Journeys: Tauranga

It was Auckland Anniversary Weekend, and my family took me with them on holiday. The mum had been working away since Tuesday, visiting hotels for her job. We met her in Tauranga along the Bay of Plenty, and headed straight for dinner in the town across a bridge, beside the beach, under the shadow of Mount Maunganui. As much as it pains me to say, Texas beaches have nothing on this beach. We played with the girls in the sand, chasing the waves, and picking up seashells.

 view of Mount Maunganui from across the marina

 girls at the beach in Mount Maunganui

 at the beach

shells lining the white sand beach 

looking left from the beach

looking right from the beach

After sunset on the ride back from the beach, I checked in to my hostel. The sun was still going down, so plunking my backpack on the top bunk in my stellar flat (for a backpacker's hotel), I took a walk with my camera. Upon arriving back at the hostel, I made friends with a German girl and a Tahitian girl, then later got a guy from Taranaki to help me get internet.

 my hostel - top floor, overlooking the bay

 sunset from Mount going back to Tauranga

sunset over railroad tracks 

Tauranga water at dusk 

bird in Tauranga in the morning 

My night in Tauranga was beautiful. At some point in the next few months, I hope to return and spend a bit more time picking up seashells. :)

Weeks as an Au Pair

My sincerest apologies for the late posts. I've been quite busy enjoying my family here, and have neglected writing. Hopefully I shall do better in the future!

The week after Rotorua was what I believe is normal for life as an au pair - playing in playgrounds, chasing laughing 1 and 3 year olds, pirate birthday parties and whatnot. We had something of a schedule going this week, and I got to take the girls to see dinosaurs at the Auckland Museum, play with them at about 3 stellar playgrounds and a few normal ones, baked some cookies and muffins, and much else. At one point, Ashlee (my 3 year old) told her mum: "Stop, Mummy! You're speaking my words!" Which I thought was adorable and a perfect way to tell someone that you were the one that wanted to tell the story.

Cookies/Biscuits!

Me and a little pirate 

 On our way to a pirate party. Aaaargh.

 Ash as a pirate who likes tools. 

Pirate Caitlyn walking the plank to give the croc a nose ring. 

Yes, momma, it's a pirate pinata! 

The next week (last week) was also good. The cousins that live a few minutes walk away got their new au pair the previous Saturday, so we spent a couple of days with all four children - trying to make her feel welcome. She is from around Nice, France and is trying very hard to learn English. Because of all the change, this week was a little more challenging, but still good.

Last weekend was okay, despite the rain. We had the tail end of a cyclone come through, which isn't as bad as it sounds apparently. Especially if you live at the top of a really tall hill. Besides, storms in New Zealand don't mean a tornado is possible, thank goodness! Saturday evening, we went to Nana and Grandad's house and Nana made a traditional New Zealand dessert. On Sunday, I returned to the same church I had attended the week before, and still love it. The people are incredibly friendly, and I can tell God is doing good things there. Afterward, I wandered to a shopping centre (a friend was supposed to pick me up but got sick and my family had plans at a barbeque) and spent a couple hours relaxing.

my first Pavalova dessert... mmmmm

This week (it's a Tuesday night as I write this) is also going well. Today has been a busy day! The mum of the house had to go on a work trip, leaving this morning. It was also Ashlee's first day of kindy for the year. Kindy, I gather, is like pre-K or an afternoon daycare. Kids are learning to spell their names, and they get to play outside a bit. They sing songs and such. It looked like fun. Nana came by to get us - which was a huge help since it was my first time.

Ash with a mermaid tail at Kindy 

swinging at Kindy

This weekend is Auckland Anniversary Weekend, so we are going to meet the mum in Tauranga, then hopefully visit the site where they filmed Hobbiton (Matamata), then spend the rest of the weekend and Monday in New Plymouth with family. I am quite excited!

Rotorua

It was the weekend, and there was not much else to do but explore. So, yesterday, a bus took me from Auckland to Hamilton to Rotorua. On that bus, I made a good friend - the first believer I have spoken to in New Zealand. This older lady lived in Rotorua, so she drew on my map to tell me where to go that wasn't so tourist-centered (which means the free nature places). She was encouraging both in my travels, in my move to this country, and in our faith, and she gave me something that I can't tell you about because it's a secret. Tehehe.

A couple hours or so later, my friend arrived from Taupo and we grabbed dinner/tea. Unfortunately, I had waited too long to eat, so got sick... again. I was taken to the hostel to rest while he and two German girls he had found the night before went to the supermarket. No worries, though. I made friends with a girl from Belgium and helped her with her English. We had a lot of laughs before she finally ran out of questions and went to sleep!

