P-Day Paradise!

Well, Lonne finally got his wish!

Peter Burt called and invited us to go to Lake Waikeromoana on a fishing trip for the day,

with he, his wife Frances, and Lonnie Lardelli.  

Two Lonne's? What are the chances?  

They guys dropped me and Frances off at the trail,
so we could go hiking while they went fishing.

The trail goes all the way around the lake (a three day hike), so we decided to just go around part of it and meet them at the inlet where the river flows into the lake.  

Our hike was BEAUTIFUL! This lake is a National Park, and has three little bunk houses situated so that if you were hiking around the whole lake, you would be able to spend the night in one of the bunk houses at the end of each day.  We hiked to one of the houses. The scenery was spectacular back in the native BUSH of New Zealand.   There were a few swinging bridges over water falls, & rivers.

We hiked for about 4 1/2 hours then met up with the guys.
They all had smiles on their faces...

the fish were biting! YAY!  Lonne has been invited fishing twice before on our P-Day, and hadn't even gotten a bite! Each of the guys had caught a couple of fish by the time we met up with them. They caught a few more while Frances and I stayed in the boat & munched on junk food!  The weather was very chilly! Frances brought a beanie, and a wool coat for me to wear.  Lonne had a coat, but was able to borrow waders from Peter.  The Burts are soooo good to us! We have a lot of fun with them.  

Peter Burt was the previous stake president here in Gisborne.  Frances is one of the sweetest women I have ever met.  We just LOVE them!

 Got One!!!

 Notice the smile:)

 One HAPPY Fisherman!

 Peter and Lonne

Two HAPPY Fishermen!

 Peter, Lonnie Lardelli, and Lonne

Three HAPPY Fishermen!

The catch of the day

 Lonne, Peter, and Lonnie

 We took a little scenic boat ride after the guys were done fishing,

This was one of the water falls...it was way higher than it looks in this picture!

Soooo beautiful!

 My beanie (Frances's beanie) is made out of Possum fur!

It was soooo warm! I basically froze all day, but had a lot of fun!

This is a rock cave back in the bush by the lake.

It is a sacred place where a Maori tribe was killed by an opposing tribe. The men in the tribe had gone away to battle, so the women, children and old folks were left behind.  They hid in this cave to stay protected.  The enemy found them and killed them all.  

When the men returned, the cave was filled with dead bodies. 

 Sad story:(

Peter's boat is really nice...it's the kind that can go out on the ocean as well as the lakes.

He is an AVID fisherman! 

 This is one of the swinging bridges over a huge water fall on the trail around the lake.

 Another water fall...

It looks like it would be warm with the palm trees in the back ground etc....

It was FREEZING!

 A picture of Frances, taking a picture of me! Ha!

 Yay! We found a "Dunny" or "Long Drop" on the trail!

I LOVE their words.... "Out House" sounds so boring after hearing these! 

 Frances took a picture of my feet in the "Dunny"! 

This picture shows the frost, on the palm trees, with the beautiful lake in the back ground...

I just thought the whole scene contradicted itself! 

In New Zealand, they drink "Milo"...

It's kind of like hot chocolate, with a malt barley twist, watered down, & not as sweet!

I had Lexie send us some "Stephen's Hot Chocolate with mint".

We fixed Frances and Peter a cup of "American" hot chocolate.

They LOVED it!! Their son loved it even more! 

I wish I had more of it so I could share with more people!

These Kiwi's just don't know what they're missing when it comes to Hot Chocolate!! 

It was a perfect way to end a very fun day!

P.S....Peter taught Lonne how to smoke the trout in his smoker, We kept a couple to eat, and took all the others around to less active members.  They loved t!!!

So.... we turned a fun fishing trip into a missionary tool !!