The Wairake Geo Thermal Plant is right outside of Taupo. There is so much thermal activity under the ground in this area! They trap the steam from the hot water and pipe it through miles and miles of stainless steel pipes to produce power. It's amazing!! We hadn't taken the time to drive up to actually see the plant until a few days ago. It was really interesting. The pictures don't even come close to showing the massiveness of this plant or the huge size of the pipes!
It's funny how pictures just don't really capture the reality of things!
There is steam coming from the ground in all directions. It always freaks me out to think of what is going on under us! I just seems like this place is going to "blow" at any moment!
I'm sure it will some day!
Signs like this are EVERYWHERE!
As we run down by the lake in the mornings, there are signs like this where the little springs feed into Lake Taupo. I like to take my shoes off and soak my feet now and then!
This is one of the boiling hot rivers....it is literally boiling!!
We had some visitors from the states....
The Colsons (far right) are on a special mission for the church. He is a retired professor from Yale University. He specializes in water treatment systems. His mission is to go around the whole Pacific Area to test the water and to figure out how to get clean water to all the islands. Their brother and sister met them over here. The Colsons and the couple next to them both live in Sun River. They know one of my mom's friends down there. They are excited to meet my mom when they get home.
The other coupld (far left) is from Idaho. He is a rancher, so he and Lonne talked about farming and ranching the whole time we were with them! We showed them around the Taupo area for a couple of hours. They also came to visit us when we were working at the Visitor's Center the following Tuesday. It was fun to spend some time with "home town" folks!
They took us to lunch at a place down the street from our apartment called "Dixie Browns".
Gretchen sent me these beautiful flowers for Mother's Day!
Everyone told us how beautiful it was, so we figured since it was P-Day on Monday, we might as well get a head start and spend the night in a little town called Raglan on Sunday Night for Mother's Day.
Raglan is about 30 minutes west of Hamilton. We stayed at a little bed and breakfast owned by some Members of the Church. They are actually from Utah, and moved here a year ago.
The bed and breakfast was located in Paradise!! It was a nice little apartment, with a deck overlooking the Tasmanian Sea. It rained the whole time we were there, but it was still a fun get-a-way.
The Hardy's met us on Monday morning and we took a drive up the coast. They knew the area very well. They go to Raglan every chance they get! I can see why!!! Its a little artsy, surf town right on a beautiful black sand beach. The surf is suppose to be awesome here...it's a famous beach.
We stayed two nights at this little Bed and Breakfast...since we had to be at the Visitors Center on Tuesday. We stayed Tuesday night in the temple housing so we could go to Zone Conference on Wednesday. We had a fun little three day get-a-way!
We snapped a few pictures in the back yard of our bed and breakfast...
This little archway led down to the beach. It was about a two minute walk down to the Bay.
It was COLD, but we still had a great time!
It was a windy, rainy, cold day!!!
I guess the water is a beautiful turquoise blue when the sun is shining...
Sad we didn't get to see it on a better day
Long Story....
When we lived in Gisborne, Lonne would take his "Cabella's" rain gear with him whenever he went fishing with Peter Burt. Well it came up missing when we moved to Taupo, and he couldn't remember where he left it, but he KNEW it was either in Peter's boat or in Peter's truck. So the Burts searched high and low for it. They searched in the dark...they searched in the daylight...they felt so bad that THEY had lost Lonne's rain gear.
When we went to Gisborne for Easter, another buddy (the guy he hunted with) told Lonne that he had his brown rain coat in his truck, and he could come pick it up! Lonne was so embarrassed to tell the Burts that he hadn't left it in their truck or boat!
So...Frances decided to play a trick on Lonne....she took the coat and sewed the sleeve about halfway down. She just sewed the left sleeve, knowing he would probably put his arm through the right one first. We have been waiting for the rain to come so that he would need to wear his rain coat...
Sure enough, he got it out on our trip to the West Coast!
It was so funny! He was struggling to get his coat on! I got a couple of pictures of him trying to put it on before he figured out what had happened!
Way to go Frances! You got the last laugh!
Just a few pictures of the scenery around Raglan....
The wind was blowing sooooo hard! It was also raining....
The wind blew my coat up like a blimp! Even the pockets filled up with air!
It was COLD COLD COLD!!!!
Having fun with the Hardy's on our P-day
Raglan, NZ
This is what the road looked like all around the coast...it was beautiful!
I bet this is just breath taking on a clear day!!
We got a glimpse of the turquoise water, but apparently it is usually bright blue...
Lonne and I ate dinner at this cool little place down by the sea called The Marlin Grill.
I ordered fresh snapper....oh my goodness...It was soooooooo good!
I wanted to eat there both nights we were there!
We also had fresh fish and chips at a little hole in the wall place called Nannies.
It was delicious...just like the fish and chips in Gisborne....caught fresh daily.
We really miss the fish and chips from Gisborne....
but our bodies are glad we can't get them in Taupo!
Next Stop...
Bridal Veil Falls
Sad that the pictures don't show just HOW PRETTY this place was!!
The fall is about 400 feet long...
the greenery is beautiful! The hike down to the bottom was great!
About 400 stair steps down...
About 800 steps back up!
My calves were sore the next day:)
Our last Zone Conference in Hamilton...
The missionaries always sing a song for the ladies in the kitchen after the ladies make and
serve them a delicious lunch. It's always fun to see some familiar faces at Zone Conferences.
We're gonna miss these kids!!
Some of our Island Boys
The Elder in the middle is from Samoa, but his family has moved to St. George!
His name is Elder Asaasa...he was going to be flying home the following day.
It will be fun to meet up with him when we get home!
We tried to get a picture with Elder Webb and Elder Leatham, but it didn't turn out very good!
They are two of our Gisborne favorites, and now they are companions!
These two Elders took our place in Gisborne....
We hear they are doing a great job:)
That's our week in photos!
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