on to the South Island

Wellington, New Zealand...capital of the country. It is cold here, though we had some beautiful weather this afternoon. I really have enjoyed moving southward through the North Island; it has been beautiful every step of the way. Wellington is on the southernmost tip of the North Island. We are staying in a backpackers hostel here in the city and will pick up the BlueBridge ferry tomorrow morning at 8:00 to head into the South Island. We will arrive in Picton and pick up our hired car to drive south of Kaikoura to a small town called Omihi to stay with a family there.

On Wednesday morning we missed our early morning bus to Wanganui from Tauranga do to some misunderstandings...and we couldn't find any other alternate buses going down. Joel was feeling pretty sick and we eventually decided that Scott and would drive down in a rental car and Joel would stay with his cousins and sleep so that he would feel better for the South Island. It wasn't the ideal situation, and definitely the toughest decision making I have had to do thus far...but everything worked out and I believe that the Lord had a plan for that day.

So Scott and I took off driving south toward Wanganui by way of Rotorua, Taupo, and Tongariro National Park. It was an absolutely gorgeous drive. We were blessed with some pretty good weather throughout the drive. I was amazed at how the landscape was SO diverse, so quickly changing, so vastly beautiful...it was inexplainable. Lakes, big hills, rocky cliffs, dark green grassy fields...you name it. The highlight of the trip was definitely Tongariro National Park. When we got to Taupo we could see the glimpse of Mount Tongariro (Scott's first snow capped peak) which topped in snow. As we drove we saw Mount Ngauruhoe which was the perfect peak. An amazing view to say the least. It looked like an upside down funnel covered in powdered sugar with a beautiful blue backdrop and several shades of green and brown in the foreground. Certainly one of the highlights of the trip.

Just beyond that was Mount Ruapehu or also known as Mount Doom and the land of Mordor from the Lord of the Rings. It was pretty spectacular being there. I felt like Frodo running through the fields of Mordor trying to get rid of the ring. Haha...not really. More like Gollum actually.Mt. Ruapehu is the largest of the three mountains and also one of the ski resprt capitals of New Zealand. It was crazy to see a volcanic mountain covered in snow and filled with skiers, surrounded by a completely desolate area. All three of these mountains are all in close range to each other so that from the side we were able to see them all in the perfect landscape panorama view. Absolutely stunning.

MORDOR! (video)

South of the mountains was some equally incredible views that just would make me stop and stare in disbelief. It is amazing how many times I have done that on this trip. Not that I don't believe it is this beautiful just that all of NZ is this beautiful. Everywhere we go there is vast beauty...and it seems that NZ has the best of what every country has to offer.

Yesterday we spent the day with the Gillepspie family showing us around the area of Wanganui. The Gillespies are a wonderful family. They have three kids, 13, 8 and 3 years of age. It was really a blessing to get to spend time with them. They took us to the Rangitikei River which was another LOTR site (where the Fellowship took canoes down the river in the first movie). We did a little hiking there and saw a waterfall. Then we drove to Gravity Canyon which is the site of a lot of extreme opportunities and Scott went bungee jumping there from a bridge 80 meters above the river. It was pretty sweet. We also went up to a tower overlooking the city, saw downtown Wanganui, and then ate some take out fish and chips with the family. It was really a great time.

It is pretty obvious that we have learned a lot more abou the culture of NZ just in this short time by staying with families. We have learned about the Kiwi culture, lingo, geography, history, characteristics, and even the spiritual state of the country. I love how we have picked up the unique characteristics of the accent as well, compared to Aussies...especially in how they say "O's" in words like "go" and "E's" is words like "mess". There is so much more that I do not have the time to go into or to explain. There has been so much I have been learning and thinking through about so many different things. God is always so good.

Now...on to bed. Tomorrow...on to the South Island.
-b garrison

country number three: New Zealand

Well, this has been our 2nd day here in New Zealand. It is very beautiful here. We have only seen such a small portion of the country thus far as well...but I think it is safe to say that this is a gorgeous land.

