Final Week in New Zealand

Here we are in our final week in this beautiful country of New Zealand. Monday we met and moved in with our final host families of the Onehunga-One Tree Hill Rotary Club. Monday was a day to get moved and settled in and for some of us it was also a day of vocational and cultural experiences. That evening we gave our final presentation in New Zealand and were privileged with the company of a group representing 4 different clubs and DG Maxine and Murray. Tuesday was our final official vocational day for each of us. We were all treated to valuable individual vocational experiences. Today (Wednesday here)we had a magnificent day on Waiheke Island. As you can see from the pictures, the views were incredible. We had a driving tour of a great deal of the island, were treated to home cooked Kiwi burgers complete with fried eggs and beet root and enjoyed a leisurely swim at a quiet beach. What more could we ask for! Thanks so much to all who had a hand in such a treat of a day. Tomorrow we have our final full day here and it sounds likely we will find ourselves at one more beach (could be Piha) followed by an evening meal with the whole group at Mission Bay. Friday morning we are headed to the airport and Iowa, USA. There are no words sufficient to express our gratitude to Rotary and the kind people of New Zealand. This is a month we will always remember. If we are unable to post again before we fly, THANK YOU TO ALL INVOLVED.

M*A*S*H, Beach adventures and the District Conference

The western beaches of Auckland are known for their black sand and our team swam had a couple of opportunities to swim in the Tasman Sea this weekend. On Saturday we crashed into the waves at Muriwai and tried body surfing - Darren had the most success. That evening a few of us got into the M*A*S*H theme of the District Conference dinner and celebration and dressed in scrubs and Hawaiian shirts. We enjoyed an evening of reuniting with host families from the clubs we visited and tried to keep up with Bob and Chris Lang on the dance floor. The International Youth Exchange students entertained the crowd with the young men performing a haka and the women showed us their poi skills. Sunday morning we returned to the District Conference and learned about the transformational work of ROMAC, Rotary Oceanic Medical Aid for Children, a program of the districts of Australia and New Zealand. This charity provides medical treatment for children from developing countries in the form of life saving and dignity restoring surgery not accessible in their home country. The keynote speaker, Sir Ray Avery, inspired us with his story of how he went from being a homeless street kid in London to success in business and then as a scientist, inventing life-saving medical products. After the District Conference ended, we grabbed our togs (Kiwi for swimsuit or trunks) and jandals (sandals) and headed to Betthels Beach. We each rode the waves and held on for a wild ride in a rescue boat with one of the volunteer life guards. Darren, Christina and Jeff tried boogie boarding and after our swim we went for a walk through the Waitakere Ranges rainforest before coming back to our host families.

We Wuz Framed!

 



On Thursday morning the team said goodbye to our hosts from the Takapuna Rotary Club and met our next hosts from the Henderson Rotary Club for morning tea at Cafe Melba in Takapuna. After that we were whisked away towards West Auckland and visited the Arataki Waitakere Ranges Visitor Center which was breathtakingly beautiful (we hope we didn't spoil the view by jumping into the frame ourselves!). There were some intermittent showers while we were there and at one point a rainbow appeared about 100 meters below us as we looked down into the valley! After a fantastic lunch in a small restaurant with a great view of downtown Auckland off in the distance most of the team driven to the beach at Piha. Bart Delfos and Roger Laloli who were driving us indicated that it was "safe" to go swimming but only Darren had his "togs" at the time so it was up to him to test the waters of the Tasman Sea in a solo fashion. He managed to get in a couple of  pretty wicked body surfing attempts on some pretty gnarly 6 to 10 foot rollers that were coming in.     Thursday night the team attended the Henderson club's meeting (which with the attendance of several other clubs resulted in an attendance of close to 100) for a great evening of Rotary fellowship!





The Team gets "framed" at the Arataki Visitor Centre

Piha Beach--Amazingly beautiful

Yep, that's a jellyfish!







Arataki, Piha, and the District Conference in Henderson

On our way to the District Conference, we bid farewell to our wonderful Takapuna hosts and moved west towards Henderson. Along the way we visited the Arataki Visitors Center, located on a scenic drive in the Waitakere Ranges, where we learned fun facts about the flora and fauna of New Zealand. Did you know that NZ is one of the few places on earth that had no original predators? Today, wild boars have made their way over via ships from other countries, and the biggest pest in the country is the possum. It not only destroys native trees and plants, it also pushes the native kiwi bird out of its nest, away from its home, stored food and eggs. In the words of a Kiwi we met along the way, "A good possum is a trapped possum, the best possum is a dead possum."

After the phenomenal views from the lookout points at Arataki, we went to lunch at Elevation, a cafe on the side of a hill offering astounding views of the city of Auckland. While it was raining while we ate lunch, we didn't let it dampen our interest in New Zealand's west coast and made our way to Piha Beach. The wind was fierce but the rain was gone and the climate was mild. We walked along enjoying the sounds of the crashing waves and wiggling our toes in the unique black sand the west coast beaches are known for. After listening to the waves for a while, team member Darren couldn't resist and dove in for a swim. He claims the water wasn't cold and he can't wait to do it again. The rest of us will just have to take his word on that!

This weekend the team is busy at the district conference where it has been great to touch base with former hosts and club members we've met since we've been here. The team can't believe how quickly the time has past and were excited to see old friends. After the conference we head to Onehunga - One Tree Hill before heading back to Iowa on April 15th.

Rotary GSE D6000 Iowa to D9910 New Zealand: Takapuna Experiences

Rotary GSE D6000 Iowa to D9910 New Zealand: Takapuna Experiences: "Upon leaving the Kelly's Bay retreat we had a lovely visit at the Matakohe Kauri Museum, had lunch, and then travelled on to Wellsford where..."

Pictures of Takapuna day of Maori culture

Mid Tour Break



Our "bach" at Kelly's Bay



Our great friends/families of Dargaville graciously arranged for us to have a mid-tour break at one of their vacation homes they refer to as a "bach" at Kelly's Bay. That is why there have been no posts from us over the weekend. It was a remote location about 50km from Dargaville with no inernet access. We had a fantastic time. Before leaving us they took the boat out and caught a cooler full of red snapper and cleaned them for us so we had fish to eat for the weekend. It was great! We smoked it, we grilled it, we fried it.....didn't seem like roughing it all that much! We met a few other weekenders who were more than happy to share the bounty of their gardens and so we also had fresh picked fejoas, lemons, herbs and even some borrowed sugar and cream so Darren could whip up a pav for dessert. There were hours of walking the beach and empty river bed when the tide was out, beautiful sunrises and sunsets and even some time on two borrowed kayaks. It was a much needed break from the agenda and now we are recharged and ready to round out our trip back in the Auckland area. Looks like the next ten days will be a whirlwind.