For the beauty of the earth!

They were talking on the local news last night that there is evey kind of topography here in New Zealand and often times the differences are only a few minutes up the road.  They were talking about why this was such a great place to film the Lord of the Rings and the soon-to-be released the Hobbit.  It is truly Hobbit fever here.  Too bad I am not all that thrilled with the story but we will go to the movie when Nate is visitng here.  It is hard not to.  Anyway, I thought I would just share a few things about the vegetation that you see along the side of the road.  

This pretty yellow flower was growing close to the road.  It reminded me of forsythia that blooms in the early spring in the US.  I really enjoyed looking at it.  

Then the drive/tour guide told us that in the 1850 someone brought them into New Zealand from England so they could use it as a natural fence between properties.  It was great because it was so tight that the sheep were not able to leave the station where they belonged. But the one thing they did not count of was the way it would spread and just take over the land.

When a rancher decides that he is going to clear his property and plant it then he has to burn those pretty yellow flowers and plant otherwise they will just take over the fields and they will not be successful.  It does look nice!

This reddish grass is known by many names. It is chionochloa and is kind of like a taller monkey grass or a small pampas grass.  The locals call it snow grass or snow tussock.  It was all over the land as we got closer to the foothills of the Southern Alps.  It was very pretty and was just like an undulating ocean in the breeze.

By Mirror Lake we saw this big knob on a tree.  I am sure someone knows what these things are called but I don't.  I just thought they looked neat.  

Mirror Mirror

We stopped often during our trip from Queenstown to Milford Sound partly because they wanted to give all the older people time to stretch their legs but also because there was so much to see.  We stopped at this one place that we really loved.

We thought the signage was pretty neat.  There was a boardwalk along the entire length of this special lake....Mirror Lake.  Part of it was like you can see here.  It was kind of off just enough that it was still blurry but the further we went the better it got.  This first picture is the mountain as we looked  up at it.  I think it is so pretty with the snow on the peaks and the blue sky and the clouds.  Truly a pretty sight.

Then we looked down into the lake and it was breath-taking to me.

Now that is what I call a mirror image!

Pest of New Zealand: Possum

New Zealand is such an interesting place to live.  Until people started to populate it and bring in their own animals there were no mammals in the land at all. There are no lions or tigers or bears!  There are no snakes.  There are no poisonous spiders!  Truly it is paradise!  In 1837 someone decided that it would be a great idea to grow possums for their fur so they brought them into the country.  They are very different from the possum in the US because these actually do have a very nice fur on them.  They combine the fur from the possum with marino wool and make lovely, very warm and light sweaters, jackets, hats and gloves.  But now the possum population has gotten way out of hand and they are a big problem in the land!  There are so many of them that it is impossible to keep them in check.  They just run wild and they will eat anything!  Including the insulation around electrical wires.  If you look at this poll about in the middle you will see a different colored grey strip.  That is to keep the possums from getting to the wires and destroying them.

You can volunteer to be a part of their possum posse to assist the government in getting rid of them.  There are places where poison is set out and it read:  Possum Poison:  Report Dead Animals.  And of course if there is any road kill in the country it is a possum since there are no other mammals that would be found on the road dead!

There is a link below to a drawing of what they look like.  Certainly much different than the US version that has that long skinny hairless tail! But given the success I have with links you may not be able to see it either.  (I will continue to work on perfecting the skill of attaching links!)

http://www.google.co.nz/imgres?q=possum+new+zealand+pest&start=188&hl=en&client=safari&sa=X&tbo=d&rls=en&biw=1440&bih=589&tbm=isch&tbnid=nRXrt82XDJy2qM:&imgrefurl=http://www.treepel.co.nz/&docid=QEA1by9WzaCW2M&imgurl=http://www.treepel.co.nz/possumsmall.jpg&w=180&h=204&ei=JXeyUIyLNOyOiAfrqIDgAw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=735&vpy=139&dur=479&hovh=159&hovw=141&tx=65&ty=64&sig=103269148816934080448&page=7&tbnh=144&tbnw=127&ndsp=33&ved=1t:429,r:93,s:100,i:283

Wakatipu Lake

Queenstown New Zealand is located on the shores of Wakatipu Lake.  It is a water resort town in the summer and an alpine ski resort in the winter.  The lake is 80 km long which is about 125 miles.  It is a lake that is fed by melted snow and is therefore cold.  In the middle of the lake the water never gets above 10 degrees C which is in the high 40's so swimming is not much of an option unless you are close to the shore and properly clothed for the chill.  I did see people in canoes, kayaks, paddle boats and jetskis but they were all wearing wetsuits.  From the pictures posted on the gondola ride you saw the lake to the south of the city.  

