Coromandel, LCF, and the Giant Rope Swing

Coromandel campground - a Bird Park

The most exciting things that happened this week were:

1-COROMANDEL

2-LCF

3-GIANT ROPE SWING

Our campground

 We drove for 5.5 hours to reach the Coromandel region of New Zealand.  Hiking, sea-kayaking, beaching.  

hiking

Sage

Danny has suddenly become as tall as Noah

Another exciting thing for me this week was becoming involved with the Liahona Children's Foundation. I am considering becoming a volunteer coordinator for the South Pacific Region and also considering going along to Papua New Guinea next month to conduct height/weight screenings for kids.  Does anybody have any experience with this organization?  Or know anything about it?  

And the third most exciting thing that happened this week was having Harry, Jason, and Eleanor Gaastra show up at our house and volunteer to put up a giant rope swing in our back yard!

These pictures can't show just how HIGH the rope is!  Jason is a professional arborist, and his father an amateur arborist.  They brought all their gear and climbed up, up, up! First they tied a rope horizontally from one tree across to another, and then attached another rope to hang down from middle of the horizontal rope as the swing.  The Gaastras worked for hours, straight through a few rain showers.

It was an all-day event that will not be forgotten by adults or kids!

Here is Jason half-way up one of the trees:

Old ropes from a ship - a gift from our landlord, who encourages kids to fully enjoy the yard.  

First this...

Then this!

As I publish this post, it is 10PM on a Sunday night, and the rain and wind are pounding our house from all sides.  I hear a gust of wind come down our driveway, shove a wall of rain into the front side of the house, and then the wind suddenly twists and the rain is hitting the hall windows on the right, and then the noise moves back to the kitchen, and then suddenly pounding on the skylight in the piano studio on the left….  

We have many pictures of the beautiful, green NZ countryside - fewer pictures of the rain that keeps it so watered.  Our house doesn't have any insulation and so when the wind blows, I feel the fresh air move inside; and when it rains, it's as loud as being in a car or a tent.  It makes me feel cozy inside.