Melbourne Pettys

Got a new Camera, and went to New Zealand

Fathers day was the first day of the month and it was the best. Unknown to me Vern and all the children including Marion put in and bought me a flash Nikon camera. Marion was on the Ipad when I opened it. It is the same as Ellen’s so we will be able to swap lenses. The telescopic one will be able to take great photos of birds I am sure. I spent all afternoon reading the instructions, I was even reading bits out to my father when I gave him a call.

Last Tuesday after of dropped the children off at Mutual I went for a walk. It saved petrol driving back and I thought I had better get fit before we head off to New Zealand so I can keep up with Nan when we go walking. It was a nice warm evening to stretch the legs.

Friday evening of the sixth we headed over to the Eltham Chapel for Jared and Alyce’s engagement party. All the regulars where there however it got a bit too noisy for me so I ended up standing in the hallway. Elder Dudfield was on an assignment so wasn’t able to attend.

The next day I headed back up to Kinglake to try out my new camera on some birds. Carmen couldn’t come with me this time since she and the rest of the gang had basketball at the chapel. Some of Calvin’s mates, Eaymon and Adam were there and a few of the Eltham YSA and the Elders played also.

Vern and I are often left on our own these days as the children all head off to different places. Carmen works and Austin went to the footy on Friday night with Isaac and Isaac then stayed over at Isaac’s place. I just this is just a taste of things to come.

Vern was the last speaker in Sacrament on the eighth week and did a great job. We stayed for a baptism after church to support Dylan and of course Medi a man from Iran who was getting baptized since he was taught in our house once. We then had a houseful after church with Norelle her sister Kelsy and a few of their young cousins.

Austin and Carmen went ice skating for mutual down near Costco at Docklands on Tuesday the tenth. They had a great time and only fell over a couple of times when they tried to do some ‘tricks’. Vern took them so she could do some shopping at Costco while she was down there. She brought back supplies for the gang for when we are in New Zealand.

I was asked to fill in for a couple of weeks teaching Institute. It is a big class with of about thirty, It draws a crowd because it is on Eternal Marriage. I was a bit nervous to start but it all went well.

Saturday the fourteenth Carmen and I headed out early to Point Cook so she could get some hours up on the car and I could use my camera. We went for a walk along the coast to the point. It was sunny and there wasn’t a breath of wind. It warmed up on the way back and the flies almost carried us off.  

We had the Dudfields’ come over for dinner the next day, it was nice to catch up and we all had a good laugh. I think Elder Dudfield has relaxed a little since he was released as the Stake President.

I was off work for two weeks starting on Monday the sixteenth. It was wet that day but I managed to find a break in the rain to go for a walk around the lake. It is always nice in the spring with all the blooms out, looks nice and smells nice. The next day I took Vern to her job at the Seabrook Primary School in Point Cook. I dropped her off then went for another walk around the park by the point. It was a nice sunny day and I got pictures of a few more birds. I then bought some food, picked up Vern and we had a nice picnic lunch overlooking the RAAF Lake. Afterwards we went for a drive to Campbell Cove and had a look at the boat sheds. They are all packed together and are now used for holiday homes. 

Wednesday I hung around the house while a bloke came and fixed Ellen’s car. That evening after I finished teaching institute Dylan drove Vern and I to the Airport to catch the midnight flight to Auckland.

Natalie picked us up and we both slept until lunch time. That evening we went and watched Robbie play rugby at Eden Park. He is in the Northland team and they were playing Auckland. It was raining most of the time but we managed to get seats under cover. It was good to see him play at Eden Park; we went down afterwards and had a chat with him. He has signed a contract with Perth so is heading over there in a few weeks.

On the Friday Natalie and I went and picked up a large van so she could move some furniture about. We picked up a new bed and dropped off the old one at her friends place. We had a nice home cooked meal that night for Natalie's birthday. Marion called us to say that see will be enrolling in a make-up course and will also learn how to do special effects make up.