We arrived yesterday in Auckland around 3:30 PM which was about 4 hours behind because our plane in was delayed in leaving Fiji...and for no real reason in particular, just that fact that they run on their infamous Fiji time (which is sometimes an excuse for being a bit lazy). When we got through the most intense and strenuous customs in the world we met Pam Hill who picked us up in the airport. Pam is Joel's cousin; what a great feeling to have a smiling face greet us at an airport at this stage of the trip. the Hill family live a little ofver two and a half hours away from Auckland in the area of Tauranga, in the Bay of Plenty area of the North Island.

It has really been a good time here thus far. Not really that cold in this part of the island. And we were actually blessed with some nicer weather today. We drove out to Matamata where the filming of the Shire/Hobbiton from the Lord of the Rings went down. At the moment the set is also under some construction for the new movie, "The Hobbit". We drove out to Buckland where the entrance was and saw the nearby land about 2 and 1/2 kilometers away from the film site. To actually go there it costed $64 NZD, which was too steep for us. But we didn't need to...the surrounding area was ever so similar looking in the deep green hills and various trees and sheep. It was beautiful. Never have I seen such green a place before in my life.

From Matamata we traveled southeast to Rotorua which is a popular tourist location. There are a lot of outdoor extreme activity things going on, along with many outdoor sites as well. Rotorua is surrounding a lake and is filled with high amounts of geothermal pools and geysers. We stopped at a park which was filled with these mud pools that smelled like rotten eggs...steam rolling up out of the bubbling mess. There were bungee jumping spots, some sky diving, Zorb balls, air car races, ziplines, gondolas, all sorts of things like that. We also stopped in a place that preserves the Kiwi bird habitat. Apparently the Kiwi bird, Kiwi fruit and Kiwi person all need to be distinguished as such, since there are so many of each in this area. Actually, the nearby city of Te Puke is the Kiwi fruit capital of the world and has hosted the Amazing Race in the past.

We stopped at Okere Falls to do a little bit of hiking around a few tracks (trails) there and encountered some diverse landscape. Its just weird to see a rapid river, big green hills, and then palm trees among several other tropical and non-tropical plants. We drove back up and went up the beach coastline to Mount Manganui, which is a 231 meter tall mountain on the tip of the coast over looking the bay and the city of Tauranga. The hike was good and the view was spectacular. We were wble to see a lot from the top. We got down in time to see a good sunset from the beach as well. A really good day.

New Zealand Hills (video)

Staying with the Hill family was very delightful. They really provided us with some great comfort at a time of need for us. Tomorrow we will head down to Wanganui to stay with the Gillespie family friends of some Covenant people that we know. We are taking a  bus all the way down which might get rather boring at times, but hopefully some of the sights will be good...we will be travelling right past Mt. Ruapehu, or better known from the LOTR as Mount Doom.

Our last day in Fiji went well. We hung out on the beach until it got cloudy and then hung around Pacific Harbour until the afternoon. We then took the bus back into Nandi Town where nothing was liek it was the day before. Sunday everything shuts down because Fiji is a Christian nation. Things were pretty dead so we went straight to find some lodging near the airport and found a place for $9 to give us our own room, with dinner and breakfast included. It was definitely the worst accomodation we had stayed in on this trip...no hot water (which we actually never had in Fiji), no water from the sink, our door didin't lock, the doorway was a bout 5 feet tall and i destroyed my head on it about 10 times, among other shabby looking things about it, and the overall sketchiness of the place...it was pretty run down, but cheap. And it suited us well. Joel and I went down to Smugglers Cove resort where there was a traditional show with dancing, fire dancing and knife dancing...pretty cool. we also saw some guys that we met and hung out with on Mana.

I am really glad to be here. New Zealand, I feel, will be spectacular. Please pray for Joel because he was feeling really sick today, he needs a good boost of energy and a relief from his constant headaches so that he can enjoy our travels.

I am continually learning a lot. There could not be a better time for me to be reading Blue Like Jazz...great book. I have been thinking a lot about the lives of those we have met and their sense of lostness of which I hold the key. Please pray for boldness for me in my faith as I continue to meet new people who are on a search for various types of beauty.

So long for now.
-b garrison