Hey everyone! It’s Courtney, sorry it took me so long to write this. School has been crazy to get back into!!! But it is now my turn to tell y’all what I learned on our trip to New Zealand! And just so everyone knows, I did not read Trina’s latest blog. So if we happen to say some of the same things… then that’s just God.

Here are some things that I have learned:

Trina and I both, have amazing singing voices! I mean we would totally rock American Idol!

I do not want to marry a dairy farmer.

We are pretty good at cleaning up cow poo.

Bring a daypack as well as a big backpack on long trips; it is easier for day hikes.  

I would be ok having hazelnut trees, but maybe 2 at the most.

I am a cat lady. J

Look to the right and then the left before crossing the street in New Zealand, but when you get back to the States, left then right!

If you are going to climb a mountain, Chaco’s are probably not the best choice of footwear.

Even cold soup is better than no soup.

If a duck follows you, try to get it to bite you, its fun.

Skip rocks on every body of water you find!

Shop around before you decide on a rental car.

Movie nights are the best, especially when they include cookie dough!!!

I could go on and on…

But really… Besides all these amazing things, it was really the greatest experience ever. I would not trade our trip for anything!

These are the serious things that I have learned…

1. God is amazing! I am so glad that He saved me and I am forever His child!!! He provided for us while we were over there in ways that we didn’t even know that we needed providing in! He provided the greatest people for us to stay with and meet. I am so thankful for all the amazing people we met in New Zealand. God is so good! (I will never forget any of you and hope to see you again someday.) He provided rides for us while we hitchhiked, and the people that picked us up were super nice, even the ones whose names we never learned. J When we were low on money God provided money, when my camera fell in the ocean He placed it up on the beach, when we were walking at night in a deserted city He gave us a ride to our hostel. I mean, God knows what we need and He provides! And sometimes we don’t even have to ask Him for things and He still gives it to us! He is that good! I could go on and on about how He provided for us, but there’s more!

2. I learned that I am a pretty difficult person to live with. So I want to thank my parents, my extended family, Paige, and Trina for putting up with me for this long! Love you all!! While we were picking hazelnuts in Christchurch, I had time to think. I knew that I was a selfish person but it hit me how selfish I actually am. But I all of a sudden had this huge desire to just die to myself and live for Christ. It is not easy, and everyday is a struggle, but I am trying and only with God’s help can I succeed!

3. I learned how big communication is in a relationship. Trina and I lived together for 3 months straight; only at 2 houses did we have our own rooms… Of course we got on each other’s nerves! The thing that we learned was that we needed to talk about the things that bothered us. I am so glad that we had those talks, even though they were hard, they brought us closer and helped us learn about each other.

4. We worked with sheep while we were in NZ and… they are so stupid!!! We are the sheep in the Bible and its crazy to think that we are just like these really dumb animals! They run from something, no matter what it is, even if it is good for them. We are sheep!!

5. This world is not my home. I was not made for this world; I was made for heaven! I can’t wait to get there! As we were waiting to come home to the States, we were getting a little bit excited and anxious and we realized that this is the kind of excitement that we should be looking forward to heaven with! We need to live with heaven in view! One day I will be there to live forever and ever with Christ, and I am so excited!

           

Now we are back in the states and have gone our separate ways. I flew to Helena, MT from LA, and took the long way around to get back to MWSB! My friend Morgan flew to Montana from Michigan so we could drive back together. We had a great time sightseeing on the drive to Michigan. We stopped at Mount Rushmore and some other fun places on our road trip, and it was a great few days. Now I am going to school for nursing and am working at an assisted living home.  

            Well, those were the main things that I learned while in New Zealand. Thanks everyone for reading our blog and we hope you really enjoyed hearing about our experiences. And we hope that you saw the work of God throughout our travels. 

Good day to yous! (kiwi accent) Courtney and I have now parted ways. She is back in Michigan and I am back in Oregon. So sad...But I am so glad we have the memories of this trip to share! So, in our three months of being in a different country, we learned a few things about ourselves, live and God. I wanted to share with you all some of what I have learned. Therefore, the following are three things I have learned from our three month adventure.

1. Farm work
This trip has given me a diverse experience in farm work, of which I learned a thing or two about it all. I am not going to boast that I know everything there is to know about farming, because that is just not the case! But I did get a good idea about different types of farms, what I like and don't like and the hard work that goes into it.
Most of the people we worked with, had more of a hobby farm that made enough for the family with a little profit. This was great, because that is the kind of farm I would love to have! Also, most of them hadn't grown up on a farm and didn't really know much about it, but wanted to get involved. So they found a place, bought it and learned as they went, asking advice from professionals and their neighbors, then deciding what worked best for them. All the families were so different yet so happy to be farming! This made me realize that anyone who wanted to have a farm badly enough and were willing to learn and work hard, could do it! I was so encouraged by this, because I don't really know much about farming. This made me hopeful!
Also, I realized that I LOVE it!! I love working hard and being outside and there is so much satisfaction from farm work! Now it's not all hunky dory or go according to plan, but I know it is something I love and want to keep doing!!  I love living in the country much more than the city. It is much more laid back, however, there is always something to keep you busy! It's a different kind of buys than the city. Farming is more a lifestyle than a job. I definitely know it is the lifestyle for me.
Thirdly, Farm life is a wonderful setting for people to escape, pull away from their busy city schedule and take a breather. Not only am I passionate for farm work, but I want to make a place for others to come and take a break from life and find rest and encouragement. A farm environment is a great place to set aside your troubles for a bit and just enjoy being alive. One can step back and see their life from a different perspective and clear their minds.
So that is a little bit about Farm life I have learned and look forward to getting more involved in the future!

2. Hospitality
Something I am passionate about is to have a home of hospitality. As a follower of Christ, it is something we are encouraged to do; to have a heart of hospitality and to share what we have with others and to love our neighbor as ourselves. As we traveled New Zealand, we stayed in many people's homes and learned a thing or two about hospitality. We learned what kinds of things were helpful and some things that weren't so helpful. Also, as travelers, we gained a perspective of hospitality from the receiving side. The following are a few examples.
A good example of a form of hospitality is to have the mind set of welcoming my guests into my home as a part of the family and, instead of putting life on hold, inviting them to join in the activities of my life. To have a heart of hospitality, I must also have a genuine willingness to be flexible and ready to accept anyone who is in need at a moments notice. Also, having a traveler's perspective, I have gained an understanding of what a traveler needs and appreciates most, especially if the traveler has been living out of their car or camping. Even just a warm meal and a place to sleep is enough!

