A Walk About Town

We stayed in a little town called Piahia which is right on the Bay of Ialands.  We attended church in a little branch there.  That afternoon while Dad was working on missionary stuff Nate and I took a walk about the immediate area where we were staying.  We found this cool sculpture in the middle of town right in the middle of the town.  It reminded me of the long wall that we say in Barcelona Spain that was done by Gaudi.

In the mosiac itself there are all sorts of pictures that help to tell the story of New Zealand.

Here is the Kiwi bird.  I was told that it actually has one of the shortest beaks on any bird.  The beak is measured from the nostrials and the kiwi birds are right at the very end of the long beak-like thing.  So it does not have a long beak.  Some much to learn about everything here!

And there are parrots here as well!

And the kingfisher!

We saw this cute phone booth.  Not only was it surprising to see a pay phone but it was fun to see it in this little red booth!

Nate went to investigate this cool looking church.

This is the church that he was investigating!

90 Mile Beach

As part of the tour to Cape Reinga after we had gone to the sand dunes we continued through the river bed and then drove out onto 90 Mile Beach.  Now it is called that but it is only 68 km long which is only about 42 miles.  There are various stories as to why it was named that.  The most likely is that when it was measured it was done from the sea and there were curves and inlets and maybe they were all measured too.  Anyway, we come out on the beach right in the bus. We parked right on the beach and everyone got out and played in the water.  This photo is us loading the bus to leave but it is still what it looked like.

This is what it looked like as we drove towards it from the sand dunes.  This is the Tasman and I have never seen it when it was not rougher than what the Pacific is.  I loved the way the waves broke to both sides.

Here is Nate playing in the water.  It had a very strong current and when it cought you you were caught.  He ended up much wetter than the rest of us although we did manage to get the bottoms of our pants wet as well. 

Looking down to the south of the beach we were able to see the hole in the rock for this side of the island or bay.  Nearly every beach has their own hole in the rock.  

I thought it was pretty cool looking.  And to just prove that we were there here are a couple of photos!

When we were finished playing then the bus drove right down the beach until we got to the end.  It was nearly a two-hour trip.  We passed lots of people fishing.  She is using a VERY large reel that is in the water.  She is hoping for a big one. 

These others are just fishing off the rocks with regular rods and reels.  

We even saw a dead sand shark on the beach.

The Meeting of the Waters

While in the north we took a tour which took us to the northern most tip of New Zealand. It is called Cape Reinga.  This is the light house that is on that tip.  It was s cool story that our tour guide told us.  This is the point where the spirits of those who have died go.  It is the jumping-off spot for the spirit to move on to paradise or heaven.  When someone dies that you have not had time to tell good-bye or if there are things that were left unsaid between you then this is the spot to go to talk with them.  He said that when his son passed away he spent many hours here visiting with him and talking over all those things that they had never said to each other.  He said that the Maoris always go there with a special prayer which he shared with us.  

One of the things that makes this point so spectacular is that it is the meeting of the Pacific Ocean with the Tasman Sea.  The Pacific Ocean on the right is very deep and therefore the water appears to be a deep blue, at times almost purple.  The Tasman Sea is shallow and the water appears to be green.  They come together at this tip and they mix. 

If you look carefully at the water you will be able to see the difference in the water. This first one is taken straight on out from the tip.

This is taken from the right so it is on the Pacific side of the island.

This is taken from the left so it is on the Tasman saide of the island.

This is on the left also.

This is on the right or the Pacific side of the island.

Merry Christmas

It has been a week now since I wrote last but it has been a very busy week.  We went south to Lake Taupo and had a great time but no time for photos and all tonight.  I guess I need to share my observations on Christmas here in the land of the long white cloud.  It seems to be more about being with family than it is about presents and all.  You will see a Christmas tree in the malls and some offices but you will not see them in the city park or at the schools or most of the other churches.  I am not even sure there is one at our chapel.  People just look forward to being with family.  They grill out and they will plan on going to the beach.  Unfortunately this year it looks like the holiday from now  until the new year are going to be wet.  The reminants of Cyclone Evan have come on shore.  Today was the first day that I have seen white caps on the bay.  We are lucky that it is only going to be rain and gusty winds and not damanging winds like there were in Tonga and Samoa.

It is a great season to be on a mission.  We are loving all that we are doing.  We spent a few hours at the MTC tonight.  We had been invited to share a message which we did and then we had dinner with them.  I had mentioned that I had hoped there would be a Tongan choir but they told me to wait until the closing song.  They san Joy to the World and in parts.  President Bleak who is the president used to be a music teacher.  He gave them a crash course earlier today and they certainly learned the lesson well.  It was lovely to listen to them sing.  I am grateful for that blessing today.

I am grateful for each of you.  Thank  you for your kindness to us and to each other.  It is great to have two days to celebrate.  Hopefully we will visit.

I love my Savior and am so grateful for His love for me.  I am grateful for His sacrifice for me.  I am grateful for the blessings of the Gospel!

