Saturday, April 6, 2013

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.

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