Bay of Islands

Well, after spending only one day in Auckland, we made our way up to the top of New Zealand--the Bay of Islands. I was so excited for this because Auckland has started cooling off, but Bay of Islands is summer all year round :)

Day 1, Thursday:

We didn't start too early today (thank goodness! 9am is much better than 6am!), which helped us enjoy several stops along the way, instead of sleeping through them. Our first stop was at a famous Kauri tree. The Kauri tree is special to New Zealand, known for it's MASSIVE size, but unfortunately being killed off by kauri disease. They are protected in this area, and James always stops to show the BYU girls this tree. As we got out of the vans, he presented each one of us with our very own, matching lava lavas. They match our outfits perfectly, don't they? ;)

Our next stop was in a little town that supposedly serves the best meat pies. New Zealand is big on the meat pies, but I think I prefer to just stick with America's fruit pies. Stop #3 was in a little town famous for their mosaic toilets. This was also the location that Nicole, Neeley, and Christine were offered internships in the Jordan School District! Today was the day we were all supposed to find out about our internships. Since we were all antsy to know, this was the first stop of MANY internet cafe stops.

We finally made it to Pahia and our little yellow motel. This motel was definitely not as nice as the one we stayed at in Christchurch, but it was right next to the beach, meaning we LOVED it! We first explored the Waitangi Treaty grounds, where the Waitangi Treaty was signed, bonding the Maori and the Pakeha (Englishmen) together. We made a group trip to the store, made dinner, watched a BEAUTIFUL sunset, and began our new nightly ritual: watching Gillmore Girls. Whitney brought the last season with her, and it ended up being a great way to spend our nice, relaxing nights at the Motel.

Day 2, Friday:

I have seen countless picturesque views and sights while here in New Zealand, but today was definitely one of my favourites: Cape Raigna, the northernmost tip of New Zealand. This is the spot where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean, and it is absolutely beautiful. Words and pictures cannot adequately describe the beauty we beheld.

This was the breaking point between the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean. It was so cool because you could even tell a difference in color between the two bodies of water.

That rock out there is the absolute northernmost point in New Zealand, but this was as close as we could get.

There was one lookout where all you could was miles and miles and miles of the ocean and sky, never ending. Jess and I had this vision of a picture of only the us, the ocean, and the sky. The lighting is a little strange, but this picture caught our vision :)

Before leaving Cape Rainga, we all sent off a few postcards from the northernmost New Zealand mailbox, and JJ bought five NZ plants from some local Maoris to plant on top of Cape Rainga to help preserve it and keep it looking beautiful for years to come. We even got certificates for doing it.

Our next exciting adventure was boarding down the sand dunes! James was real excited for this, and led the vans through a shallow river and around these huge sand dunes to find the secret, hidden, best stop for boarding. We just used his boogie boards, and we all only had time for one run, but it was fun! The video doesn't look too exciting, but you can see my big plop at the end.

We couldn't spend too much time boarding because we had to get to 90-Mile Beach before the tide started coming in again. 90-Mile Beach was INCREDIBLE. The best part of it was that we drove on it. All the way down. Well, not quite all 90 miles, but for more than an hour. For the most part it was deserted, which made it even more pristine and beautiful.

It was so cool because we literally just drove all the way down the beach. This picture of Anna almost captures our excitement of it all :)

At one point James realized he missed the turn off to get us off the beach before the tide came back in, which could have been disastrous because apparently many cars have just been swept away because they didn't drive off the beach in time. Fortunately, we came found some people to ask for direction, but unfortunately the van started to sink into some soft sand when he stopped to ask! The ten girls in his van quickly got and had to push him out. I was safe in the other van, but it was quite entertaining to watch!

Before we left for Cape Rainga this morning, JJ drove us to another internet cafe. Nancy, Janet, Whitney, and Ali had all received internship offers, but the rest of us still had nada. A few hours into the trip, we made a pit stop in another little town, and quickly found yet another internet cafe. This time, I was elated to find an email in my inbox offering me an internship at Amelia Earhart Elementary School in the Provo School District starting this fall! I will most likely be teaching 2nd grade and I am THRILLED!! This is the school that I did my first practicum at last semester, and I absolutely love the facilitator, CFA, and liason--the three people who I'll be most closely working with during the internship. It's kind of crazy that this is all happening, and that I'm old enough to already have my own class, but there's no turning back now! Jessica, Diana, and Anna also were offered internships for the fall. Such an exciting day!!

