We Flew to New Zealand

From the Airport to Craters of the Moon

Jerry and I flew from San Francisco Airport to Auckland overnight.  We sat behind each other on aisle seats.  Each of us had a pre-schooler in the middle seat with a parent on the other aisle.  The 3-year-old girl sitting next to Jerry tended to kick the seat in front of her, so they positioned her 5-year-old brother in front of her.  Jerry didn't want anyone reclining their seat in front of him, so I sat in front of him.  It worked out.  When we got off at Auckland, this was the welcoming sign:

Gateway to Middle Earth

We drove to downtown Auckland and then out to Leigh Leslie’s home in Te Awamutu,  near  Hamilton.  We were not sure what to expect from Heidi’s contact .   Maybe she would be a dowdy farm woman on a sheep farm.  That would be fine, but we were surprised to see a refined, educated, retired teacher open the door and invite us into her home.  We hit it off really well and ended up staying five nights instead of one.  We saw a lot of sights not far from her area.

We went to church with Leigh and not less than five people introduced themselves.  We felt very welcomed!  After church, we had a BBQ on Leigh’s patio with a few friends from the ward.  The food was great, and the conversation included  the church, the missions we had served, politics, and family.  We had a wonderful time.

Leigh Leslie at the BBQ on her patio

 

 We went to the Glow Worm Caves in Waitomo.  Seeing the larva stage of the glow worms light up the ceiling of the cave made it look like stars.  The larva spin “fishing lines” that hang down to catch insects.  Those glow also.  What a spectacular sight! 

 

 

Cool, huh?

 

 

We drove to Lake Taupo and saw a lot of beautiful countryside along the way.  Some of it looked like the hills in the Bay Area, but most of it was uniquely New Zealand.  We could see why Heidi loves it here. 

We saw six dairy herds to every sheep herd.  Dairy is subsidized here and it is a lucrative business.  We had expected to see the opposite-- more sheep than cows. 

Lake Taupo is a large crater lake.  The town is a tourist center.  We drove around the lake to get a better view and to see where the condo we canceled in Taurangi would have been.  The drive was worth it. 

 

 

Craters of the Moon near Lake Taupo

We thought it was interesting that NZ has a Craters of the Moon also.  We had to go and see for ourselves.  It was mostly steam vents and craters amidst a lush green landscape.  Very different from the one in Idaho!  Jerry told me that all we needed to do was to find Firth. 

 

Notice the steam vents in this picture.
 

And here we have......

  

We laughed for a half hour after seeing this sign!