There and Back Again!

Our son Nathanael and his wife Rebecca arrived from Utah on February 7th and we didn’t let them rest a lot.

We introduced them to Middle Earth and then we took off to Hobbiton right after they arrived.

We really love to visit Hobbiton. The movie set is beautiful and to think Hobbits once lived here or at least you can almost believe it seeing the movie set and all of the props outside. They seem so real even down to the growing gardens. Oh, wait, those are real and most of the fruits and vegetables in them are real. I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone else in case you want to visit.

The question is are we big like Gandalf who can barely fit into a Hobbit Hole?

Or are we Hobbits who can easily fit into a Hobbit Hole. What are we?

I do know that these are real and beautiful.

And these!

These plants are real also.

These are definitely real.

We had a great day at the Temple in Hamilton the next day. Sad they will be closing it for some renovation in July this year.

After the Temple session we also visited some other sites. We crossed this awesome bridge to see a natural bridge carved through solid rock by a river over many years.

As you can see the river has carved out a work of art. It was a beautiful site and we loved seeing this natural beauty.

We also took them to the Marokopa falls, Jacob discovered this falls for us when he visited in December and we loved it so much we had to show Nate and Rebecca. Yes I am not good at selfies. I have that dumb look on my face.

We also visited Marokopa beach on the West coast near Hamilton and witnessed this stunning sunset. Here the sun is reflecting off of some cliffs and making them glow like gold.

I had to get these two lovebirds walking hand in hand into the sunset. Actually they were walking toward me but that doesn’t sound as romantic.

The next morning we packed up and headed for Rotorua. We spent some time at Kerosene Creek which is a hot water creek. We also had an evening at Mitai Maori Village. Here they are cooking our dinner in a Hangi, which is a hot rock oven.

We witnessed the Maori warriors paddle down the river before they put on their show.

Then those same warriors got up on stage and performed for us.

The next part of our journey took us to the Okere Falls near Rotorua. These crazy people were rafting over the falls. Several rafts capsized but everyone got back in and went over the next falls.

We also made a stop at Waitao Falls near Rotorua on our way to Hot Water Beach in the Coramandel. We traveled a lot and saw some beautiful sites.

We visited Moturiki Island where one couple were taking wedding photographs using a quadricopter. Several seagulls didn’t know what it was and kept diving toward it. We had to end this part of our journey for the weekend after a quick stop at Hot Water Beach. 

The following. Monday we started the northern part of our journey which had to be cut short due to our transfer meeting on Wednesday. Yes it is transfer time again and we will be losing some of our Missionaries and getting new ones. We started this new part of our journey with a visit to Red Beach. This beach gets its name from the broken red shells that are all over the beach.

 Red Beach has some awesome shells and some great sea caves that show up when the tide is out.

We made a stop at the Whangarei Falls where our son Nate decided to take a drink or so it seems.

We love to go to the Bay of Islands which was our next stop because we always see dolphins. They are curious and always put on a show for us.

We also visited the Hole in the Rock and were able to go through the hole in the boat. It was a little rainy that day but not too bad. We also saw many waterfalls that developed along the coast due to the heavy rainfall.

You are probably wondering why I included this picture. All of the light blue colours in this picture are actually fish. There was a large school of blue maomao around our boat and they have that beautiful blue colour.

We did get to stop at one of the larger islands for lunch and the possibility of exploring the island. However, it was raining so we didn’t get to see much.

After our Bay of Islands tour we visited the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. This was where the English and the Maori signed a treaty of peace between their people.

They also put on a Maori cultural show for the visitors in the Marae, which is a Maori meeting house.

We also had this great meal at an Indian restaurant. They made these cute little carrot carvings for the curry that we ate. It was a fun meal.

We had to cut short the Northern part of our journey because we had a transfer meeting in the Mission Office. I can’t believe it is transfer time again. We did have a Valentine lunch at the Fortuna buffet in the Sky Tower. We didn’t go up into the tower since it was too foggy.

To end our journey “There and Back Again!” we are including this panorama of Auckland from Mount Victoria in Devonport. It was fun having our son Nate and his wife Rebecca here in New Zealand for a visit. We miss them and all of our children and grandchildren soooooo much. We love you all and say goodbye till next time. Love Elder and Sister Bartlett.

There Is Beauty All Around.

We have learned that when Missionaries get ahold of your phone you get some selfies. This is Sister Bartlett having a selfie with Elder Tutuila and Elder Franko. We love the Missionaries.

As we travel to see Missionaries and help them with bikes, injuries, and sickness we often come across something so beautiful we can’t help but take a picture for our enjoyment and yours. These trees were full in bloom with bright purple blossoms. Our picture doesn’t do them justice.

At one of the Missionary Flats I was fixing a bicycle and as I left I saw these beautiful flowers so I couldn't pass up a picture.

We took some time out of our Preparation day to go see the gannet colonies again. This time we went with some of the other Senior Missionaries. The Woodwards from New Mexico and the Ashbys from Utah. We have some really great Senior Missionaries in this Mission.

We thought that most of the gannets would be gone but you can see by this picture there are hundreds still here. Most of the young birds have spotted feathers unlike the adult birds that are creamy white. The young birds are continually flapping their wings to practice flying but don’t try to take off.

This is one of the younger ones before it gets its feathers it is just a white fluff ball.

There is beauty in this picture also, and it isn’t Elder Bartlett. Sister Bartlett and the view make up for Elder Bartlett. As you can tell it was a windy day and we had a lot of rain. But as you know rain brings the beautiful flowers.

There is also wild beauty in the raging ocean. It created this blow hole.

It created this cave which flowed from one side of the cliff to the other side. What power water can possess to create such beauty.

The water can also make your pathways a little scary. These people had to wait until the waves subsided before they could cross this part of the path. We didn’t try going that way.

After we returned from the gannet colonies we had Ward choir practice. After we came out of the church we saw this beautiful rainbow. I hope that you enjoy the beauty that is all around you. We have been here almost a year and we are still amazed by what we see. There is truly beauty all around and we thank our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ for that beauty every day. We love you all and wish for beauty for each of you. Love, Elder and Sister Bartlett.