The next morning, my friend came back. And we went to the Redwood Forest on the outskirts of the town. One of my goals on my list of things to do before I die was to visit the Redwoods in California, and these trees were imported from California a century ago. They grow faster here because of the richness of the soil, so they are insanely tall and fat.

We visited some geothermal sites in the middle of town next. By the way, all of Rotorua smells like rotten eggs because of the sulfur, but you get used to it after a while. The steam coming off this stuff smells quite stench-y.

After lunch at a little Korean restaurant, my friend left and I walked around a bit more toward Lake Rotorua and the gardens at the government buildings.

I made a volcano out of my food... :)

rose garden 

me in the rose garden 

museum from the croquet field 

The ride home was very relaxing. The girl from Belgium had told me that the Rotorua area was where Mordor from Lord of the Rings was staged, so I was especially excited to be driving through Hobbiton on the way home!

The weekend was wonderful, and this country is breath-taking. It was good to see a friend for a day, and it was good to make new ones. 

Good days.

The past couple days have been marvelous. Lots of tea, lots of water, a cousin's Star Wars birthday party, and days filled with children. Reagan & I got to spend some time skype-ing, and all the fun stuff that comes with that. :) Here are some photos from the past couple days.

skype is a wonderful thing 

sunset from the patio looking down the hill 

sunset from patio looking up the hill

sunset from the top of the hill - a block from the house; 

this overlooks the city & you can see the skytower 

sunset with lighting help from a passing policecar

In the next couple hours, I am leaving for my first little trip around New Zealand to see a friend I met on my Peter Pan trip across the States. Next stop, Rotorua! As with all of NZ, I am quite sure it will be lovely. 

Thanks once again for all your encouragement and prayers. Without you and your love and intercession, I would be nowhere. Ta (thank you) for helping me climb hills. 

There & Back Again.

Some journeys are mental and some are physical. In Tolkien's The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins starts out as a mediocre hobbit who is reluctant to take any adventures, and scared to death of doing anything unexpected or out-of-the-ordinary. When Gandalf nudges him out of the door, Bilbo visits elves in Rivendell, tricks Smeagol to gain a ring, and battles the dragon Smaug, becoming the hero of magnificent stories that a hobbit would never dream or even want to be a part of. For all this, he truly lived, but at some points it cost him mentally, emotionally, and physically more than he would have wanted to give.

There are hills here in New Zealand. And I am from flat Texas. Thus far, I have journeyed up every hill that has had the guts to get in front of me. I hope to continue to build up the strength and endurance to conquer any others that dare to get in my way.

Yesterday, we went to Devonport in the north part of Auckland. We got up, got ready, met a friend at her house in central Auckland, then took a ferry across until we reached our destination. Then we played at the playground, the beach, then we climbed a very large hill called Mount Victoria, and came down to ride the ferry back. The hills back up from the bay were also very large, but we made it to the car and I was tired with little legs like jell-o. All of this was worth the climb, and here are some pictures from Devonport.

Auckland City from the ferry

Devonport & Mount Victoria from the ferry 

central Auckland from Devonport's Mount Victoria

Devonport. And a cool guy that got in the shot. :) 

Rangitoto Island from Mount Victoria

We got back, and I was tired. And apparently sick (which I discovered the next morning when the 1-year-old woke up with fever). It was a fairly awful night, in all honesty. But any adventurer has to have a fairly awful night from time to time. If they don't, then they weren't really an adventurer to start with, were they? Without awful nights, there would be no adventure. So, in between being sick with a sinus infection a week before leaving, then getting fever yesterday, then moving to a different country in a different hemisphere on a different side of the world - then in between leaving family and friends and teenage girls and then finding out I can't watch Psych here plus starting a full time job, I suppose I had to break down at some point. I broke down last night. When you have fever, it's hard to hold back tears. 

Having said all this, I spend most of the day weak and sick. But after talking to my parents this afternoon (and I'm sure being prayed for quite a bit after that), I started feeling better. And better. My 3-year-old told me she loved me while we were making birthday cards for her cousins, and we spent most of the day reading picture books. And my 1-year-old (who has been a little shy to me) ran to me crying because she wanted to cuddle with me. The whole afternoon, I got to hold her more than she has let me before, so in a way we made each other feel better for a little while at a time. 

Thus, I have been there and back again to Mount Victoria, and I have been there and back again to a place of discouragement and homesickness. I'm sure I will go there and back again in the future as well, but will conquer that hill when I come to it. If a little hobbit like Bilbo Baggins can slay a dragon, if a little boy like David can kill a giant with a stone, then a little Ashley Ruth Sewell can climb hills. If Gandalf can give Bilbo a nudge out of the door, then maybe my God can continue to do the same.