One of the fun opportunities we’ve had on our mission is the
chance to host family members who come to visit us in New Zealand. My brother, Lanny, and his wife, Alice, of Provo, ventured over the ocean to spend the last
week of October in this beautiful land. We had a long national holiday weekend
with the office closed, so we traveled north with them to Bay of Islands (one
of our favorite places) and stayed at the historic Duke of Marlborough hotel.
Russell was New Zealand’s first permanent European
settlement and seaport. The pier surrounded by sailboats, historic buildings,
and a waterfront walkway with little cafes and boutique shops gives Russell a
romantic quality and reminds us of a charming New England seaport with its
clapboard houses and picturesque setting on the bay.
We chartered a boat to take us out to Hole in the Rock and
do a little fishing. It was thrilling to be accompanied much of the way by a
pod of several happy dolphins. We caught a few kingfish and mostly just enjoyed
the lovely day.
Another area that holds many fun adventures is just two to
three hours south of Auckland in the Tauranga/Rotorua/Hamilton/Raglan area, a
band of the North Island that stretches west to east, coast to coast. That can
be visited in a single (long) day.
Bridal Veil Falls, near Raglan on the west coast, is
accessed by a well-developed (rain forest) trail, not too long or difficult a
hike for four old folks, but with many many stairs down the cliff. The payoff
is seeing the impressive falls from the pool at the bottom.
In the heart of the area sits the Hamilton temple with its
lovely grounds and gardens set high on a hill in a most beautiful rural
setting.
Hamilton Gardens is another must-see for our guests. Just a few minutes from the temple, this free of charge, open year-round garden is a lovely tour of different garden "rooms" modeling the Chinese, English, French, Italian, Tudor, etc. styles of gardens. Just delightful!
And, of course, few tourists can miss visiting Hobbiton
(even those of us who’ve never seen or read the notorious Lord of the Rings
books or movies!). But the scenery is breath-taking and who doesn’t love seeing
the creation of this little village with its winsome “houses” and settings.
It’s all about the artistic cuteness, for me. And I want to replicate the
millhouse in my backyard!
One of our favorite places to visit is Mount Maunganui on
the east coast, a few hours south of Auckland. It is both a town and a
mountain, a single volcano rising on the tip of a peninsula. The town is a fun
beach town, one of only a few in New Zealand that has oceanfront hotel
accommodations (mostly condo towers). It has a magnificent white sands beach on
a curving bay and several restaurant and boutique shops for sampling. Our
favorite activity is walking the well-developed trail that rings the base of
Mount Maunganui. It’s an easy hour-long walk (including photo stops) with
shaded benches along the way to enjoy the breath-taking scenes of rock, sand,
and ocean. Because it is the tip of the peninsula the walk is ocean-side for
all but a few minutes at the beginning and end. Just lovely.
On this trip, we didn’t make it as far south as Lake Taupo,
but that is another of our favorite places to visit. Nearby Huka Falls is
amazing for two reasons, at least. The amount of water that goes rushing
through the short narrow chute of this large river can fill five Olympic-size
swimming pools each minute! And, second, the crystalline aquamarine color of
the water is stunning.
It was great to have Lanny and Alice visit. We walked our
legs off each day, their devices measuring our thousands of steps, and talked
for hours about all our favorite subjects, mostly the people and places we
love, and the gospel of Jesus Christ that holds us all together. Thanks for
making the trip!!
