On Saturday morning we all got up early(ish) and drove to Cormandel beach. It took about 3 hours. It was a blast. We had two vans and we put all the boys in one van and all the girls in the other. It was so great. Hannah D and I got to cuddle all the way! We listened to lots of great beats including dub step remix of Awesome God, One Direction, T-Swift, random country crap, the A-a-a-men song, and other such great songs. Somehow we swindled the guys into letting us have the van with the better sound system. Awe-yeah. Girls rule and boys drool.
We happened to stop at a lookout point just before we got to Cathedral Cove, and guess who was at the exact same lookout point at the exact same time as us!!! The Circuit Riders leaders Chase and Sam, along with two guys from the Taurunga DTS (Tim and Emanuel). Crazy!!! So we got some sweet photos and decided to hit the beach together! Random fact about Tim - he is very attractive and on friday at the BBQ he got me salt and a fork. I think we might get married one day.
Cathedral Cove at Cormandel is the beach off of the Prince Caspian Narnia movie. It is at the beginning of the movie when they first get to Narnia and they frolic in the water. Anyways. It is beautiful. There is a big rock archway that you have to walk through and a pretty island thingy just off the shore. It is so amazingly beautiful. We had a major photo shoot that took a few hours, and we frolicked in the water just like Susan and Peter and all the guys (from Narnia). It was awesome. I did some headstands on the beach, Brent and I did a dueling headstand, Brent got buried in the sand and Marit moulded some voluptuous breasts for him. Other festivities included a baywatch reenactment, rolling in the sand, swimming, wall ball and lots of fun with the crew IN NARNIA.
The beach was about a 45 minute hike/walk from the parking lot. So when we arrived back in the parking lot, there was a nice lady standing beside our vans. She said "Hey, you guys left your lights on... your battery is probably dead," and then she said, "By the way, there was a traffic cop here just a few minutes ago and he was going to give each van a $200 parking ticket for parking in the bus parking stall" (We decided that two vans could count as a bus.... apparently that's not how it works) (also, I would just like to point out that the van with the lights on was the boy's and not the girls... girls rule and boys drool!). But this lady had talked the cop out of giving us a ticket! So we saved 400 dollars. Wow, God is so good. And within 5 minutes we had a random guy with a boosting box come over and boost the van. God is SO GOOD.
After these adventures we tried to find food. It took a while, but eventually some random guy told us to go to this one bar that has big servings for not a too bad of a price. And while there, some random and slightly intoxicated German woman came over and befriended us and gave us a name of some guy who might be able to put us up for the night. Because we still hadn't found a campground or anything because we were so organized.
After dinner, we embarked on a journey to find a campground. We had heard there was one near the Hot Water beach, so we went there. But, it would have costed us $21 per adult!!! And we only had 3 tents and 18 people, and it was cold and starting to rain. So, we called up this person that the German lady suggested. And the place ended up being a sort of hostel. And they had 8 beds. It would cost $20 per person to sleep inside, and $15 per person to tent or sleep in the van outside. So, whatever, we decided that was the best option.
So we decided to check out the hot water beach quickly. The hot water beach is a natural hot spring on the beach. So you go out to the beach and dig a hole in the sand, and it fills with hot water and you can sit in it. Pretty cool in theory. However, there are only certain times when the tide is low enough for your holes to not be flooded with cold ocean water. Let's just say I was in the hot water for about 30 seconds before it got flooded. Oh joy. So, cold and grumpy, we got back in the vans. And headed to our overnight location.
We found the place no problem. While everyone was fighting/arguing over what we would do in the morning and who would get to sleep inside, Kat and Jacob went inside to check out the bed situation. Everyone prayed for a good night, and when Kat and Jacob came out they said "There are 18 beds!". Wow. The exact number we needed. God is SO GOOD.
So we all got a good night sleep, and in the morning got up and decided to head to Hamilton to shop/relax. But the night before we had rented two shovels from the Hot Beach for 5 dollars each (with a 20 refundable deposit), we had brought these shovels to the hostel with us, which is about 30 minute drive from the hostel in the opposite direction from Hamilton. So, we KEPT the shovels. Oh man. I am pretty sure that is not legal, but it is hilarious. And now we have two super heavy duty shovels for $25 each. Hahah!