3. Confidence in the Lord's provision
Last but certainly not least, actually most important of all, I have gained from the experience a confidence and trust in my Lord's promise that He will provide for my needs. In times of financial need, or in need of transportation, or even just in encouragement, he faithfully provided for Courtney and I just in the moment of greatest need. He was active in our journey and in times of vulnerability or confusion, we were confident in our God and he came through for us. I have never actually been in need to the point that it was out of my control and to see the Lord work and provide when I was not in control gave me a peace, trust and confidence that I will never be without need, as long as I trust my God to provide. He truly is faithful. Not only did I gain a trust and confidence in him, but I also realized more fully that I can do anything that I set my mind to do, with the help of my God. He says in Scripture that whatever you do, commit it to the Lord and your plans will succeed (proverbs 16). I saw just that. Courtney and I continually committed our journey and the activities we did or decisions to our God, desiring to honor him in what we did and He made it possible. Shoot! We had a desire to go to New Zealand and He made it possible and took care of us the whole time!

Through the whole trip I have gained a new appreciation and respect for farmers, those who open their homes to strangers and my God who provides all my needs. I have discovered a new Joy for life and excitement to see what other adventures lie ahead and confidence that anything is possible when you trust the Lord.

The final Road Trip Part 2

We have finished the quest of destroying the ring and made it back to the Shire! Now what do we do, except make our way to the sea to catch the last boat/plane across to the "West" (you LOTR people will understand this). Therefore, we started off. There is this beautiful peninsula on the north east of NZ called the Coromandel Peninsula. On this peninsula, there is a cove named Cathedral Cove, where the two sons of Adam and the two daughters of Eve re-entered the land of Narnia when Prince Caspian blew the horn for help. It was this train tunnel that turned into a cave to the beach that we drove to. It was a 40 minute hike to the cove, but worth is! It was like a little secret beach hidden from the rest of the world. As we stood there in the tunnel, it was almost like we really had ventured into the world of Aslan and talking animals. As we made our way to the city of Coromandel on the north tip of the peninsula, we noticed how the beach was a gorgeous bright green, with lots of island rocks jutting out sporadically. It was a rainy day, so we didn't get to really play in the water, but treated ourselves to a hot drink and yummy lunch in a cafe in Coromandel and read a Sherlock Holmes mystery (We have been reading a lot of those this trip). It was nice to escape the rain and eat some fresh food after dwelling in our car for the past few days.

Back on the south side of the peninsula, we had heard of a hot water beach that was there. This is made from a hot spring that is right under the beach sand, so when the tide goes out, you can dig to it and hot water will ooze from the ground, creating your own little make shift hot tub. :) We wanted to try it especially since it was a colder day. There was quite a crowd of enthusiastic travelers all with spade in hand. We all stood around for a bit not knowing for sure where to dig. It was like we were all hunting for gold and wanted to be the first to find it as shovels and hands started digging anywhere their feet took them. You would here some shout with glee as they discovered a hot spot on the surface, while others determinedly kept digging on a cold spot, convinced that they would strike gold at any moment! A bit later, as new comers joined our little group all dressed in togs (swim suits), they would come across a collection of cold puddles of water where diggers gave up, small groups of people who were content to just dig their feet into a warmer section of the sand, and a great crowd of people all digging together making a huge trench, where it was discover one of the bigger springs was located! With everyone working together, it wasn't long until there was a shallow pool full of people young and old enjoying the hot water. It was so neat to stand there and observe how water really brings people happily together. :) It was such a comical site! Here was a huge group of people dressed down to their togs, sitting in close quarters, sharing the hot water they had all worked to find with complete strangers; people who, otherwise would probably have never talked to each other or even met. Brought a smile to our faces as we joined them in the hot springs.

After our wonderful experience on the hot water beach, we drove the rest of the way to Auckland, where were stayed with Elijah and Kristen (such fun!!) before making our way up to Whangarei, where we visited with our New Zealand Grandparents, Keith and Jill, the first farm we stayed at. It was so great to see old friends again and neat to look back to when we first started our travels to now, as we were nearing the end, and what adventures lay in the middle. We told them stories of our experiences and things we had only dreamed of before this trip that were now a part of our past and a part of us. All these experiences have added to what we have become. It was neat to realize this as we talked with our friends in Auckland and Whangarei. But our trip wasn't over quite yet. We still had to make it up to Cape Reinga, the top of New Zealand.

We left Whangarei after breakfast on Wednesday and made our way up to Kaitaia. Along the way we stopped at the big Kauri trees that were mostly likely around in the time of Christ. We met a rooster, who likes peanuts, at a lookout in Northland Forest Park. Then that night we went to 90 mile beach and witnessed the most beautiful sunset we ever did saw! :) The next morning we woke up early and headed up to Cape Reinga. It was a lovely drive and when we got there we had our breakfast and walked out to the lighthouse. It was very cool to see the place where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet. There were these great whirlpools at the spot where they colided. On our way back south, we had to stop at every bay that we could find and we went swimming in the ocean! So now we can say that we have swam in the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea in the same day! There were even these great big sand dunes that people can climb and slide down, the cardboard that we took was too wet by the time we reached the top of the dune (because it was raining) so we sat on it and pretended like we were flying down the sand at crazy speeds, complete with sound effects. We also built a sand castle and Mickey Mouse ears. There was just too much sand around us to not build something with it, plus because of the rain the sand had just the right amount of water in it to be able to keep its form. Since that night was to be the last we would have on our own, we decided to splurge and stay in a cabin at a Holiday Park, so romantic! :) We had a hot meal, hot drinks, and hot showers, it was a nice last night. In the morning we started our trek back to Whangarei, stopping at some amazing toilets, Rainbow Falls, Haruru Falls, and some lovely rain that we drove through, making it back to Whangarei in time for tea. That night we talked to the McLays and it brought tears to our eyes. We miss them so much! In the morning we started cleaning their house with their nine year old granddaughter, Ella, who we had met on our first visit. We spent the day cleaning and at tea time Keith and Jill surprised us with going out for a chinese food picnic that we ate in a park by the bay. It was so good to see them again, they will be missed so much! Sunday morning we went to church with Keith and Jill and their family. It was a commemoration of Anzac Day, which is their version of Memorial Day. Pretty cool to learn some of the history of New Zealand, rugby is a very big part of this country. After lunch with their family, we said good-bye to Keith and Jill for the last time this trip, and drove back to Auckland. We stopped for ice cream along the way and made it in time for church with the Peters' family. So good to see everyone there.

These last couple of days we have spent with Alice and Liz, having sleepovers and vegging out after our crazy travels. We baked so many sweets, vacuumed the house, and organized our bags for the trip home. It is crazy to think that today is our last in the fine country that we have called home for the last 82 days, a sobering thought, but we have things to do back home that we are excited to get started on. Once we get back to LA we will fill you in on the wisdom we have gained on this trip and tell you all about where the Lord is leading us next. Look forward to seeing ya "in the west" (LOTR term). Farewell, New Zealand, or in Moari, Aotearoa. We are grateful for the honor of sharing these past moments with you. Hopefully, someday we may meet again.

