Monday, February 27, 2017

Tuesday, Feb. 28 (week / day ) Waitomo, NZ

Marmite vs. Vegemite
You may have heard of vegemite, the Australian food spread that brings to mind the 1981 Men At Work song "Down Under." Well, the New Zealand version is Marmite, also a thick black food spread made from leftover brewers' yeast extract with various vegetable and spice additives. Definitely an acquired taste, but you should try it!




Glow Worm Caves
We left Kyra at the farm house to recover since she was quite warn out. Maybe the jet-lag finally caught up with her. We spent the afternoon at the Waitomo Caves where the ceilings are covered with worms that emit a fluorescent green-yellow glow to attract bugs. These worms lower a thread of slime that catches the bugs & the worms then slurp up like spaghetti. They don't allow cameras so no pics inside the cave, but I have added a couple from the internet to get an idea. They look a lot like constellations in the distant sky. The guide said to be quiet because the glow worms don't like noise, but I don't believe it. I don't think they hear anything. It would just be too loud with everyone in the cave trying to talk over each other. Before we got to the glow worm part of the cave we stopped in "the cathedral" or largest room in the cave & the guide asked if someone would sing... no noise. Then she turned out the lights for anonymity... I thought about breaking out, "Jose can you see..." but a French lady holding her baby beat me to it with a beautiful Italian lullaby which might be more memorable than the glow worms! After the caves, we stopped in the nearby town of Otorohanga where the girls got out to do some window shopping.
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glow worm web pic #1


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glow worm web pic #2
coming out of the cave

just after getting off the boat at Waitomo Caves
the cute town of Otorohanga
A Walk to the Cows
Kaye took Avery & Cannon on a walk to see the cows in the paddock (pasture) & how much they eat. Their diet is carefully calculated with a variety of vegetables, today: radishes. Later in the day, Kaye took us all on a trek down to the milking shed but we missed all the cows. She still walked us through & showed us how things are done. Back at the farm we had yummy feijoa smoothies.
off to see the cows

Kaye explaining the cows' diet
 
Cannon with a cow-sized raddish

the trek to the milking shed

Kaye showing the suction device for milking

the feijoa fruit

inside a feijoa

Yum, feijoa smoothies!


Monday, Feb. 27 (week / day ) Hamilton, NZ

Temple View, NZ
We leisurely got up & packed up our things at Sebastien's place, left soon after noon & made our way south from Auckland to Hamilton. Our fist stop was the Temple & Visitor Center. We had peanut butter & jelly sandwiches out of the back of the van & got a short tour from the nice lady.



minivan nourishment



Hamilton Gardens
 The kids may have moaned a bit when we mentioned visiting some gardens, but this place was quite impressive. The ice cream treats at the cafĂ© helped start things off as we spent about an hour meandering through the dozens of garden courts, telling the history of gardening all around the world.







Romeo & Juliet

Davison Dairy Farm
Background story: back in January before we left, Pam, a nurse that Paul works with, gave us the name of Sheryl Baker to contact. She is from NZ but lives in Ontario, OR. Her sister is Kaye who lives with her husband Michael Davison on a dairy farm about a 30 minutes south of Hamilton, NZ. So, after talking to Sheryl once & several text messages back & forth with Kaye, we arrive on the farm in NZ with the warmest welcome from Michael & Kaye! What a great family. They embody the kindness of true Kiwis! We love meeting people & getting to know about their lives & culture. Thanks so much Pam, Sheryl, Michael & Kaye! Their hospitality was top notch including the BBQ, best food we have had in a long time. Cannon was in heaven as they have a whole drawer of Legos & he spent a couple hours playing as we visited after dinner. Oh, for dessert: lamingtons (coconut-coated chocolate or strawberry covered cake squares) & Hokey Pokey ice cream (sweet cream with toffee bits) which was an instant favorite.
our best dinner yet on the trip by far!
Kaye serving the garlic bread, yum!
Cannon with his Lego creations

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Sunday, Feb. 26 (week 5 / day 35) Auckland, NZ

Sunday in Auckland
We went to the Hillpark Ward & enjoyed the meetings in English with the cool New Zealand accent. We met a nice local family that invited us to their house & walk around a nearby botanical garden. We changed plans when they remembered there was an Elvis concert at the gardens which was packed. We went to a regional park on the coast just east of Auckland.











Saturday, February 25, 2017

Thursday, Feb. 23 (week 5 / day 32) San Jose, CR to LAX

Airport Day
Happy Birthday Mom! Stacia reserves the right to pick a different day to celebrate her birthday when she finds the perfect bakery in Europe! Paul had thought about calling ahead to the Walmart bakery in San Jose to special order a cake & pick it up on the way to the airport, but this was just too difficult to arrange.

