Day Two January 13, 2008 Sunday

Today we woke up around eight. The first thing we did was clean up a little bit in the bathrooms, then we ate breakfast. It was fairly good for being microwave eggs and unthawed hashbrowns and mushy bananas! It is amazing how everything seems to taste a hundred times better when you are camping. As it was Sunday we kind of took it easy. After breakfast we packed up our bags and our tents and cleared out. The vans we are in are actually pretty cool. There are three big vans for the 34 students and one van for Mark and his wife and three kids. Mark’s van is like a mini-van, but ours are full-on 12 passenger, biggest you can get. The seating is actually pretty cool too, there is a front bench, with the driver on the right of course. Also, the vans are manual transmissions, and the stick shift is on the left too, not very easy for our right-handed drivers! The next seat back is just a two-seater right behind the driver. The next row is a similar two seat and then one lone seat on the left with an aisle in-between the two. The seat is very uncomfortable, but there is a lot of leg room (I sat in this seat today). The next row back is another two-seater on the right. The final row is a three-person bench that takes up the width of the van just like the front. The really interesting thing about this seating arrangement is when you think about it there are only three of the twelve people on the left side of the car! Anyway, back to the day, after we loaded up into the vans we drove about three miles out to a little stretch of beach and had our own little church devotional. We didn’t have the sacrament, but we had a hymn, prayers, and three short little talks on gratitude. I know that the sacrament is important, and that the goup setting, with all of us in our jeans and shorts wasn’t really spiritual, but I don’t think I have ever felt more grateful for my life as I did when I was looking out on that beautiful little beach cove. Not only was I grateful for the beauty that was right in front of my eyes, but also for the opportunity I have to be here, how much everyone I love contributed to getting me here in their own way, and how lucky I am to have so many people care about me. So right now, I just want to say thank you to everyone, thank you from the bottom of my heart right up to the top. When our devotional was over Mark and the boys went to fill up the vans, so the rest of us sat on the beach and meditated for about 45 minutes. It was gorgeous and I really enjoyed sitting there thinking about how incredible this was, how beautiful my surroundings were, how wonderful the light breeze was on my face, and how bad I felt for all the pale people back home while I was turning a nice golden brown! When Mark got back we loaded up again and started to drive towards Hamilton. About an hour or two outside Hamilton we stopped for lunch in a little town called Paura which is actually the town that they make L&P drink, it stands for lemon and Paura! Apparently they make it there because the water is soooo pure. The pure water fountains were turned off in the park we ate at, but our ham, salami, mayonnaise, mustard, and potato chip sandwiches were delicious after so much driving. After lunch we packed back in the vans and drove to the temple in Hamilton. The temple literally sits in the middle of a field, with nothing around it! The temple was beautiful and we had fun taking pictures and talking to the few people milling around. The visitor’s center and temple were closed for Sunday, but it was still fun to see it. After hanging around the temple for about an hour and twenty minutes we got back in the vans and drove about another hour to Waitomo and to our little campsite. I have to say that I really like this campsite, the grass is soft and springy, and they have really cheap internet! Internet was only $2 for 40 minutes, so I finally got to talk to everyone. After dinner (amazingly delicious spaghetti) I got on the internet and did my thing. As soon as my time ran out they called a group meeting and we talked about the things we needed to be aware of and any announcements for tomorrow’s activities. Tomorrow soudslike it is going to be an absolute blast, but I won’t spoil it in advance! Now I am VERY ready for bed, another beautiful night under the most gorgeous stars of all time. Its good to be alive.