Sand Dune Boarding

Sorry the last blog is kind of messed up. I am really having trouble with it these days.  I will need to investigate.  But on to another adventure.  While on our road trip on Saturday we did some off-roading.  I have figured out why our driver, Barry, would enjoy driving a bus for 30 years.  Watch and see.

At one point in the trip Barry asked that we all sit squarely in our seats and hold on.  And then he drove off the main road, onto a dirt road and then over a sand bank and into a river bed!  There was maybe only 3-5 inches of water but still, a river bed.

It was kind of fun.  Then when we stopped everyone got out and got a short board for their trip down the dunes.  Of course Nate was almost the first off the bus.  He was the only one in our family that chose to participate but that was because if we had gone too there would have been no one left to take the pictures!  

After a few words of instructions from Barry there was the long climb up the hill carrying the board.  

Then he had to stand at the top and wait for his turn.  The directions were that as soon as you got to the bottom you were to get out of the way!  Quickly.  Unfortunately there were some that did not really understand that concept. In particular there was a couple on their honeymoon and she posed in the middle of the lane on her board while he tooks pictures.  Oh brother! 

And then he was off!

There was a great wake behind his as he drug his feet through the sand.

The last direction they were given was to keep the mouth closed unless they wanted a sandwich for lunch....everyone want to be an entertainer.

And immediately he was off and running up the hillside again.  After eveyeone that wanted to had a least two runs the boards were packed back into the bus and we were off again, continuing on down the river bed.  What a fun trip we had!

The Kauri Forest

The kauri tree is a huge tree that is almost extinct here in New Zealand.  It has a very interesting history which I will try to share but I am not sure I will have it correct.  I have done a bit of research but I could still be incorrect so if you are planning on doing a school paper on it or teach a science class a bit more study and research might be in order!  This is a quote.

Kauri are among the world's mightiest trees, growing to more than 50 metres tall, with trunk girths of up to 16 metres and living for more than 2000 years. Kauri forests once covered 1.2 million hectares from the Far North of Northland to Te Kauri, near Kawhia and were common when the first people arrived around 1000 years ago.

We went to a forest where they are protected. There is a huge tree there that you are supposed to hug.  Makes you kind.  

This is looking up to the top of the same "kindness" tree.  It is in kind of a subtropical forest.  These trees cannot be cut down now because there are not many of them left.   

The "kindness" tree is as big around as this small table. And the biggest kauri tree that has been found in as big around as the walkway that all the people are standing on.  

Now this is the part of the story that gets a bit difficult to explain.  Thousands and thousands of years ago (30,000 they say at least) the land in the north was covered with kauri trees.  Also existing in the land were many volcanos.  Because of the very shallow root system of the trees when there was a volcanic eruptions the trees fell over.  This happned time and time again.  Over those thousands of years the trees were buried.  Because of the water and the volcanic soil and for many other reasons I am not sure of these trees were preserved in the ground.  When they started to prepares some of the fields to be proper pasture land they found these huge trees deep in the ground.  And because of that very special soil the trees did not decay.  Many of them still had green leaves on them.  They then started a business of digging these trees up and recoving them to be used in woodworking.  

This is a poster that talkes about how they did it.

These are some of them that they have in the parking lot of a store where they sell the things they make. 

This is a Maori design of a hook.

And this is a throne.  Imagine how big the tree had to be for this to be carved from one piece of wood.

This is a field where some of the smaller remaining parts of the kauri trees are still sitting.  The big parts have already been sold and these are just wiating to be sold for smaller things like ornaments or bowls and such things.  Then they will dig up some other fields and salvage those trees.  

Pohutukawa, New Zealand Christmas tree

I have been waiting to have a full life-cycles of these trees to show them to you and I think I have finally gotten all of the pictures.  This tree, the pohotokawa, is considered the Christmas tree of New Zealand. It is planted all along nearly every major street and is lovely to see.  It does not have a fragrance to it.

The trees that line the road across the street from us are pohutukawa trees.  When spring began the trees looked like this.  The leaves were green and then there are these small white buds.  From a distance they look like a small white flower.

 Then those white buds begin to burst and out come these long bright red spikes.  They are soft though.

They do not have a fragrance but they are very pretty.  This one is out a bit more.  

And then when they all come out the tree looks like this!

They are so pretty.  The ones on our street are only about half out.  Someone told me that the later they are in coming out the shorter the summer is going to be.  Makes sense I guess.  Winter was long this year.  It has only been the last two weeks that it was what they would even consider spring.  After they have bloomed they then begin to fall off.  

 

I would bet that when they all fall off the streets are just red!

Proof of our visit!

Just to be sure you know that we were there we did get some photos of us.  I know that is not the norm here but so be it.  Enjoy.

Here is Nate in front of a Hobbit house.  He said it was very good for his ego to be standing this tall in 

front of the house door.

Here Nate is sitting on a stile!

Here is Nate and Dad on one of the many bridges.

Nate coming out of the Dragon's Pub with a drink of ginger ale, compliments of the house.

And here we are standing in front of the miller's house.  It also has a thatched roof, again done by their specialists from England.