The Final Road Trip

Cheers mates! We made it back to Auckland! Of course, there were many events, places and people along the way. The following is our story of the final road trip....our last two-three weeks in the beautiful paradise known to the world as New Zealand.
The beginning of this great voyage began in the small town of Picton, where we said farewell to the South Island. Unknown to those around us, who were taking the three hour ferry home from work, seeing family members, or also traveling, that this would be the last time we would gaze upon the majestic southern land of New Zealand. The ride was a little rocky, but they did well to distract us by providing entertainment through the means of "Mr. Bean's holiday" and "Total Recall". It was 10pm when we stepped onto the North side in Wellington. the City was dead and as we walked the lonely streets to our hostel, dreading having to carry our bags the whole way a kind stranger, who was a couch surfer host, pulled over and offered us a ride. He had seen us get off the ferry, where he had picked up his guest and noticed we were traveling on foot. Having compassion on us, he lent us a hand, which we gratefully accepted after learning who he was, of course. We were already tired from the days travels and weren't looking forward to the long walk to our destination, so we were relieved and very thankful! The Lord is good to those who love him. :) Reaching our hostel, we found our room, threw our turtle shells to the floor and plopped on the bed with a deep sigh, knowing that tomorrow we would be picking up our fellow travel mate, our home, our shelter from the rain, our freedom to explore as we wish, our car. Needless to say, we slept well that night naive to the cost that would come with this freedom.

In the morning, we looked for the bus stop that would take us to the airport, where our car awaited us. Sadly, we didn't have internet at that time so we had to figure out on our own what bus to take. The maps at the bus stops were no help. So we just started walking in the direction of the airport, hoping we would come across the right stop. We never did find the bus stop and ended up walking the whole 5 Km to the airport, which took us 2hrs, with all of our possessions on our back. We weren't too excited about walking the whole distance, however, this walk did make us appreciate our car even more and we got a perspective of Wellington we wouldn't have got before. We wouldn't have noticed the Mt. Victoria tunnel and how long it really is, or the colorful, interactive wind art along the bay. Therefore, we made the best of it! Like we always say, it's not really an adventure unless you get lost! :)

Relieved to have our car, after taking a gander at the giant Gollum fishing in the airport (so cool!) we drove over to inspect the Weta Cave located at the Weta Workshop, where most of the props, prosthetics, costumes, armor, weapons and special effects were created for the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and the Hobbit! They also helped create other movies such as: Avatar, Narnia, Tin tin, Jane and the Dragon, King Kong, etc. There are a lot of sites around Wellington where they filmed scenes for LOTR, so we drove around and checked them out. The following are the places we checked out, the path where Frodo yells for the other Hobbits to get of the road, the spot along the river where the Fellowship launched from Lothlorien, the gardens of Isengard, and Rivendell.

In Blenheim, we made friends with someone who had friends near Bulls, which is two hours north of Wellington, that he got in contact with for us to visit. We called them up and they were happy to have us stay. They were celebrating the Passover that night and invited us to come up that day to celebrate with them. We graciously accepted and made our way up, weaving through a narrow, steep "detour" through a mountain pass. Thankfully, we made it alive! They were a home school family with five children of which four were still at home. Helen and Phil and their children were very welcoming and their oldest son, David, offered to take us to Mt. Egmont the next day to explore different waterfalls and such (side note: this is the mountain that acted as Mt. Fuji in "the Last Samarai"). We pleasantly woke up that day to breakfast in bed, which Helen had prepared for us. This was quite the treat, for neither of us have ever been given breakfast in bed! Helen was so understanding of the life of travelers and how much one needs to take the time to rest and she made sure we took our time. After enjoying 2 wonderful nights with this family, we woke up before the sun and headed to the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. This is where Mt. Doom is located, the real name of the mountain is Mt. Ngauruhoe, but even the locals know it as Mt. Doom. Looking at the mountain, Trina said that it was the most volcanic looking volcano she had ever seen. We hiked for a couple of hours to the base of the mountain, it was a beautiful view of the valley from that point. Mount Tongariro had blown its top in November and half of the 19 km crossing was closed due to the volcanic activity. We could even see smoke coming from the dome, pretty crazy stuff there!

The next day we went to this really cool museum depicting the history of New Zealand, it was the creative design of... Weta Workshop!! There was a boat ride and everything. Then we visited the town of Stratford, where they have a glockenspiel clock, and 4 times a day Romeo and Juliet come out on the balcony and perform a scene from Shakespeare's play. The next day we drove to Taupo and picked up a hitch hiker along the way. After dropping her off at the bus station, we went to a thermal park in Taupo and soaked in the hot spring, basically all day. It was amazing! The water was so hot and then it joined the big river, which was cold, so where the two met was a nice mixture of hot water on the surface and cold underneath. We treated ourselves to some ice cream and made our way to Rotorua where we saw some more hot springs, but these smelled horrible! It reminded us of the Labyrinth and the Land Before Time, with this big, muddy, bubbly soup looking thing. That night we made our way to Cambridge, where we stayed at a Torchbearer School, which is a Christian College. We met them through a teacher from MWSB, the Bible college we attended in Montana. He was from Ravencrest, another Torchbearer School located in Colorado. They were lovely and because the next day was Sunday we attended church with them at a little country church. After saying our good-byes, we headed to Matamata, where Hobbiton is located. We were finally nearing the end of our adventure. Looking back on our trip thus far, we realized that we had journeyed through Rivendell on our quest to destroy the Ring at Mt. Doom, and finally made our way back to the Shire. It was pretty cool how the order of our travels went. Hobbiton was everything we expected and so much more! It was great to experience the Shire for ourselves, and can't wait to watch the movies again and be able to say that we have been there!

This marks the halfway point of our final road trip. In one week we made it from Blenheim to Matamata. Tune in next time for the second portion of our road trip.

A Milking Experience

Our lovely friend, Sandra, picked us up from the Whataroa store just in time for the rain to hit. We grabbed some dinner from the local hotel, took it to her dairy farm of 350 dairy cows and got to know each other over some yummy burgers! Sandra and her husband have two dairy farms. One here and another near Nelson. Her brother in-law Brian was helping her down at this farm while her husband was running the other. On a dairy farm, you have to milk the cows twice a day at the same time everyday, 4am and 4pm. Thankfully, we didn't have to get up for the am shift but we helped with the afternoon one. Boy is that an experience! You are down in this long pit, surrounded on both sides by the backsides of about 60 cows, knowing that at any moment you could be hit with a warm, green shower....One must always be on guard. Boy, does it make you put those milkers on the utters fast! :) We got pretty good and had a couple close calls, but thankfully never actually got hit by that green shower! Not directly, anyway. :) 

Along with the milking, we stacked fire wood, helped move the cattle, and bring the dairy cows in using a truck one day, a 4-wheeler the next and, yes, even horses. :)  We really felt like cowgirls then! On our day off, we drove over to the Franz Joseph Glacier listening to a good ol' classic country cassette tape. :) The glacier was beautifully tucked away surrounded by plenty of waterfalls and luscious green brush. The West coast is so beautiful! It's a whole new world over there! It is completely different from the rest of New Zealand! Once we hit the west side of the mountain pass, our jaws dropped in amazement! It is spectacular! We had a great time on the dairy farm! Brian even took us spot lighting one night in hopes to kill a deer. We didn't see any deer, but Trina did shoot a rabbit! booyah! 

