April was a beautiful month here in New Zealand! I have so many random pictures to share that I think I will break it into four weeks. I am mostly thinking of all the little and big things that I want to be able to look back on and remember down the road. In a matter of weeks we will get to take all we’ve learned back home!
April 1-7
April 1-3 Lewis heads to camp out in Wainui. His class stays at a YMCA camp with one other class from their school. They do some sea kyaking, raft building, zip-lining, and other challenges. Lewis has so much fun that he doesn’t want to come home. It is his first time away from home overnight without family, which I find a rather huge milestone. I am thankful that it goes so well.
Twill and I head to Travis Wetlands and New Brighton Beach with Hiromi and Kuni on April fools day. I am pretty sure the warm weather is an April fools. I keep thinking it’s going to get colder, but it doesn’t. The temperatures have barely changed since we got here in January. Twill looks like he’s doing classical stretch moves in the first picture. He has been asking to do the “dances” (really stretching exercises) since Chris had us all doing them one night after dinner. In the second picture Twill holds a piece of toi toi grass, classic native New Zealand vegetation. He and Kuni enjoy fishing with it.
One morning coming home from school we see this rainbow touching down right over our house.
One night I don’t have anything for dinner, so we walk to the fish n’ chips shop up the road and take it over to Ray Blank Park, where we like to play frisbee.
After bible study Mary teaches Twill how to make a rhino horn out of a rose thorn.
Friday night Wesley takes me to his school’s disco dance. We dance hard for over half the hour. It is a magical release for Wesley, who has been quiet and listless. Jessica’s daughter is crowned “best girl dancer” for her innocent enthusiasm and stamina!
On the weekend Chris takes us on a beautiful hike in the port hills. We start at Victoria Park and hike up to the Sign of the Kiwi Cafe for lunch. Then hike back to our car on a different trail. The mountain bike tracks we take going up are incomprehensibly daring. We are in awe at Kiwi capabilities.
Stewart shares his homemade Uno game. He and Lewis have been enjoying making their own card decks, coming up with new cards and color schemes.
April 8 -14
Monday night we have Hiromi’s family over for dinner. They make yaki soba, fish soup, and homemade pork and beef dumplings for us. I can taste the love in the dumplings compared to the ones we’ve tried before! I make salmon, roast root veggies, and spinach salad. We all enjoy the feast and trying new things. They admit that it’s their first homemade foreign dinner. Japan is still 99% Japanese. I can’t imagine what it’s like to have such a defined culture and cuisine.
All three boys run one or two kilometers in the Ilam School cross country race. Chris comes over from campus and runs along side them all on the campus side of the fence. It’s fun to see the colorful cheering children. I capture a picture of Lewis with his friend, Vanson, who won the year 5 boys race. Lewis’ place qualifies him for the next regional race. Stewart nearly does, but is not disappointed. Wesley is happy to have his water bottle, which he has grown rather attached to on this trip, because of all the many adventurous occasions he’s found himself thirsty.
Twill and I savor our regular routine at the Wednesday music class he has grown to love. He has really grown more comfortable with the adults at music class, showing them things and telling them stories. He enjoys the familiarity of the songs and playing instruments. I have learned quite a bit from the song leader, who was incredibly shy as a child and is very sensitive with children. And we enjoy seeing Hiromi and Kuni there too.
After music class we head to Jellie Park with Hiromi and Kuni to feed the ducks and climb trees on another beautiful day in New Zealand.
Lewis and Twill are glad to see each other in the morning. They are all very ready for a break from school and more time together. The next two weeks are school holidays. We have no idea what they’ll bring, but look forward to more time together!
Wesley and Twill want me to take a picture of them sharing the umbrella on the way to school.
I want to take a picture of Wesley and his daisies in front of Ilam fields so we can remember the massive expanse of green that we cross every day to go to school and campus and church. The picture doesn’t capture it at all.
April 15-21
Tuesday we drive to Te Anau, in the fjord land. On the drive down we listen to Escape from Mr. Limoncellos Library. It makes the drive fly by. Wesley throws up his breakfast not long after we leave home, but seems fine after we lean his seat back a bit further. Chris finds us a great house on Air BnB to be our home away from home away from home.
Wednesday morning Terry, our guide with Fjordland Tours, picks us up in their cozy shuttle van. There’s a couple on the bus from France and Terry considerately asks about Notre Dame’s tragic fire. There’s also a couple young teachers from Australia, and we pick up a family from Sydney. We enjoy Terry’s commentary and all the beautiful stops he makes along the way. We joke that the boys would probably be happy throwing rocks in the water here all day. I especially love the mountain stream hike, pictured second. Terry takes the boys up into the ferns and shows them how well they can hide in the thick New Zealand bush. We make a short stop at Gunn Camp for morning tea.
After driving through the amazing Homer Tunnel we reach Milford Sound and find our boat. Everyone keeps mentioning how lucky we are to have sunshine, as it rains in Milford Sound over 300 days a year. I am definitely thankful. There’s still glacier water feeding Sterling Falls, pictured here behind Wesley. They take the boat up to kiss the falls and anyone who wants to can get wet. We stay under the roof up top at first, then they boys and I go out to experience the shower.
The whole day is completely magical. It is a unique beauty here. But it also reminds me of the Rocky Mountains, and even the Smokey Mountains, at times, and the Alps in Italy as well. It makes me marvel at all the beauty there is in the whole world.
