Mount Mauganui

A couple weekends ago I went on a trip to Mt Mauganui. It was really really cool. We drove on a ton of windy roads and here is a picture of me when we stopped at this amazing lookout point on our way there.

Here is the Mount in the distance.

The first thing we did was head up the Mount. It wasn't long before about half of the people who went decided to head to the shops and not up the steady climb up the Mount. It was so cool because as we walked up the scenery totally changed. At first there was sheep and here is a picture of a shepard with a baby lamb and a sheep. Then it was more foresty, and at the top more rocks.

Here is a good picture of how we felt walking up.

But the view at the top was gorgeous! You could see for miles and miles.

Here we are at the very top point. Of course the boys were excited to climb even higher on this tepee looking thing.

After we climbed down we headed to the beach. New Zealand has different colored sand depending on which part of the island you are on. Here on the East coast there is white sand and the beach here was beautiful! The weather wasn't super nice. It was a bit chilly but since the sun was shining it was warm. Not swimming weather but nice enough to still enjoy the beach.

We walked along it and picked up sea shells and stuff. The peninsula thing in the previous picture of me on the beach looked like it would be cool to walk on so we headed there next. I was the one to convince everyone it would be fun and I'm glad it turned out to have really cool views.

Here's a picture of me on some rocks with Mt. Mauganui in the background.

After a long day of walking and climbing we got icecream and this really quaint icecream place. I also found some sweet thrift stores when we were walking around the shops and stuff which is always a good time.

All in all, it was a super great day and fun to be there with the friends I continue to make at Bible School. I love getting out and exploring on weekends and really experiencing the different parts of New Zealand. I also see my faith in action when I go places on the weekends because you can learn all you want about loving people and trusting God but then its cool to actually do that. I'm sure when two week break comes around I'll be putting even more into practice.

I've also come to really appreciate the way the ocean is instantly calming. I love the sound of the waves. It sounds weird but it reminds me of Africa. When I went a couple years ago we stayed right by the ocean for part of the short term missions trip and we would put these plastic chairs on the beach at night and talk and just listen to the sound of the waves coming in. It was the first time that I thought about how God delights in creation. Something I've been learning here is how even as beautiful creation and nature is, God delights in us even more. When He made man He said it is Very good, unlike the other days of creation when he just said good.

I really love that people can experience New Zealand with me by reading this blog. And I hope that as you see the beauty, that I don't do justice to with my pictures, it reminds you that God loves us even more that all the beauty in nature and His love is wider and deeper than any ocean and higher than any mountain. :)