We all endured the 2 long flights & 32-hour journey pretty well. What helps the most in this modern day is the personal screen on the back of each seat with TV, books, games & over 100 movies to choose from! The 6-hour plane ride from Costa Rica to LAX seemed short after just 2 movies! We try to regulate the electronic time on our trip, but when it comes to 13-hour plane rides through the night, forget it. Each of us dozed off at some point but it took a couple days for us all to feel normal again.
moving terminals in LAX
happily enduring the wait at LAX


 The Miracle Map
For the trip, Paul has been Sydney & Carley's Seminary Instructor & was desperate for a good map of the eastern Mediterranean Sea to follow the journeys of Paul the Apostle. He found one on Amazon but the seller didn't ship outside the US so the only option was to send it to LA somewhere & pick it up there. The bookstore IN the airport said they can't receive personal mail orders, so Paul found a Christian bookstore in Inglewood to send it to. Paul, Sydney & Carley walked/jogged 45 minutes to find the bookstore. The lady was amazed that anyone would send a map to her store & walk 3 miles to pick it up! "Who does that?"


Thursday, February 23, 2017

Monday, Feb. 20 (week 5 / day 29) Uvita, CR

Lunch in Quepos
After a morning of school we left about noon for lunch in Quepos about 15 minutes away. We found the "Soda Come Bien" as suggested in our guide book for big portions for backpackers. We all ate for about $16, which is an unusually good price. It did, however, leave room for dessert across the plaza at a fairly decent bakery:  ..., dulce de leche-filled canole, oatmeal cookie, 1 coconut & 2 chocolate drops, custard-filled donut & 2 cups of Tres Leches.

lunch at "Soda Come Bien" in Quepos

Carley's pic of our desserts at the bakery

Waterfall Slide!
 After being well fed we drove south to Uvita & found the waterfall slide (Cascada Verde) & had a blast sliding down & playing in the water.
here we are at Cascada Verde near Uvita


Sydney about to take the plunge


Good bye to Costa Rica.
Some thoughts by Stacia:
1.  I wondered the whole time if my dishes actually ever got clean when washing them with cold water, but I tried not to think of it.
2.  It seems like it would be a luxury to have someone doing your laundry but I much preferred to do it on my own.  I'm a little picky and I like to know what gets put in the dryer and what doesn't.
3.  Don't want to forget the night we spent looking up our Chinese horoscopes.  It wasn't so much the horoscopes that were important but what was significant to me was the family didn't rush off after dinner.  We had the time to just sit around and look them up and read about each other's horoscope and laugh.  To me that is what this trip is about.  Having time to spend just doing nothing but enjoying each other.
4.  We lived without many of our conveniences and luxuries.  Guess what, I like them and am glad to have them.  One thing I learned I really don't want to live without is hair conditioner!  I thought it may be one of those things I discovered I really don't need- wrong!  It is necessary!
5.  Running in Costa Rica was generally eventful.  You don't know what you are going to see.. iguanas scurrying away, a bull in the road, barking dogs, or monkeys in trees- usually an experience. I didn't love the dirt in my face as a car drove by but the rolling hills were tough and my destination was usually the beach making the end of the run a great reward.
6.  One of my favorite times was at the Playa Bisanz near Manuel Antonio.  It was a beautiful beach in a bay with calm water.  Sydney and Carley and I spent and hour or so just floating in the water talking about their futures.  Sydney where she will go to college?  mission? travel? and Carley thinking of dancing on a Disney cruise.  It was just so relaxing and nice visiting with my daughters.
7.  I will not miss the crazy driving!
8.  Looking forward to flushing toilet paper down the toilet, good wifi, and not being hot and stinky.
9.  Cannon wants to know "When do we go somewhere they will speak English??"
10.  He also said, "I want to go home, I just want to build something!"  I think we will look for some legos in New Zealand.
 
 
Costa Rica is:
 
Playa Avellanas (or Avellenos per Mom), Tronaditas, Cremes, Yippys, "Pica, Pica", Que Linda, "Purra Verda", hummingbirds, the beach, Casa Nirvana, Bugs.... big bugs, locusts, beans and rice and eggs and tortillas, Ceda, the Toyota Prada, Enterprise, 6 inch trunk space, Roasty Pollos, freeze dried meals, French toast, juice, chillin' in the hammock, Rob (the famous surfer), the Thelins, Pipas, waterfall slide, and fresh pinas & watermelons, mean stores with overpriced legos and body parts, parking lot tips (grrrrr!)and sunsets.




Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Sunday, Feb. 19 (week 4 / day 28) Quepos, CR

Wifi Woes
Wow, first I have to say that life without good wifi is a real downer. The router's band width is small here & we are competing with 30 Frenchmen! It's only working now because it's 7am & everyone's still asleep. Today we travel to the hotel airport for 1 night before we leave Costa Rica for New Zealand, so maybe we'll be able to catch up on the past few days.

LDS Quepos Branch
We attended the branch in Quepos which meets in a rented building well secured with a barbed wire fence & a narrow bridge which was a tight squeeze for our SUV. There were about 90 people there with a few other groups of visitors & 2 sets of missionaries. We only stayed for the first hour, drove around Quepos & then back to the house. On the way, we stopped at a fruit stand & loaded up!


a pic the next day with the barbed wire fence & locked gate!


Tarzan Jungle House




 



our studio apartment at the Tarzan Jungle House
gourmet dinner of rice & hamburger meat


Carley in the king-size bed