This is just on the northern outskirts of Queenstown.

This is looking back towards Queenstown.  We had probably driven for about 40 minuts when I took this picture.

On the far side of the water is a lot of trees.  This is a sheep station.  It is one of the largest in the country.  For many years the only way to get into it and out of it was by water.  They would use large barges to move the sheep from the station to market.  It is still pretty remote as there is no town or city around.  Just sheep and millions of them!

While we were driving and talking about sheep the bus drive/guide told us about sheep.  We learned so much about them!  There are different kinds of sheep depending on what you plan to do with them and with the wool that they grow.  The best kind is the marino sheep.  We are all familiar with it because we like the clothing that is made from this wool.  He told us the story of Shreck the Sheep.

The story goes as such.  Just as we have been taught in Bible stories and in particular stories about the Savior a shepard knows his own sheep.  One sheep station knew that it had a marino sheep that had not been shorn for many years.  In fact they had not been able to find him for five years.  Finally in the sixth season a dog located him and drove him into the station with the other sheep. Hopefully if I did this correctly you should be able to see a picture of the sheep. If it did not work then you can google shreck the sheep and see what he looked like.

 < http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/cbbcnews/hi/pictures/galleries/newsid_3666000/3666903.stm >

He belonged to the Bandigo Sheep Station in Tarras New Zealand.  A news station heard about him and asked if they could televise his shearing and as they say, the rest is history.  Everyone loved him and because of his appearance they named him Shreck.  You can certainly see a resemblance.  The school children in the area adopted him and wrote a book about him and used all the proceeds to support a charity for children with cancer.  He was a true celebrity in New Zealand until he passed away in 2004.

A return to Cebu!

I seem to have forgotten some of the posts that I wanted to make on our trip to the Philippines.  The most important thing that we did while we were there was to go to the temple in Cebu.  It is a relatively new temple and it is lovely.  You travel along a street that is full of people and jeepnees and tricycles and buses and they are all honking at the same time!  Then you start to see a fench...you know what kind I mean.  The kind the looks like all of the others that surround those special places.  After a left turn into the drive and past a security guard who closes the gate behind us and down a very short driveway, another left brought us into a countyard-like parking trip ... and ....and ...  there was the temple.

Of course the flowers in the gardens were spectacular.  Just a point here:  I have grown impatience in my gardens for years...but never like these!

I think they are lovely!

Kiwi Country

While we were on the top of the mountain having dinner there was also a show that we attended.  It was called Kiwi Country. Now if you have been a guest at the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii and enjoyed their shows the show might be said to pale in comparison but it was a fun event and sitting on the front row made it even better!  We were greeted by the lady with the black tattoo on her chin.  Not sure I got a picture.  It is there but you cannot see it very well.

We were asked to pick our leader for the night.  The natural choice, of course, was the area president, Elder James Hamula.

He walked down the middle aisle and picked up an olive branch, very small, and presented it to the man.  We were then entertained by three men and three women.  Two of the men were Maori while the third was maybe Kiwi but not Maori.  The first man had a great voice and was very good at what he did.  The other one looked very freightening!

Sorry about the blue light.  I was taking these in the dark.  It played a drum as well as blew on the big shell in front of him.  He had a best facial expressions when he was singing and dancing.  It would always stick out his tongue! And his eyes were really buggy!

Their program was only about 30 minutes long.  Maybe the best part was when they had men from the audiance come up and they taught them how to do the haka!  No, none of our men were very good at it.  But it was a fun evening.

Sorry a bit blury.  But I think you get the picture!

Up, Up in the Sky!

Back to our trip to Queenstown.  We had dinner on the top of a mountain and I was so sorry to find out that the only way to the restaurant was in a gondola! This is what they looked like.  If you wanted to you could take your bikes with you.  There were hooks for them on every car.

I was grateful we were going during daylight and that we were alone in the car so I did not have to make like I was having an enjoyable time! I got a running commentary on how close we were to the top every moment.  

Although I can tell you I was not very comfortable on the ride the views were breath-taking.  At least I think it was the view and not the fact that I was so far our of that place where I like to be.  

In the middle of the water on this picture you can see a very small steamer.  Later in the week we took a ride on that very same steamer to a sheep station.  More on that later!

Alegre Guitars

On Wednesday afternoon we went to a guitar factory.  That is what they called it but really it was like a workshop.  They make the best guitars in the Philippines but they only make enough for their own country.  They do not have any desire to mass produce them but to keep them just as they are.  The pictures will tell the story.

These are the inside of the tops of the guitars that you can pick from.  All of the little pieces of wood there will make for a different sound from the instrument.  Cool huh?

