Home Stay and Last 3 Build Days

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The last three build days were different than the rest because the team broke up into our home stays. Our host families were charming and considerate hosts. Thursday saw the completion of the roof, insulation, and pre-inspection electrical. Brad, Bill, and Mike worked on the water drainage system. Kirk made many scenic runs to the quarry and offered tours to overworked team members to view the New Zealand landscape (a nice diversion). Brad (The Machine) got a chance to operate a backhoe…scary! The house really looks great. I only hope that we left enough work for to complete for the next group (just kidding)!
Friday night we had a farewell party with the family, host families, Habitat Board members, and the Hawkins construction guys. Hawkins Construction was so impressed with Habitat and the partnership that they had with them that they decided to sponsor Habitat ongoing, which is awesome. The party was full of great food, great drinks, and great company. Each of us was awarded a Habitat for Humanity New Zealand t-shirt. It was an emotional goodbye to the kiwi families that have welcomed us into their homes and lives for the past two weeks.
On Saturday morning, we ventured to sulphiric (smelly) Rotorua, about three hours south of Auckland. Our first stop was to the Agrodome to watch a sheep show. We got to see 13 (I think) different types of sheep and had our pictures taken with a few. We witnessed a live sheep shearing on stage and even got to see some baby lambs. They were adorable. Some of us got to hold them after the show. Christy was called on stage to milk a cow; that was pretty humorous.
After the sheep show, we went on a farm tour. We got to try kiwi juice and honey from the farm. We saw a lot of different animals on the tour: sheep, ostriches, cows, llamas, etc. It was neat to be able to feed the animals and have them come right up to the tour vehicle.
Our next stop was a visit to see the geysers and hot springs at Te Po. We had a beautiful tour then experienced a Maori cultural show complete with singing and dancing. At one point, the guys were called to the stage so Brad and Sith went up and performed a bit of “haka”. The girls were called up earlier to do “Poi” so Christy and Rachel went up on stage. We got some good pictures so we’ll have to share them with everyone.
After the show, we experienced a real Maori Hangi dinner. We had lamb, pork, chicken, mussels, and a salad and dessert buffet. It was great. They took us on a night trolley tour of the geysers complete with hot chocolate.
On Sunday, we stopped at Skyline Park and “Luge”-ed. It’s sort of like go-carting except gravity is used to make you “go” as most of the ride is downhill. Lots of fun! It was pretty high on a mountain so we had to take a gondola to get to the top.
Our next stop was to Waitomo to view the glowworm caves. It was great. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take pictures within the caves but the glowworms were beautiful .
We have been in Queenstown in the South Island for the last couple of days. We have had a lot of fun but there is a bit too much to tell before we have to catch our bus in a few minutes to take us to Milford Sound. To summarize, we have done lots of shopping and took the Doubtful Sound cruise yesterday (the word “beautiful” doesn’t even begin to describe it so you’ll have to see our pictures). Christy, Lynne, Brad, and Mary are going skydiving tomorrow morning. We do leave tomorrow afternoon but won’t be back to the cities for another two days as there is a lot of commuting. We will try to add some pictures.
We miss you all and will see you soon!

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Photos

Family
Family thanking everyone