'Twas Thanksgiving Day......

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our friends and family! We are thankful for all of you and miss you very much. An American nurse at the hospital has invited us to a Thanksgiving dinner at her house Saturday night, so looking forward to that.

And we are especially thankful that Sharon Tang is flying in from Hong Kong in just a few hours to visit us for a week. Sharon became part of our family in 1990 when she came to live with us as a 16 year old foreign exchange student. She graduated from high school in 1992 and then moved with us from Harrisonburg, VA to Knoxville, TN to attend the University of TN. Four years later Sharon was a graduate and a registered nurse, but was unable to get a visa to work in the US. She's been working as a nurse in Hong Kong since then and we haven't seen her in 12 years!

We are saddened about the tragic loss of life of 29 miners this week in NZ. We have a trip planned in December to the South Island and will be in the town for a night where the accident happened (Greymouth).

Kapiti/Lighthouse/Wildlife Center

Saturday morning 7 am promptly we called to see if Kapiti Island tours would boat us across to the island. The answer was a yes. We drove about an hour and a half to arrive at the dock for our tour. We were ferried to Kapiti Island, given a brief intro and left for 6 hrs with about 50 other similarly interested folks.

Kapiti Island is 5 kilometers off the southwest coast of New Zealand's North Island. It is 10 kilometers long, 2 kilometers wide and is mountainous. Mid island there is a coastal trail and a trail to a lookout that gains 527 meters in about a 8 kilometer round trip- - this we did. The attraction of Kapiti is that since the 1890's there has been a steady concerted effort to make the island predator free - to return it to the time before Europeans landed in the area bringing the feral cats, possums, weasels etc. Before Europeans the only mammals in the area were a few bats and humans. The guide who dropped us said, "Each morning at 6am Aotearoa's National Chorus, original anthem is best heard here on Kapiti." Referring to the chatter, calls and songs of unique birds. And as she said it a New Zealand bellbird began an affirming song. Throughout the day we heard very much what she meant. Kaka's a type of parrot, Tui's, bellbirds, Takahe's etc. Far more birds observed our behavior than we saw them, but still--- they yelled /screamed at us to get off the island or perhaps serenaded us - not knowing their exact language, we couldn't be quite sure. So we just enjoyed it and walked on.

Off the island that afternoon we pursued our least favorite NZ adventure--driving-- and took it to an altogether new height of terror. Attempting a shortcut from hiway 1 to hiway 2 we saw on the map hiway 8. It was marked as a hiway and we saw that it went seemingly more quickly though the mountains. 2 days later we would read the description of this road on google - "30 winding kilometers of single lane road with recommended speeds of 15 to 25 kilometers per hour." This single lane road is not single lane each way. That's single lane on switchbacks - that's recommended speeds up to 15 miles per hour. We traveled prayerfully on this road for several kilometers before finding a switchback wide enough for a 3 point turn.

That evening we stayed at Castlepoint near the lighthouse - a place of safety.

Sunday we stopped on our way home at Mount Bruce wildlife preserve. Here teams of people actually raise rare species: get eggs from the wild, raise them to a more defensible age/weight, then release at various places around the country trying to reintroduce native species. We spent far more time here than we intended. It was more meaningful after Kapiti. And the Kaka are pretty amusing in their halfway house. Released on the mountain, but there are regular feedings that they can return to and they do.

Saturday afternoon, November 13th

Started off this week having lunch with a Fijian family we met at church. On Tuesday we were dining at the home of an Iranian family. Thus far no meals with Kiwis. :) Ralph works with the Iranian doctor. They prepared a fabulous meal for us and we really enjoyed our time with the charming doctor, his wife and their 15 year old son. They are Muslim---the wife wears a Hijab----and they spoke of their love for their native country and its rich history, though not the politics of it. A point they wanted to make was not to confuse people groups with their governments, saying that the average Iranian loves Americans. Well......hmmm....hope so.

Proving once again how little it takes to make me happy :), we discovered a grocery store a lot like a Sam's Club only without the low prices. I was in heaven finding products that I had been unable to get elsewhere and having a great selection.

