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Cathedral Performance
Just a glimpse of the beautiful cathedral in which were blessed to sing. Saturday morning we were allowed to sleep in, so we got up around nine so that our host sister, Pearl, could take us to the outdoor market. We bought some great food (fish fritters and beef shish kebabs) and some souvenirs- a ceramic Maori flute and a name-painting that says “Buss Family, New Zealand 2013.” Perfect. We met back up with the group and did an impromptu performance at a mall, then did some sight-seeing. Auckland is surrounded by about 50 volcanoes and craters, so we hiked to the top of one. Mount Eden… beautiful view. Had lunch at the top: fish and chips. Most excellent. Took a little tour through Auckland by bus- our driver, Bruce, worked miracles with that bus. Took us down tiny one-way roads through construction, by the docks, above and beyond anything any bus has ever done before… incredible talent and an amazing guy.
Before moving on, I want to say that all of our New Zealand crew were excellent and we grew so close to them. In charge of everything was Junior Samuela, a tall Samoan New Zealander with an unrelenting sense of humor. His wife, Muriel, was so sweet. Working with them was
Junior
We love this guy. He is greatly missed by all of us. Michelle, Bruce’s wife. Again, terrific people. Last but not least was Lauren. Really, all of them made everything possible and totally awesome. Everything was organized and prepared, we were never hungry (far from it!), and all our concerts were packed. They made the trip unforgettable.
Saturday night was perhaps my favorite major performance of the trip. We sang in a giant cathedral on top of a mountain overlooking the city. The acoustics were awesome, the audience was large, mostly non-member, and enthusiastic, and the Spirit was possibly stronger there than at any other concert. Our encore piece is an incredibly powerful rendition of “How Great Thou Art,” and we sang it with so much feeling that night. None of us in the choir had dry eyes, and the audience was visibly moved. Absolutely amazing. The Lolesi family welcomed us home with a second dinner (we were fed before the concert), and we waddled happily off to bed.
Sunday:
Church. Oh yeah. Great Spirit in the ward; such a kind reception by the members. Morning Church meant we got to rest all afternoon, enjoying conversation and Church movies with the Lolesi family. What kind people… dinner was awesome.
Michelle
The tour mom - always making sure we were fed (extremely well fed) and taken care of. Roast lamb, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, gravy, all the fixings… so good. Since we didn’t eat anything else all day, I was actually a little hungry at dinnertime. Incredible. That night was a devotional for young adults that many members attended. Again, such a powerful Spirit. I remember looking out on the audience as we sang and thinking, “Wow, I’m glad I didn’t serve my mission here. If I feel this much love for them after just a few days, I think that if I spent two years here you couldn’t get me to leave.” Great way to finish Auckland. That night we said goodbye to the Lolesi’s as we were leaving early the next morning. We gave them shells we brought from Hawaii and they gave us a few nice souvenirs. Most importantly, we exchanged contact information so we can keep in touch, especially since Pearl is leaving on her mission in just a few weeks. Terrific people.
Monday:
Drove all day. Left Auckland (northern coast) for Wellington (southern-most point of the island). Incredibly beautiful scenery- mountains, lakes, forests, and plains. I kept my eyes peeled for Lord of the Rings shooting locations… maybe saw a couple.
Brucey!
We love our Bruce! He is married to the wonderful Michelle and he drove our bus (well, it was actually his bus). He taught me many life lessons that I will never forget. Slept, talked, played games, ate, slept… tasty meat pies for lunch. Impromptu performance at a museum. Some souvenir shopping- bought a matching hat and scarf made from possum fur. Apparently they’re an invasive species and they’re trying to eradicate them. Nice and soft… ha ha, I don’t know if this is interesting at all but I’m trying to relate the facts as I remember them. In Wellington we were welcomed at another Marae, and we sang back again as part of the ceremony. It’s the only Marae run entirely by Church members. Really cool. An incredible dinner prepared by the members. Everything in New Zealand is delicious because it’s swimming in butter (a New Zealand specialty- all that dairy) but it can hit our untrained stomachs rather hard. Sleeping arrangements for that night were interesting- two of the married couples had an uncertain fate: us and the Hoffs, our good friends. It worked out fine- Bruce and Michelle asked their good friends Vicky and Brian if they could take us all, and they agreed. Such hospitality- they were totally unprepared for us but so kind and willing to serve. As Vicky said, “We know that you would take care of
The Colossal Squid
Gross. It is massive. Its eyeballs are bigger than my head. us if we were in America. That’s how it is in the Church.” Amen.
A fun start to the day- Brian’s only vehicle is an old truck that only sits three at a time, i.e. it takes two trips to get us and the Hoffs to the church to meet everyone. We were already running late just for Kaylee and I to get there on time (we were trip one) when we piled into the tiny truck. I had a cup of hot chocolate I was trying (unsuccessfully) not to spill all over myself, a job made more complicated by the fact that the truck had almost no suspension. Bouncy ride to say the least. As we talked to Brian he started telling us about the area, then decided we needed a scenic detour to see the cliffs and the beach. “We’ve got time, haven’t we?” We vocalized mild dissent, but he was hard of hearing and cheerfully took us along. We were cracking up the whole time; great start to our day.
Once we were all together we visited the American embassy and talked with the ambassador. Right up my alley. I talked more to the Foreign
Vicky's Home
What an amazing home! We were so lucky to stay here. And see that three person truck in front? What a ride! Service Officers than to him, just because that wasn’t his career path (he got in by special appointment after teaching law for a long time). Really cool though. We had another impromptu performance at a huge museum as a promo for our mini performance at the museum’s little performance hall. That went pretty well- once we finished, some museum staff from the Maori department stood up and sang back to us. So cool. Definitely not planned; that’s just what they do when they feel we deserve it. We got some time to explore the museum- some awesome exhibits. Deep sea fish (or aliens, I’m not sure), volcanoes, extinct NZ animals, and a colossal squid from the Ross Sea (largest specimen in the world). Not as much time as we would have liked, but we had to head off to the performance venue to prep our last concert in New Zealand. We were worried at first because it was in a gym, but it ended up having great acoustics. Nothing like the cathedral, of course, but we could be heard. The ambassador was there, as were other important people… Another powerful performance. Pretty amazing- we didn’t have a single concert this
Vicky and Brian
We keep them in our hearts. I am so thankful for their kindness and love. time that was suboptimal. It was a big way to go out. We went home tired but happy, sad for our last night in New Zealand.
Wednesday:
Goodbye NZ. Tearful goodbyes at the local chapel to host families and our NZ crew… we still miss them. They were so on top of everything, and so kind and supportive of us the whole time. We flew out later that morning…
I hope that somehow some little bit of the spirit of the tour can come through these words. A blog can’t really describe the best, most important and beautiful parts of it: the music, the scenery, and the people. If there is one thing that I will always remember about New Zealand, it is the love and welcome we felt from the members of the Church there. I have never felt anything like it. We love NZ!
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