This week was a big one! And it was a great one. This week I am especially grateful for my incredible
friends from our YSA ward here. We have
truly created lifelong friendships with people here; they have been SO
gracious. This “crew” has taken us in, taken us on so many incredible adventures,
and fed us so much food J.
On Monday (a local holiday),
I woke up very sick with a nasty cold... But I was NOT going to let it stop me
from going on the adventure to Coromandel we had ahead of us. So I packed up,
the crew came to pick us up, and we hit the road - after getting some essential
snacks of course. I know I say this every time we drive anywhere, but it was
GORGEOUS! It's such a shame to sleep in
the car or on the bus because of what you miss out the window... The mountains were just completely covered in GREEN
with lush trees, and the clouds and fog hanging around them, they were so sick!
Ahhh it was gorgeous.
So we finally got there and decided to go down to check out the
beach, Cathedral Cove... It was about a 30 minute hike down. We were camping
overnight, but wanted to scope it out before we brought all our gear down. By the time we got down there I was so
lightheaded. I did not know how I was
going to make it back up... But it was STUNNING down there. If you don't know
what Cathedral Cove looks like, look it up! And look at my VSCO journal!
PLEASE. It
is sooo gorgeous. It's straight out of a movie, literally. Chronicles of Narnia was filmed there. Check
out the clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39xnFVV4IpQ.
The boys played in the water, the girls took pictures, and then we
headed back up to the parking lot. We got the little grill out and a little bbq
on a little grassy area complete with some sausages on a piece of white bread,
L&P (soda), and Doritos. After
dinner, we headed to hot water beach. This was one of my favorite things on this
trip. At low tide, you can dig holes in
the sand, and hot water comes up to the surface from the underground hot
springs and it creates a bunch of hot tub type of pools in the sand. And it is
pretty dang hot! Some parts are way too hot to be in - there are certain areas
by the vents that are too hot to handle! It is such a cool thing. I have a
habit of just digging the sand but the more you dig, the hotter it gets, so I
burnt myself a few times while subconsciously digging in the sand! When you get too hot, you can just go
jump in the ocean a few feet away!
When it got too hot and pretty dark, we all played around in the
ocean then headed out. We had heard that it’s dangerous to leave your car parked
there overnight, as well as it being such a long hike to the car, so we decided to
spend the night at Hahei Beach. When we got there, we were playing in the ocean
and THE WATER WAS GLOWING! There were glow-in-the-dark specks making the ocean
GLOW. It was unreal – add another surreal thing to the list of incredible things
that made it felt like a dream! We found out that it is called bioluminescent
algae... I did not get a picture but this is what it looks like:
Then we lit sparklers, played some really good music, and had a
dance party on the beach. Another perfect night! We got pretty tired and decided to set up
camp. Since I was sick they made me sleep in the car haha but that was for the
best. It has always been on my bucket list to camp on the beach, sleeping on
the sand and all, so that part was kind of disappointing, but everything else was
just what I would have wished for.
In the morning (Tuesday)
we whipped out the grill again and made some bacon egg sandwiches. Somehow even
that was perfect. Then we headed back to Cathedral Cove beach and played for a
few more hours. We took many many pictures, explored caves, found so many crabs
on the rocks, jumped off rocks, and just had an awesome morning there. Next we
headed over to a little waterfall completely in the middle of the jungle. By
this time I was feeling so bad I could barely enjoy it, but it was still
gorgeous. Again, please check out my vsco journal because there are pics of all of
this. The boys went all the way to the top and jumped off, those crazies! And
they didn't tell the girls that there were eels in the water until after we
left hahaha! We stopped for some fish & chips on our way home (well I got a
double cheeseburger) but it was good. When
we got back we were so tired, we just crashed. I think that was the best
adventure I've ever had. Good times with
the best people, complete with amazing music because Ezrom is a DJ and brought
his speaker everywhere we went :)
Wednesday was a very relaxing day of
recovering, looking at pictures, and trying to get better... but I got quite a
bit worse. That night we filmed our backpack journalism video which will be
pretty funny - so I am excited to get that edited!
The next morning (Thursday)
we had an incredible opportunity. The now-famous couple from the NZ wedding
Haka, Ben and Aaliyah Armstrong, came to visit us and we got to interview and
film them! They were truly inspiring. Their
words touched every single one of us in different ways. They are filled with
the light of Christ and the love of God. They are such lights and I strive to
be like them. It was an experience I will never forget. Later that day most of
the girls went to a cute little Italian restaurant and then shopping at a cool
Indian store.
On Friday we had
another cool adventure. Some of the YSAs picked a few girls up and we headed to
Piha. First we hiked to a Kitekite Falls.