Today was pretty chill. We stopped in a town called Paeroa, which is where the Kiwi soft drink L&P was invented. L&P stands for Lemon and Paeroa. It is a pop that is lemony flavoured. It is kind of like sprite, but wayyyyy better. In Paroa there is a giant bottle of L&P. We got a photo. Yesssssssssss.
In Hamilton we all spent wayyyy too much money, but it was still awesome. Kyle and Schnegg hung with the girlies for the afternoon. It was Kyle, Schnegg, Me, Noemi, Hannah R (Kiwi), Kat, and I feel like there was one other person (I am sorry whoever you are! I still love you!). We started out with a delicious soy Latte (my second of the day, since all I had for breaky was an apple and my allergies are very hard to feed). Kyle warmed my heart. We were talking about how fat we are getting here eating all of these carbs that we are fed, and I said that I would be so fat when I get home. But then Kyle was like "Steph, don't say that. You have so much going for you. You are awesome." It made me so happy. Then we went in a shoe store. I tried on a really high pair of shoes and I went over to Kyle and put my arm around his shoulders (I am pretty sure I'm taller than him without heals), anyways, it was funny and he said "Awe yeah, I have this big lady with me.." (or something like that) and I was like "Did you just call me big!?@??" We were friends-off for a minute, but then we made up. It was hilarious. Kyle was my favorite person for the day! Then Schnegg and I got matching pants! Awe aren't we such a cute couple?!!? Aweeeeeeeeeeeeee. And the Kiwi guys in the one store loved us. I am pretty sure most of us bought stuff in that store, so they loved us and started giving us good discounts! Haha they were hilarious. One of them's name was Matt. Ohhh so many Matts. That makes me think of Matt. He was trying to find sunglasses in that store. It was so funny. He tried on like every single pair and all of us were telling him if they looked good or not. The response for most of them was "No, they look kind of douchy" Matt (store worker) thought that was hilarious! But Matt (real matt - aka Matt Krahn) did find one pair that looked good! Woohoo, success!
To make the weekend even more exciting, we got to find out our outreach locations today! I was not excited to find this out. I really really wanted to go to India, but I had the feeling that I would not get to go there. And I was right. I am going to Fiji. Initially I was so disappointed. The India outreach gets to go there for almost 2 months, and then go to Christchurch for the remainder of time, and in India they get to go to an Orphanage and to Mother Theresa's place. I wanted that so bad! But instead I am going to Fiji for about 1 month, and then will be going all over the North Island of New Zealand for a while. I don't really know what all it involves. I know that I will be at Dan's dad's church in Fiji for some time, and at an orphanage I think. And in New Zealand will be going to Drunk Fest to evangelize to drunk people on New Years.
I was disappointed with not getting to go to India, because I wanted it so bad. But Fiji will be so tropical and beautiful and I will get a tan. And my team is super awesome. I get to be with Hannah D <3!!!! She is basically my adopted little sis and I lover her so much! And I get to be with Jacob and Jacob (Van) and one other mystery person (I can't post about it because the person doesn't know yet, but I do!). I love the Jacob's. And we are gonna be so musical it won't even be funny! YESS! And our team has the best leaders! We get Sarah, and Eleisha and Dave. Sarah is basically one of my favorite people that I have ever met and she is the most beautiful singer ever! So I am gonna learn to harmonize! Hannah D is also an AMAZING singer, so I will just be so good at singing by the time it is over! And Eleisha is hilarious and so much fun and she's a crazy Kiwi, so I am so excited to be with her! And Dave is an awesome Canadian boy who is super spiritual and awesome and I think that I will learn a lot!
So that's what's up!
I did some laundry this evening, and forgot to skype my mommy. Oops. I feel SO BAD. Maybe I will phone her next week to make her feel better! But there was just too much excitement going on to remember to skype! haha :( But tomorrow morning we are heading out to the Marine Reach base for the week because it is closer to Circuit Riders, so I had to get all packed up and such too! So much going on! And now it is super late! So I may or may not be a grump in the morning! yikes!
Gute Naght!
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