We had a couple of gorgeous days of weather this week. Will never take sunshine for granted again! Every town that we have seen has sidewalks on both sides of every street and many city parks and green spaces. It's a pleasure just walking around daily here. Well, more of a pleasure when the sun shines!

Saw a documentary/movie a few years back about the chorus group "Young at Heart". Just loved it. For those who haven't seen it, they are a group of (very) senior citizens that sing current rock songs and travel the world. Very fun and inspiring. Anyway, they are touring New Zealand and will be in Palmerston North on the 14th. We are excited about the concert.

In Palmy back at MacKenzie Gardens

Not worked the last 2 days. Biked about 20 miles. Ate at The Brewers Apprentice. Walked 6 miles.

Paused, smelled the roses.

Enjoyed a beautiful day.

Then off again.

Sunday afternoon in Palmy

Friday night we fell asleep to the sound of fireworks, lots of them. It was "Guy Fawkes Day", something not exactly observed back home.

Ralph was off this weekend but we didn't take a trip, having just returned from one. We slept in Saturday, bought produce at the Farmer's Market, watched some TV, shopped at the Plaza and checked on the roses at Victoria Esplanade. The roses were in bloom and gorgeous, but alas, Ralph forgot our camera so no pictures! The weather was iffy---highs were upper 50's with rain threatening. It's better today, a little warmer maybe without the rain. We continue to wish we had more of our warm clothes here with us. Summer is coming---just wish it would come a little faster.

There are no four lane highways when driving across New Zealand. Most of the time there is very little traffic and a feeling of driving way out in the rural boonies. You are never far from either mountains or ocean, so part of every journey to another town involves winding roads crossing a mountain and/or beautiful ocean views. Periodically there will be a passing lane (usually up a steep hill) that runs for a few hundred meters. The speed limit is 100 kph and I think that is only a suggestion to the average NZ driver. Proper etiquette in the lack of a passing lane is for the slow driver to slow a little more and pull over to the shoulder and let them pass. There are no rest areas but every little town has public toilets available, and there are picnic tables roadside at intervals. We had a humorous surreal experience with the public toilets in a tiny town on our last trip. They were just lined up on the street, and upon entering a unit and pressing a button, the door slammed shut and locked electronically. A computerized voice informed that we had a maximum of 10 minutes permitted. I could hear Ralph laughing in his little unit next to mine, and then elevator music started with "What the World Needs Now, is Love, Sweet Love". Gotta wonder what would have happened had we exceeded the time limit!

Today we visited another church from the denomination we grew up in (Wesleyan). Turned out to be a Fijian church in that language. The people were incredibly kind and welcoming and translated some of the service just for us. The pastor and her husband insisted on us coming to their house for lunch afterwards. All around, a very unique experience and one we much enjoyed.

Tomorrow night we are invited to dinner at the home of one of Ralph's fellow doctors at work.

Rest of the gannet pictures

Having trouble matching pictures to copy. Sorry.

Hawkes Bay (from Mary's perspective)

We finished off our trip to Lake Taupo with a 2 night visit to Hawkes Bay, about 2 hours to the east and on the South Pacific side of the North Island. Hawkes Bay has primarily 3 little towns---Napier, Hastings and Havelock North. It is an area famous for its wineries (79 total), great weather (though not while we were there), and gorgeous countryside. Napier was leveled by a 7.9 earthquake in 1931, killing 236 people and gifting the town with 40 more square kilometers of choice real estate thrust up from the ocean floor. The quake also relocated a river a distance of 30 kilometers or so away. The town rebuilt in the popular style of the day, Art Deco, and it is very charming. Last picture is overlooking Napier from Bluff Hill nearby and the sea and sidewalk picture is from downtown Napier.

We took a wine country tour and got to see the countryside. The oldest winery in the area and the most famous is the Mission Estate, which was started and run by an order of Marist priests for many years. They still own the Mission but now live in Auckland and have a commercial company run the winery. Large building is the Mission. Nine of the brothers were praying in a stone chapel adjacent at the time of the quake and were killed when it collapsed on them.

