More Fun in the Sun!

 Has been beautiful summer weather here, so we took a Saturday and went to Hunau Falls. Took our new Mental Health advisor and his wife, Elder and Sister Whidden. Had a very nice day.

 Elder and Sister Whidden are from Vanderhoof, British Columbia 

which is about 100 k west of Prince George.

 Still wearing our Christmas fat, but loving every day!

 After our trip to the falls, we stopped at the Auckland Botanical Gardens and enjoyed the many plants and trees and shrubs that were in their glory. Many of the plants here are new to us and some we have never even heard of- but they are all delightful.

 I love hydrangea so these many colors on the same bush were certainly colorful

 Much of the untouched areas of New Zealand are rain forests filled with palms and ferns.

 The entrance to the rose garden was overflowing with climbing pink roses.

 This lovely blend of pink and salmon were some of my favorites.

 This low lying cloud made for an interesting picture of our harbor.

Our next adventure took us to Samoa where we toured hospitals, saw missionaries and reminded the zone leaders in their MLC to be sure and use bug spray as chikungunya ( a relative to dengue) is on the rise, with numerous missionaries infected.

 Breakfast with President and Sister Tolman and the zone leaders 

who traveled to be in Apia.

 Samoa is a heavily Christian country and churches and cathedrals can be seen every km or so. They are large and some are well-kept like this one above. Samoa is about 15% LDS so there are many chapels to be seen among the cathedrals.

The Apia Samoa temple is in the same complex with the Mission Home and all of the offices for Samoa. In 2003 the original temple was being renovated when it burnt to the ground. This temple was built on a larger lot and with more capacity. I was able to attend a session Sat morning before we left. Elder Brown was not feeling well. 

 Dinner with President and Sister Tolman. What great people they are! We so enjoyed their company!

 Got on the ferry at 6AM to cross from Upolu to Savaii. Savaii is a larger island but most of the commerce and the people are on Upolu island. Looking back at Upolu, the sun was just rising and the ocean looked so textured in the early morning light.

 Like the Pohutukawa tree in New Zealand, the Flame tree blossoms at Christmas and provides a nice seasonal display.

 Although it was hot and humid, the ocean breezes and the beauty of the water and foliage were breathtaking. Zero touch up here, the water is truly this turquoise color! There is a reef all around the island and the water is quite shallow. If you look closely you can see the waves breaking way out by the sand bar.

 All of the land is owned by the village chief, but when someone builds a Fale (pronounced folly), it stays in the family for generations. Many of the homes have the graves of their ancestors buried in the front yard of their property. Some are plain and some are quite ornate and decorated.

 Nice Fale, all open and with no walls or windows. Furniture here and there and people can be seen in the evenings lounging in their fale watching a big screen TV!

 The main road goes around the island of Upolu and most of it appears to have this sort of a view. Had to jump out and get a picture...SO pretty!

Elder and Sister Stonehocker are a couple on the island of Savaii working with the teachers that fill the church schools. They were kind enough to drive us around the island and show us the medical facilities and to see an Elder in Asau. We had a splendid day together!

When we stopped at a chapel to have the lunch Sister Stonehocker had packed for us, this little fellow watched us intently and was so tickled when I shared my apple with him!

After only three days we were back on a plane to New Zealand, greatly enriched by our time in beautiful Samoa!  Tofa soifua!

Holiday Travels

The Area Office essentially closes down over Christmas and New Year, so we decided to take a little trip to the North country and see the sights! On our way we stopped at a famous cheese factory and had lunch. Puhoi is a very quaint little town! Their cheese and yogurt are amazing

 Fountain on the grounds of the Puhoi cheese factory. They even have baskets and
blankets and a large lawn area in case you want to eat picnic style!

 This church of St Peter and Paul was built in 1881 and is evidence of the
quaintness of the town.

 Traveled on north to Paihia where we spent the night. Had dinner at "Jimmy Jacks".
Best ribs ever!!! Put it on your bucket list Tom and all you foodies!!

