Visitors from Home

Our daughter Sara and her husband, Jac, came to visit us on Sunday, March 15, 2015.

Jac and Sara arriving at the Auckland Airport

We had several mini trips planned to show them all over the North Island.  Unfortunately mother nature had other plans.  Cyclone Pam hit Vanuatu on March 13, 2015.  That put a damper on all plans and adventures.  Being well acquainted with emergency response we knew what to expect.  Monday was filled with meetings and phone calls.  Tuesday morning was more of the same.  Tuesday afternoon we drove down to Hamilton and visited the temple.

Susan, Jac and Susan at Hamilton New Zealand Temple

Wednesday morning we rented a car since Jac could not drive our church vehicle.   Susan's hand is still in a cast so she cannot drive a car either.  Gary flew to Vanuatu while Sara, Jac, and Susan drove to Waitomo to see the glow worm caves.  On our way we had to stop at Pokeno for ice cream.  

Waitomo is about 3 hours South of Auckland.  The Waitomo Caves were beautiful.  We actually toured 2 different caves and then drove back to Auckland.

Inside the caves

The glow worms

The next morning we returned our rental car and headed out to Matamata with another senior missionary couple, the Bennetts from Boise, Idaho.  Elder Bennett could drive our church car so he could take Gary's place on the next part of our adventure.  Matamata is the home of Hobbiton.

After our tour of Hobbiton we were back in the mini van and off to Rotorua.  Rotorua is a town with lots of geysers and hot pools.  They have nightly dinner shows where you can learn about the Maori culture.  

We spent the night in Rotorua.  Then the next morning it was back in the van and off to Turangi.  Turangi is nearly 5 hours from Auckland, but only a two hour drive from Rotorua.   It is near the Tongariro National Park and home of some of the best fly fishing in the world.  Gary and Jac had hired a guide to take them fly fishing.  (This is why we had Elder Bennett along - to take Gary's place on the river.)  We stayed in a fishing lodge which backed the Tongariro River.  Jac and Elder Bennett had a good time.  All the fishing gear was included in the price.  We think Jac is ready to come back to New Zealand again just to go fishing.  

While the boys fished we went on a hike.  Sunday morning Elder Bennett cooked us french toast on the outdoor grill before we went to church. 

A Panoramic view of the Tongariro River with the mountain range in the background

We went to church at the branch in Turangi.  Some of the members did not show up that day, so they asked for volunteers to help in the Primary.  Sara did a wonderful job.

After church we drove back to Auckland and met back at our apartment with Gary who had returned from Vanuatu a few hours earlier.

"Often we don't realize that the trial is what enables us to reach the destination the Lord has in minds for us.  He will not let it destroy us, but He will let it move us in the direction we need  to go."  Emily Freeman,  21 Days Closer to Christ

Tongariaro National Park

Monday morning as we drove toward the Tongariro National Park several cars were pulled over to the side of the road and everyone was taking pictures of the mountain.  So of course we stopped and clicked a few too.  This is an active volcano.  You can see the steam coming out of the mountain.

We drove a bit further and saw this -  if you've seen any Peter Jackson movies, it looked pretty familiar. 

Mt. Ngauruhoe

A little later we saw this mountain which is part of Whakapapa Village where they have a ski lift.  You ski on a "live" volcano.

Mt. Ruapehu

Tongariro National Park is where you find Mt. Ngauruhoe, Mt. Ruapehu and Mt. Tongariro.  These are active volcanoes.  If you look at the pictures you might recognize Mt. Ngauruhoe as Mt. Doom from the movie "Lord of the Rings".  Much of the countryside was used in filming the movies and as we tramped about we could understand why this area was perfect for some of the movie scenes.

One day we went on a 6 kilometers tramp (trek) to Taranaki Falls.  It was well worth the hike as the falls were magnificent.

This was the half way mark

The sights and sounds of Taranaki Falls

Ski Lift at Whakapapa Village

Ski Rental House

On another day we went to a Thermal Hot Springs.  There are several in the area.  We also checked out the drop off and pickup point for a 19.5 kilometer hike called Tongariro Alpine Crossing.  Gary would like to do this hike, but he is going to have to find a different hiking partner as this one it is out of Susan's league.

Here are some other things we saw in this central part of New Zealand's North Island.  Both of these "pieces of art" are made out of what appears to be drift wood.  We thought our grandsons would love the Kiwi and T-Rex.

We decided to drive back to Auckland on Wednesday so we could be home for Christmas.  Since we did not have the Internet where we were staying, we knew that we would not be able to talk to our family unless we went back home for Christmas.  But we had a wonderful time.  The office building basically closes down for the holidays, so that was not much work for to do there.

"For the beauty of the earth, For the beauty of the skies, For the Love which from our birth over and around us lies."  For the Beauty of the Earth;  Text - Folliott S. Pierpoint, Music-  Conrad Kocher