At 6:30 am we woke up to head to the New Zealand temple. It was about a 2 hour ride and after getting lost a few times we finally made it to our appointment. The people were so kind and friendly.
After we were done we had the pleasure to meet the Temple President Sydney Going (a former All Black Rugby Player). It was an honor for sure! Afterwards, some workers lead us to the cafeteria were we had fish and chips (yum). I was a happy camper for sure :)
After a full stomach and a smile on our faces we walked around and took some pictures of the temple and of the visiting center. As I was talking to Jess, I turned over and realized my group was being surrounded by a local poly ward. As I join the group I realize the ward suddenly begins to sing! Their voices were so on point it was like listening to the voice of angels! I'm not kidding! Of course we tried to sing as well but we failed!!! Lol.
Here is a pic of all of us
And a few pictures of the temple...
After several hours at the temple, we were ready to head over to the glow worm caves which was about two hours away.
About an hour in we got lost AGAIN. And I used caps because I cannot count how many times we've gotten lost on this trip. But it's ok because we ARE foreigners so you know! lol.
So we FINALLY arrive to the location but the staff tells us (me and my group) that we will need to wait another hour for the next available tour.
Tick tock tick tock! Yeah!!! 1 hour is up!
Our two leaders (Ben and George) show up and they lead us to the back and begin explaining to us the whole ordeal. They begin by telling us a little bit about what we are doing and what we are wearing. Oh btw in case I didn't mention this before... it's winter over here so the water is FREEZING!!!! Ok moving on... so they shows us these wet suits that are well extremely wet and cold and they are like "ok pick your suit and let's suit up!" (Perhaps not the exact words. But you get the idea). Any who, we go in and start putting this things on. OMG was it cold!
Here is a pic of Shelby and I wearing our suits and then a pic of all the girls on this Labyrinth course :)
Shelby and me
And now we are ready to go...
So they lead us up this mountain and at the top they tell us to get out because we need to get our tubes to use during our trip inside the caves. So as we are all searching for tubes that will fit our butts we are told we are gonna do a little exercise. Little did I know what that meant. Ok that sounded intense but just know that what I did next was so out of character...
So we head to this dock and George (one of the guides) tells us what we are going to do. Which is pretty much putting our butt in the tube and then jumping off from the dock. All the while our back is facing the water. The first thing that popped into my head?! Ummm heck to the no! I don't jump into anything let alone something that looks way sketch like that water! Also, how would I know if George or Ben would really have my back.
But after much motivation from my team I decided to jump. I was so scared and I screamed a lot but I did it!
After everyone had the chance to try it out we were ready to head into the caves :)
Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures of the inside of the caves because cameras were not allowed but there are some pictures our guides took that we bought (businesses I tell ya). I will post them once I get back into the states.
But that place! WOW! It was so beautiful. The glow worms looked like stars in a dark sky! Just breathtaking! Fun Fact: according to our guide glow worms are pretty much maggots who eat and shag until they die... Pretty funny if you ask me.
After we were done we drove back to the place where we left from and took a nice HOT shower. I capitalize HOT because I almost got a third degree burn from the water hahaha jokes
Also can I just say I was so glad they had food waiting for us when we were done. Seriously, hot tomato soup and bagel never sounded so good.
The whole thing was pretty legit and of course we could not leave without saying good bye to our two good looking and way awesome guides.
Aubry, George, Ben and Shelby
Since we were in the area, we were going to visit a friend of Dr Petersen, but he was not home. So we just went back home.
These long drives have really began to take a toll on me. Almost every night this week I have just gone straight to bed! I LOVE IT!
Now things I learned today:
1) Fear: I am a scary cat when it comes to anything unknown. Which funny thing... this trip is filled with unknowns. Any who, when I had to do the exercise in the water. The one mentioned above I was really scared. I was worried I was going to drown. I thought I was going to get hurt for sure. I mean WHAT didn't go through my mind. But once I did it I realized it wasn't bad at all. Yes, some of the water did go up my nose but that wasn't bad in comparison to what I had imagined let alone anticipated. I realized that many times in my life, I psych myself out. Perhaps losing on a lot of valuable life lessons and awesome adventures. The truth is that fear can and will limit us from growing whether that is physically mentally or even spiritually. Leaving in fear can limit us to our joy here on earth. So in other words, I am ready to go forward even when times seem scary or when all I can feel is fear.
2) Courage: perhaps this may also count for fear but I also learned that having courage is not just about facing your fears but also about acknowledging our limitations. There were plenty of times during the trip down the caves that I pushed myself! I mean seriously I cannot believe I did some things. But there was a point at the very end when the guide said "turn off your lights and find the exit". Honestly, when I say it was dark, I mean I couldn't see ANYTHING other than the glow worms on the top of the caves. At certain points I was ok, but in other areas I was not and specially when I kept hitting the rocks. That's when I decided to turn on my light. It is ok to push ourselves but there will be a point when it will also be ok to say I can't anymore and I need help. Perhaps you may call it being humble but I call it courageous. Because it takes courage to recognize and accept our strengths as well as our weaknesses.
I really hope this all made sense but if it didn't well I apologize. Call it tiredness or exhaustion.
I love you all
Good night
No comments:
Post a Comment