Day 13 in NZ

Today was a short work day in Mataia. We started out by going to the forest part and collected the ink papers from the track tunnels. We used a gps and programmed in the coordinate of each one and where we had placed them. Last night it rained a lot and continued to rain all day today as well. By the end of collecting the papers everyone was soaked from head to toe! We drove from one part of the forest to another side and cleared out some trails that looked like they were hardly used. These trails were thicker than the ones we trimmed up last week on the Ranges. It as like in the movies when people use swords and all sorts of things to chop their way through! There were vines, trees, plants, tall grass, and all kinds of greens that we had to clear out. It still rained during the whole time so by the end I was hiking in sloshy boots and soggy clothes. It was pretty fun though!
After we finished with the clearing we went back to the house, ate, and packed our bags to come back to Auckland. It kind of sucked to leave such a nice place and house since we only stayed there for a short time. I liked staying there!
Back in Auckland now and I was able to talk to the love of my life and my family! I love every time I get to talk to them and to hear how it's going back at home. I'm super excited to hear that Dallen got acception for the Union Pacific job!! That was an answered prayer. The only worry is that he might be asked to start working the week of our wedding. Hopefully not, and if so I hope they're flexible with what we have planned. I was excited to check my email and to see that I had so many messages from home. My Grandma Fullmer, my Mom, Dallen, Amber, Grandma Bowring, and my favorite letter this time from Davi! haha she's great and I love the things that she includes in her emails! It brings a smile to my face every time :)

I miss Dallen a lot. I love being able to talk to him and to hear things about our future! He gets to move into our house in just a few days!!! I'm so excited to make a home with him!! Soooo EXCITED!!!

Day 12 in NZ

Today we did a combination of the past few days. We started out early behind the house in the field planting the rest of the trees that we didn't finish yesterday. It took a little while and when we finished we went back to the house and had some scones that were made out of a biscuit bread base with quince jam and clotted cream on top. I've never had anything like it before but it was delicious! Jill made them for us again like the muffins yesterday and she's a great baker! We ate them out on the back porch which I loved! It'd be cool to have one similar to it someday.

After our little "tea time" we went back to weeding or "tree releasing" until lunch. It amazes me how tall and how thick they grow! If i had to tackle the whole thing by myself it would be almost depressing because there are so many weeds and they're so thick! lol We had lunch and then planted ore trees for a couple of hours. Today I was the planter instead of the digger so that was a switch up.

We (as you can guess) played more card games tonight. Shit head was the name of the one that Pete showed us and it is fun. Everyone gets 5 cards in their hand, 3 facing the ground, and 3 showing cards on top of them. The object of the game is to get rid of all your cards first and they are played in order from 2 to ace, like the game Presidents. 10's clear the stack, 3's start it over, and if a 5 is played the next player has to play a card lower than 5. If they can't play higher than the last card played then they have to pick up the stack. It's pretty fun!

Day 11 in NZ

Today was a great day as well. When we woke up the house was really cold as well as outside but it soon warmed up and became one of the best days we've had thus far. We started off by weeding out a plant called the Jerusalem Cherry that grows really fast and takes out the new trees that we are planting.There were so many of them but we knocked out a whole bunch with all of us working together.

After a couple hours we came back to the house and had some muffins that Jill (The lady who owns the house) made for us. They were awesome! Next we went back and did pretty much the same thing as yesterday, weeding and painting sticks, but we also started planting trees. I as one of the hole diggers while Robyn and Chrissy teamed up on planting the trees in the holes that I dug. With the whole group we got about 800 of the 1500 done so that was great! Soooo many trees!

It was a nice overcast and breezy day which made it perfect for working outside, and as a plus I got a little bit of sun! Kyle, Melanie, and I were in charge of dinner so we did that and I mainly made a big fruit bowl that was really tasty. They have awesome kiwi fruit here so that was a plus. As always, we took showers and went strait to playing cards. Pete (our new "helping leader" for this week) taught us a couple of card games so that was fun to throw in something new. Tomorrow I think we're just planting the rest of the trees. Also, Dallen probably found out about the Union Pacific job and I'm anxious to find out!

Day 10 in NZ

Today was a cool day. We got up early and left Auckland to go to the Mataia house for this weeks project. On our way out of town we had to stop at a gas station and a shop was really close by so I went and asked them if they had any license plates that I could buy. Dallen asked me a while ago if I could bring one home for him so I've been looking every day and still was empty handed. Anyways, I went and talked to some guys who were working at this shop and they had a few in their office that they gave me! I told them I would pay for them but they were nice and let me have 2 of them for free. One is white and black which is currently what everyone uses and the other is from the 80's and is yellow and black. I'm pretty excited to give them to Dallen when I get home!

