Far North (On the North Island)

The weather forecasts called for cold and rain all week end, and neither of us was in the mood for that. Not having heat in our flat, there was little to entice us to stay home either; otherwise it might have been a good day to curl up with an easy-read book and just veg. We reasoned with each other that going north – closer to the Equator – would certainly offer the best chances for warmer temperatures (eight degrees Celsius, instead of only six). Hey, that’s a good excuse to go north, don’t you agree. Well, perhaps we were really just looking for a good reason. Any excuse will do when you’re looking for one.

We REALLY didn’t want to be wet all day, and all the signs were that if we stayed home, this is what we could expect. Diane took this picture from inside the car as we were heading north out of Takapuna. Actually, she took several dozen rainbow pictures, but I thought one was sufficient proof.

One of the first intriguing sights we came across was a group of sheep that had been dyed bright pink. They were near the roadside, probably as some kind of advertisement for the wool business that was there.

Incidentally, the pampas grass is native to NZ and is seen everywhere. It is even imprinted into the wall covering inside the NZ Temple. It looks like they cut it back here so the pink sheep would be more visible. They certainly caught our attention – but we didn’t buy any wool.

The first official stop we made was to admire a “regional attraction” – a waterfalls. It was nice, but probably not worth all of the publicity that it was given.

The water, as you can see here, was a little brown in color—from the heavy rains we’d been having.

As we approached the Tasman Sea we came upon this pretty little bay. Because of the stormy weather, there was only one lonely fisherman on the water’s edge.

In both of these pictures we are looking down from a high cliff overlooking the bay. In this picture you can see how clear the water was. This bay is known for a friendly dolphin that took up residence here. We didn’t see any dolphins, but we did see some very large fish in the clear waters.

The Tasman Sea was very rough and pretty uninviting. It is frequently referred to as the “tempestuous Tasman.” This being our first glimpse of it sealed forever, in our minds, the validity of its nick name.

What was most surprising to use was the change in the landscape. The far side of this inlet was as barren as any place I have ever seen. We concluded that it must be almost solid sandstone.

I am pretty certain that the rough seas were pretty much a result of the near gale-force winds that were blowing off of the Tasman.

What we don’t know is how often this condition exists in this locale. Most of the vegetation was listing heavily from west to east, but so were we.

As we continued our journey along the west coast of the north island, we came across this enormous tropical forest. The underbrush is as thick as the trees, so the only real hiking (tramping) that can be done is to use paths that have been made for that purpose. NZers call them “tracks.” So now you know what “tramping the track” means.

Rain or no rain, we couldn’t resist any longer. We just had to get out of the car and venture a little way into the forest. The puddles along the track were new and the leaves were still wet from a recent cloud burst. It smelled fresh and inviting. I just love these places.

The track led us to this giant Kauri tree. They are native to NZ. The forests here were once crowded with them, but indiscriminate logging all but made them extinct. They are a very hardy tree, but extremely slow growing. A twenty-five year old Kauri tree would be lucky to be five inches in diameter. This giant is almost 15 feet in diameter. But it has taken it more than 2000 years to get to this size. This tree was alive when Christ walked the streets of Judea.

While I love the forests, Diane’s favorite spots are those overlooking the rolling farm lands. The northern part of the north island is loaded with country like this. On a cloudy rainy day, it looks much like the home lands of the Englishmen who fought the Maori warriors for the rights to live here … a truce was called and a peace agreement reached before either side claimed victory.

If you look carefully, you can see some hedgerows that separate the farmlands.

A closer look reveals that these hedges are nice and trimmed. They sometime stretch for miles. Some ranches use them to separate one grazing pasture from another.

Getting still closer, you can see that these hedgerows are not your normal little hedge. They grow to 15 to 20 feet high – creating quite a distinct barrier. NZers like to mark their territory. I guess a mere fence won’t do.

A large truck could easily drive through this arch cut in the middle of the hedgerow.

This is one of the rivers we had to cross on our journey. The water was thick and soupy, like really rich chocolate milk – belying the beauty that surrounded it.

For the most part, our day was free of the rain that we wanted to escape. But as we started our return trip, the weather couldn’t hold back any longer and it started to rain. And it continued for the next five days.

I prepared a small humanitarian project request this week for a small village north of Tarawa, Kiribati. It is a village of about 500 people. They just completed erection of a community pavilion. But they have no electricity in their village at all. They light their homes with Kerosene lamps and cook over open fires.

