Glowworm Caves, Wellington, Rotorua, and Hobbiton!!!

We spent Monday trying to get everything done that we could possibly get done before our trip. My New Convert Initiative report showed up, so I was able to get that done. We showed the King Street Flat to a potential renter. We have a sister in our ward who wants to stay in the ward but must move out soon, I think because they are selling the house she is currently renting. We set up the Agenda for Ward Council. I finished preparing my Sunday School lesson, Steve confirmed speakers and prayers for Sacrament meeting, and we did a few other things for the Bishop. I even finished and submitted our taxes.  Oh, and I fixed a formula in my new Convert Initiative spreadsheet that has been bugging me for a couple of months. Lastly, we packed our bags except for a few essentials that we packed Tuesday morning.

Tuesday morning, we were on the road. The weather and traffic were good for the most part. Traffic got bad once we got to Auckland. We stopped at John and Diane Hester's new house. The movers didn’t have room for a few beloved plants, so we carried them in our car. It gave us a nice excuse to see their new house! We were on a tight schedule, so we didn’t have much time other than a quick tour of the new place. It is beautiful inside and out. They have a beautiful view too.

We stopped at the Mission Office to drop off something and possibly pick stuff up. Sister Garner was not there, so we left our item on the counter. Sister Ward was there so we told her what it was, then we left. 

Since we got to the Temple early, we called Season. We both missed our Zoom call on Monday. We had a nice video chat in the car before our session. We ran into several people we know at the Temple so that was an added bonus. Our session was very full. As we walked out of the Temple to go to our car, Elder Wilcox was wishing he hadn't left the windows down a few inches. Even though it was sunny when we went inside, it was a thunder and rainstorm when we left. Needless to say, our car was wet inside and out. We grabbed some dinner before heading to our B&B. We had a lovely room again.

On Wednesday, we headed out early to make it to the Glowworm Caves at Waitomo. I think they are one of the largest sights in the country. The caverns are huge. One is so large they call it the Cathedral. There is a natural rock formation in that cave that resembles a pipe organ. The acoustics are incredible. They even hold concerts in there for some famous singers. Kiri te Kanawa (famous opera singer) has sung in the caves. After wandering through the caverns, we reached the river, where we got into a boat to finish our tour of the Caves. There were thousands of glowworms. 

After that, we headed to Wellington. It was about a 6-hour drive. Honestly, there is nothing between Hamilton (well Waitomo) and Wellington except lots of beautiful trees, fields, and sheep. There were some cows too. Everyone once in a while we would get to a small community. I took two hours before we could find something to eat. Once we got to Wellington, we headed to the New Zealand National Museum. It was quite interesting learning about the history and seeing plants and animals that are only found in New Zealand. Eventually, we made it to our B&B for the night. I'm afraid it didn't hold a candle to the one in Hamilton. 😞

Thursday was a day of driving. You know how I said there was nothing between the glowworm caves and Wellington? Well, there is even less between Wellington and Rotorua, our next stop. The scenery was so varied along the way. There were great big forests that reminded me of Oregon, and then we would come to vast open fields with hundreds of sheep and cattle grazing. It was all very beautiful. 

About three hours from the time we left Wellington, we took a detour to the place that has the Longest Name in the World. The name  Taumata­whakatangihanga­koauau­o­tamatea­turi­pukaka­piki­maunga­horo­nuku­pokai­whenua­ki­tana­tahu translates roughly as "the summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the slider, climber of mountains, the land-swallower who travelled about, played his kōauau (flute) to his loved one". There isn’t anything around the sign; however, there are plans to add some additional amenities for future sightseers. 

We stopped again an hour or so later to see the Maraetotara Falls. The trek to get down to the landing to see the falls was a little treacherous to say the least. We both thought we were going to fall more than once. We made it to the spot, took a few pictures and gingerly made our way back to the car. Our balance isn’t as good as it used to be. We felt grateful that we made it back safely.

Friday was Valentine's Day. It was also the day we went to Hobbiton!!! Such a very fun day. Our guide was great. He made everything interesting and very fun. There are so many Hobbit holes to make the whole town of Hobbiton. They make movie magic by making a few of the doors 90% of average human height so the Hobbits look the right size for their homes. They make many others about 40% human height, so Gandolf and other humans look larger than hobbits. We took pictures of many Hobbit holes. Most of them were merely facades without an actual house behind the door. They doors may open, but there is only a small space for storage. However, they do have two fully developed Hobbit houses that we were able to go in and look around. I was amazed that the attention to detail. It was a wonderful Valentine’s day.

We actually went home on Friday night. We finished at Hobbiton around 1:30. As we headed to Hamilton, the more we thought we could just go home. We don’t sleep that well on the road and the thought of our nice hot shower and our own bed was calling us. So, we cancelled our stay with friends and headed home. 

We picked up something for Sister Ward at the Mission Office, visited briefly with Elder and Sister Garner, and headed off to Costco. I’ve decided the best time to shop at Costco is Friday evening at 5:30. There were no lines anywhere. Not only did we walk through the checkout line without waiting, but we walked right up to the food court, punched in our order, walked over to the pickup and it was already on the counter waiting for us. And to make it even better, there was no traffic to speak of.

We dropped off the stuff for Sister Ward and arrived home by 8:30. We had a GREAT night’s sleep. Since we were technically still on holiday, we decided to lay low on Saturday. That only worked for a couple of hours until the Murdoch Crescent Elders chatted us with an issue in their flat. LOL They had a horrible smell in one of the bedrooms coming from a vent in the ceiling. They had closed the door and opened a window. When we got there, we couldn’t smell anything. Elder Wilcox checked around and didn’t find anything like a dead animal that might cause the smell. We told them if it comes back to let us know and we will contact the property manager. 

While we were there, Elder Wilcox noticed that a grab bar was broken in the bathroom, so we went and bought another one and he installed it. They are good to go and hopefully the smell won’t return.

After lunch, Elder Wilcox went grocery shopping, and I worked on several little things that needed to be done. I sent out an updated Ward Council agenda, some information for the Hikurangi Elders, and made a few tour reservations for our trip to Australia in June. We found out when we visited the Garners at the office on Friday that they were able to book the same trip we are taking. We sent them to our travel agent with our itinerary, and they got it all booked. We are so excited to be traveling with them.

Sunday was fairly busy day. We were early to get things set up for Sacrament meeting and Ward Council and print out a few things that were needed. Ward Council went well even though we were missing a few people. Sacrament meeting was good. Our Young Women’s President spoke to us as well as our High Councilor. 

After that meeting, we had Sunday School. I gave the lesson, and I think it turned out pretty good. It was a little struggle to get our discussion going. I think we were missing some of our main contributors. Lol

We moved a family of 7 into the Ward so that was good since we lost 6 counting the Hesters. We had to hang around for the financial audit. I took the break to go over to Leona’s old house to help her retrieve her modem so she can get the Internet in her new house. I made it back just in time. The Audit went smoothly with no real issues. YAY!

On our way home, we stopped at Leona’s new house so I could help her get the Internet set up. She called on Friday to get it transferred over, but I don’t think it occurred yet. I think she is all set when they get it switched over, hopefully on Monday.

Once home I worked on the recap, sent a speaker list to Brother Horsford so he can choose speakers next month, and sent out the Ward Council minutes. 

We have a very busy week scheduled for this coming week. I hope I survive. LOL

All our Love,
Elder and Sister Wilcox