TRIP TO WHANGAREI

Third week back at the office.  Still quiet there, few others have returned.  However, a memo went around that by July 13, everyone is supposed to return to the office building so we’ll see how that goes.  The Area Presidency is back briefly, at least until they take their July vacation break.  I’m not sure how much they will enjoy that since they won’t be able to return to their homes and home country due to Covid 19 travel restrictions.  Alisa and her department made up some picture plaques regarding the  Auckland temple groundbreaking for the members of the Area Presidency, so Rich Hunter, head of the Communications department, and Alisa made the presentation to them, and I tagged along.  Otherwise, I kept occupied in my office mainly with real estate matters.

Alisa and I decided it was time to take another out of town weekend trip for variety.  So we left the office a little early Friday afternoon, and drove a couple of hours north to Whangarei, a town of around 58,000 people, located on a picturesque river that feeds into the Pacific.  Remember, that in the Mauri tongue, “wh” is pronounced “f”, so the town’s name sounds like “fangarei”.  We checked into our BNB known as the Pentland House, then drove down by the Riverwalk to have dinner at The Quay.  It was a cold winter night (in July!) so we went right to bed afterwards.

Saturday morning, after a nice full breakfast prepared by our BNB hosts, we started on our adventures.  First we drove down by the river and strolled along the river to view the yachts parked there.  Then we did a bush walk at AH Reed Memorial Park, hiking to the Pukenui Falls.  They had a neat sky bridge so that it felt like you were walking in the tree tops.  Also, they had a good collection of Kauri trees, NZ’s endangered species of hardwood tree.  Then we drove on for a visit to and a short hike to Otuihau-Whangarei Falls.  Next we drove to Kiwi House, where we got to see kiwi birds.  They are strange animals, nocturnal, with furry feathers, long beaks, and flightless.  The kiwi house is set up so that it is dark in the day time, and light at night, so tourists like us can view them.  The 2 birds were quite active while we were there.  It is a strange, loner bird to make your national bird, but there are Mauri customs that explain that.  We also toured the museum there and some old buildings, sort of like those collected at Mooney’s Grove.  Finally, we visited the Whangarei Quarry Gardens, a retired quarry that the locals planted exotic plants in, and containing streams and a small lake created by a dam.  Having gotten our exercise by hiking, and having seen the highlights of town, we headed back to Takapuna and our apartment, arriving by dark.

As to Covid 19, NZ mainly has it licked, largely due to no international travelers being allowed in, and due to the isolation of the island country.  It is similar in the other small islands in the Pacific, no cases.  This allows for freedom of movement without face masks or other precautions. Schools are back in session, and businesses are back open again. It seems strange to see in the news in the US how the Covid 19 numbers are spiking, face masks are being required, and many businesses are still shut down.  However, we have noticed a number of businesses that didn’t survive the lockdown, and some have lost jobs here due to downsizing.  International tourism is still disallowed, so that the tourism industry is still in a world of hurt.  No 4th of July celebration here, that's 2 that I've missed now.  I look forward to celebrating it next year.