Week 9 - Milford Sound to Invercargill to Dunedin

One of MANY waterfalls in Milford Sound

 This Sunday we spent looking at Millford Sound - a fjord in Southern Alps of New Zealand.  WOW!  God has made some incredible places!  I added the link for you to see more about it.

A glance at the Sound - pictures cannot capture the beauty

Z & Hannah at Tuatara Statue outside museum.

 Finally got to Invercargill and spent Chel's Birthday (Oct 31st) in a museum at Queens Park.


Z was pretty excited to see the Tuatara - endemic to New Zealand.

 Burt Monroe's "Fastest Indian"

     

Hannah & Z with Henry (110 year old Tuatara)

Cool Sign eh?

Went to Curio Bay and got to watch Yellow Eyed Penguins come in from the sea to feed their young.

They are the rarest penguin in the world.

The penguin is left of Chel over her right shoulder.  They would walk past us, but we wanted to keep some distance to not scare them.




 

Drove to Dunedin and made a few stops along the way.

Niagara Falls, NZ!!

Week 8 - Wellington to Southern Alps of South Island

This week we are heading to the South Island.    We have friends from Equippers Church we are meeting in Invercargill.  It is about the southern-most city in NZ.

Zechariah's 9th Birthday Breakfast - Meat Pie and a Pastry

Chel, Hannah & Z at TePapa Museum

 We stopped in Wellington and went to the National Museum (TePapa) for Zechariah's Birthday on Oct. 23.

Ferry from Wellington to Picton

Then we took the ferry from Wellington on the North Island to Picton on the South Island.

Center of New Zealand

We drove from Picton to Nelson NZ - Center of New Zealand and where the 1st Rugby game was played.

Longest Swing Bridge in NZ

Driving from Nelson to Greymouth on the West Coast of the South Island we stopped at the Longest Swing Bridge in NZ.  Hannah & Z ran across it numerous times.

Pancake Rocks & Blowhole on west side of South Island

We stopped at the Pancake Rocks and Blowhole and the West Coast near Punakaiki.

Ron, John & Di Burnett, and Chel

 We met John & Di Burnett from Wales at the Franz Josef Glacier.  Great couple who are world travelers and missionaries.

 We were able to walk up to within 400 yards of the glacier.  There were waterfalls all around the walk up to the glacier.

Hannah & Z trying to put the tower back in place after knocking it over...

We stopped at Puzzling World and worked on some tough mind puzzles in Wanaka.

Lake Wakatipu between Queenstown and Kingston

 


 We decided to have our family church service at Lake Wakatipu in Kingston.  It was a beautiful serene place to take in the awe of God.

It was Avalanche "season" on Milford Sound Highway

Rocks across road from avalanche.

After we finished church - we drove to Milford Sound.  The drive there was beautiful - but a little scary.  There were still remains of previous avalanches alongside the road (and on it) and we couldn't stop due to possible avalanches.

Week 5 - Gisborne, East Cape, Mt Maunganui

Traveled from Napier to Gisborne to East Cape to Mt Maunganui this week.  

                              Then came back to Taupo for a weekend conference
                                            at Koinonia Institute called "Leadership for the End Times."

Capt Cook landed in Gisborne NZ in 1769

Lamb at McDonalds

 They just introduced lamb at McDonalds

Largest Pohutukawa Tree (NZ Christmas Tree)

The Pohutukawa Tree blossoms in December so they call it the NZ Christmas Tree.  The largest one is located near East Cape.

Cows roaming freely near East Cape

Horses roaming freely near East Cape

Cows and sheep are always walking along the road.  There were quite a few near East Cape.

East Cape looking at Whangaokena (East Island)

We went to the East Cape Lighthouse.  Beautiful view.  It used to be on the island behind us, but due to some crashes and deaths, they moved it to it where it stands now.

Waterfall in Whakatane

Lots of mountains = Lots of Waterfalls.
Wairere Waterfall is in downtown Whakatane and is where Moa use to roam.

 KIWI 360 is located in Te Puke - Kiwi Capital of the World!  Learned that Kiwi are super hard and sit in storage for over 9 months before being shipped.

Kiwi Vines (Not Trees or Plants or Bushes)

Just thought this sounded funny

Z climbing on Moturiki Island

Hannah climbing on Moturiki Island

Moturiki Island (long one) viewed from Mt Manganui - Good Hike

We drove to the town of Mt. Maunganui.  We explored Moturiki Island and climbed Mt. Maunganui.  There were oysters in the soil way up the mountain ...hmmm. 

Week 7 - Napier - Youth Rally

We went to Equippers Church in Napier again.  Stayed in the parking lot of Pak-N-Save. for a couple of nights.  Then went to stay with another friend we met at the conference - Estelle Davis.  She has a lovely home in Green Meadows - right near the church.  I got caught up on the 2 classes I'm taking with Koinonia Institute and our Blogs.  I also had a chance to do some yard work on Ms. Estelle's place.  She took us to the Arataki Honey Factory - 88% of Kiwis eat honey!  They have all kinds of flavors - Pohutukawa is the smoothest, Manuka has healing qualities, multifloral is nice, clover, etc. but watch the Thyme ... don't even think about trying it. Funky!

Ms. Estelle & Z at Arataki Honey Factory

Ms. Estelle, Z & Hannah
eating ice cream at Strawberry  Farm

Crazy Youth Leaders!!

Erin & BJ after Youth Rally

Maori Warrior Pose - After Haka

Joel (Youth Leader) - Just Cool!

Gang Signs at the Youth Rally?!?

check

Week 4 - Koinonia Institute, Taupo NZ - Napier NZ

Week 4 - Spent the week at Koinonia Institute located at the River Lodge just outside Taupo.  Went for a Bible study on Monday night and didn't leave till Sunday morning.  Great team working there.  Met Chuck Missler and got to help out a little around the lodge.

Chuck Missler w/Ron & Chel

Ron Matsen w/ Ron & Chel

Ron Matsen and his sons - Ben, John, and Matt, along with Dean Packwood produce DVD's and live streaming for Chuck ... along with a lot of other broadcasting stuff.  Pretty impressive.

 Equippers Church (click on Napier) on Sunday Morning.

We had lunch with the senior pastor, Lyle Penisula and his lovely wife, Debbie, then went back to church for the night service.  Rockin!!

Mia Penisula (pastor's daughter) & Hannah

Noah Boyd, Z, & Reuben

Hannah & Z continue to make friends everywhere we go.

Chloe Boyd & daughter Lotte

We went to Reuben & Chloe Boyds for lunch on Monday so Z & Noah could scooter at the skate park.


Reuben & Chloe used to be the Youth Pastors at Equippers Church so it was great to be able to spend an afternoon with them and learn about the church and program.

Z running on a stone beach in Napier NZ

Look closely at this beach.  It is all stones.  The beach got pushed up in the Hawkes Bay Earthquake of 1931.  All the sand washed away and they were left with tons and tons of these little stones.  Interesting to tun in, but can't build a castle with them...unless you got a little mortar...

Z & Hannah at playground on beach in Napier

Tania Howes with her boys - Seth, Wade, & Theo

We seem to always find a playground for the kids to get out a little energy.  Neat seeing all the different types.

I'm getting really anxious though cause I haven't been biking, blading, or running and feeling super out of shape.  Can't go running in the country - Many farmers have 9-10 Working  DOGS.










We enjoyed Lamb Roast dinner with Equippers Church-Napier Pastor Aaron and his lovely wife, Tania, who let us stay at there place for the night and get a fresh shower in the morning.