So we will be providing a small electrical generator for their pavilion, so they can have music and lighting for their community gatherings. They will now be able to have evening activities for the youth. Having evening activities will allow working parents to attend.

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.

Adventure, Adventure, more Adventure

We’ve really been working hard the past several weeks. First our supervisor was out for a month with a heart condition. Then the Administrative Assistant went in for a kidney transplant; she’s now been out for six weeks. Diane has had to pick up her workload which, in addition to administrative duties, has been the management of the Perpetual Education Fund and another scholarship fund for Pacific Islanders. Between the two funds she has about 350 active accounts to manage. It has been a really heavy work load for her, considering no training and no time for a normal learning curve. On the other hand, I’ve just been playing around doing research, in between a few floods, tropical cyclones, etc. We have sixteen island nations in our Area. (I don’t know how many actual islands – several hundred) Any humanitarian aid or emergency relief that goes to these countries comes through our office. I’ve finally completed my research and have produced a sixty-five page report that recommends where we should be focusing our church-administered humanitarian aid to achieve the most impact.

Some of the countries have few on-going humanitarian needs, while others are in desperate shape. If my recommendations are accepted, we will be organizing several key healthcare projects in such places as Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, and Vanuatu. I’ve also recommended several clean water projects for Tonga, Tuvalu, and Kiribati. Even if they are all accepted they won’t be our only projects, but they will be our primary initiatives. We’ve currently got twenty-six projects in various stages of progress.

Naturally, when our day off comes around, we’re ready for our next adventure. There are 10 other missionary couples working in our office building; however, we are the only ones doing humanitarian projects.

Several of us decided to go kayaking down the Puhoi River. It is wide, lazy and beautiful. Just our speed.

With a few minutes of instructions and a little cruise downstream we were both acting like pros – well, at least we both had our paddles in the water at the same time.

After a couple of hours on the river, we all made our way to a local (English-style) Tea Room for a small lunch. We decided to have their quiche, but they also offered meat pies and Devonshire Cream Tea (not tea at all, but scones loaded with whipped cream on top). For the "Littleys" their menu offered "round sandwiches of jam, honey, peanut butter, or vegemite, along with a lolly, juice, and biscuits".

After lunch we decided to leave our friends and take a hike up a nearby mountain. The trail head was lined with a long row of huge Sycamore trees that were beginning to lose their leaves. (It is autumn here, you know?)

The trail was very steep. Unlike most that we have been on, this one was not cleared and paved with gravel. There were places where it took both of us to get up and over the obstacles. The untamed nature of it added to the natural beauty and ambiance. We really felt like we were in the wilds. If nothing else, we were breathing hard. When we reached to crest we really felt like we had accomplished something.

Obstacle course or not, quite frankly I was pretty glad for the bare roots. They formed a type of stairway up the mountain side, which would have been nearly impossible to climb without the layered roots giving us a foot hold.

We were well rewarded when we got to the top by some breath-taking views of the Pacific coastline. The inlet you can see on the upper left is the mouth of the Puhoi River.

But something that we really hadn’t anticipated was when we came upon these little guys. They were so cute. They just sat there while we took their pictures. (They didn’t seems to give a hoot.) They would cock their heads and just look at us. The flash of the camera gave them “red eye.” When we finished taking several pictures, they flew away.

Strangely, the trail down the other side of the mountain was well groomed, gentle, and spread with a layer of gravel. After a bit of a strenuous climb, it was a welcome leisurely walk down the other side.

Down at the bottom we walked along a black-sand beach that was littered with small striped shells. Since our flat is becoming overrun with shells and other "beach-find," we didn't bring any home with us.

We weren’t the only ones who had thought that this might be a good place to take pictures. The sun was setting on our day, so we headed for home – a long 40-minute drive.

Work Hard, Play Hard, But Relax Calmly

The Friday before Easter (Good Friday) is a national holiday here in New Zealand. So is the day after Easter. But don’t assume it is because they are so religious, although that may have been the case way back when they first established the holidays. The editorial sections were full of comments about Jesus’ death, when in fact -- they claimed -- Christians seemed to be preoccupied with symbols of fertility Gods, chocolate eggs. New Zealanders do seem to have a fetish about chocolate. In fact they only recognize two types of candy: chocolate and lollies (all other candies). Now, where was I? Oh yes, the day before Easter. Being a national holiday, we also had the day off, since our office was closed. The first thing we did was clean our flat, but then as we were moving furniture around to vacuum under it, we started re-arranging. That took most of the morning. But, I think we like the way it is now. We do seem to have more space than we did.

