This Week's (mis) Adventure

Our blogs have been all about our adventures, and the general consensus seems to be that we just play, play, play. Early on I think I said something to the effect that we did work, but how exciting would it be to show pictures of us sitting at our computers for hours on end, which really is what the weekdays are all about? However, we did finally manage to get a real office, one with walls and doors! And even windows. We were so excited! I can’t tell you how much more we’re able to accomplish being out of the traffic pattern and able to actually close our door when things get too loud. My desk is on the left, and John’s on the right (with all our family!) You can see, we are literally together 24 hours a day, just inches away from each other. Good thing we like each other :o) Below is a picture of our new digs:

And here is a picture of a double rainbow we took out of the office window just this afternoon:

Fall is coming, and with it cooler temperatures. In fact, this morning it was 8 degrees, which equates to about 42 degrees at home. It has rained on and off for several days, and when the temp drops and it’s wet, it gets bone chilling! We have been rained out for about three Saturdays now. The first Saturday of each month is our Stake’s temple day, so last month we decided to get up really early and do the 8am session, change into our play clothes, and go exploring somewhere down in that direction, since we were already there. That was when we went to the Bay of Plenty, John’s “Blue, blue, my world is blue” post. Might as well save us some miles and driving time, as long as we’re that far already.

So we decided to do the same thing this past Saturday. It had rained all week, and when we got up at 4:30 Saturday morning it was still raining. It rained the whole drive down in the dark, and was still raining at 10 am when we got done at the temple. We changed into our play clothes at an outdoor restroom on the grounds of the visitor’s center, got back into the car, and then thought maybe it was still raining too much to really venture out and have some fun. So we decided just to come back and get some things done at home, go grocery shopping, have a nap, maybe watch a movie – just kick back a little. So we drove back home, still raining. It was very chilly in our apartment, a dreary day, and we were tired from getting up so early. The bed was calling. I snuggled down into the covers, clothes and all, and slept away a couple hours. Ummm, delicious!

By the time I got up, the rain had let up some, and we decided to go to the store. As John was collecting up his keys, etc, I heard this, “Oh, no!” Then, “I think I left my wallet in the restrooms when I changed.” Wonderful. Panic set in. Of course, it had our credit cards, as well as the cash he had just withdrawn from the ATM a day or so before to be used for our May expenses. Great! We called the visitor’s center and much to our surprise, someone had turned in the wallet. We didn’t even dare ask if there was anything left in it. John told them we would be back for it. So back we went to Hamilton. It was a very silent drive.

We got it back, and there was not one thing ….missing! I guess if you’re going to lose a wallet, the temple is the right place to do it. So our two round trips to Hamilton took up the whole day, half a tank of petrol, and 550 kilometers or about 320 miles. We didn’t really get to do any fun activities, spent most of the day on the road, but we were so relieved to have everything back that we had to celebrate. So we talked ourselves into a yummy ice cream cone at Pokeno, the stop we managed to talk ourselves out of on our first return trip home.

Saturday the 25th of April was ANZAC Day. It’s kinda like our Veteran’s Day, I guess. ANZAC stands for Australia New Zealand Army Corp. World War I was New Zealand’s first real experience out in the world. The Ottoman Empire (now Turkey) was friendly with Germany. But the Allies thought that if they could defeat the Turks, they would gain a sea passage that would allow them in infiltrate behind the German lines and gain a foothold. The Aussies and the Kiwis were sent up to do battle there. At a place called Gallipoli there was a real slaughter. About 8,500 troops went in. 4,800 were wounded and 2,700 died. Only about 1,000 came out alive and in one piece. That took place on April 25, 1915. We’ve actually seen a movie called “Gallipoli” and it was very sad. I didn’t know the history behind it at the time, but I’d like to see it again now that I have that perspective. Gallipoli did not achieve what is was supposed to and was not at all a deciding battle of the war, but it did put New Zealand on the map, and created a bond between Australia and New Zealand that they hadn’t had before. (Australia is roughly the size of the US and New Zealand is about the same size as California).

ANZAC Day is a big deal. For a couple days before, artificial poppies were sold on the streets all over town. Everyone was wearing poppies! Although it fell on a Saturday and therefore wasn't a day off, it was still commemorated. Even the 24 hour grocery store was closed from 5 am – 10 am that morning, and there were ceremonies all over the country. Lots of things are named Anzac. The street we drive to work on is Anzac Street. The stores were selling Anzac biscuits in a tin showing a WWI sailor being welcomed home by his wife and kids with Anzac biscuits. Anzac biscuits were cookies that the mums sent to their boys overseas because they were hard, kept well, and traveled well. (Actually, from what I’ve seen in the stores, I think they were hockey pucks). At any rate, they’re quite proud of their Anzac tradition. We even had a couple former military guys in uniform in church as part of the weekend celebration. The Takapuna Primary School right down by the office has two stone entry posts to the school yard inscribed with the names of those from Takapuna who served in WWI. Just a little history/culture lesson for you.


We are supposed to be getting a whole week of rain and cold weather, starting Friday, so we’re making plans for this weekend to drive north and see if we can’t get out of it. After all, north is towards the equator, so it should be warmer, right? Tune in next week and see.