We went all the way to the very top in that picture. There was a
pool up there that we jumped in, then went over to the edge where there was
another pool and ledge we could sit on. It was absolutely MAGICAL to be up
there on top of a waterfall looking over the dense, lush jungle. It felt like
we were on top of the world. Most people take pictures of the waterfall from
below. But the view from the waterfall is just as, or even more
beautiful. Dad, you would have died seeing us all dangling off the high edge
haha!! It is absolutely stunning. After we hung out there for a bit, we got to
stop at Piha Beach, which is a black sand beach that is in The Other Side of
Heaven. It is the scene with Anne Hathaway running down from their house onto
the beach in her white nightgown. That was always my dream, to have a white
nightgown like hers, and run on a beach like that. I can’t believe I actually
got to run on that same beach! I still want the white nightgown though :) On
the way home, we stopped for Hell's Pizza. It was SO GOOD.
Later that evening we started our big combined YSA weekend! We had
an activity with speed dating, a Haka performance, and a dance. The YSAs had
been preparing a Haka just for us Study Abroad students.... It was so neat. It
is a huge honor to have a haka preformed to you, so it was very special. They
sang a lovely arrangement of I am a Child of God, and then did the Haka. We had
our nice cameras there, so later I will add a link of that when we have the
nice video done :) It was so cool.
Saturday morning we were supposed
to do a service project but unfortunately it was pouring rain and it was
cancelled. T, Claire, Madie and I went to a place called Better Burger. It
reminded us a lot of In & Out, it was so so yummy! Then we headed down to
Silo Park to the wharf and met up with some of the crew for jetskiing! We had
been jet skiing with them once before, but this time was even BETTER. We got to
jetski under then Auckland Bridge! That is a big deal! On the other side of the
bridge, there is a pink sugar factory, called Chelsea Sugar in this lush green
mountainside. And in front of it was a huge ship. It was picture perfect. It
was the front of a post card. And you turn around and there is the picture
perfect cityscape. Once we got to the Chelsea's Bay side of the bridge, I
whipped out my go pro and turned it on to start recording. AND THE SD CARD WAS
STILL IN MY COMPUTER. I am soooo bummed about it. I really tried not to let it bug me in the
moment. As soon as I realized that, I
thought to myself: the only thing I can do now is completely be present in the
moment, enjoy it, and soak it up as much as I possibly can. I want to remember
it forever and ever. And I did enjoy it! … But I am super bummed that I forgot
to put the SD card in...
That evening we got some excellent Thai food and then went down to
the wharf once again! There are steps next to a bridge in the harbor that have
a perfect view of all the boats lined up and the perfectly placed cityscape
reflecting into the glistening water. In our swimsuits we jumped in and had an
all-too-perfect night swim. It was stunning to be in that water with the city views
RIGHT there. Absolutely stunning. I tried to soak in this moment as well. In
fact, I attempted my first sketch, because I soo wanted to remember the moment
(even though I took a picture as well! haha). The group wanted milkshakes after
so we went to Better Burger round two that day. And yes I got another burger.... Hahaha.
Today at church was a very bittersweet day, as it is our last Sunday here in Auckland. It was also a
very good (fasting) Sunday as I had many thoughts and feelings and realizations
:)
After church the crew invited us over to the house for a BBQ.
Guess what we had? Sausages in white bread! Haha it’s a staple here. There were
also some burger things and salad, and it was very good! I think I am going to
miss the whole sausage in a piece of white bread thing... Haha! Our friend Ezrom has to fly back to Australia
tomorrow (he moved there after his mission) so it was also a goodbye party for
him. We took pictures with him, and were soooo sad to say goodbye to him. DJ Ez
is our man!
After this was the final event of the weekend- the fireside. It
was very good. At the end our group got
up and Sang God Be With You Til We Meet Again. The congregation joined in on
the last verse and it was really cool. The Spirit was very strong and I felt so
sad we were leaving. Also, Polynesians
are soooo good at singing so it made it sound so much better :) The Other Side
of Heaven scene flashed into my head when he was leaving! Yet another moment I
don't want to forget. These memories are priceless and I wouldn't exchange
anything in the world for them. Nothing.
I am starting to feel a little better and I'm looking forward to our last few days here in Auckland, then we will be off to Dunedin on the south island! I will try to make a little video with some of my Auckland
adventures.... Then some of these things and places I'm talking about will all
make sense.
Hope you all have a great week!
Love and miss you all dearly.
This week's NZ fun facts:
- This
has been the hottest summer here in Auckland for 70 years!
- The
bus drivers went on strike the beginning of this week... That's not good
for people like us with no cars in the city....
- It's
really annoying that there is expired food on the shelves in the grocery
stores here in the city. EW.
- Seriously
went on a road called "Scenic Dr" on the way to Piha. The name
was fitting! And it was a very winding road...