After lunch we thought we would go to Murray’s Bay and see about renting a small sailboat for a couple of hours. There is a little shop there that rents canoes, kayaks, and sailboats. But when we got there, the cupboard was bare, meaning the place was closed for the holiday. Stupid me, here I thought that this being a four-day holiday, and the last holiday of the warm season (winter is just around the corner), that someone that was in business to rent boats would want to take advantage of the last big opportunity – why on earth would I think that? After all, a holiday is a holiday. Who wants to be open for business on a holiday? So, no sailboats for rent (not on a holiday).

Since we were at the Bay already, we decided to stay. We ate our picnic lunch and then went out on the reef exploring (we were there at low tide – my favorite time). As you can see, someone had a sailboat. Actually, I believe it was the shop owner. For this one was the only one we saw.

We had so much fun discovering things that we don’t get to see, except at low tide. He is a picture of a little sea urchin that I found in one of the tide pools.

While Diane went off looking for shells—shells that don’t wiggle or move, I began to focus on the small details that I usually don’t see, except when I’m really paying attention.

This is a close-up photo of the sun glistening off of the ripples in the wet sand. This particular beach had very dark sand.

Here is some type of shelled animal that attaches to the rock. Without having anything to provide a scale, you wouldn’t know that these rocks are very small and the growies on them are almost microscopic.

This picture is of some soft and flowery sea weed that also attaches to coastal rocks. Surprisingly there were almost no fishy smells.

This little feller caught my attention. It is called a bird’s eye oyster. It is a small shell about the size of a marble or a small chocolate Easter egg.

Here I really just wanted to catch the pretty little sea shell feeding off the plants.

Just like the last picture, which I would normally pass by without giving it a second thought, this picture is of a half dozen sea snails resting on a rock in a small tide pool. The sea weed is floating above them.

As you have already seen, tide pools can be so interesting and contain so much variety, if we just stop long enough to look. Here is a sea urchin attached to a rock, with small pebbles and shells scattered about.

Some pictures are just artistically fascinating. This is a picture of some rock oysters. Some of them are closed (still alive), and some have been forced open and only the half shell remains.

You’re probably getting very tired of these close-up shots. Someday when I have some time, I’ll research what all these little creatures are. But for now these are just sea bugs. These hard-shelled legless critters are about the size of a pencil eraser.

These are a different variety of sea snail. They look like little marbles. That is about how big they were. On the lower right are some rock oysters.

I was so surprised when I took the time to study these little fellers. The black colored things are very small clams. They are about the size of a lemon seed. The white stuff are the shells of dead clams that have become bleached. Both are attached to a large rock.

Again, the black things are small clams. The white shelled sea life is still without a name, as I need to do some more research before I know that they are. But name or no name, they are still interesting little guys to look at. Again, they are both permanently attached to a big rock which is under water except at low tide.

These little open cups are the hard shelled carcasses of guys in the last picture. They are very tiny, perhaps just big enough to fit a single grain of rice in each one. You will notice that some of them have a little snail living inside the cup. He just took up residence – he is safe there from other predators.

Compared to the small life we’ve been looking at, this star fish is enormous. The little guys from the list two pictures are on the right side of this picture.

Placed in my hand the star fish is relatively small. After his first and only photo op, we returned him to his tide pool.

You probably already knew that not all star fish looked alike. Here’s proof. This one has ten long legs, not five stubby ones like the other guy. I think we’ll call him Diez – Diez del Mar.

I thought you would be interested to see the underside of Diez. His mouth is in the center. I had to clean him up a little for the photo. Those hairy feelers aren’t very soft and they can really grip on to shells, rocks, and pebbles.

Before Diane would let me keep these shells, I have to confirm that nothing was living inside. (But to our surprise, after we got home Diane found a Hermit Crab living in one of our supposedly empty shells.)

A couple of times while we were there I lifted my head from the tide pools to enjoy the “bigger” picture. This was one that I thought was kind of cool looking.

After a couple of hours of exploring and discovery, we both sat down on a large rock and watched the tide come in. Within an hour all of our tide pools were back under water and our only dry escape was quickly disappearing, so we called it a day, but we didn’t really miss the sail boat – we had fun anyway. A time of peaceful and calming relaxation. Ahhhhhh.