After our lovely stay, we took a 9 hour bus ride to Nelson, driving the west coastline the whole way. That was the most gorgeous 9 hours! The bus driver stopped at the Pancake rocks for us to take a gander. Pretty cool to see huge towers of rocks shaped like a stack of pancakes! Once in Nelson, we stayed at our first backpackers called Paradiso. We treated ourselves to some yummy pizza and a movie! :) such fun! The next morning, the 6th of April, we hiked to the top of the Centre of New Zealand, overlooking all of Nelson, with a breathtaking view of the mountains surrounding the area! After our lovely hike, we checked out the sites of Nelson, stopping at the cathedral, the goldsmith shop where the One Ring of Middle Earth was made, and the Saturday market before hitchhiking our way to Blenheim. Two wonderful German ladies, who were on vacation while their husbands were back home making the money, picked us up. :) They were the jolliest ladies, blasting their happy German music as we wound our way around the mountains. They even offered a place to stay at their holiday home, but we already had a place for the night with Sandra's niece. After dropping us off right at the door, we said farewell to our German mothers, as they called themselves. :) 

Here in Blenheim, today, we found a baptist church close by that we walked to for some worship. We haven't seen so much joy in a group of people in quite a while! It was so refreshing to see people so full of the Holy Spirit and just glad to be alive! They were so welcoming and even invited us to join them for lunch, which, of course, we accepted! Our new friends, Rosemary and Steve, took us to the potluck, where we met so many lovely people and were spiritually encouraged in so many ways! We are so thankful for their warm hospitality! It was such a good way to spend the day! 

And now, here we are, about to head out to catch the ferry up to the North Island, where we will stay the night in a backpackers in Wellington and pick up our rental, which will be our home for the last two weeks of our travel here in New Zealand! phew! wow! two more weeks! Has it come to this already? How the time has flown! Two more weeks of playing in the beautiful countryside of New Zealand, maybe spotting some hobbits along the way, and then it's back to the states! See you all soon!!!

Hazelnuts and Hitchhiking

Hey y'all!! Courtney and Trina speaking to yous from Blenheim, New Zealand! How did we get here, you ask? Well, you are about to find out! You are in for the ride of your life! Let me tell you! Have we got a show for you! Hold on to your magic carpets! Get on the edge of your seat! We have lift off!
Well last stop, on our voyage we were in Balclutha. After saying farewell to our lovely New Zealand family (the McLays) we stayed with their lovely friends and relatives, Roger and Joy, in Dunedin. Joy took us to the Albatross nesting grounds on the opposite side of the bay in Dunedin. At the same place that we saw the graceful soaring albatross, we also saw the world's smallest Penguin, the Blue Penguin. They were the cutest little things! As we were watching them waddle up the beach, Trina thought it would be neat to see some live action and hoped a seal would show up. Well, friends, be careful what you wish for....the seal made an appearance! To Trina's disappointment, all the penguins were already on the shore. Ok, she was relieved, too. We were going to hitchhike to Christchurch that next day (Monday the 17th of March) but it was finally raining so we decided to take Roger and Joy's invite and stay one more night.
The next morning, Joy dropped us off on the outskirts of town at a popular hitchhiking spot. Feeling a little vulnerable out there on the side of the highway, we prayed a little prayer of protection. Wouldn't you know it, God is so faithful! Within fifteen minutes, a lovely lady named Andrea picked us up and was headed the whole 3 hours to Christchurch! We shared lovely traveling stories, as she is a teacher and has traveled to India and Australia teaching primary students. It was a wonderful visit and the time seemed to fly by.
We met our next host, Nikki, at the local McDonalds in Christchurch and headed out to her quaint hazelnut farm. Nikki, her husband Bill and their 8 year old son, Luca live on 9 acres of land with some sheep, chuks, a horse named Bailey, and their faithful pup, Tahi. They also have a couple paddocks full of hazelnut trees and these were the main focus of our time there. We spent at least 5 hours a day under the trees, picking up the fallen hazelnuts so they could be bagged and sold to a local factory. During our free time, we played soccer, rode Bailey, made desserts, visited the cutest little country church, and got lost on the way home. Don't worry we're still in one piece! Our last day with the family, we went to the city of Christchurch and explored. It was really interesting to see the city after the major earthquakes that happened about 2 years ago. There was so much damage that they are still cleaning up the debri and not many of the buildings have been rebuilt. We also went to the Antarctic Centre and experienced the cold, icy lifestyle of Antarctica. Christchurch is the last place that the Antarctic explorers stopped to replenish their supplies before heading to the icy wilderness of Antarctica. We were able to experience a summer storm, saw more little blue penguins, and learned so much more than we could ever have imagined. Our week in Christchurch was a blast and we were sad to be moving on, but happy to have been able to be a short chapter in the lives of the Coleman family.
Nikki dropped us off at yet another great hitchhiking spot, where we got a ride with Sue from Christchurch to Springfield. Then we were picked up by two German travelers who took us as far as Arthur's Pass, but not before stopping at Castle Hill, the location of the final battle in the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. After a lunch break, a kind gentleman, on his way to the West Coast, took us to the Kumara Junction, where the family in the caravan behind us stopped and picked us up. They were a nice family headed to the West Coast for their Easter vacation. We stopped in Hokitika for a short break before arriving in Whataroa, our next destination. God has really provided great people to pick us up whenever we hitchhike, it is so encouraging to know He has everything taken care of.

Wherever the Wind Blows Part 2

After cruising through Mildford Sound we took our time driving back down to Te Anau, stopping here and there to get out for a walk or see some beautiful landmarks such as: a Mt Tutoko hike, the Mirror lakes, Lake Gunn, Deer flat Creek and other places where we could skip rocks in water. J This took us a few hours and we arrived in Te Anau at 7:30pm giving us time to catch the last cruise across Lake Manapouri to a glowworm cave at 8:15pm. They took us a few minutes into the cave walking on a metal path over the rushing water to a place where we climbed into a boat for a peaceful ride to the dome where the glowworms lived. It was so beautiful and almost mesmerizing. Back at the entrance to the cave, they showed us a presentation about the glowworms and we found out they really aren’t worms, but larva…..but no one really wants to see a maggot cave so they call them glowworms, thank you to our new friend Vedant, who was one of the tour guides at the glowworm cave. The next day we invited Vedant to join us on a walk to a bay where we skipped more rocks. It was a beautiful day for a stroll and visit with new friends.