Anyways, we went grocery shopping and drove to the new place that we're staying at in Mataia. This place is amazing! The house was built over 100 years ago but is still in great condition and has a beautiful yard! They have a porch that goes around it with a walkway to the front door, grass int he front and back yard, gardens on the sides, and grass fields with cattle and sheep on the rest of the land. Its a small town part of New Zealand and reminds we a lot of my home in Monticello which I love, but here its much greener.

We did a lot of weeding or what they call "tree releasing" around newly planted trees and plants by a stream bed in the back of their property. It's like weeds on steroids here because it rains so much and all the roots grow together so that makes it challenging. Chrissy and I got the lucky job of painting the ends of bamboo sticks that we'll be using to mark where we're going to plant trees tomorrow. We had 3 big bundles because they have planned for us to plant around 1500 trees! It was fun to get to know Chrissy better and to chat while we painted sticks.


When we were all done with the painting and weeding all of us walked further towards the jungle so-to-say by the beach and set up ink tunnels. We had long rectangular tunnels that animals could run through and we put ink, paper, and peanut butter in there wo they will run over the ink and put foot prints on the paper. That way it can be surveyed as to what animals are still in the area. it as a pretty relaxed day which was nice. We ate dinner and played games as usual. I became the president twice for the first time in the game called President so that was fun. It was a good day.

Day 9 in NZ

Today was a nice and relaxing day. Its Sunday here and I spent my time with Laura and at the house. The rest of the group went to an island by a ferry and I stayed behind because I did something to my foot yesterday and its pretty sore just walking. I figured it would be better to take it easy today rather than to hurt it worse and not be able to finish the activities. I was able to read the pamphlet to prepare for the temple on the deck outside of our house so that was cool. I got a lot out of it and am super excited to go! Laura invited me to go with her to her house so I went while she worked on some ISV emails for her next group that's coming in a couple of weeks. Her back yard was really cool and had a path that went into the trees as thick as the ranges we've been working on. I showed her pictures of my family from online and she showed me some of hers as well. I found out that she is an awesome artist and is very good at painting landscape pictures. I've had a good time getting to know more about her and her life growing up. Her grandma came to New Zealand first out of her family line so she is the 3rd generation to live in NZ which I thought was cool. Laura loves to dance, hates spiders with a passion, has traveled to the United States, Africa, England, and many more. She is the youngest of 3 kids and loves to work with conservation projects and groups of people. She says that she will always live in NZ because it would be too hard to move away from home. She is very knowledgable about the Maori people and the traditions that they continue to practice. She is very nice and I'm going to miss having her on our adventure tour.

Anyways, we went to a visitor center that she use to work at and looked at the things they had there. The view from the decks they had around the back of the building were amazing! So sad I didn't have my camera with me! I was able to get a little book that explains te meanings of the Maori carvings so that was cool. Laura and I went on a 10 min trail hike and I saw about the exact things that I've been seeing this past week... lots of plants and trees! After the museum we made our way back to the weekend house and I was able to call the love of my life! That put a huge smile on my face to hear his charming and familiar voice. I miss him more than ever and am super excited for the day I get to throw my arms around him again! He's my best friend!

Day 8 in NZ

Today was a free day in Auckland to do some more touring and exploring. I really wanted to go to the temple in Hamilton and do baptisms for the dead but with transportation and convincing someone to go with me it just didn't work out. Auckland is just an hour away from Hamilton so I'm not far from it.I was able to talk to my mom, dad, and Dallen today! I love all of them so much and had a great time hearing their voices. I've missed the a lot the past couple of days. They're very special people in my life and I love being around them!

I went with Lizzy, Rose, Matt, and Kyle to a place far away (or seemed to be while walking) and ended up going to a park, zoo, and a movie. We set out for the day in search for a zoo and knew the general direction to go in so we just started walking and found our way there.

On our way we passed a whole bunch of shops, restaurants, buildings, houses, and a church where they were having some sort of selling toys booth. We got directions fromt he man in front and did some back tracking to get to the frontage road of the highway. We walked for about 40 minutes and came to a park where we stopped to eat. There was a pond, trees, tables, grassy areas, and lots of different kinds of birds.

We became surrounded after just a few minutes and ended up sharing some of our lunch with the birds. The black swans were awesome but my favorite to watch was a blue and black bird that ran around on the ground and took super long strides. It was just really awkward looking and really funny to watch. I was entertained by it. Also, we saw I think the largest dog alive! It was a Newfoundland I guess and it weighed like 85kg which is around 160 lbs! It was the coolest dog ever! I thought it was a bear at first. haha

After lunch we went to the playground and played on the coolest tire swing thing ever! It could swing around a pole kind of like a merry-go-round but also could move towards and away from the pole in the center. It is hard to explain but it was awesome! I laughed a lot playing on it!

