Catch-up Part 1: Aramoana

Ok! We're back. The first three hurdles: 8 pages of chemical compound identification, 4000 words of human factors analysis, and 1500 words on land management in Vanuatu. Done! The next hurdle: describing the last four weeks in one blog post!

August 27 -28
We had the pleasure of having Brother Paul Hon and his wife Esther come to Dunedin for the weekend! Brother Paul is originally from Hong Kong, but has been serving in the church in Mexico City for a while; he visits New Zealand about twice a year, but this was his first time in the South Island. We enjoyed a weekend of fellowship with him and sister Esther, and Sunday afternoon we went sight-seeing. We drove all the way out to the tip of the peninsula, to Aramoana, which means "pathway to the sea" in Maori. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon, and shoes and flipflops were quickly abandoned for the feel of cool sand under our feet.

View from a lookout point.

This fella wanted a picture with me so I complied... but from a distance. Sea lions can get quite aggressive, and range from 200 (adult female) to 800 (adult male) pounds! I didn't ask this one how how much he weighed, because it seemed a bit rude.

Note all the jackets--we're into spring now, but it's not exactly balmy yet.
Still, compared to the winter we just had, this was quite warm!

She was part of it (at least for a little while). :)

The Maori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa, meaning "land of the long white cloud".
This photo brought that name to mind.