Once we said goodbye and stocked up on some groceries we headed back up to Wanaka to catch another friend of ours, Susan McLay, on her day off. On our way out of Te Anau, we noticed two travelers who were hitch hiking and decided to give them a ride. Their names were Kai (Pronounced kye) and Marcus. They are from Germany and also traveling and working on farms. They were quite grateful for the lift as they had been waiting for three hours for a ride! We were able to help them on their way and it was neat to meet fellow travelers and exchange advice and stories. We took the scenic route through Queenstown stopping for breaks wherever there was water to skip rocks! Yay! (This has become our thing. We stop at every body of water and skip rocks. We didn’t intentionally do this, it just kind of happened. Good times!) Finally, in Wanaka after a half a day of traveling, we were really looking forward to spending the night NOT in the back of a car!!!! Don’t get me wrong, Stella was a life saver! But we were kind of ready to sleep on something a little softer than a folded up car seat and eat food other than peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which we had been living on for the last week. Robyn, Susan’s host, greeted us at the door and helped us take our luggage to our own room where we would sleep the next two nights. We would have been happy with the floor or a couch and were not expecting two lovely, white fluffy beds and a hot meal of yummy stir fry awaiting us!!! After our grand hardcore adventure, that meal tasted sooo good and those beds felt like fluffy clouds! The next morning we almost expected to wake up in Rivendell where Gandalf would greet us with a “well done, Frodo.”

We spent the next day exploring Wanaka with Susan. First at Puzzling World, we faced all sorts of trippin’ illusions in the illusion room and got lost in the labyrinth of a maze under the blazing hot sun.  We almost didn’t make it, but we overcame and found all four corners in order, plus we found the exit. Then we decided ice cream was a must and all three of us had a nice big scoop of mochaccino (kiwis pronounce it mockaccino) while window shopping in downtown Wanaka (or at least the few blocks that made up the entire town of Wanaka).  Since it was still such a beautiful hot day, after stalking Susan’s work, we donned our togs (swimsuits) and headed for the lake.  Of course, once we arrived, the clouds joined us making it too cool to actually swim, so…. We skipped more rocks!! Yay! Lake Wanaka was absolutely, hands down, definitely, affirmatively, totally the best rock skipping collection of H2O we had found thus far! All three of us, Susan being a rookie, were able to skip rocks halfway across the lake with no problem whatsoever. It was the best rock skipping experience of Trina’s life! Our adventure at the lake ended with a good old-fashioned water fight. Back at Robyn’s house, she had another wonderful hot meal just waiting for us to dig in. It was a wonderful, relaxing visit; spiritually, physically, and emotionally.

The next day as we drove toward Invercargill, taking the scenic route along the Fiordlands, we saw more beautiful mountains, ocean, caves, air shows, and wetlands, where the scene of the dead marshes from the LOTR was filmed. We spent the night in another campsite near Clifden, where the stars were breathtaking. The morning found us on Thursday the 7^th of March, as we took our final road trip with faithful Stella. We drove through Invercargill to Bluff, close enough to the southernmost point of New Zealand. We found this hill in the middle of the town that had a lookout at the top where one could see for miles. There was a map showing us a bunch of different landmarks that could be seen from that point. They had all sorts of unique names that sparked our interest as to the stories behind them such as; Dog Island- where the dogs were eaten, Woman Island, and the Point where (some name we couldn’t pronounce) valiantly stood. Then we headed back to Invercargill, but first stopped at a little inlet, called Ships Graveyard, where we, of course, skipped rocks. Susan put us in touch with a friend of hers in Invercargill where we could stay for the night. After some good company and a restful sleep, we drove Stella to the rental company where we parted ways from our beloved, dear rental car who had become a special addition to our trip. Catching our bus back to Balclutha, we were excited to once again be with our New Zealand family, the McLays! They have become family to us and it was so good to see them once again!! We were grateful for our trip to the Milford Sound but so happy to stay in once place for a wee bit.

This past week with the McLays was full of more laughter, another visit from Susan, a Thanksgiving feast (where we introduced them to yams with marshmallows and pumpkin pie!), more games on the hay bales, church fellowship, rugby games, wave jumping and sand fights at the beach! Along with the fun, we helped with the chores and did some additional work like sweeping the drive way, deep cleaning the bathroom, laundry, babysitting, etc. During our visit, an Israeli couple also stayed with the McLays and invited us to go sightseeing with them for a day. Accepting the offer, we explored the Catlins national park and learned about a new culture as well! It was neat to share our different lifestyles with one another while climbing through Cathedral Cave (where Aslan, from Narnia, walked on the beach in the end of the first movie!), the McLean Falls and the Purakanui Falls.

Much to our dismay, we will be parting from the McLays tomorrow after a potluck at their church and staying with family friends of the McLays in Dunedin, where we hope to see an Albatross or two before hitch hiking our way to Christchurch! We are so grateful for all the friends we have made on this trip thus far and plan to keep in touch as much as possible; encouraging them to come and visit our homes back in the states! Hopefully we may see each other again in this lifetime and, if not, look forward with expectation, that we will see them in the next life. Throughout this trip, we have been striving to show the love of Christ to all we meet and encourage them to also love others by serving willingly, going out of our way and giving of our time with a joyful heart. We have truly been blessed by having love centered attitudes and have really seen inspiring results. I want to encourage all you who are presently reading this, to remember to take the opportunity today, to express love to those you meet through your actions and words. You may not see the result, but it does make a difference. Love never fails.

Wherever the wind takes us part 1

Early Wednesday morning, 5:30 to be exact, we left with Coralie, Reuben, Andrew, and Luke for Wanaka.  Susan works at a resort there and Reuben was going to an agricultural conference, so Coralie said that she would take us to Queenstown, an hours on the other side of Wanaka, to pick up our rental car and start our week long traveling adventure.  When Coralie dropped us off, we met Stella.  She is a lovely silver Hyundai Accent, oh, and did we mention that she is a manual?!?!  So it was a very interesting time driving a stick shift on the other side of the car on the other side of the road.  Our first order of business was to drive to Arrowtown, a cute little gold rush town that is set up the way that it used to be about a hundred years ago.  This town is by far our favorite city in New Zealand. We explored the town and finally found a campground where we parked the car for the night.  Then it was time for a walk down to the creek, a water hike (this was Courtney’s first water hike) and rock skipping.  We wrote some postcards to people, wrote in our journals for a little bit, and ate some ice cream, enjoying the sunshine and outdoors. 

It was very interesting to sleep in the back of the car, but we made it work.  We were able to sleep in a little bit, packed up Stella, and started out.  First, we stopped at a Lord of the Rings site, but we weren’t really sure what it was exactly so we looked around and took some pictures thinking about the actors that had probably been there.  Later we found out that it was actually the road where Isildur was attacked by the orcs and lost the Ring.  After that we drove onto Queenstown, went grocery shopping, and wandered around the town.  We were actually waiting for 2:00, when we would stare death in the face and laugh as we jumped off a 43 meter (141 ft) bridge.  You got it!  We went bungee jumping, but this was no ordinary bungee jump, it was the original bungee jumping site!  The crew there talked us out of going together and we were so thankful, because it was so much fun to go by ourselves and have our own experiences to share with each other.  Trina closed her eyes for the first part because she had asked to get wet in the river below, but sadly she didn’t cause the drought made the river line too low.  After looking at our pictures and video of ourselves, we explored some more.  It was such a nice day that we decided to take a walk around the Queenstown gardens and walk by Lake Wakatipu.  Queenstown is surrounded by the Remarkable Mountains, and they sure are remarkable.  That night we decided to travel out of town to find a place to stay so we headed north to Moke Lake, a nice campground tucked in the mountains where we could park Stella and sleep in the back again.  While we were having our tea, a duck came up from the lake to visit us, we named her Fiona.  Courtney wanted to know what it felt like to be bit by a duck and decided to find out.  So she got Fiona to take a potato chip from her hand and Fiona actually bit her a couple of times, pretty entertaining. She said it tickled more than hurting. :)

