More seals.

This wasa fun sign that we saw. It is posted right before a hairpin turn. We had a good laugh for the day as there isn't any way that someone could go around this corner at 100k/hr. We have seen this before at various places on our travels and always wonder if the workmen installing the signs chuckle at the thought of someone trying to go that speed.

Our day at the seal colony.

Tuesay, our time :), we took a preparatin day and went to see the seal colony. It was a two and a half hour drive from our home over the Remutaka Mountain range. It was a beautiful day about 65 degrees and sunny. The scenery was fantastic.Once we arrived there we saw this lighthouse up on a promontory. To get to it we needed to walk up 250 stairs. We did our stair[Photo]master and exercise for the day. My legs were definitely burning. As you can see from the pictures there was hardly a cloud in the sky. It is hard to believe that we are in the season of winter.

Our day at the seal colony continued

Along the way we saw hundreds of sheep with their lambs right by the side of the road as well as seals just sunbathing on the rocks by the sea. It was a glorious day and we had a great time. We also stopped in a town called Martinborough to have lunch a cafe. We saw two of our missionaries out and about doing their work on their bikes. After lunch we bought them a snack and hung the bag on their bikes. (They were off walking around town knocking on doors visiting people.)

All in all it was a great day.

Have a great day yourselves.

August Cattle Drive 2007

Here we are looking at all the cattle as they are moved from one paddock to another. Lots of memories of every kind.

Here we are with just a few of our missionaries.
WELLINGTON UPDATE – September, 2007

Ki Ora, Good friends,

Let us review the past three months with you. In this hemisphere, we went through winter and are entering the glorious Spring season. Winter was unusually warm and dry. While we had a few cold days (it went to -19 near Queenstown in one cold snap), most days were in the 9 to 14 degree range (48 to 58 degrees Fahrenheit). It is never really cold here, but one of our senior missionaries observed, ‘It’s not really a cold country; I just can’t ever seem to get warm.’ J We saw snow again this winter, though it was primarily on the mountains where people can ski and snowboard.

Spring here brings approximately 40 million lambs and we don’t know how many new calves. Everywhere we go, the fields (paddocks, they call them here) are dotted with little white ‘dishrags’, which upon closer inspection are newborn lambs. Daffodils are out everywhere adding their cheery yellow countenance to the awakening gardens. Spring shows off blossoms and blooms of many varieties, in flowers, bushes and massive trees. From the Alps to the hills to the plains, this country is breath-taking in its year-round beauty.

While we were driving around this past two weeks we had some fun events happen that could only happen here in New Zealand, I believe.

As we were traveling from Queenstown to Invercargill (the end of the earthJ) we saw a truck coming toward is with a sign of a cow attached to the front of the grill. This meant that there would be cattle coming along behind him and sure enough, as we rounded the bend there was a whole herd of cattle. It was so exciting as they swarmed around us (and the other cars) as they were moved from one paddock (field) to another. Most were well behaved but a few would get a little disoriented and dart between the cars to the other side of the road only to change direction and dart back to try and go where they came from. It was a fun adventure for us and luckily I had our camera and took some pictures.

Then just this week we were traveling back from Invercargill to Queenstown (keep in mind this is a two lane road with bridges and twists and turns particularly as you near Queenstown) when a truck came along and waved for us to pull over. As we rounded the bend in the road we saw up ahead, a house being moved. It took up the width of the road, hence the purpose for us to pull over. I had our camera with us but unfortunately I wasn’t able to get it out and ready in time to take a picture. This is fairly common in New Zealand where you can buy a house and have it moved to another location. Gives new meaning to “moving house”! :)

Sport is taken very seriously here, at least some sports – net ball, cricket, rugby, field hockey, badminton, etc. You’ll notice a sports lineup much different than the US or Canada. You may be unaware that the rugby World Cup is about to start in France, but everyone here over age 18 months is ‘on to it’, as the Kiwis say. They will awake in the middle of the night to watch the matches live from France. The country will enter major depression (mental not financial) if the ‘All Blacks’ don’t bring home the cup. If you get a chance to watch, it has to be one of the few ‘tough man’ sports around. No pads, big men and a lot of testosterone! We’ve been to live matches and they are exciting.