Saturday the twenty-first we headed down to Putaruru. We stopped off at Pokeno for lunch and ice-cream; from there we went to Hamilton. We stopped in to see Hori Solomon whom I knew from school and was a Missionary companion of mine. We had a great visit with him and his wife and met some of his children as well. I had taken my drive with all the pictures so I copied the photos from the time we were missionaries together onto his computer. He was glad to get them since his were lost years ago. We arrived in Putaruru that evening and had a nice meal with Nan and Gramps.

Sunday we went to church in Tokoroa, I had left my suit in Auckland so had borrowed a suit off of Hori which was too big and a white shirt from Gramps so I looked a bit rough.

Monday we went for a walk up the Waihou stream, it was a beautiful day. Vern went with Dad to the top in the car then walked down to meet Mum and I who walked up from the bottom. The clarity of that stream never fails to amaze me. After lunch in down town Putaruru Vern and I headed back to Hamilton. We picked up a hitch hiker and he turned out to be a less active member related to Hori Solomon. We had a look around town then went for a drive out to Temple View for a look. Vern rang her friend Sue Dallas and we dropped in to see her before we headed over for dinner at Iti’s place.

Tuesday we headed out to Matamata and visited Hobbiton were they filmed part of the Lord of the Ring films. Dad stayed in the car park as a protest at the high admission price but Vern, Mum and I really enjoyed it despite the rain. The place looked so real, there were even little hobbit clothes hanging on the little hobbit clothes lines. The tour ended at the Green Dragon Pub were they gave us a Ginger Beer in a clay cup. It was all very well done.

From there we headed back to Matamata for lunch and the wind and rain really started to set in. I didn’t want to sit around the house so we went for a drive to Te Aroha. Then across the Kamais’ to Waihi then down to Katikati for an ice-cream and back to Putaruru via Tauranga.

Wednesday Vern headed back to Auckland to see the show Wicked and catch up with some friends. I headed off to Maungatautari for a walk in the rain forest with my parents. Even Dad walked with us. We saw lots of Kakas, they flew really close.  From there we had lunch in the sun at the Rhubarb Café in Arapuni. Then mum and I walked along the Waikato River to Jones Landing. It is a spectacular walk along the cliffs by Lake Arapuni. We walked passed a small island I camped on years ago. Dad picked us up at the end and then we went for a little walk in Barnett’s Bush to see the big Totara tree before heading home, it was big.

Thursday we drove through Tokoroa to Whakamaru (and also down memory lane) where Dad dropped Mum and I off for a 12 km walk to Mangakino along the west side of the river. It started to rain once but by the time we got our gear out it stopped. We met a couple on the trail from Eltham of all places. As a young man he used to teach at Whakamaru Primary school but that was already after we had left. They were surprised to see a lady of Mums age motoring down the track. Dad was as usual was waiting for us at Mangakino so we went down town to have a look around and have an ice-cream. We drove back to Putaruru via Whakamaru and Atiamuri.

When we got home we were about to go out for dinner when Vern called to say she was on her way. She was going to drive to Whangarei but decided against it. We waited for her to come then we all had a lovely dinner at the Indian Restaurant up the road. It was good to have her back and I had a surprise for her when she walked in the door. It was the flashing bird that someone had given to use for a wedding present that Mum and Dad still had. Friday I did some work around the house, fixed the chainsaw and replaced the gutter on the garage. I had wanted to fix the gutter since I got there, it was full of holes and it was bugging me.

Waiere Falls

Saturday the twenty-eighth we headed off early back to Auckland. However we took the scenic route along the base of the Kaimai Ranges to Thames. Beautiful country along there and the Wairere Falls were full of water and looked great. In Thames we drove up to the War Memorial for some photos. I wanted Vern to climb up on the ledge to recreate a photo I took of her before we were married. However the memorial must have grown because she couldn’t get up there. From there we headed up the east coast of the Firth of Thames to the little town of Orere where Vern used to holiday as a child then into Auckland. New Zealand sure is a beautiful country.

Thames

We spent the evening with Milla and Tana which was fun as always before heading out in the early hours of Sunday morning back to Australia. It really was the early hours since Vern got us up and out to the airport an hour early than we needed because of daylight saving. I had a window seat and had a clear view when we crossed the coast by Sale then all the way into the city. It was good to me home again.