Cape Kidnappers (so named from the time of Captain Cook when the Maoris kidnapped a Tahitian boy working on the ship) is at one end of the bay and is spectacular. Steep cliffs rise up out of the sea. Gannets---a beautiful bird with a 2 ft wing span---have been nesting for thousands of years on top of the cliffs of Cape Kidnappers. They come in late July and start migrating in late March. While there, both parents take turns sitting on the egg on the ground. Whoever doesn't have egg sitting duty gets to fly out to sea to fish. They will fly out a couple hundred kilometers if necessary to fish and will dive deep into the ocean after their dinner. When the egg hatches, the parents take turns providing food for the chick. When the chicks are about 13 weeks old, they fly nonstop to Australia, a distance of 1200 miles. They will stay there several years, then return home to NZ, never to return to Australia. Gannets will live into their 20's and 30's, but 75% of the chicks never make it to full adulthood. Gannets usually nest on remote islands and I believe this is the only known nesting on mainland that is accessible by humans. They seem to not mind at all being on display for the tourists. There are an estimated 20,000 gannets, divided into 3 colonies, living at Cape Kidnappers.

To get to the gannets isn't all that easy. You can walk (10 miles round trip and only get to see one colony), ride a bicycle, or take a tour on an open trailer pulled by a tractor along the beach. All of those options are timed around the tides because there is nowhere to go with those steep cliffs when the tide comes in. The other option was an overland safari through a private farm, which we booked. We rode for about an hour or so just to get there through breathtaking scenery. You can see in the pictures the winding dirt road through the green hills with all the cows and sheep. Sometimes there would be some pretty big dropoffs on either side when we were climbing.

And to the golfers reading this, the farm owner (it's quite the huge farm) developed part of the property 5 years ago into an expensive lodge and a golf course that our guide said was rated #27 in the world. You can google it. The scenery with the golf course is very comparable to our trip to the top of the cliffs to see the gannets. Went right by the golf course on our way.

Culinary Caveat

Concerns regarding dieting in foreign lands should be addressed. In Taupo, Mary chose the Plateau Restaurant. I have uploaded the menu. In the event that it is blurry; I had as an entree the Pukehoe Quail with shitake mushroom tortellini, spiced eggplant chutney and coriander, as a main dish (yes same meal :-) I had the bacon wrapped boneless lamb shank with granny smith apple fennel hazelnut orange emulsion.

Ahh. Later perhaps we shall discuss appropriate beverages. But the evening meals are rather satisfying. Yes.

And there is beauty to fall for in the countryside

Friday we drove to Taupo in mist and saw some of the features mentioned below. Then on Saturday, from Taupo we began to drive toward Napier. Before we left town we looked out over Taupo and the sun peeked, the mist parted for a moment and we saw the 3 peaks of Tongirero National Park beyond Lake Taupo the largest lake in NZ.

In Taupo we spent a few hours looking at Huka Falls (I love waterfalls as you may know.) They were impressive.

Then on the way out of town we pulled over at a roadside pulloff to allow a truck to go by; and noticed a sign that said Wiapunga Falls. With this much planning we drove on another 50 meters and there was a magnificent falls.

In many ways we are falling for New Zealand.

For LOTR fan/friends

So we left the lively green fields of our Shirelike home. Shortly and unexpectedly the green that had always been around us turned brown and we knew we had entered the borders of Mordor. Then we saw Mt Doom - even with clothed with some small blankets of snow still one knew the influence and brave Mary walked among steam vents.

Translation for non LOTR fans. We left home going North. Gentle rolling hills as usual. Then there was a sign "Desert Road." We thought "huh?" Then in another 20 km the land was changing and you could see Mt Ngauruhoe which has played a major role in several movies. Later we went to craters of the moon nearby where there are thermal features such as steam vents and mud pots, fumeroles similar to Yellowstone in the U.S.