Samoa and Saniatu

I just got back from Samoa where we went to do some training for all the CES principles, department heads and administrators. We had two days of great training where we discussed compansation, curriculum, policies and procedures. We had the opportunity to go to Saniatu which is a 800 acre ranch, school and village operated by The Church. It is located in the mouth of a ancient volcano. Many years ago Saniatu was the site of much hardship and miracles as the Church was young and growing. President David O. McKay dedicated the village and even raised a small child from the dead there. Each year they identify 22 young men to live at the village during the week, learn english, work the ranch and prepare to serve a mission. At the end of their year they turn in their mission papers and leave on their mission. There is a primary school there and the teachers all live on campus. The farm operation is directed by a senior missionary couple, they teach the young men and prepare them for their missions. We had a nice time, met very nice people and hopefully did a good job training. There is a new picture album up. Click on the link and enjoy...

Lunch Buddies

When I am at home, Bob will come home for lunch. But when I go into the mission office Bob and I eat our Peanut Butter and honey or sometimes jam sandwiches with other people eating theirs in the kitchen at the area office. We have really learned to love that time of the day. The people that we have been meeting are so very interesting. For example, the maintenance man is Raymond. We had the funnest conversation yesterday. He is a Tahitian. His family goes back in the church 5 generations to the time Orson Pratt started missionary work there. Remember the movie "Whale Rider"? This is a movie about his family (in a way). He told us stories of their old customs and about at least 3 instances of whale riding in his family. One was his auntie when she was 12 years old. She knew the chants and way to call the family whale. She was in a spat with her family and called the whale and rode to a different island where he grandmother was. They all saw her coming in. When she got there she got a beating because she abused her whale privileges. The other story was of a relative of his that was put on a prison island. He called the family whale to get him back to the regular island. Then the whale would accompany the ships they were in to watch out for them and keep them safe. He also told us about a dog that would bring 2 fish everyday to his old crippled auntie. Raymond didn't believe that the dog could fish, but then he learned how he was doing it. Raymond was on his mission and saw for himself how sometimes the fish get so close to the shore and are bubbling up. He jumped out of the boat and all these fish just beached themselves. He started throwing them from the shore into the boat until the boat was actually starting to sink. Then he and his companion rowed to their beach. The branch president got wind of what they were doing. They gave the fish to all the people in the village, then Raymond got the stiftest of lecture from this oldtimer. (He said that it was so serious that he almost was sent home.) He told him the he was abusing the special gift of the sea and they were only to take what they needed and to put the rest back into the sea. If they abused this gift and ever used it for profit then the seas would stop giving. Raymond says that is what has happened now. The seas are so short of the amount of fish to give anymore. Raymond should not have taken the fish but thrown them back into the ocean. Then our friend Allen who is Samoan started sharing his stories and some Maori stories with us. They are all distant cousins so their traditions are very similar. We always end up in fun and many times very spiritual conversations with the wonderful people in the lunch room. We also have a ping pong table in the room next to the kitchen. There is usually a "meeting" going on in there.

Oh, this week I went to my first zone conference. There were 3 zones there and wow, I really loved it. It was a whole day of teaching from the mission president, zone leaders, Sister Cook and the Assistants. It made me more grateful than ever that I am here and have these special opportunities. I spent one day this week going over past mission histories. My 2nd great uncle Wallace C. Castleton was one of the first mission secretary in 1896. In the 20s his son, W. Lowell Castleton was a mission secretary also. I saw pictures of my cousins Mark & Boyd Crookston and Myra Harline who served in this mission. Floyd Crookston served in the South NZ mission. I loved that day reading many old histories. Now I will make an indexed list of them.

Abel Tasman Tramp

OK... Able Tasman is a wonderful Park located on the North Coast of the South Island. Hiking in the park is considered one of the top 5 things to do in New Zealand. When we first arrived in New Zealand I discovered that 3 families from work were planning a trip to the park. We got ourselves invited and the rest is history. Four days before the hike I was in Tahiti and rolled my ankle in a basketball game with the employees of the Service Center. I "hopped" home to New Zealand and tried to baby my foot up until the hike. An x-ray showed that it wasn't broken so with a lot of TLC and ice, and a blessing, we continued to prepare for the hike. I wore a walking cast through all the airports and bus rides up until the actual hike. All the ice, ace bandages, and prayers worked! My foot got better each day. It was tender throughout the hike but with good hiking boots I was able to do it in good shape.

Getting to the park was a logistical challenge since we were not driving any cars. Backpacking in New Zealand is really common so with the right arrangements you can figure out ways to get just about anywhere.

Seventeen of us met at the Auckland Airport, had a 3 hour delay, and boarded a plane to the South end of the North Island. The city is Wellington. It took two shuttle vans with cargo trailers to take our stuff downtown to the hotels we were staying in. Some of us packed two ways. We packed a suitcase with clean clothes, and food for our time before and after the hike. Our hope was that we could leave the suitcase at the hotel and pick it up at the end of our journey so we would have clean clothes and not have to pack them around in our back packs. Miriam and I stayed in a place called the Downtown Backpackers. These are places that rent you a clean bed in a dorm, a shared bathroom and a common kitchen where you prepare your own food. We upgraded to a private room with bunk beds that was right across the street from the bus terminal which we needed the next morning.

