whanga what? whangarei!!

and yet another three day weekend excursion!!!

this time our trip was to Whangarei, which is pronounced "fun-ga-ray". Weird I know. The "wh" makes an "f" sound here. Needless to say, it was jam-packed and fun-filled (hyphens?).

Friday we drove in the vans to the Amu's house - James Amu has been our tour guide for the last couple weeks and let us crash at his place for the weekend. They have this gorgeous property with a house that I hope to someday inherit. However, since I am not related to them, I don't see that happening in real life. We rough and toughed it in the backyard and slept in tents. One of the more comfortable camping experiences of my life. We had mattresses and lots and lot of blankets :) Half the time I was scared our tent would collapse in the nightly tropical rainstorms, but we survived to see the morning and hear the rooster crow (literally).

In the afternoon we took a trip to a farm to milk some of dem cows! This was honestly one of the best parts of the weekend. Claire - now I know why you love cows! They are weirdly cute and very smart. Or just so dumb that they are brainwashed.

this man featured below is Sid Going (look him up!) One of the most famous rugby players of all time. I guess it's only natural to retire from rugby and move to a farm. . .

Here is what happens on a dairy farm . . .

A bell rings and the cows move from this paddock into a line. They go through the line and walk onto a moving milk carousel. The cows just pop right into the stalls as the thing spins around! Then the farmer hooks up a milking machine, they ride around, and when they get back to the beginning they BACK UP OUT OF THE STALL. I was honestly flabbergasted. dumbfounded. amazed!!! I tried to explain it in this video. . .but for some reason I was whispering. Probably because I was in awe. I know videos are annoying to watch, but really. This one is worth your time.

We asked the farmer if we could help "milk the cows". I was feeling bold and he let me hook the machine up to the udders. One of the more frightening/hilarious things I've done in my life. The cows are moving around the circle on the machine and you have to hook up the udder to suction cups while walking beside it. I was lucky enough to get pooped on!!! yayyy. The ONE moment I was helping the cow out, it decided to go.

Luckily they were able to hose me down since I was covered in cow yuck

Enough about those amazing mammal quadrupeds. . . moving onward! Friday night we had a BBQ in the backyard and the YSA from the area came. We partied, played volleyball, and danced. They are way good dancers! They taught me how to shuffle, dougie, and "do the skank" (it's a NZ dance that isn't actually skanky).

ruined this candid shot!

Saturday we woke up and went boating!! on the ocean!!! and it was freezing! but so worth it. Mallory and I rocked the banana boat and it rocked us. I have developed a new appreciation for Ashton Kutcher and the Coast Guard. I know he isn't actually in the Coast Guard. . .but that's all I could think of! Ashton in the Guardian battling waves and overcoming a salt water in the mouth in order to save lives. Props to those people!

In the afternoon we went surfing. FUR REALZ. It wasn't the lame surfing I did earlier where I would crash and burn every five seconds, because I actually got up! Heaps of times! There was still a lot of crashing and burning, even some collisions (brooke!) . . . but totally worth it. We had surfing instructors that helped us out and we got to wear some really attractive bright yellow shirts.

a little wobbly. . .

done and done :)

Saturday night we finished up the party by totally stuffing our faces with sweets and desserts and singing some karaoke. I belted some Michael Jackson and we also had some other greats from Titianic, Grease, and ABBA.

Kirsten and I tried some ballet moves.

We weren't strong enough so Margs helped out

Sunday was great because it was Sunday :) We were asked impromptu to sing some prelude music. The ward loved it surprisingly! There was a least 3 people who bore their testimonies about how they love everyone and they love America. My favorite was an old woman who talked forever about how she loves America. . . "I saw no bad peoples. I thought I would see bad peoples, but I didn't see one. Not even in Vegas. People said to watch out, but I just love all Americans." Bless her heart :)

After church I think I played bananagrams for literally 3 hours. It is my new obsession. Forget scrabble! I was particularly proud of my bananagram set up that included "velcros", "torture", "equate", and "smattering." After playing, we created this little gem :)

Still feel like I am catching up on sleep - but who cares! I only have about a month left and I feel like I'm running out of time! Next on the agenda for this weekend is. . .

bungy jumping

ferry ride to a volcano

shopping

trip to Piha beach

and the Pasifika Festival!

go team!