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.