Back to Auckland today

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Hello, everyone.
Thank you for all of your comments and messages. This may be my last blog since we are going back to Auckland and I won't have access to a computer unless I find a internet cafe.
Yesterday was perfect and we managed to not let Chrissy get too sunburned. We went on back roads as much as we could to Tauranga and Mt. Manganui. The farmers actually put their cows out with an electric fence to keep the sides of the roads mowed and we thought that was a novel idea. As we traveled over the Kaimai mountains, we could notice that we were out of milk cow country and getting more into sheep country. We also saw two deer farms where they raise the deer for exporting venison, etc. Then, we saw a few goat farms too. They tend to use goat milk and cheese quite a bit here too. They don't believe in soy or rice milk.
We had forgotten how wonderful the beach was at Mt. Manganui. It stretches in a wide bay for about 5 miles-wonderful white sand and turquoise water. The houses and hotels along the beach were quite fantastic too. We played in the water a bit and just listened to the waves coming in. Very relaxing. Then, up the coast was a lot of kiwi fruit farms and vineyards. We rather rushed through, since we really wanted to see the ocean and the coastline, but couldn't. We stopped at Waihi and found a little Christian cafe called the Emmaus Cafe. We finally had a NZ meat pie and Chrissy found one of her favorites, fudge fingers for a sweet. She was quite excited.
We went to see the gold mine and it was a busy place. They only work 5.5 days a week and is open-pit mine. The gold on the North Island is found in veins of quartz stone and they carry up the stone, then crush it and finally extract the gold, silver and a few other minor minerals from it. They reckoned this vein would last another twenty years. The gold from the South Island is in nuggets and they pan for it. We thought that was interesting.
Today, we go back to Auckland to visit with friends each day until we leave on Sunday evening. I'll blog again if I have the opprotunity. The Lord has blessed every part of our trip .
Shirley, Jim and Chrissy

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Photos

"Spud" and Anne
Chrissy liked potatoes so much when she was little, that Anne called her "Spud".