Life in Cheney as we know it...

Paul and I are back to the normal daily grind. Life here in Cheney is pretty calm on most days. Paul spends his time doing lesson plans for his student teaching practicum and playing teacher during the day at an elementary school in Spokane. I also play teacher during the day at a children's center. It is nice being back in the classroom helping children have fun and learn and develop new skills. I also get to learn new things. Right now I am learning how to not let the little things that I can not change or control affect my happiness and well being. I am striving to focus on the things that I can change and that is only myself and what I choose to do and say. Every job has its problems and things that just drive us crazy but if we choose to focus on the things that don't drive us crazy then work can be rather enjoyable.

Northland

We are staying in KeriKeri a town in the bay of Islands on the Northern tip of New Zealands North Island. We have been here for 6 days and will probably stay here until we need to travel back down to Wellington which is the country's capitol where we will be flying from to head back to the States. The Bay of Islands is a beautiful region of New Zealnd. The home where we are staying has a magnificent veiw of the bay in which you can see many islands and the vast ocean beyond them. The sunsets and sunrises here are beautiful. The place here is very peacefull. It is a farm that has been passed down from generation to generation of a family who was here in the early days of settlement in New Zealand. There are many adventures that take place in the Bay of Islands, snorkeling, hiking/tramping, scuba diving, dolphin and whale watching, kayacking, etc. There are two beautiful water falls in the area. There is a lot of history here, both Maori and European. There is a replica of a Maori village which looks across the river to the land where the Maori village once thrived. It is so facinating to learn about other people, countries and there history.

The end is in sight...

The end of our New Zealand vacation is in sight.

It will be a little sad to leave.

We have enjoyed our travels all over these two beautifull islands.

The country is magnificent.

The people are generally friendly and helpful.

The culture is different but the same.

The beaches are warm and beautiful.

The water is cool and refreshing.

The wildlife is interesting and exotic.

The wheather is nice but every changing.

The stars are vast and bright on clear days.

The sunrises and sunsets are colorful and alluring.

The food is normal and strange.

The days are long and warm, when not raining.

Overall this has been a great vacation and many memories have been created.

We will miss the place but love to be home.

Accidents always happen when least expecting

Have you ever thought of removing a finger? I haven't. Just yesterday while cooking dinner, I was able to experience a little of what it would feel like to cut off a finger. I was slicing onions for hamburgers and the knife slipped and cut the tip of my pinky, which went about halfway through my finger. It was a little scary seeing the blood just come rushing out and not really feeling much until later. It looked like it would need stitches because the cut was very deep, but the new zealand doctor said that none were nescesary. So my poor little finger that I almost cut the entire top off is now wrapped and bandaged.

To all of you who look at this blog and have been very disappointed at the lack of updating...I apologize. When on vacation one tends to forget all the things they need to, should do, and even promise to do, because of all the fun they are having playing and relaxing. Alas...I am here now updating this blog. There are new pictures...even though they were taken a few weeks ago. I hope you enjoy them. We sure did enjoy what we did in the pictures.

Dunedin NZ

We are now in Dunedin, home of the steepest street in the world, Baldwin Street. Let me tell you it is super steep. Paul and I hiked up it and my legs were shaking by the time we got to the top and my heart wouldn't stop pounding. We sat at the top for awhile and then we hiked back down. Going down you had to be careful that you didn't go to fast unless you wanted to face plant on the ground and start rolling. We went to this beach called Tunnel Beach, which was very cool. The story goes that this farmer who owned the land dug through the rocks, the soft sandstone making a tunnel down to the beach for his daughter. It took him awhile to dig the tunnel, the tunnel had about 75 steps, and when it was done his daughter would walk down to the beach. Later she committed suicide down on the beach. Today it is a beach with public access where occasionally you might get to see the penguins who now claim it as their home. The only way we were able to get to this cool place was by the help of Mary and Andrew, an awesome couple who we met at church and decided to show us around Dunedin. Our first nights here we stayed out on the Pennisula, and we hike to a beach on the east coast where we were able to see some Sea Lions rested in the sand, and a lone seal who was sun bathing on the beach. We hoped to see penguins but so far we have had no luck. We did get to see two or three large Albatrose birds who live on the tip of the Penninsula.

LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND

As you may know we are in New Zealand (NZ), and we have been here for about a week and a day plus the flight here that took a few days. We first arrived in Wellington which is a city at the bottom of the North Island. We stayed there for a few days, which was fun. We went to the Te Papa Museum, which is one of the larger museums in NZ. The warf or harbor, was fun to walk along in wellington, and we played on this slide that was designed to look like a lighthouse. It was extremely fun to play on. I wish we could have a slide like that at EWU's chidrens center, but licensing would say 'no way, no how, it's not safe'. On Saturday we left Wellington and drove up north to a town called Taumaruni. The drive was very nice. Paul drove. He did a good job at driving on the Left side of the raod sitting on the right side of the car. We went to church there the next morning and met some really awesome people. We ended up being invited to eat lunch at their home, which was really good. It was nice to be around good friendly people. Sunday afternoon we drove on up to a city called Hamilton, which was a nice place, and bigger than Taumaruni. We stopped at the LDS Temple and saw the Christmas lights and took a tour of their visitors center, which was very nice. On monday we drove to a place called Bridal Veil Falls, which is a beautiful waterfall next to Raglan, NZ. We hiked to the top and took pictures and then we hiked to the bottom of the falls and took pictures. The hike back up the hill was hard work and made my legs super tired. It was a killer of a hike for someone as out of shape as I am. After visiting the Falls we drove up to Auckland, and on Tuesday we returned the free rental car we were relocating to the airport. We went to the Auckland Zoo and check out the animals here. We got to feed some birds and see and elephant get a bath, and stand about three feet away from a giraffe's head while he was eating. It was great fun. So now we are haning out in Auckland at the YMCA. We went to the Antartic Underwater exhibition that they have here Called Kelly Tarltons. It was fun. We got to see penguins, sting rays, sharks, crabs, seahorses, and other cool things.