 The next morning our Maori bus driver picked us up and off we went on a 12 hour
trip that was pure delight! Our first stop was a Kauri forest. These trees are massive,
like the Redwoods in California. They have been cut so extensively for their beautiful
wood that they are now protected.

We stopped at a Kauri Museum and this Kauri tree has a staircase winding up
to the next level of the building. Only one of its kind. Beautiful old tree,
estimated to be 1600 years old!

This wooden sculpture of the old Maori fisherman stands about 12 feet high.
Since the living trees are protected, there is a large business of recovering trees that
are 30k years old from some of the bogs and swamps where they have been buried.
These huge logs are then sold to craftsmen. 

 Stopped in Houhora for a yummy lunch of fish and chips. Beautiful bay, like so many
here in New Zealand.

 The beautiful Pohutukawa trees bloom in time for Christmas and they are everywhere!
They look like the US bottle brush plant, but are enormous trees and many hillsides,
beaches and yards display them. It is often called the New Zealand Christmas tree!

Our driver, Hughie is Maori and hales from this northern region so he had many stories 

to tell and even sang a few Maori songs for us. Our stop at the giant dunes that cover the 

northwest coast of NZ was as close as we would get to sledding this December!! 

Some of the sledders would manage 45km as they raced down the 4 story dunes!

 This is as far as I got...about 20 feet up the hill! HA! 

Had to use a telephoto shot to be able to make out the "sledders: at the top. Hughie had
boogie boards under the bus, so many of our fellow travelers got quite a ride!

 Finally we reached Cape Reinga, which is the northern most tip of New Zealand.
A breathtaking sight.

The lighthouse on the point has guided many a ship through turbulent waters!

An enlargement of the sign by the lighthouse gives an indication of how far we are 

from anywhere!! Not sure where Bluff is??

The sign below explains the photo above! :-) (Pacific side)

 A view from the Tasman Sea side, below.

 Beautiful views from this northland paradise.

 Elder and Sister Brown with the wild Tasman and moody Pacific Oceans beyond.

 This plaque explains the scrawny little tree on the furthest rock...but wait....it has more significance than you might think!

 Hughie told us the Maori legend that this little tree is the gateway to the hereafter.
ALL Maori, no matter where they are living, when they die their spirits come to this
tree and are transported to Hawaiki, their native homeland. They then can enter one of
three heavens: The first is the "long heaven", the second is the "big heaven" but the
third is named after the Maui fish that cannot swim backwards, symbolizing that once
 they enter this third heaven, they are then allowed to continue forward forever.

 Heading down the east coast our driver took us along 90 Mile beach, which is really only 63km. He mentioned that driving through this stream to get to the beach was a little tricky and the secret is to keep moving so the vehicle does not get caught in the "quicksand". That was comforting! Arriving on the beach we drove about 95k/h on the hard packed sand. The tide needs to be out obviously, but we are told that some brilliant folks have lost their vehicles by not paying attention to the state of the tides!

 We spent a bit of time walking the beach and finding shells, but Hughie was watching his clock and soon we were scattering seabirds as we drove down the sandy highway.

The Tasman Sea is rougher than the Pacific Ocean and we saw far fewer islands and rock formations on this side of the northern peninsula. This was our view where the bus stopped.

 This intrepid little fellow was  quite the traveler. He said he loved Thomas the Train and
although he lost several meals on the windy roads, was as cheerful as everyone else!

Thus ended our adventure to the North country- greatly enriched!

 A few other holiday shots for you to enjoy! We took an evening and went down to the Hamilton temple to see the Christmas lights before they were taken down.

Had to chuckle at this view of the Visitor's Center with Christmas lights AND flowers!

 Nearly 9:30PM and it was just getting dark enough to see the brightness of the light display.

Certainly not as extravagant as the Salt Lake Temple, but very lovely!

 On New Year's Eve, we had many of the Senior Missionaries over to our flat to eat, play games and watch the fireworks display off of the Sky Tower. Gotta love our view!

 So Happy New Year to one and all. We so love our family and friends and wish you all the very best!