Day 3, Saturday:

Our science professor from the beginning of this semester, Ian Milne, owns a beach house up in the Bay of Islands in a little town called Russell. When he found out we were going to be traveling up there, he insisted we stop by and have lunch at his beach house with him and his wife. The house was beautiful...

...especially because those big windows looked out to this:

We loved our lunch with Professor Milne, looking out at this amazing beach, and then enjoying the afternoon laying out and swimming on this practically private beach.

We also had the chance to explore Russell a bit today. It used to be known for all the drunkards and gamblers and thieves that lived there, but it has been transformed into a well kept, cute little town. It was fun to explore all their little shops, and find this beautiful lookout over the city: (I was enjoying the view, when Anna told me to turn around so she could take this picture. Unfortunately I slipped a little before I made it all the way around. Whoops!)

One of the funniest things we found in the stores was this weather rock. If only we all one of these... :)

Day 4, Sunday:

Today was a wonderful day of relaxation. We all went to church with James' son and daughter, who both live up in Bay of Islands. It was fun to be able to meet them, and see James with some of his cute grandkids. James is one of a kind, and we all feel so blessed to have him be part of our trip. He is always so kind and patient with us, making sure we have the best time possible. We have spent a lot of time with him in the car, and when he isn't telling us stories, he loves it when we "sing." He even joins in sometimes:

If you couldn't really understand James, he said, "My name is James. I fly with the cranes. I feel so tame. Such a pain." He came up with this all on his own. At least this one almost rhymes; another time he did it without even attempting to rhyme: My name is James. I drive the BYU girls...and so forth. Even if he didn't grasp the rhyming concept, we will always look back fondly on our time with James. And his laugh! He has the funniest little laugh that we'll never forget. "He hee."

We loved having the day to all be together, take a walk, nap, eat good food, watch the sunset and enjoy our last few days together in New Zealand.

Pictures don't ever do these sunsets justice, but we really have seen some beautiful sunsets while we've been here. I love that I was able to see this only a hop, skip, and a jump away from our motel!!

We had lots of fun waiting for the sun to set...

That fun included seeing what we look like with each other's hair. Example, Anna with Whitney's curly brown hair. It was hilarious.

Day 5, Monday:

We had the day open to do whatever we wanted today. Most of us went on a beautiful 10KM hike to Haruru Falls. When we got close, the waterfalls weren't exactly the mountain cascading falls we've been used to seeing, but it was still as we saw it through the trees. Plus there was so much other beautiful scenery and it was so much fun!

This was from one of the lookouts along the way.

It was smaller and kind of dirty when we got close...

but this was one of the first times you could see the falls from the path through the trees. Beautiful!

After the falls, we were able to spend the rest of day on the beach. We don't have too many more beach days, so we were grateful for the sunny day to enjoy the beach! We were also able to have a big family night together tonight. It will most likely be one of the last times all of us will be together. We're planning reunions when we get back, but trying to find a time that works for all 16 is going to be tricky. It was a great time to reminisce, laugh, and cry. We've had a great group. The Jacobs and James often remind us that they've never had a group that is so united, wanting to do big group activities all the time like we have. We are all different, but we have all made the effort to be friends. There has been no big drama, which is a pretty big deal for 16 girls who have spent three months together! We've been to learn a lot from each other, and build some great friendships. Here's to the 2011 New Zealand BYU girls!

Day 6, Tuesday:

Before we took off this morning, we all gathered together and presented James with a little thank you since this was the last time we would see him. Since he loves to hear us sing, we sang our Maori song, "Te Aroha," and then also "Lean On Me," while Emily played James' ukulele. We were all crying by the end, knowing this was the last time we'd all be together as a big group in New Zealand. It was the perfect way to end our New Zealand adventure all together.

Front row: Emily, Nancy, Nicole, Hannah

Middle row: Diana, Jessica, Linda Jacobs, Christine, Ali, Kara, Neeley

Back row: Me, Katie, Whiteny, Janet, Jim Jacobs, James Amu, Rebecca, Anna

Linda tried recording "Te Aroha" for us, but somehow she only 2 seconds. At least she was still able to get our tearful version of "Lean On Me."

I am back in Auckland for 2 more days, then 5 days in Australia, and 2 days of traveling! I will be back in America next week!!!!