Punakaiki

 This is another view of the scenery as we travelled from Greymouth to Punakaiki.

Punakaiki Resort is where we stayed overnight and it is located right next to the beach and a short distance from Pancake Rocks.

Our rooms were on the end and we entered from the rear of the building.

After check in we still had time to hike two of the hikes nearby.  This was the Pororari River hike.

There is a gate so that only hikers are on the trail and not bicycles or motor bikes.

As we hiked along we felt that something was watching us but it was only a ceramic frog.

After that hike which went along the river we took the Truman Hike which takes you down to the ocean.  It was beautiful because it was at the end of the day and it was beginning to be high tide and the sun was slowly going down.

As the tide gets higher it beats against the rocks with such force that it creates huge water formations.

It was a beautiful sunset and an end to a beautiful day.

August 13, 2012

August 13, 2012

 On Monday morning we arose early and took a free shuttle from our motel to the train station to catch the TransAlpine Train to Greymouth.  It was still raining but we were assured that after we crossed the mountain and got on the western side that we would have sunshine. Luckily they were right.

 The train goes through 15 tunnels and has magnificent views of the gorges and crosses over what is called the Southern Alps.

 The train trip took approximately 5 hours and stopped at Arthur's Pass and had a short stop so that passengers could leave the train for a moment for pictures.

 In Greymouth we picked up our rental car for our trip north to Punakaiki.

Heather is looking for shells to take home to Brooklyn, James and Miles.

We followed the coastline and so this is one of the pictures next to the Tasman Sea.

August 13, 2012

August 12, 2012

 On Sunday we went to church in the morning and then boarded a Jet Star plane to go from Wellington to Christchurch.  The forecast called for rain all through the week and they were correct for Sunday.  It was raining when we arrived in Christchurch and continually increased until by night we all needed canoes to transverse the streets.  We didn't have a car so it was quite an adventure.

 While walking to the center of town we passed the archives in Christchurch.  There was two sister missionaries (Sister Chelius and Sister Nation) who worked there also filming probate records.

 In 2011 there was a major earthquake in Christchurch and now the center of town looks like a war zone and is blocked off and referred to as the red zone.  This was a famous cathedral in which it was debated whether the town should try to save it or demolish it.  The cost was too great for renovation so it is now being demolished.

 Outside of the red zone there has now been built a Recycle Mall (also referred to as a Pop Up Mall) where they have brought in storage containers and have erected stores so that business can go on as usual.

 They are very creative in their use of the containers and it was amazing to see these next to the destruction in the red zone.

April 12, 2012

Heather and Ethan's New Zealand Trip

August 11, 2012 was a highly anticipated day with the arrival of our daughter Heather and her husband Ethan to Wellington, New Zealand.  Since security in New Zealand is not a big issue we were allowed to meet them as they departed from an Air New Zealand flight from Auckland.  They were a little surprised that we were at the gate.  They were here for a week and our adventures included all modes of transportation (except a bus).  We traveled by planes, trains, automobiles and two boats (one small and one a ferry).

 Our first stop was Mt. Victoria to see an overview of the city of Wellington. This view is the backside looking towards the airport.

 As we walked down Ghuznee Street we saw the sign for the suburb of Brooklyn.  Since this is their daughters name we had to take a picture.

 We walked down Cuba Street and through a walkway between Town Hall and the Michael Fowler Building.  It goes into a plaza and then across a walkway to the harbour.

 This is the walkway which crosses Oriental Bay Road and connects with the bay. The fountain below was filled with soap and so it created bubbles for the children to play in.  After this Heather and Ethan took a cable car up to the top of the hills of Wellington to the Botanical Gardens.

August 11, 2012

Ward Conference

 Today was our Ward Conference and we had a lunch afterwards in the cultural hall.  They had three large tables with food for the adults and then this little table for the children with their favorite variety of food.

We love the little boy who always wears a tuxedo to church.

July 29, 2012

Service Project

This is a service project which included planting of trees and scrubs.  It was held in Brooklyn which is just outside of Wellington.  We never thought that there would be a need in New Zealand to plant bushes but they needed to plant them here to keep a healthy balance in the streams for the eels that live there.

It was a good project for the kids.  Here they are filling buckets with mulch.

Some of the people who had gumboots worked on the other side of the stream.

July 28, 2012

German Dinner

 Elder McVey serviced his mission in Germany when he was 19 years old and has always loved their food and people.  We now have a missionary that is from Germany and so Elder McVey contacted his mother and got a recipe for German food and decided to cook it for the missionaries.

 The meat in the middle is meat which is pounded very thin and then filled with mustard, onions, bacon and pickles.  It is then cooked in a broth with carrots and celery.  It was delicious.

This is Elder McVey and Elder Windhauser from Germany.

July 22, 2012