The rain continued for much of my last two days in Auckland, but no worries, Denis and I were able to drive through some farmland and mountains, past dormant and extinct volcanoes, down to the Bay of Plenty on the east coast of the north island. After I saw a chiropractor that was recommended to keep my back in shape for all this travel, we walked along the shoreline and had lunch near the waterfront.
 |
| Auckland city limits, with a typical sign showing English and Maori place names |
 |
| Hunua range, a little south of Auckland, famous for its volcanic geography and waterfalls |
 |
| Karangahake Gorge |
 |
| Further along the Gorge, near Waikino, closer to the river all churned up by the rain. |
 |
| I love the fern trees on the hills |
 |
| The rain drenched photo in motion doesn’t do justice to the rapids in the river and the majesty of the Karangahake Gorge. |
|
 |
| A closer shot of New Zealand’s #1 industry: dairy farming |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
| Tauranga Harbour in the Bay of Plenty. The floating water park was inflated by the time we finished lunch. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The rain abated the rest of the day so I was able to do a little “bushwalking” along a path in the Kawaka Reserve, near Denis and Lis’s home.
 |
| Sub-tropical rainforest look. |
 |
| Part of the track is owned by a school. This section was a boardwalk with markers identifying the plants and decorated with Maori symbols. This one shows two tiki, representing Tiki, the first man in Maori myth |
 |
| Love those nikau tree ferns! |
 |
| Scary looking roots reaching for the stream |
I ended up with two views of Denis and Lis’s garden, which show only a fraction of their lovely property.
 |
| Succulent beds |
|
 |
| Bird of Paradise plant beds |
|
|
|
The next day, after visiting the retired Rev. Richard Keyworth, and Gillian Keyworth who was recovering from surgery, Hugh and Jenny Keal and Denis and I ended up having lunch together and tourist shopping at a local mall, rather than getting soaked trying to get to the Maori museum from the distant carpark. It’s been almost two decades since I was at the Maori exhibits, and they had made quite an impression, especially the war dancing. Next time!!
 |
| Gillian and Richard Keyworth and their very friendly little dog, who made me nostaglic for |
|
|
|
|
my friendly little dog. |
After afternoon tea at Hugh and Jenny’s, I spent the late afternoon finishing my preparations for the upcoming lay-lead Sunday service in Hurstville, a southern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. My role is to lead a Discussion, at the point where the minister would normally deliver a sermon or message. More on that in a later post! After dinner, Hugh shared a photo with me that absolutely surprised me!
 |
| 3+3, our church band from the Hurstville Church in the early 1970s, reunited for a performance at an Assembly in Bryn Athyn, PA in 1976. L-R: Hugh, me, Ian Keal, Wellesly Rose (Keal by then?) standing in for Anne O”Sullivan, Maret Taylor(-Genzlinger), Peter Taylor |
 |
| Jenny, Hugh, and Sharon Keal |
|
|
Early the next morning I left Auckland for the Australia portion of my traveling and ministry path.
Like this:
Like Loading...
The rain abated the rest of the day so I was able to do a little “bushwalking” along a path in the Kawaka Reserve, near Denis and Lis’s home.
Ros, I remember those marvelous subtropical places from my visit to the south island of New Zealand in the early 1990s! And I saw tree ferns from NZ on my garden tour to Cornwall, England, last year!