The next morning we got ready for a hike around the lake, but decided to climb one of the mountains surrounding the lake instead.  It took us a couple of hours, but we were able to get to the top and see for miles and miles.  The way down was super fun, sliding on our bums most of the way, which resulted in both of us ripping our shorts; just one less piece of clothing to have to carry around the rest of our trip!  Then we went for a nice, refreshing dip in the lake.  It was so cold!  We then decided it was time to move on in our adventure, this time the destination was Milford Sound.  It was only a hop, skip and a jump away from where we were, but there was only one way to get to Milford Sound and that meant we had to drive back south, through Queenstown and head back north at Te Anau (three hour drive).  It was a beautiful drive though. The mountains just rose out of the plains as we drove and we were just in awe of God and His beautiful creation.  After stopping in Mossburn for dinner and Te Anau for petrol, we found a campsite near Milford Sound and stayed the night there.  We even made some new friends (and no not the sand-flies) who invited us to join them for tea (dinner). They were two travelers from Germany and another guy from Israel. How ironic, two Americans, two Germans and an Israeli enjoying a meal together. :) We all were entertained by the irony.

At Milford Sound, we took so many pictures, but they just don't do the beauty of this place justice.  We were in the wilderness surrounded by amazing mountains flowing with waterfalls and topped with clouds, making them look that much more beautiful. The Milford Sound is an amazing fiord weaving through the mountains out to the sea. A fiord, if you didn’t know, is a stretch of water that was carved out by a glacier, whereas, a sound is carved out by a river. The Milford sound is actually a fiord but they originally named it a sound to match all the other sounds in the area. “The cruise is the best way to see Milford Sound” is what we were told so that’s what we did.  It was a two hour long ride and most definitely worth the money that we paid.  We saw sea lions, waterfalls (even drove right up under one in the boat), minerals in the rock such as gold, copper and iron, and some very beautiful mountains that eventually led to the ocean.  The word “beautiful” doesn’t even describe this place; you just have to see it for yourself, and not in pictures, but in person.  We can only imagine that if it is this beautiful on earth what will it be like in the New Earth?

Eight kids and counting!!

Well Friends, you have all been so patient in waiting for our next post. We have done so much!! Last post, we were in Auckland on our way to the airport to fly across New Zealand down to Dunedin where we have been staying with the lovely McLay family. They have 8 children, four boys and four girls and they are heaps of fun! Starting from the oldest: Susan (19), Reuben (18), Isabel (16), Esther (14), Naomi (13), Josiah (11), Andrew (2) and last but not least Luke (1). We have had a blast sharing our cultures with one another such as learning new songs and realizing we all grew up with the same kid songs in bibles school, learning new words, talking about different sports, and teaching each others' accents. It is quite entertaining. :)

We have been mostly helping with housework (cleaning the windows, weeding the garden, etc) and looking after the two littlest boys, Andrew and Luke. The first full day of our stay we walked around the town of Dunedin with the two boys while Naomi got braces. We went window shopping, checked out some neat buildings, went to the Cadbury chocolate factory (definitely got some souveneirs there!) and had a good look around finishing at the train station! It’s a cute little college town built on the side of a hill.

The McLay’s live in Balclutha, which is about an hour south of Dunedin. The Balclutha area reminds us a lot of Montana with rolling plains and large mountains! This makes us feel right at home here, but also a little homesick. :) Our new found friends live on a beef and sheep farm with 2,500 sheep, which they are in the process of sheering. So we got to help them round the sheep up, and herd them into the barn one group at a time to be weighed. The world record for sheering a sheep is 45 sec, but usually takes an average sheerer 2 minutes, I think. So, do the math and you can imagine how long it would take them to sheer all their sheep, separate the wool and still run a large household! Phew! We stay pretty busy out here! There is not a dull moment! :D

They live about 2km from the coast so we have gone to the beach a couple times even finding crabs under the rocks and sneaking up on a real life, wild penguin!! The water is colder down here in comparison to the north island, but still just as beautiful! The kids were in a school track event, which here they call Athletics. So, we took a day off of work to go into town and cheer them on! Go team! They all placed in at least one event! Yay! We're pretty sure it’s because they had their own cheerleading squad. ;) We have really just been enjoying being a part of this family, watching the little boys, playing red light green light on the hay bails with the older kids, teaching them some good old line dancing, and just being silly! Who said we have to act our age? :)

In a bit we will post about our great road trip adventure that filled our time last week!

The Life of a Farmer

We have been in New Zealand for two weeks now. It seems to have gone by at a steady pace as we have been enjoying every minute of it. Although, as we look ahead, our time seems to be escaping us! Only 9 weeks left for us to fit everything in! Yikes!

Alright, better get to it! :) Wednesday the 13th we arrived in Whangarei planning to meet our next host at the bus stop. We forgot to ask what they looked like or to tell them what we looked like. People would pass by and we weren't sure if it was them or not. Eventually, an older man with skin tanned by long days in the sun, strolled up to us with a lovely smile on his face. We were relieved that Keith had found us! After taking us for a little drive around the town and him and Courtney racing up the steps to a gorgeous view of the whole city, we knew this would be a wonderful visit!
Keith and Jill are a lovely older couple who have been all over the world (Jill has visited 73 countries as the president of Girls' Brigade!) while maintaining their humble farm of 160 head of cattle and 40 sheep. They have four children who all have families of their own, two of which live in their own houses on Keith and Jill's farm. Their grand kids would occasionally come over and help us with the different jobs we were given. The whole family is very close and there is much love all around.
An average day on the Clarke farm would look like the following: 7am start waking up and head to breakfast and tea at 8am, work until about 10:30am and stop for morning tea and biscuits (cookies), work again until 12:30pm and stop for lunch (also called tea), then work until about 3:30 and come in again for afternoon tea and biscuits, then either stop for the day or do some more work until dinner at 6pm. whew! Lots of tea! But we are hooked on it with milk and sugar!! We also had the option of coffee or Milo (a hot chocolate beverage) but normally we just had tea. They valued this time of fellowship and saw it as more important than getting the work done. They were very wise and took the opportunity, when the situation arose, to share their wisdom with those around them, whether it was us, their grand kids or their own children. We were so blessed to be amongst the wise and experienced.
That first day, we were eager to get to work right away and didn't want to waste a moment! Therefore, after a lovely lunch with tea and some good fellowship, Keith and Jill were more than happy to give us a job right away! Into the garden we dove! For a couple of days, we helped Jill pull weeds from the garden. Waking up the next day, we were already sore just from pulling weeds! Man, has it been a while!!! Our next job was helping Keith shift his cattle from one pasture to another with the help of is trusty dog, Del. Next up, we moved dead branches from one pile into the burn pile, straightened some metal boards, fixed fence lines, and swiped weeds. The majority of our time was spent swiping weeds. They are these huge rushes that grow along the creek bed which have huge roots that take up a lot of the creek. Our job was to swipe them with a hockey stick looking tool filled with weed poison that would kill the weeds in three weeks time. Their Granddaughter Adelle (21) joined us in the weed swiping for a day. The time passed by quickly as we walked along the creek bed together swiping and talking away. More hands make light work!