The next morning we left the suit case at one of our parties hotel and put on the backpack and went to the bus station. A city bus took us from the station to the Inner Island Ferry. This ferry is huge! It's like a small cruise ship. It transports people, cars and trucks. It has bars, theater, restaurant, etc. It was a three hour ride to the South Island through beautiful sounds, islands, etc..

We departed the ferry in a city named Picton. A bus picked us up and transported us to Nelson, where Miriam and I stayed in yet another backpackers house that held 90 people. Common bathroom, kitchen but a private room (queen size bed!) but a taco mattress. We spent the afternoon and night in Nelson. We walked around the town, window shopped, and bought little things that we needed for the hike (propane, and hawaiian sling). We loaded up with a seafood pizza and prepared our packs for the big hike.

The next morning our backpackers host drove us to the bus station where we caught the bus to the trailhead still 2.5 hours away. The drive was beautiful. Love the large hedges around the farms. (Wind blocks) As we approached to the trailhead we stopped and checked our very heavy backpack in to a water taxi. Their job was to deliver our backpack by sea each day to the hut we were staying in. It was always there waiting for us as we arrived to the huts we were staying in. The huts are kind of like a backpackers inn. They sleep any where from 20-40 people all in one room, have a common room for relaxing and food preperation, no electricity but candles to light the room. There is also a campground nearby.

The first day we hiked from Marahau to Anchorage Bay. It took about 4 hours. (Actually 6 hours because of our playing for 2 hours). Our backpack was waiting for us. Some of our party (little kids and a mom) took the water taxi and were waiting for us. The tramp is on great trails that put you in tropical type bush some of the time and great beaches some of the time. We stopped for lunch at a great beach, went snorkeling and just relaxed. Then on to Anchorage Bay. Wayne snorkeled and gathered muscles in the shell that we boiled. The shells open up when they are done. There is a nice piece of meat inside that is pretty tasty! Easy to go to sleep after a rousing game of crazy Rook. We loved visiting with the people there from all over the world. A fun couple from Israel, Germany, Australia and a sweet family from Denmark.

Because of a tidal crossing right away we could not cross the estuary until 9:15 without getting really wet so we waited until then. This was our long day. It was really a wonderful day for us. We took another 2 hour stop for playing in the ocean and lunch. Very beautiful tramp. The cliffs got a little steeper and the water a bit rougher the further up the track we got. We skipped the Bark Bay hut ant headed up to the Awaroa hut. People fly into that area and stay in a really ritsy resort for about $400 a night. We were fine with the hut. It took us around 9.5 hours including the playing around. It was a very hard day for a couple of the families so our plans are changing for the end of the trip. They didn't get settled with their packs till 11 pm. We met some interesting people, both hiking alone from Germany. It was a really warm day so the cold shower was very welcomed. We cooked up the muscles that Bob collected for us earlier. They go well with the Ramen etc. that you usually take on a hike.

The two of us woke up to the most wonderful and strange bird singing. We found out later that it was a Tui bird. It has two voiceboxes so it sings a duet all by itself. The men left to take the packs to the dock. They had to go back to the resort so they took 3 hours to do that. We needed to wait until about 12:30 to cross the estuary where the tide needed to receed. A few people were impatient so they left with a few less clothes on than we did. You will see in our pictures. (The German boy is PG13). This day was only about 4 hours. It just gets prettier and prettier. We ended up at a campground where there were 850 people! It was Totaranui Bay. Nothing like Coyotee Gulch is it? There was a road that came to that area. It was sweet though to watch all the families just have such a great time together. We do miss the large family gatherings. Dave was walking with his 3 kids a met a lady walking the trail. They got talking and he told her how our large group was going to stop a few hours early and so we would be on the ground instead of them using the huts. (Do to the rough seas the water taxis would not take the shuttled children and moms to the final hut-Whariwharangi Bay). When we were settling she showed up with 3 extra tents for us. Her name was Penny Sue and it was not a coincidence. She was a real blessing from heaven for these families. We made a fire and sang a few songs. The stars were really incredible. But so different than the stars that we know about in our northern hemisphere.

It was a long night on the hard ground but all woke up warm and in good spirits to make the way back. It was fast Sunday and we kept it the best that we could. We boarded the bus and changed buses twice before we actually got to Picton to get on the Ferry. By this point it was 5 pm. It was a really beautiful bus ride though. I am glad that I needed to be in the front of the bus and stay awake so I didn't get bus sick. Because I was awake I saw such wonderful mountains and countryside. We boarded the ferry. In 3 hours we were in Wellington. It was a clear and beautiful night. We stayed in the same room we stayed in 6 days earlier. We made our noodles and enjoyed our bunkbeds. In the morning we had a good greesy breakfast, took a cable car ride in the rain and spent the day in a really outstanding museum. Te Papa is the best in New Zealand. We never even made it to the top 2 levels. At this point it was just the Pembertons and us left. We walked around the streets and ate at the Lone Star. That was the most American place we have been to in 4 months. We sat on the plane for an hour and then took our 45 min flight to Auckland. We got in bed by midnight. Make sure you go to the photo album called "Able Tasman Tramp." Written by both of us...