I really enjoy Rugby. It is fast moving and only lasts 80 minutes. The clock continues to run despite injuries, times out, etc. Cricket, on the other hand, does not keep my attention.:)

Net ball is a little like basketball, but there is no backboard and players are limited to where they can play on the court. All shots are taken within 4 or 5 feet of the basket. It appears there is a rule against blocking shots, or even trying to, since you don’t see that happen in games. It reminds me a little of how women’s basketball used to be 50 years ago. I haven’t managed to get into the sport, but I have a healthy respect for it. Kiwis are not wimps and they love it, so it must take intelligence, strength and practice.

Cricket is a little more exciting once you get the general idea of it, and realize that it is a sport, that in its purest format, lasts for days. I think it must take a lot of practice and effort to throw the ball with a stiff arm, since they give the pitcher a rest after he throws six times. Certainly the batter (batsman) is close to the pitcher (bowler … he doesn’t actually roll it along the ground) and needs a keen eye to be able to hit the ball well. It’s not a fast-paced sport. Settle in for hours if you’re going to watch it. It is however, very civilized. They stop for lunch and tea and are generally very polite to each other.

The language of New Zealand is colourful. If something comes up that will mean facing an uncomfortable situation, and the person does not do it, he/she is said to have put it in his/her ‘too hard basket’. It paints a good word picture. Sidewalks are ‘footpaths’, a more literal description of the use. If you recover from an illness or heal from a sprained ankle, you ‘come right’. Doing the difficult things in a job is referred to as ‘doing the hard yards’.

One of my favorites is “I can’t get my head around it”. Judder bar (speed bump) is another one that sends visuals to my mind.

You may be interested in our complement of missionaries here that we work with. We have 162 in total at the moment, not counting ourselves. Of those 30 are senior couples (15 couples). Four of the couples are from New Zealand and the other eleven couples are from the USA. We also have 6 senior (well north of 40 years old, but we won’t say how close to the pole J ) lady missionaries who serve in companionships of two. The rest are all young missionaries, 16 young women and 110 young men. All of them live in companionships of two, almost exclusively in modest apartments where they are responsible for cooking, cleaning, and laundry. They all pay their own way, many with funds they have earned over many years. Living in companionships twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, leads to learning excellent interpersonal skills. They learn to appreciate others’ cultures, personalities and talents. They are remarkable. We have some dozen languages and some 20 countries represented at any moment in time. Missionaries come from as far away as Germany and Britain, and as close as northern New Zealand, as well as from the many island nations of the pacific. One is arriving from Tahiti, the son of one of my own missionary companions from when I served there at age 19 (small world). Many have made great personal sacrifices to come out, and some are the only members of the Church in their families. All mature wonderfully while here and are an inspiration to us in their desire to serve others with all of their energy and heart while they have the assignment.

Keeping them all safe, trained, motivated, healthy and watched over is an exciting opportunity for us. Karen will share her medical roster for just the past couple of weeks to give you an idea of just one aspect of our assignment.

Mike has done and excellent job of giving you and idea of who we are here working with. They are all wonderful and we have made memories and relationships that will last forever. We continue to get updates from our missionaries that have gone home many of whom are now getting married and beginning the next phase of their lives along with schooling and beginning their careers. It is fun for us to see how they are doing.

Medically, I am kept busy. Over all, considering how many missionaries we have, there are very few serious illnesses; mostly stomach flu, head colds, and sprained ankles and backs. This week, however, we have had a missionary diagnosed with pneumonia, another with chickenpox, one with an infected throat and a senior sister missionary diagnosed with knotted muscles in her abdomen that has caused her excruciating pain. Fortunately, the medical practice here is very good. We even found a specialist that had seen and treated the abdominal problem with success. We also had a missionary, while playing touch Rugby, slip on the grass, fall on his foot and dislocate and break his ankle. This resulted in reconstructive surgery and he is on the way to a full recovery. There is definitely never a dull moment for us. If you noticed when we get home that our hair has grown a little lighter perhaps you will know one of the causes. Despite some of the worries we experience all the positive events far out weigh them. Mike has expressed it beautifully that these “are days never to be forgotten”.


We have schedules which keep us busy from 6:30am until 10:30pm, spending virtually all of that time with or around the missionaries who are here. We stay feeling young, looking greyer and being invigorated because of these daily activities.

We miss our interaction with you. We hope that all is well with you and your families. This assignment has helped us see priorities in life more clearly – Matters Spiritual (which provide perspective and strength in a challenging world); Family (led by grandchildrenJ); Friends (and shared memories); Health and the Freedom to choose what we do, and how we can contribute to the well-being of others. We look forward to finishing this assignment with excellence. What the future holds, we do not know. However, we do know that life is exciting and full of opportunities.

Love to all,

Karen & Mike