I know, I know-I'm tardy again. This traveling and studying at the same time business does not leave a whole lot of extra room for posting blogs, but now that I've turned in all the homework that's due before I get to China, I now have a chance to update you on my travels.
So, allow me to go back to January 25th-27th when we took a trip to Raglan, a tiny little beach town about one hour away from Hamilton, where we attended the Parachute Music Festival. We spent Friday at the black sand, surfing beach, soaking up the sun and playing in the waves. It was fun getting knocked around by the force of the water, but after a while it got somewhat tiring and I was glad to rest in the warmth of the sun (how's that snow treating all of you, by the way?). We stayed at a campground called Solscape. The owners had turned a bunch of old train cars into cabins, which were really neat to sleep in. I felt like I was one of the Boxcar children :-)
On Saturday, we headed to the Parachute Music Festival in Hamilton. The main event of the night was the Switchfoot concert, which everyone was really excited about. I was overwhelmed, however, with the massive crowd that was packed onto the lawn. There was absolutely no room whatsoever to move, and there were constantly people pushing and shoving there way through the audience to get closer to the stage. I touched way more sweaty bodies than I would have cared to, almost got trampled a few times, and felt mildly claustrophobic. I quickly learned that if I didn't jump along with the rest of the crowd, then there would be no hope for me, so once I loosened up and started having fun, it was a much more enjoyable experience. Switchfoot put on an excellent show, and I loved singing along and worshipping under the stars-it definitely turned into a sacred moment, and was one of the highpoints of the trip.
Now, let's fast forward to February 3rd-7th. On Sunday, we packed up, piled into the vans, and drove to Whangerai, where we stayed at a holiday park for the evening and rested up for the rest of the week. The main event of the night was playing mafia-always a good time!
On Monday morning, we went to the Treaty Grounds and learned a lot about the native Maori of New Zealand, as well as their national holiday, Waitangi Day (February 6, 1840), when British sovereignty was claimed over the country. I learned a lot of interesting things, and gained more of an appreciation of Maori culture and the birth of New Zealand.
We spent Monday afternoon in Paihia, where many members of the group found the Superbowl playing at a restaurant and planted themselves there for a couple of hours. I honestly didn't have a whole lot of interest in the game-it just was not the same as watching it with friends and family in the states-so Bethany and I decided to go souveneir shopping instead.
The real excitement started at 5:00 when we boarded the boat for our overnight cruise to the Bay of Islands. This was definitely the highlight of my trip thus far. The crew of the "Rock the Boat" cruise was very friendly and gave us a great time. We were able to go fishing off the back of the boat, and much to my amazement, I caught a fish. There's no need to worry about how big it was-the main point is, I caught one. After much insistance from the crew that I needed to cater to tradition by kissing the fish since it was the first (and only) one I caught, I finally conceeded and puckered up. Blah.
My favorite part of the cruise was being able to go night kayaking-definitely an experience I will never forget. It was about 10:30 at night, and pitch dark because there was no moon. The only light came from the billions of brilliantly bright stars scattered across the inky black sky. I've never seen so many stars in my life! The crew members took us out 8 at a time, and led us around one of the islands for a little while. I loved the feeling of gliding through the water in my kayak, and felt as though I could have paddled around all night. Also, experiencing the phenomenon of the phosphorescence in the water was priceless. When I scooped up the water in my hand, it looked as though I were holding thousands of fireflies. It was breath takingly beautiful.
The next morning after breakfast, we had the opportunity to go snorkeling. I had never been snorkeling before and was excited to try, but was also a little hesitant due to the fact that it was raining and the water was somewhat choppy. Also, I was slightly grossed out about putting the mouth piece in my mouth as I thought about all the different people who had used it in the past, and I wasn't too sure about how conscientious the crew had been about sanitizing them. However, my philosophy on this trip has been to try everything, so I swallowed the lump in my throat, donned a wet suit, flippers, goggles, and the breathing tube, wrapped a pool noodle around my waist, and jumped into the water. It was really cold at first, but got better as I started swimming around. I was concerned that I wouldn't breath the proper way and end up swallowing a bunch of salt water, but I was surprised at how easy it was and didn't have any problems. Unfortunately, the water wasn't too clear and I only saw a couple fish, but it was still fun and I'm glad I gave it a shot. As to my concerns about the mouth piece, I was reassured later that salt water sanitizes quite well, which brought a great sigh of relief.
Around lunch time, we kayaked out to the shore of one of the 144 islands that make up the Bay of Islands. It was still raining and the wind had picked up. Nevertheless, barefoot and wearing only a swimsuit, with my rain-drenched towel wrapped around my shoulders, I followed a crew member as he led us on a hike up the face of a steep hill. The grass was surprisingly thick, soft, and springy, and I felt like a hobbit as I made the trek in barefeet. The view when we reached the top was worth the climb, as we were able to look off across the ocean and see ourselves encircled by more islands.
We spent Wednesday back in Paihia, resting and doing more shopping, and then on Thursday morning we packed up and headed back to the Bible college. We stopped in Whangerai, where we took a trail down to the base of a waterfall and ate lunch. It was the perfect end to our 5 day adventure!
Since arriving back at the Bible college, we've spent our time finishing up our homework for the New Zealand portion of the trip. Tomorrow morning, we're packing up and moving out of the Bible college to spend 1 more week traveling around New Zealand. We'll be going to Rotorura, Talpo, and Waihi and will experience many of the extreme sports that New Zealand is well known for, such as luging, zorbing, and...SKYDIVING. Yes, everyone, I am going skydiving. I'll make the jump on Valentines Day (which will actually be the 13th for all of you, since NZ is 18 hours ahead). I would greatly appreciate your prayers as I would prefer to survive to tell the tale and show you all the video. I've always wished I could fly... :-) We'll also get to see the Haka, which is a traditional Maori dance, and go to Hobbit Town and see the remaining set from Lord of the Rings. Also, I've been wanting to feed a little lamb a bottle of milk on this trip, and although it's not a guarantee, I've been told that it may happen on this leg of the trip, which I would be greatly excited about.
On February 20th, we fly to Australia. We'll be there for 9 days, and then on February 29th will fly to Beijing. I probably won't have internet access during the next couple of weeks, but as soon as we get settled in China I will let you know how everything is going.
It's been a great adventure so far. Thanks for all of your prayers and support!
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