1. Picks birthday present was jumping out of a plane! We camped the night in Taupo and Pick jumped out 12,000 feet. I stayed planted firmly on the ground and happily took pictures. He free fell 7,000 feet in 40 sec! The remaining 5,000 was with a parachute and took 3 or 4 mins to coast to the ground.
2. We hosted a church camp for middle school kids. This was an absolute blast. We stayed at a camp site about 40 mins away that is surrounded by bush- you have to drive through a creek to get there! The kids were full of energy and we kept them busy with games, sports, swimming, Bible studies etc. Pick built a campfire that we gathered around and sang every night. The highlight was swimming in the FREEZING cold creek and jumping off the slide. This was the most rewarding work we have done since moving here!
3. After directing camp we were exhausted so we took some time off. Pick got a hair cut, then we headed up to the Northern tip of the island. We camped along the way and stayed 3 nights with our preacher, his wife and son. Their family has a holiday home about 7 hours drive from here. It was a relaxing and refueling time for us. The Millers son, Nathan, is 16 and he and Pick had a great time in the bay on the boat and wake boarding.
4. Since we were up north we decided to head up to the tip. We passed massive sand dunes (that people were sliding down on boggie boards!) and saw the place where the Pacific Ocean and Tasmin Sea collide. On our way back we drove onto the 90mile beach and had a refreshing swim.
