Gudday all!
Sorry I haven't been able to post for so long. Today is the first day that I've had internet since Thursday night.
Friday morning, we rolled out of bed and left our hostel after a swim in the hostel's pool which is fed by a hot water spring. We drove around beautiful Lake Taupo which is in the middle of the North Island and is similar to Lake Tahoe. We had fish and chips and a paua fritter in Turangi on the south end of the lake and then...
We went on a "road" that the sign called "Forgotten World Highway"... which in my opinion should stay that way - though I won't be forgetting it any time soon. It was more like a sheep track with gravel thrown on top! Throw in some rain, some hail, no evidence of human life for at least 45 minutes, hairpin turns in the dark, and voila! You have the Forgotten World Highway. Even the New Zealanders have been shocked that my dad chose to drive that route. By God's grace, we survived the trip and reached the little town of Inglewood where Mum lived as a student.
Since then, we've been spending our nights with Colin and Frances Hale, a couple that Mum was close to when she was here. Saturday morning, we got up and went to meet the Hale's daughter, Dellwyn, who took us for a walk along the waterfton in New Plymouth, the largest city in Taranaki. After that, we went to a luncheon organized by the Hales to welcome us. It was there that I got to meet most of my NZ family. After that, we went see what a NZ dairy farm is like. In the evening, we watched the New Zealand All Blacks, the country's rugby team, play South Africa. They gave them a 19-8 thrashing. I hope it goes just as well when they play each other again next week .
On Sunday, Colin took us to the small farmers market in town. Afterwards, we spent the day with the third family Mum lived with, the Wackrows. Grandad "Wacky" is quite a sportsman and coach who focuses on track and field and rugby. Grandmum Wacky loves her plants and has the most beautiful lawn and garden that you've ever seen. After we got to their house, Grandad took us to the running track where Mum used to do track and field and had us do a quarter mile race (Caiti won by a hair, I was in second, Dad was third, and Meghan didn't finish because her shoe came untied). Then we went to Pukekura Park which is a beautiful place that Mum visited frequently when she was here in NZ.
After that, we went to have aftrernoon tea with Mum's second family, the Bracegirdles. Grandad used to do a lot of farming but is now retired. They took us to a petting zoo/farm where they had all sorts of animals including deer (a large export in NZ), an ostrich, a yak, two possum, peacocks, a tame eel and many other creatures - including the White Stag from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. After going to that farm, we went back to their house where we had tea and got to meet one of Mum's sisters, her husband, and one of Mum's brothers.
In the evening, we went back to Wackrows for dinner. There, we got to meet one of Mum's Wackrow brothers, his partner, and her daughter. Afrer dinner, we watched another rugby game while Grandad Wacky explained how it worked.
Today, we got up and had an excellant cooked breakfast compliments of Frances Hale. After that, we spent the day with Mum's first family, the Shepherds. Grandad Shepp is half Brit, half Scot and lived in Hong Kong with his police dad until WWII. His dad spent four years as a P.O.W. Afterwards, they went back to England for awhile, then back to Hong Kong, before his dad moved the family to NZ. Grandmum Shepp grew up in England and moved to NZ in the 1950s. We got to their house and met one of their daughter, Tania, her two sons, and Blake, the son of one of their other daughters, Linda. It had snowed on the nearby mountain, a dormant volcano called Mt. Taranaki by the Maori, the night before. We decided to go up the mountain to play in the snow. We came back to their house and had afternoon tea and a scrumptous dinner prepared by Mum's youngest sister, Moira.
Sorry this post has been so long but I've had so much catching up to do!
Signed, The Russet Manuka
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10 comments:
I forgot to mention that at the farm we went to, they had a white stag (buck) that was the one that they modelled the C.G. white stag in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe after.
WOW, sunds like you guys have been busy! The farm sounds cool with all the animals...rats, you guys got to play in the snow...lucky...
wowza! you've been busy!!!
still can't get any pictures up?
we'll miss you all at the PRU meeting tonight... but i'll have fun running it, so i guess we won't miss you TOO much. j/k :D have fun and keep posting!
wow, sounds like tons of fun!!! You guys sure are keeping busy. Wow, playing in the snow. Is it winter in NZ now?
No, Devin. They were on a mountain (similar to a mountout).
Kudos to Caiti for winning by a hair.
Keep enjoying the trip (as if you needed encouragement)! We'll look forward to seeing you in a week or two.
Actually, Alex, it is winter here. But, the snow is only on the mountains. The reason I haven't been able to get many pictures up is because I haven't had high speed internet or the computer I was using didn't want to take pictures. I'm otherwise having a blast!
I have a correction to make - I won by more than a hair. And, I wasn't sprinting when I won either! It was the first time I had run on a track in I-don't-even-want-to-try-to-count how many years. It was great!!! And my ankle wasn't even sore after the race. Isn't God good?
Caiti... when I read that, I was so encouraged! Think where you were a year ago! There was no way you could run a race let alone win (and I knew it was more than a hair) :).
~JJ
Up yours, Devin. I'm going to go dunk my know-it-all face into a bucket of cold water (seeing as it's winter...).
Go Caiti! Praise God!
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