April 14th New Zealand

 April 14th I woke up early at about 6 am. It was our most relaxing morning though so Doneen and I decided to go on a walk so we walked along the harbor and enjoyed the beautiful morning.

Diane and Ryan did their usual Run.

We all enjoyed a morning without much of a schedule.

 We had a nice breakfast of bacon, eggs, pastry, and sour dough toast.

We did a bit of laundry.

Dion, Summer, Doneen and I did another cold plunge in the pool

I found it easier than the first time and I forced myself to jump in on the deep end so I got my head under.

For lunch we went to  Jukebox which was a 50's theme restaurant with an old car museum attached. 

The food was good and Dad and Dion really enjoyed the museum

First stop is Hamilton to see the original temple that was built while Dad was on his mission. We also hoped to visit the visitors center that has a big mural of the dedication and Dad is in that mural.

We were sad to discover that the visitors center is gone and is now just a welcome center with a small room and bathrooms. No staff. 

The small welcome center

We walked around the grounds and through the park nearby which was so nice.

Next stop was the Museum that the church has nearby. We were hoping to come across some of the stuff Dion remembered from his visit to the visitors center in the past. Sadly it was a Monday and we didn't consider that most church stuff is closed on Mondays. Indeed the museum was closed. Luckily as we wandered the building we came across some missionaries who were working there. They were super nice to us and started looking for info about Dad and the dedication. They ended up finding some original pictures that included Dad as well as a kind of yearbook that had a two page spread all about Dad, Mom and Dion's visit back in the day (10 years ago?)

I swear we got a group picture but can't find it. I'l add it if I do.

The next activity was the Waitomo caves...the glow worm caves!

Very cool and also kind of gross. haha

No pictures were allowed inside the caves but it was very interesting. The glow worms are hanging from the ceiling by their own mucous. And their poop is what actually glows. Very pretty if you don't think about it. 

Waiting our turn:

Cave entrance:

Pictures at the end of the tour at the cave exit. That's the boat we were in..the guide stood on the edges and used ropes to guide us through the cave. He did a good job taking us through the various nooks and crannies where you could see the worms best.

Dinner was at the Iguana Street Grill for which Diane had made reservations in advance.

It was on a hopping street with lots of night life. The front the restaurant had open windows open to the sidewalk outside. There were tables out there too. One guy was sitting at the table outside and we were seated just on the other side of the window inside...literally a foot from each other. He then lit up a cigarette and the smoke came right inside! We asked to be reseated.

The food was yummy!

On the way home, we stopped at a dark spot for some star gazing. It was not quite as dark as hoped (large moon) and also a big overcast so I couldn't see much. Plus I was super tired at this point...so our car didn't stay too long. But Dion stayed a bit and got some good pictures

When I got home, I was asleep immediately! I was our latest night so far...about 10:30 pm

April 13th New Zealand

 Up at 6 am  to get ready for the temple dedication.

Breakfast of yogurt and fruit.

We had a parking spot for one car in the church parking lot and the other car needs to park on side streets. We weren't sure how hard this would be so wanted to be early.

Diane, Ryan, Dad and Danielle parked in the parking lot. No issues. We drove around behind the MTC and found parking pretty easily and walked up to the temple.

The morning is lovely with perfect weather.

Before going in we ended up chatting with a lady who was a reporter for the Church Newsroom. She liked the story of us bringing Dad back here to see this temple dedication and asked if she could talk to him after the dedication. We figured she was just being nice but it was a fun idea to have Dad get interviewed.

We were seated in the chapel of the church next door to the temple. The dedication was lovely.

Afterwards we went over toward the temple to take some pictures together. Sure enough, the reporter finds us and talks to Dad for a bit and even gets some pictures.

a little sunny...trying to get the temple in the background

There was a large group of people in sort of a semi-circle around the temple entrance. They were all waiting for the general Authority, Elder Kearon, to come out. Danielle really wanted to shake his hand so she got in line. 

We were all excited to see him exit and I was just sort of standing back in the group. Surprisingly, he and his wife went around the circle and shook every single person's hand! Even those of us standing back a bit. 

He really made us all feel like he was super glad to see us there. It was impressive.

Doneen and I were near each other and we shook his hand. I then went to the back of the line so I could get a picture of Danielle shaking his hand. I did get one (not that good) but then he reaches out to shake my hand again. I laughed and said, "You already shook my hand back there" and he said "I thought you looked familiar!" But shook my hand again.

Next we were off to the Ardmore Airport (very close to the temple). They are known for having a large collection of WWI and WWII airplanes many of which are still flying! 

We first had lunch at the cafe there which was yummy. Then we went to the museum for bit.

Dion and Ryan decided to fly a WWII plane!

The people there were super friendly and basically gave us a private tour of the planes.

We got to watch Dion get prepped for his flight

One of the guys told me to stand in a certain spot to feel the wash of the plane when they started the propeller. It was shockingly strong!  I loved it!

When it was time for Dion's flight they took us an another building that had an overlook so we could watch the take-off and landing. 

That's Dion!

We were lucky to see a group of planes take off for a practice for an upcoming airshow.

Then while Dion was flying we were given a tour of the WWI planes.

Next was Ryan's turn to fly

The guys at the airport were just so friendly. They offered to have us for a drink (we declined) and then gave us ideas for where to eat dinner.  We were actually walking to the car chatting with the guy (I wish I could remember his name!) and Dion said," Shouldn't I pay someone?" LOL the guy laughed at his oversight and we did go in and pay.

He even pulled his boss out of the club to get here opinions on best restaurants

We had a few minutes before Dinner so we stopped at a local park and walked around. We were intrigued by the high tech bathrooms

Dinner was at Volare Restaurant. 

We had a table upstairs where there was only one other table. We had a lovely time and lived it up with starters, main and dessert!

We struggled a bit whenever we tried to make reservations by phone. The connection never seemed very good and they wanted a phone number but none of us had a New Zealand number which frustrated people to varying levels. 

Once we were in the restaurants though, everyone was super nice.

We were home by 8 PM

Watched more Lord of the Rings

We had family prayer together but then as the prayer ended, many of us decided at the same moment to use the coffee table as an aid to stand up...

and we broke the table.

Ryan did fix it later after a trip to get some new screws.

Another great day in New Zealand

It really is a trip of a lifetime and we are so grateful to Dion.