On our day off, they dropped us off at Whangarei falls so we could hike from there into the town basin, which is about a 2 hour walk. It was a beautiful walk along the river, enjoying the shade of the variety of trees that made up the forest.

Sunday afternoon, after joining them at church, they took us to their beach house on Tutukaka Harbour. It was a beautiful bay where we swam all day with their granddaughter Ella (9) and rested in the sun. Trina fell asleep in the sun and got a bad sunburn, but it's healing nicely.
Whangarei was plum picking, driving the 4 wheeler, enjoying a motorbike show, ice cream, eating Jill's yummy cooking, swimming, bush tramping and meeting a couple from Canada who were also staying with Keith and Jill. We stayed with the Clarkes for a week and Wednesday saw us in the car with Adelle headed back to Auckland where we would stay the night and catch our flight to Dunedin!! While in Auckland, we stopped at Moustache one more time, met a friend of a friend (Annie) who is going to Uni. in Auckland and visited once again with the lovely Miss Alice! Now we're off to the airport for our next adventure in the South Island!

We are learning so much about different types of hospitality, how to be a polite guest, what to do with weeds, different ways we can serve and much more! We look forward to what other adventures the near future holds!

Rest, rest and....oh ya! rest :)

Sorry to everyone who's been waiting for our next post! We have just been so busy resting in hobbit holes and getting our hands dirty on the farm that it has been impossible to write anything!

Well, when we last wrote of our journey, we were still in Auckland. Thursday we made plans to work on a beef and sheep farm in Whangarei, but that wouldn't begin until Tuesday. We had the whole weekend ahead of us! What to do! Since we had spent so much money in just the first week of being here and hadn't stopped going since we got off the plane, we decided to save our money for more exciting adventures later and just hang around the house, relaxing, catching up on sleep and watching movies. I know! Who goes to New Zealand and watches movies?!?!?! Two young ladies who want to save their money for more adventurous activities, that's who! After our much needed weekend of rest and cleaning house for our wonderful hosts, we met our new housemate that following Sunday. Alice is a friend of the Peters who have generously opened their home to us. We were blessed to hang out with her for the rest of our time in Auckland. She took us to church that evening where we had a wonderful night of fellowship with other believers and played at the park with the little children.  That night, Liz, the intern for the church that the Peters are involved in, stayed the night with us. Slumber party!!!! We had a wonderful time painting our nails, watching chick-flicks (like Jane Austin) and having some girl time!

Monday, the three of us did a Bible study together and had a really good time reading God's Word and of the mysteries of God that have been made known to us. Later that day, we walked to the shopping center (Westgate) and went to a couple's house from church for dinner. We played games with the kids (such as: princess, the zoo and school) while the other adults were getting the food ready. It was breakfast for dinner and Liz made some amazing pancakes! Those last couple of days in Auckland were such a blessing to stop and think of those around us and how we could lend a helping hand. We were so blessed to have that opportunity to serve!

We said goodbye to our new found friends and by Tuesday morning it was just the two of us once again. We headed downtown about noon to visit some places before we left for the farm near Whangarei. After dropping our bags off at the bus stop, we went to Moustache for milk and cookies. As we were enjoying a stroll downtown with our delicious cookies (or biscuits as Kiwis call them), there was an old looking stone church that we decided to go check out. As we walked in, we noticed that they were setting up tables to pass out lunch or something. We soon discovered they were going to be making pancakes to give out to the public as a celebration before Lent. We offered to help and they gladly accepted. Making pancakes in the streets of Auckland with the other volunteers was a great way to spend our last day in Auckland.

We left the church around 5:15pm because we had to catch our bus at 5:45, or so we thought... The bus had actually left at 5:15 and we missed it!!!! Since there was no other bus going to Whangarei that night, we had to buy two more tickets for the following morning. Disappointed, frustrated and tired, we got our bags, called the folks who were to pick us up in Whangarei to inform them of the new plans, found a place to eat dinner and discussed our options for the evening. We decided to go back to the Peters' house for the night; a place that has come to feel like home. Even though we were sad that we missed our bus, it ended up being a jolly evening since we were able to have another lovely chat with our friend Alice.

 Alice was kind enough to take us back into town early the next morning so we could catch our bus to Whangarei. We made it to the bus stop in time, grabbed a muffin at a street cafe, boarded the bus and arrived safely in Whangarei before lunchtime. Woohoo! As we stepped off the bus, we were filled with an eagerness to get to work, an excitement to meet our new hosts and a readiness to immerse ourselves into farm life!!! 

Sunshine, beautiful sunshine!

After an eleven hour flight...
7 AM: Arrived at the Auckland airport.
8 AM: Finally got through security.
9 AM: Went for a walk to keep us awake, but ended up making us more tired.
10 AM: IT'S ONLY 10 AM?!?!?!!?!?!?!
11 AM: Bought a New Zealand phone, ate some lunch, and explored the library (or leisure centre).
12 PM: IT'S ONLY NOON?!?!?!?!?
1 PM: Walked to our temporary home.
2 PM: ...
3 PM: ...
4 PM: COULD THIS DAY BE ANY LONGER?!?!?!?
5 PM: Went shopping with our hostess.
6 PM: Had some scrumptious chicken alfredo for dinner.
7 PM: CAN WE GO TO BED YET!??!?!?!??
8 PM: Can't. Stay. Awake. Must. Sleep. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

Eleven hours later. We woke up and felt so refreshed from our deep slumber, ready to face the day.We spent the day relaxing and visiting with our hosts. Outside, Judah and Cadan, ages 1 and 3 respectively, showed us all of their toys and had us join them in the art of sidewalk chalk. They were beautiful art pieces, some would say one of a kind. That evening we all went to church, which was being held in a park. There was much fellowship and fish and chips. Since the next day was the first day of school, we joined some of the ladies in the church and assisted with writing encouraging notes on the doorsteps of the children to greet them on their way to school. Did we mention that these were made with sidewalk chalk? It was a wonderful day.

Monday. Courtney's New Zealand birthday. Started the day with some cookies and hot drinks from the best milk and cookie shop ever, Moustache!!!  we went to the Auckland Museum and learned the history of New Zealand. It was so large that we spent the whole day there. Overwhelmed and tired of reading the facts of the country, we went into the garden at the museum and found a wonderful tree which we climbed, of course. Then it began to rain. This rain broke the drought of New Zealand was going through. We stopped on Queen St. on our way back to the house and had the most amazing burger at Burger Fuel!! Who knew peanut sauce on a burger could be so good?? Then we had to stop at Yoghurt Story for some frozen yogurt to celebrate! It was fantastic!