This man would glue the sides to the bottom before the top was attached.  They made all kinds and all sizes.  Some they make out of coconuts.  They are called a cocolale.  They are either one, two, three, or four coconuts.  

This is made from one.

I thought this was made from two but it is a kukalale instead.  

This is made from three.

This is made from four.

This is the back of it.  Cool looking I think.

This is what a different one looks like.  

And this is a left-handed guitar just for Nate and all of Matt's girls.

The most expensive one we saw was 45,000 pesos which is nearly $1100 US.  

A Jeep?

After World War II there was a big US presence in Manila.  They occupied the land for a good many years.  When the main part of the troops pulled out they left behind all the old equipment that had been there to sustain the men and women who served there.  The ingenious people of the Philippines took over everything that was left and figured out a way to use it.  They took the jeeps and cut them in half and made them longer and put them back together to make them into little bus-type like vehicle.  They called them jeepnees.  They are all over the place.  People can ride them for 9 pasos which is 20 cents US. They are usually like a jeep that was cut in half.  They have benches on both sides and a door in the back that is always open.  I could not get a picture of one of them. These are much more than what the people usually ride in.

After all the ones that they made from jeeps wore out they actually started to manufacture them.  These are really fancy ones that we saw at the Temple.  The Manila mission had an open house on Satruday and they rented jeepnees and brought their investigators to see the temple.  Of course they cannot go in it but they could be there on the grounds and feel the sweet spirit of the temple.  It was fun to see so many people walking around with the missionaries.

There are of course lots of buses in the city as well.  Our driver told us that they are in competition for the riders.  They drive very fast and try to get ahead of each other since they are all privately owned and they are all going to the same places.  So they will cut each other off.  I do not remember that as much.  Some of the buses are like grey hounds and are very nice while others are very basic and have benches instead of seats.

A bicycle bult for three?

I think I mentioned that as soon as we got in the car at the airport and I heard the horn of the cab the memories of riding in Manila all came flooding back.  It is exactly the same as it was when we were in Manila to take Diana to the temple to receive her endowments.  I thought I would include a few pictures of the modes of transportation used in that fair land.

These are called tricycles.  Imagine that?  There is one wheel on the other side hence a tricycle. This is pretty fancy because it looks like it has a trunk.  These cost about 20 pasos to go 5 km which is 60 cents US.  Some of them don't have a motor scooter but just a bicycle that the man rides.

This one has a few kids in it waiting for probably their dad.

The next one is fully loaded.

If I recall there were six people inside and these two little ones behind the driver.

Instead of carrying people this one carried his restaurant with him.  He was deep fat frying something or other so he had to have had some propane inside.  

Of course they walk and ride bikes as well.  More on the next post!

At the Zoo

Two more animals at the zoo.

I actually took the elephant apart so I could know how to do it.  I am sure it will be useful if I am ever invited to a bridal shower and decide to give them a set of grey towels.  I mentioned that to someone and she said she was sure I could find it online.  Had not thought about that.  Kammy thought these were a joke!

The Crimson Resort

We are staying at this nice place that is on a little island south of Cebu.  It took us a trip into town to figure out that the airport is on the island as well.  It is very poor.  I am sure that I would get used to it maybe if we were here all the time but I was almost sick to see the poverty that these people live in.  But the people are clean and busy working.  They are a hard-working group; reminds me of Brazil.  I will get pictures later today of the modes of transportation that they use here which is always an interesting look/see.  Just a few pictures of the resort for you.

 According to the pictures on the internet this was a long beach.  Hum, wondered what happened there.  The next picture is the beach as it extends out the other direction.  Guess it is good we are not here for the water.  It is not the cleanest water....dad calls it a dirty water bay.  Guess so.  The sunset was pretty with lots of pink but it was not spectatular.  It was a nice walk though.

 The picture above is looking towards the big building as is this one to the right.  It is a lovely place although I am sure that the average Filipino has no chance at all to be able to stay here.  They have been very accommodating with us.  Dad could not access any of the applications that he uses to do the work here so we were staying late and coming early to the conference room.  They spoke to the management and they have increased the boost in our room and he can work there now.  It was great when he got a phone call at 3 a.m. and had to get onto the computer to not have to dress and go up to the conference room.  More to follow.   We are going to the Cebu Temple this afternoon!

A Child's Garden

Although I have yet to see anyone under the age of probably 20 or so they are totally equiped to have guests with children.  They have a staffed playroom where parents can leave their young ones while they worship the sun or swim in the pools or bay.  I am not sure I would be in either of them.  Not too clean by my standard.  Anyway, I thought I would share with you these sweet pictures of where you can have your children stay when you decide to visit here in Cebu.

This is a climbing wall and pyramid and below is the play ground and behind it is the place where they can play inside!