Mordor, the strong hold of the dark lord Sauron

Okay all you Lord of the Rings fans we have hiked the great volcanic plateau of Mordor! Unlike most of the NZ we are familiar with, this was a desolate, rocky pathway. It became frigid cold as we hiked up cracked pathways and steep volcanic craters. We went with a young adult group from church and it was one of those "now we can say we did it" kind of walks. Compared to the lush land were are used to this was below average scenery- but there was something beautiful about the starkness. Of course, we were pretty cold, and achy from the 16km hike, up and down rocky passes, but it was nothing compared to the terror Sam and Frodo experienced so no complaining here!

A quick trip to Auckland

Hey Friends! So sorry it's been a while since I posted a blog. We had a bit of a camera breakage, and had to replace our camera so thats the short explaination of the delay. Stay tunned though.... I'll be posting more happenings before you know it!

This last weekend we went up to Auckland for a ministry workshop at North Shore church. The workshop focussed on team dynamics and we were really encouraged by it. It was a good opportunity to catch up with other people in ministry in the north island and give each other a boost. Some of you will recognize our good friend Garrett who is doing HIM at North Shore. We always like seeing him.

ANZAC day (a public holiday remembering the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps that fought in WWII) was while we were up there. We took the opportunity to do some touring around town. Here are some of the great sights.

So it was lovely being up in Auckland, but strangely uncomfortable for us to be in a big city! We were totally annoyed by the traffic and aggressive drivers and the highways with multi-lanes. So apparently Pick and I, while enjoying the sun, beach and fresh fruits of Taraunga have become country bumpkins. Who knew?