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Tuesday. Courtney's American birthday. Beach day. It only took us about four hours on the bus to get to the beach, granted we took the long, scenic route by accident. But hey! What are adventures for but to get lost and to find your way again? One thing that we have learned for sure on this trip, is that we know everything there is to know about the Auckland public transportation. All we had to guide us was our ingenuity and a map from our generous hosts. In the end, it was worth every hour spent getting there. Soaking up the sun by the Pacific Ocean was splendid. We also had an adventure getting home. The bus we needed to take was no longer running that late in the day. Once again we had to rely on our limited resources, and of course, God's great provision. He always knew what we needed and provided it at the exact moment we needed it most. Finally, getting back to the house around 10 PM, we were never so happy to see somebody else's house!!! It was definitely a sight for sore, sunburned eyes!

Today is Wednesday, and we visited some stars and a volcano. The volcano is now dormant so there is big monument on the top where the Maori people used to live. Now it is just a grassy hill full of sheep who get a breathtaking view of Auckland. We walked a lot today, getting even darker in the glorious sunshine. The weather has been sublime and there was even a tsunami warning, but it turned out to be only three feet high.


We have discovered some local drinks that we both enjoy. First, there is L&P, lemon and paeroa. It is a New Zealand soft drink which tastes spectacular. And next is the Lemon, Lime, and Bitters. This drink is like mixing sprite with as much alcohol as vanilla has in it, hardly any at all. Definitely making this one in the States.

 

The Arrival!

      The rest of our journey through Rivendell, I mean LA, consisted of more site seeing and fellowship with friends. After a relaxing day on the beach on Tuesday, we met with some friends of Trina's Wednesday to get a local's view of the big city. On our way to meet with them, we stopped at the Hollywood sign and observed the great beyond (space, the final frontier) at the Griffith Observatory. Our friends took us to see the Grauman Chinese Theatre where we saw lots of celebrities' hand prints and signatures. Trina even put her feet on John Wayne's foot prints and marveled at seeing they were the same size!!!! Next we took the Metro to the Grand Public Market, explored the Disney Concert Hall, got a bird's eye view of L.A. from the top of City Hall and bought some Ice Cream from Jose. With our ice cream in hand, we had one last adventure delving into the greatest bookstore of all time! It was two stories high full of new and used books, art made of books, things flying out of books making the stories come literally to life, and even books categorized in color! The second story was full of used books $1 each. We spent hours roaming through the labyrinth of stories seeking lost treasures. Soaking in the hot tub later that night, we unwound and dreamed of our own stories waiting to be written...

    Thursday brought an end to our chapter in California and opened the next chapter of our journey. After grabbing some In N' Out burgers we boarded our plane, or should I say time travel machine, and made our way to Auckland, New Zealand. Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, we went into hyper-drive and whizzed past February first!

The Continuation of Our Adventure

Hello all!!!! Since our last post so much has happened, and we haven't even left the United States!!!! Before we left Portland, our friend Calvin came and visited us. We had Voodoo donuts, visited Trina's sister at Bijou Cafe, went to Powell's Bookstore and bought some good reads for our trip. Trina got a dread-lock as a Portland souvenir and we saw the beautiful statue of Portlandia. We also did community yoga in Pioneer Square with a random stranger who's name was Lo. To finish off our Portland experience, we met up with some of Trina's coworkers for some good laughs. Portland was a great experience and it was a bittersweet ending to a new beginning...

We arrived in LA on Saturday and have been staying with Courtney's lovely family. They greeted  us with a warm welcome and an even warmer hot tub, which we soaked in the first night as we rested from our 2 hour flight. Courtney's Aunt Marsha also provided hot dogs and marshmallows for us to roast over their patio fire pit. What a relaxing time!! Just as we were getting drowsy from the wonderful hot tub, Aunt Marsha, who had joined us, dared us to jump into the frigid pool. A dare we could not refuse! Let us tell ya it was cold!!!!!!!!

Sunday we were heathens and skipped church to go to Six Flags instead. (It was the only day we were able to go.) It was about 60 degrees and mostly sunny, with a bit of rain later in the day. We thought the weather was splendid for shorts, however, everyone else was dressed for snow. We stood out like polar bears at the equator, seriously we only saw like 3 other people wearing shorts. The coasters were thrilling! We were able to ride half of them before the rain became too much, even for the Oregonian! On our way back to Aunt Marsha's we took a detour to Santa Monica, stopping at the Pier just in time for the gorgeous sunset. It was an amazing ending to a spectacular day.

Monday, the 28th of January, Aunt Marsha took us to The Grove, where we were able to be in the audience of Extra, hosted by Mario Lopez!!! He even talked to us! And if you look really closely in this picture you can see him behind us in the white shirt!!! (Yes, we are creepers!!) There was a new singer on the show, Olly Murs, from the UK. He's really good, you should check him out! We then stopped for lunch at the Farmer's Market, picked up some souvenirs, and basked in the glorious sunshine!! To end our day, we took a hike in Deer Canyon where we stumbled upon a geocache while climbing a tree!!! What a great surprise!! So far this visit to LA has been very relaxing and we have been able to use this transition to prepare ourselves for the New Zealand adventure. We look forward to more days full of sunshine, new people, places, and eventually life on the farm. Can't wait!!!      


   

a travelers tale

Hello to all our dear friends and family who might stumble upon this post!!
Our journey begins! If you haven't yet heard we, Courtney and Trina, are going an adventure!! We will be tramping all over the north and south islands of the beautiful country of New Zealand for the next three months! The idea of this excursion has been growing in our hearts and minds for the past year. We have been planning, praying, scheming, researching for what seems like ages!! We are so excited and thrilled and over the top enthusiastic and cannot wait for what lies ahead!! :D

 The adventures of our escapade, include mainly farm work through Farmer Friends of New Zealand, where we will be staying on family owned farms working alongside them in exchange for free accommodation. Also, exploring God's creation in the southern hemisphere, peeking our heads into hobbit holes in Matamata, observing traditional Maori festivities, hoping to witness rugby matches and roller derby bouts, discovering new foods, and simply investing ourselves in the culture of New Zealand. We look forward to learning about ourselves, our Creator, and the world as we know it!

Courtney began her journey in mid December traveling form Michigan to Montana, where she had a lovely Christmas with her family. This last week, she said farewell to the Beautiful Montana countryside and chooed-chooed her way over the Rocky Mountains safely arriving in Portland, OR where she met up Trina. This coming Saturday will see us on a plane headed to L.A. for a relaxing time on the sunny beach of the California coast. From there we shall spread our wings and soar across the ocean blue, leaving the comforts of home for the next three months.

Stay tuned for the continuation of this fellowships adventure!!! Maybe we'll even destroy a ring...or two. ;)