We were able to get to the zoo finally and to go through and look at all the animals. My favorite at the zoo's are always the monkeys. They're amazing to watch climb and swing all over the place! We saw the animals that you would normally see at a zoo so it was pretty fun but nothing too new. I bought some souvineers at the zoo store to take back home.

Pirates of the Carribean was released and everyone in my group wanted to watch so we took another long walk through town and found a mall that had a cinema. I had a hokey pokey shake while I was there and it make the walk to the mall worth it. lol Anyways, after the movie we started our trek back to our bunkhouse not knowing or having a clue where we were at the moment but we figured it out. It took about an hour to get back by walking so we were quite a ways from the house. We saw some fireworks on our walk back so that was fun. I kind of had a hard time walking back though because I think I strained or pulled a muscle in my foot from wearing flip flops all day. I hope it heals quick but for right now it seems to be doing just the opposite. Besides that I had a great day!

I forgot to add that on the way to the zoo we found an old shopping cart that had the sides and bottom cut out of it by Lizzy and Matt used it for a ride for some of the way. It was pretty funny at the time!

Day 7 in NZ

I am on the Maraetai Coast right now looking at the ocean and islands around with a hokey pokey ice-cream cone in my hand. I had some fish and chips (fries) for lunch and I quite liked it. They served it to us in newspaper which was a little different but cool. We were surrounded with seagulls and they ended up eating some fries right out of our hands. It was fun!

Laura just told us a fairy tale they have here and asked us to write about it. The story goes that there was a Maori princess who owned the Hunua Ranges and she eloped with someone out of her tribe and her family disowned her so she came to the Maraetai beach and turned into a stone. They believe that she is still here somewhere along the shoreline. I think that it is an interesting story that is definitely unique to this country. It is kind of sad that her family banned her from her tribe but I understand why they did it.

About this week... We left the Hunua Ranges this morning and finished up our project there this morning. It went by super fast and it's crazy to think we were there for a full week, but I'm excited to see what's ahead of us.


I've learned so much and have made some fun friends! I think the highlights of the work we did was on Wednesday when we had some really challenging hikes on steep slopes in the mud. It was definitely a god workout and I liked being able to push myself to finish the task. I have learned so much about other people and what they believe and how they were raised. Very very different from my background. I have a greater appreciation for my family and friends at home and for having the gospel in my life. I have been able to reflect a lot on my life and the steps I have taken to get to where I am today. I couldn't be happier knowing that when I return home I will be sealed to my best friend for eternity and knowing that he loves me very much just as I love him. I am super excited to see Dallen again! He adds so much happiness to my life!

I was able to find a phone booth by the ocean after our journal writing and talked to Dallen for about 10 minutes. I loved hearing his voice and being able to talk to him! So much has happened in just one week at home since I've been gone. Dallen had an interview with the Union today and thinks that it went good. He's supposed to find out tomorrow if he got it or not. I really hope that he does! They said that they would start him at $17.50 which would be great! They offer great insurance and benefits so I really hope it works out. He told me that my family and his have been checking up on him and to see how he was doing with me away. I'm glad I've got family to keep up on my love when I can't be there for him every day anymore.

Anyways, as the ISV team went back to Auckland to the bunkhouse we stopped on the way out to a park. They jungle gyms and rope courses they had were awesome so we climbed to the top and took a couple pictures!

We made our way back to Auckland, unpacked our bags once more at the bunkhouse and then I went with Alana and Chrissy to the internet cafe. I was so happy to see that I had emails from my mom, Davi, Dallen, and my Granda Bowring! It was such a treat to hear from all of them. It made my day to hear from home and to know things are going good there. A lot has changed with my family too! Hunter got his Eagle Scout, my mom got called to they YW presidency, school is out in just a few days and the work on the ranch is getting busier. Amber and Daniel are moved into Gma and Gpa Bowring's basement and now Dallen found the derby car that he has always wanted. I miss them all so much and am lucky to have them as my family. They all give me so much love and support and I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Later on this evening I went with Laura, Robyn, Alana, Chrissy, Rose, Lizzy, Kyle, and Matt to a rugby game!! It was played in the stadium that the world cup game was played in so that was pretty awesome! New Zealand Blues were playing the South Africa Thunders and it was a great game!

I didn't understand anything that was happening really but it was very interesting to watch! New Zealand ended up losing in the last 10 seconds by 2 points and the score ended 28-26. I'm really glad I was able to go and to experience a real rugby game with pro players.


We painted our faces and everything for it and went out to eat at the burger fuel just before it started. They had these famous burger holder things that were called "Doofers" which were pretty awesome so I grabbed a couple extra to take home and to show my family. It was a pretty fun day for all!!!