in the mornings and I was right!  There were many of them over at the lake.  It was fun to watch them.  More exciting were the big black swans!

There were a few walking about  too.  They have such long necks and they put them under the water and come out with yummy things to eat.  The lake is very full of vegetation and sometime people get caught in it  (and they have died.) and the water is not very clear.  

We saw mallards (Male and female) right up close.  The female (which is the most plain) has very pretty blue feathers under its wing.  They were fun to watch.

We saw a very funny one and it took me a bit of time to figure out what it was because I thought it was a duck!

For your science lesson for the day, please read on.

Appearance

Coots are mainly sooty black with a white bill and forehead shield. They superficially resemble pūkeko, but are smaller – 38 centimetres long, weighing around 550 grams. Mainly aquatic, coots have lobed toes. Their heads rock back and forth as they swim.

Feeding and habitat

Coots dive to gather aquatic plants or invertebrates, which they bring back to the surface to swallow. They also graze ashore. Shallow bays on medium-sized lakes with plenty of raupō (bulrush) and other shelter are their usual habitat, but they also visit lakes in urban parks. Most long-distance flying is done at night.

Nesting

Coots make floating nests of twigs and raupō attached to lake vegetation such as willow, and usually raise two clutches. After breeding they gather in large flocks.

While figuring out what it was one site I went to was like a blog.  Someone asked why the photographer did not use red eye on the camera....the bird has a red eye.  I am hoping that now that they are starting to nest that we might be able to see some at the lake.

It was lovely to see these as well....the blossoms have to be at least twice the size of my fist.  Just lovely!

A small walk about

As the weather is getting warmer we have enjoyed a few short walks.  I thought I would share of few of the things I have observed.  Some are pretty facinating if you ask me!

This is a tulip tree.  I know Auckland is not the only place that you can see them but I am amazed at how big the blossoms are....as big as a head!  We see these all over the place.  This is just a small one.

We went to Pupuke Lake yesterday.  We actually saw it just over a week ago and thought it was lovely but were surprized when we were told that you cannot really walk around it because so much of the lake-front property is privately owned.  We did walk by it yesterday and realized how difficult it really is.

Some interesting things about the lake.  It is less than 1 mile across and is less than 4 miles around.  At one point it is less than 300 yards from the sea.  It is a freshwater lake in a crater of an old volcano.  At its deepest point it is over 100 feet deep.  It does not have any rivers or creeks or streams filling it so fish cannot reproduce and it has to be stocked.  During the summer it is a busy place with lots of people playing it in.  College teams practice rowing on it.

It used to supply the area with drinking water but has not done so since the 1950's.  There is an old pump station.

It is used as a theatre for local groups etc.  There is something there this coming week so we will have to decide if we want to go and see it.  There is also a small restaurant that is open sometimes.  It looks from the menu that it is a crepe place featuring many breakfast items.  It does not, however, open before 9 on any morning so I think it would be a brunch place.

Dad's comment:  hum...you get pu and puke in the same water.  I don't think I want to drink it!

It is time for a miracle story....

I think we are past due for a miracle story so here is one for you.  I heard it from a senior missionary sister who is working in welfare and she heard it from the Elder so it is not very far removed from the source so I think it can consider it as truth.  (My disclaimer.)

On the small island of Kiribati (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1836.htm  I think you will have to copy and past for this to work.) a young mother had her 6th child, all with different fathers.  Being unable to care for this last son, she put him up for adoption.  I do not know those details but he was adpoted out to an LDS family in Arizona.  The fifth child, a son, received a mission call to serve in California near Sacramento I think.  When he was getting ready to leave for the MTC he told his mother that he was going to find his brother while he was in the US.  As he began his service he asked everyone that he came into contact with if he knew of a family in Arizona who had adopted a boy from Kiribati.  Each time the answer was no.  He was a good and faithful servant and did all that he could to be a good missionary.  He had one transfer left and had been assigned a new companion.  He asked him:  Do you know of a couple in Arizona that adopted a baby boy from Kiribati?  His companion said:  my best friend was adopted from Kiribati but they live in Washington. He is getting ready to serve a mission now.

Through the efforts of a good mission president the young man was brought from Washington to California where the two brothers were reunited and they were able to work together as missionary companions for a short time.  What a blessing to this family in Kiribati to finally know what had happened to their son/brother and to establish lines of communication.

Certainly the Lord is in the details of our lives!

Liquid Fruit?

Oh the strange things that we see!  We stopped at the grocery store yesterday and as usual were just walking the aisle to see what we could see.  It is always a real treat to discover new and interesting things.  Yesterday we were not disappointed with it.  One thing that I saw was on the juice aisle.  They have so many choices.  100% fruit juice with no sugar added, 100% juice with 50% less sugar.  And so forth.  This was a new one for me.  A 2 lt bottle of "liguid kiwifruit".  I took a picture but am not able to access it right now.  But it looked like kiwi that had been liquified but not diluted.  I also saw liquid kiwi with aloe and  liguid kiwi with mint.  Hum....seems like I would probably prefer to just eat the fruit and skip the liquid.

Did you think to pray?

