Day #4: NZ Date: 20th of February, Saturday. US Date: February 19th, Friday.

Apparently, we arrived just in time for the A&P Show! A&P is Agricultural & Pastural show. Its a once a year show kind of like our local County Fair’s back in the States. Though the main events were horse jumping and log splitting/cutting.

The Donaldson’s (my In-Laws) had actually donated all the wood for the log cutting competitions!

And Nana Debra entered a couple quilts she’d made for grand kids in the show (they have a large shed they show quilts, knit/crochet items, flowers, fruits & veggies, and lots of other small crafts). One of the quilts she made, got 2nd place prize, and a small hand bag (called a Betty Purse) she made and entered got 1st prize!

We also got ice cream cones while there, I got Mango and Johnny got Ginger/Carrot (which was actually pretty good). We met up with brother Thomas, his wife Leah and daughters Kelly & Madison, and brother Joey with his lady friend Annalise.

After we were done browsing at the show, we went across the street to the cemetery and visited Nana Dawn and Papa Alastair’s graves. They still do the large tombstones that are upright in these New Zealand cemetery’s, rather than the small, flat ones you almost can’t find in our american cemetery’s. There were very few graves that didn’t have some sort of flower or gift by them. Saw one of my hubby’s cousin’s graves as well, he told me she had died quite young of cancer, and it had really taken a toll on her whole family. So sad.

Then we loaded up into the truck and decided to go visit Nana Dawn’s old house. Even though she had passed more than a year ago, the house and property still belong to the family. The land is still being used for cattle and sheep, and the house is currently being kept just as Nana had left it. The house is very small, quiet, peaceful. The flower beds out front are a tad over grown, but the flowers are lovely. and the lawn is nicely kept. The house is very old, early 1900’s I believe, and the whole house keeps that feel in the decor.

I some how felt a bit overwhelmed by how quiet and serene the whole place was, so I didn’t take any photos inside the house. But I will be sure to do so before returning State-side.

We went outside and for a short walk up a hill where you could see more the lay of the land.

Of course, sister-in-law Katy (who had tagged along with us) started being all goofy at the top of the hill. So I snapped a few quick ones of her and managed to get a pretty good one of her lovely face:

Got a few good ones of Joey with Annalise too!

We then walked to the bottom of the hill, and came to the “Shop.” There’s a pond next to it that the sheep and cattle come to drink from, full of lillypads. Johnny reached in and caught a lily for me, then little brother Joey followed suit for Annalise.

The boys then went in the shop to say hi to brothers Michael and Kenny who were there. I noticed the small herd of cattle behind the shop, watching us. Dare I say it? The Large, Black Angus Bull they have for that herd is the scariest looking fellow I’ve ever seen! His eye brows seriously give him the most angry expression! They say he’s a doll, was raised by hand and is very gentle, he just looks really angry. One of the cows is SO big! She’s pregnant, and it would not be surprising if she had twins in there.

After we got back to the truck, we went home and relaxed for a bit. Watched “Dreamer” with my sister-in-laws, which was a very nice way to relax after so much walking around. Then Joey needed a ride to take Annalise back home. So the two of them rode with me and Johnny! We drove out to Waiouru (why-oo-roo) and dropped off Annalise, then Joey was kind enough to buy the 3 of us pizza. Then we went over to the Large Carrot, Johnny gave it a hug, and we got a pic together.

Then we got a picture of the backside of Mt Ruapehu.

After we got back from all that, the guys decided to go to the Ruatiti Domain (Roo-uh-tih-tee) to cool down. Its a small patch in Ruatiti where the whanganui (wung-gu-new-ee) river goes through. Its a really pretty spot, and a great place for swimming. The boys even have a spot where they can dive into the water.

Oh, and on the way there we got a nice clear view of Mt Ruapehu:

Oh, and Kenny took this photo (I edited) of a fern that was down there, and a quick pic of him “petting” a Honey Bee:

And on the way home, we saw the moon rising up over Mt Ruapehu. In the pic, Ruapehu is the mountain on the far right, middle is Mt. Tongariro, and the far left is Brown-Top (can’t pronounce the native name for it at all).

And then, coming up the driveway to our New Zealand place of residence, we saw a pair of Spur-Winged Plovers! I couldn’t get a good photo of them, so I’ve linked their name to the google images page for them (fyi, they are the ones with the bright yellow on their faces). And here’s a photo I got of Johnny coming back from scaring them into doing their little call, which was a really cute call:

And then, to the house for a quiet evening and some sleep.