One of the things that amazes me about New Zealand is the diversity of the topography that you see without traveling much. We visited glaciers, canyons, volcanoes, rivers, lakes and mountains. God did an amazing job when he designed NZ! An interesting fact about NZ is that it has no venomous snakes or dangerous animals. We covered many kilometers in NZ by camper vans. It was a great time to talk and grow and learn with the other teammates!
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| Lots of great conversation while driving between locations |
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| Franz Josef Glacier, Tai Poutini National Park |
We only had one project on the South Island and that was for Waiuta Gold Mine. The New Zealand Department of Conservation had invited us to come to this historic location to photograph the historical buildings and create a new brochure. Waiuta was one of the West coast’s richest gold mines in the early 1900s. Our images were also preserved in the New Zealand National Archives. (really neat!) They even liked our work so much IPS has been invited back next year to work on more projects!
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| My friend MJ photographing old Mining buildings at Waiuta Gold Mine |
After our time at Waiuta we wound our way further south visiting national parks and other beautiful locations in the South Island of New Zealand.
One night at a campground near Mt. Cook we had a great Bible study and all made a commitment to be all the way in for God and not be a lukewarm person but all the way hot. The spiritual leadership was so great and I am grateful to have people that want to help bring me up to a new level.
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| On the side of the road on the way in to Queenstown, NZ. Simply stunning! |
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| Polar plunge in lake Wanaka in Otago, NZ! |
As we came to the end of our time in NZ we got to spend a few days in Queenstown. I went Jet Boating which was a thrilling hour long ride through canyons in a shallow river. It was a blast! Some of the others went bungy jumping at the original bungy jump location, some on a helicopter ride and some on high speed ATV Lord of the Rings tours. Later we went to the ice bar where everything is made from ice and had mocktails just to say we did it, it was fun:)
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| Everyone ready to go to the ice bar! I was the only one in shorts... |
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| On the dock at lake Wakatipu in Queenstown, NZ |
We had a great time relaxing and having fun our last few days in New Zealand. The time went by quickly and I learned a lot and made great friends with everyone. I really felt like we're ready for the final and most challenging part of the trip in Fiji.