I saw my friend yesterday.  She is a new friend.  I have only seen her twice and both times it was for that 5-6 week meeting with a hairdresser.  Yes, she knows for sure what it is that I do to my hair.  Her name is Viki and she owns this cute little shop at Milford Shops.  When we first got here I was constantly looking for a shop that I thought I would be comfortable to have my hair done.  Some of them were on the main street and you were sitting in full view of everyone or they just looked a bit shoddy.  Anyway, I saw her shop and immediatley thought that it was the right place.   I was not disappointed the first time and so have returned for a second visit.  In the course of our conversation we were talking about us leaving Brazil after our mission and making the decision to go to Provo.  She asked me how we had decided.  I simply said:  we prayed about it.

It was interesting to see her put down the comb and come forward from behind me and lean back on the counter in front of me and ask how that worked.  She seemed very interested in hearing about it.  I told her that we had considered many places and that each time we were left with feeling of concern, more questions and confusion.  But when we were considering Provo the confusion left, the questions were easy to answer and that there was no more concern over it.  She asked a few questions to be sure she had it right in her mind.  She had a real sparkle in her eyes and a smile on her face when she said:  what a great thing that you could know for certain that that was the right decision.

We had talked before about our new little granddaughter and her fetal surgery and the prayers that were being offered in her behalf.  It was very much the same expression of awe that prayers could be so real. I am looking forward to the next 5 weeks of hair growth so I can visit Viki again and share with her additional experiences.

Ready to sing?

One of the favorite places our young girls wanted to visit at Disneyland was....It's a small world after all, It's a small, small world.  Well, yesterday we were at New World.  It is a grocery store that we only go to periodically because it is not very close to us but we had been to the "Apple"  store.  That is another story but, we were in the store and I heard a couple mumbling to each other.  I could not really hear them and then I heard her say:  fermenta which is the world for either yeast or a leavening agent in Portuguese.  So I showed them baking powder and when they told me they were making bread I then found them yeast.  Well, they were speaking Portuguese.  So of course we starting talking with them.  He has been in New Zealand for 10 years and it seemed like his language had suffered.  The young woman had only been here a little over a year and she was from Sao Paulo....specificially from Soracaba.  Now that is a small world.  Then she told us she was from Trujuilo.  Now that is an even smaller world.  The man even commented on it too.  They are familiar with the church and she knew of all the big new buildings there.  Dad asked him if there was a Churrascaria here.  He said yes, at his home.  He has our card.  It will be something if they actually call us and invite us for some meat!

Speaking of meat...after we had seen them we finished our shopping....they have a speciality locker for rear meat....rabbits, whole or in pieces, kangaroo, goat, wild pig, duck, quail, crockadile, pheasant, and probably a few that we missed seeing.  Now that would be an interesting churrascaria!

Back in the saddle again!

I must say, it is nice to be back with my companion again in Takapuna, New Zealand.  I arrived on Wednesday morning after flying what seemed to me to be over a day.  I left LAX on Monday and arrived Wednesday so maybe it was all day.  I landed and went through immigration, baggage claim, customs and was home within one hour and 12 minutes.  It is a 35 minute drive from the airport to home so I really breezed through all that other stuff.  My plane was about 45 minutes early which I think put me ahead of all of the other flights that were coming in from wherever.  It was nice to get home, see my companion and have a nice hot shower before going to work for the day.  I will admit, I was pretty tired.  I was working on a power point for a project and I kept falling asleep between slides.  Yesterday was better and today seems even better so maybe I will be ok by the weekend.

Maybe the biggest news since I left the US of A is the eruptions of Mount Tongariro on Monday New Zealand time.  It seems to still be rumbling and may even have more activity.  It is close to where they filmed the Lord of the Rings series.  It has been quiet for over 100 years and gave no warnings that it was upset.  There was another one, maybe Mt White that was rumbling as well.  I do not think they are any big deal but if you google it and go to images there are some great pictures of it erupting and of the ash that it left behind....on cars, roads, sheep etc.

Look for more posts now that I am back in the Lord of the Long White Cloud!

It's been almost two weeks!

I am sorry that I have been off the grid for a couple of weeks.  I am AWOL but not really because I had approval to take a short leave.  Our daughter, Diana, had her baby 25 July at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee.  Baby Kali has been a child of interest for so many people in this world....most of them are people that Diana and Henry do not even know.  Diana and Henry found out that Kali has spina bifida during a routine sonogram at 19 weeks.  They were referred to Vanderbilt Hospital and in April Diana had fetal surgery to correct the spine.  Kali still has SB but this has  given her a better chance at having fewer of the problems associated with the condition.  She spent 13 weeks in bed with others coming in to help with her care, her children, her home and anything else.  Through the tender mercies of a loving Heavenly Father sweet Kali is a precious little girl who can wiggle her toes and kick her legs.  There is no need for a shunt in her brain at this time nor are there any of the other issues usually associated with SB.  We are so grateful for this miracle in her life.  We are so grateful to all who have sacrificed their time and efforts to help out.  We are so grateful to the general authorities of the missionary executive committee for approving a short leave of absence for me to be with them!  I know Mike is sad to miss it.

I will be back in New Zealand on Wednesday, 8 August!  Pictures to follow.....