On our way out of Milford Sound we stop briefly at this bridge and I ask Lewis to take a picture of Chris and I. We have been letting Lewis and Stewart have fun with the camera all day. I have been wanting to get a picture with Chris. Wesley and Twill jump into it too, which I find very sweet. Wesley is usually the only one who likes to be in front of the camera in our family.
When we get back we go to a very busy, but very authentic Italian pizza place for dinner. They seat us outside in front of a heater. No one falls asleep at the table, and I marvel that the kids are able to handle such big a day so well now.
Thursday we walk down to Lake Te Anau from our house and play at the city park until it’s time to board our boat to see the glow worm caves. There are no photos allowed in the glow worm caves, and I am very thankful for the limitation so that I can soak in the experience without trying to capture it. There are elaborate lit walkways above the stream that flows out of the cave. They lead us up to an impressive waterfall within the cave. Then up some stairs to a platform where we wait in silent darkness for the boat to return and take us under the glow worm sky. Chris and I keep our hands on the kids while we wait in the darkness. We wait for such a long time in complete silence that I freak out a bit and wonder if we’ve been left behind. But the boat does return and we take our seats. Our guide pulls the boat along some chains in the darkness while we enjoy the beauty of the glow worms in respectful silence. Ironically, I feel like a kid, struck with wonder, and at the same time like all the years I’ve lived help me appreciate the experience even more. After we come out of the cave we watch a rather gory movie about the life of a glow worm. We are all glad that the movie came after the cave.
After the tour we gravitate back to the flying fox at the park, then pull ourselves away to find some lunch. We find a healthy food truck that has unique things on the menu, like deer and rabbit and duck. The kids are clearly in need of some down time, so we enjoy playing games at home, then drag them out, very unwillingly, for a beautiful sunset hike along the lake that we all agree was a great idea. The boys run ahead and hide in the ferns to jump out and scare us dozens of times. Wesley and Twill enjoy finding all the stoat traps that are placed every 50 meters or so. And Chris and I find that we can actually enjoy a real conversation.
Friday we drive home, listening to Wishes and Wellingtons. Twill and Wesley both throw up, and we attribute it to motion sickness. We stop for lunch at a place called the Pink Glider. The glider is actually a plane that will take people up to glide. We get to see it take off in this field. It’s a very kid friendly place with balls and frisbees and toy planes to play with. We also stop at the park in Geraldine, where our jam comes from.
We enjoy a quiet weekend when we return. Sunday is Easter, and a very wet one at that. We take a memorable jog around downtown under a grey dawn looking for the sunrise service that was supposed to be outdoors at the Christchurch Cathedral. We find the gathering at the Salvation Army just in time. It is an ecumenical service that Tim Bell invited us too. Tim leads the music for the service, which is both new and familiar. He is largely responsible for getting us to Christchurch, and works in the department Chris is teaching in.
In the evening we also enjoy our own church service, and a lamb roast that is very New Zealand. But I find myself missing family quite intensely, like at Christmas. It will be good to be home for the holidays next year.
April 22-30
The second week of holidays we slow down more. I take Wesley on a date to climb trees and find garbage bags.
Wednesday we meet Hiromi and Kuni at their food caravan, the Lucky Ninja. We are impressed with their food and Lewis enjoys the chance to use chopsticks. He prefers them wherever they’re available, which impresses me! After lunch we head over to the Margaret Mahy playground, which is unbelievably packed with people. I wonder how many are locals and how many from out of town, as the school holidays seem to be similar across all of New Zealand and Australia.
Chris finishes reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy with Lewis and Stewart and then finds the movies at the library. Unfortunately they won’t play in our DVD player at home, so they watch them in Chris’ office on campus. Twill and I find Bottle Lake Forest finally, a place I’ve been hearing about for months. It has some impressive bike stunt board walks, and a tire playground. I am again impressed with Kiwi kid capabilities. After we realize how huge the tree plantation that makes up Bottle Lake Forest is, we get back in the car and drive to Spencer Beach. It is a fascinating place with many forts made of driftwood. Twill and I add to one. We see a man on a bicycle with a homemade motor powering it. And a homemade horse drawn chariot. I figure this must be the beach where the locals come. I’m glad we found it.
Friday we drive out to the Hinewai Reserve for a magical hike in a restored native bushland full of waterfalls. It is beautiful beyond description. Wesley and Twill both throw up their breakfast on the way out. It’s the mountain roads again. We are not as prepared, but wash them a bit at the hut (where there’s a composting toilet, but thankfully running water) and they don’t let it ruin their day. Twill manages a very challenging side trail to Ghost Falls where the trail crosses the creek several times and even goes under some fallen trees.
After the hike we find some fish and chips and enjoy the beach in Akoroa. Some local girls help us find many crabs. And Wesley becomes a popular photo opportunity for many of the local tourists. We want to visit the beach where Lewis got to sea kayak when he went to camp in Wainui, but it is on the other side of the bay and we all agree we need to get home.
Monday we’re back to school. Jessica and Mary take Twill and I to Halswell Quarry for an adventure. Twill and I are both glad to see our friends again after the holidays. It rains cats and dogs in the afternoon when the car is at the garage for a yearly check up and oil change. So the boys and Chris get thoroughly drenched coming home from school. Twill and I get to bake and share a carrot cake with Jessica and her girls while we wait for the car to be done. When Twill and I finally get home we learn that Halswell Quarry will be the site of Lewis’ regional cross country race.