July Updates

On July 5...July 4 in the states, Josh and I presented at our host Rotary Club for an "America" themed night. The decorations were spectacular and we had asked the cafe to cater the event with hot dogs, hamburgers and fries. We had apple pie with vanilla ice cream and chocolate cake shaped like an American flag for dessert. The cake, by the way, was out of this world delicious!
We started the night by talking about and saying the Pledge of Alligence and then gave a brief summary of the American Revolution. Next, we had dinner and after that we had each table act as a team for "American History Jeopardy." The teams did okay but it was more for fun than anything else and I think people had a good laugh.

At the conclusion of the meeting, we had Whitney Houston's version of the National Anthem playing on the laptop. Josh and I came away from the evening thinking we could have hardly have had a more American night even if we'd been in the United States!

After the meeting, Bernice's sister and brother-in-law asked me about meeting with their 25 year old son regarding his academic plans. So, we arranged a time for me to meet with him on Monday afternoon, my day off from UCOL.

The weekend wasn't too memorable and on Monday I went to Ebony on George Street to have a coffee and discuss Michael's academic plans. A fine meeting with a really good Mochachino and then I had to get back to the house so Josh could have the car to drive to Massey. Josh had to complete paperwork to work as a Lecturer...a little extra travel money!

On through the work week and then to the weekend again. We had a FANTASTIC weekend. We'd gone through the week saying we'd go bowling on Saturday, however, when Saturday rolled around with bright sunny skies, we knew we could not waste the day inside a building somewhere. We drove downtown to George Street and found another cafe called Grazin to eat at.

I ordered the chicken salad and Josh ordered fish and chips. The salad was super great...I've been missing eating chicken in NZ as much as I'd eat it in the states. Josh's fish and chips were good but kind of predictable...like you can get that anywhere and he didn't really like the greasiness. But, the sun was shining, we were sitting outside on the coolest street in Palmerston North, people watching and just soaking it all up.

Then, we drove out to Himitangi Beach. WOW...we were in for such a surprise. We've been out to Himitangi several times now, however, even on a sunny day we've never been able to see the things we saw this day. The picture of the conical shaped volcano is Mount Taranaki which is 2.5 to 3 hours drive northwest of Himitangi. Then, we could see the snow capped Tararua Mountain peaks. To completely blow our minds, we could also see Mount Ruapheau covered in snow. Mount Ruapheau is a 2 hour drive north of Himitangi. It was SPECTACULAR!!!

The next day, was sunny again so Josh and I decided to try to find the tourist accessible windmill farm. When we first arrived in New Zealand, we'd gone up a narrow, gravel, steep road trying to find the windmills before turning around due to the thought of impending death. The second time we tried to find the windmills was when Jess and Ike visited over Easter weekend. All we managed to find was a lookout point. This time, when we reached the town of Ashurst, Josh asked for directions at a 4 Square grocery store.

We were on our way to the right windmill site and now we know how to reach it when Josh's parents visit in a couple of weeks. The windmills were awesome to view up close because they are so massive, however, they are also really terrifying. If one of those massive blades flies off, it's over. I did momentarily think of Don Quiote before we made a quick exit due to my fear...which was increasing as dark clouds and rain approached from the east!

Sitting at home that night, Josh was playing his video game and I was trying to finish the fifth Harry Potter book before Josh and went to watch the movie in a couple of days. The cell phone rang...which is always a surprise! We thought it would be a Rotarian scheduling a meeting but it was Jess and Ike. They were returning from a weekend trip to the Tongariro Crossing area and would be driving through Palmerston North. We decided to meet up with them at Barista...the only open late place in town...midnight even on a Sunday. This was the cafe we'd met Kim and Fleetwood and Anand at after we'd lived in NZ for about a month.

Well, after Jess and Ike had driven around the Square a few times, missing us once....it was sooo funny because Josh was flashing the car lights and I was convulsively waving at what turned out to be the wrong car! we met up and were off to the cafe. It's amazing when you click with people and you can hang out for two hours and still not talk about everything you have to say! Sadly, they had to get on the road to Wellington which was still a 2 hour drive south. We have plans to meet up for lunch on August 9 when we go to Wellington to pick Josh's parents up from the airport. Should be fun!

On Monday night, after speaking at a Rotary club in Marton, Josh and I went to watch the new Harry Potter movie. It was ok but not near as good as the book.

Josh and I are still trying to sort out Josh's future job. The offers in Naperville and Fayetteville are there but just not firmed up with the paperwork. This has left us really confused and we aren't sure about where to go anymore...Josh even has another phone interview with a place in Denver!

That's all the updates from Down Under for now!