Making up for a couple of weeks given over to photos taken in Matamata. We went to see glowworms at the Blue Lake, Tikitapu. We had cooking lessons, a cottage meeting, sewing lessons, met some new senior missionaries, and saw more lavender sky.
Plus, a few more pictures of Hobbiton, this time the Green Dragon Inn.
Arachnocampa luminosa, the glowworms of New Zealand, are found in several areas, notably the Waitomo caves near Hamilton. But they can also be found in other spots, including the dells near Lake Tikitapu, the Blue Lake of Rotorua
We were invited to join the Myler family with six of our eight young missionaries. It was quite dark, and we were able to see the Southern Cross very well, although no pictures, alas, of the constellations or the Blue Lake from my camera.
In this photo, taken from Southern Cross teara.govt.nz , you can see the stars of the Southern Cross constellation in the middle of the sky, with the orange Gacrux (Gamma Crucis) at the top, Acrux (Alpha Crucis) on the bottom, Mimosa (Beta Crucis) to the left and Imai (Delta Crucis) to the right. An additional smaller orange star, Ginan (Epsilon Crucis), is not depicted on the New Zealand national flag.
Two bright pointers on the left are Alpha Centauri and Beta Centauri. You can see cloudy nebulae areas in this photo as well as star clusters.
We can view the Southern Cross in the night sky from our back yard on Tarewa Road.
The four Myler sons are very smart. Cohen, the eldest, explained to us about how bioluminescence is created from chemicals and enzymes from the glowworms' bodies reacting with oxygen in the air to create light. A sac surrounding the light organ provides oxygen and concentrates the light reflection.
This bioluminescence attracts insects to where the glowworms, about the size of match sticks, attach themselves to plants and trees. They capture their prey in a sticky silk web.
You can see the the larvae hanging down in little pearly glowing strings. Adult glowworms are called fungus gnats, and they are not attracted to the glowing lights. Plus, they are strong enough to pull away from the threads.
Elder Rooks is working on physical therapy for his foot following his recovery from his Achilles tendon mishap. So we walked downtown to the Chemist Warehouse to find toe spreaders so he could work on his balance for when he gets back home to his beloved golfing.
The place was packed full of stuff. We found a two-toe spreader, but still had to go to Amazon.com to find one for all five toes. Now he is marching around the house with his toes splayed. (Mine are already splayed from spending so much time barefoot in my Fruitland garden) Hopefully he will be fully prepared to play golf when we get home.
The elders and sisters wanted to know how to cook something more than toast, so we made Yellow Thai Curry on rice with either chicken or prawns (what the Kiwis call shrimp), which was excellent. Elder Wiseman even chopped up the vegetables and actually ate them and LIKED them. So he said.
Enjoying themselves in the kitchen while Sister Manning makes chocolate chip oatmeal cookies
Later on in the week we had a cottage meeting with invited friends for a Share Kai. Elder Wiseman cooked a leg of pork (they don't grow them lean here in Aotearoa) which Elder Rooks had to slice up, I made a great big pot of mashed potatoes, and our guests brought all sorts of tasty things, including sliced corned beef, in the picture above. Simon, the Elders' Quorum president, brought lots of ice cream, which he ate lots of.
There ended up being 18 of us, but it was all good and everyone had a great time. You can see Simon on the right eating his ice cream. The paper bowls gave way so he got a salad bowl instead.
We also had a sewing lesson at our Missionary Council Meeting. We could manage the buttons, ties, and rips and holes, but I had to take home Elder Karaitiana's suit pants to properly hem them, especially without a sewing machine. Then he brought me two more pairs of pants, including this one hemmed up with painter's tape.
He was very thankful to have laundered, ironed, and hemmed up pants. I think there are more waiting in the elders' flat.
He was very thankful to have laundered, ironed, and hemmed up pants. I think there are more waiting in the elders' flat.
The Carters from Cache County dropped by. They will be a real asset to the mission. We gave them a copy of the senior missionary Welcome Guide to New Zealand, and gave them lots of helpful advice. President Nikoia hasn't decided where to assign them yet. We were hoping they would be coming to live in our house in Rotorua in the next few weeks.
Back to Hobbiton. Here we are after leaving the hobbit hole we explored. We could see the Green Dragon Inn across The Water. A purple swamp hen, the ubiquitous pukeko, is visible at the bottom of the photo. I hadn't realized pukekos had invaded Middle Earth.
The Mill over The Water. The bulletin board has public reminders and advertisements such as Thimble & Sons, Tinkers, Bywater Road, Hobbiton; Nobbies' Thatchers, no job is too big or too small; Hogshead Apple Cider; Celebrate High Day, feasting & music; Annual Pumpkin Competition, etc. etc.
The Bridge over The Water. The two pretty blonde young women were at it again, taking Instagram shots of themselves with blowing hair, draping themselves appealingly over the sides, etc. so I gave up and Photoshopped them out later.
The Green Dragon Inn with its thatched roof and round windows
Vines growing along the window frames
Elder Rooks under the carved door
A nice fire in the hearth
Leaves painted on the door of the beer cellar
Where we drank our ginger beer. Well, where I drank my ginger beer and also Elder Rooks' ginger beer. The only other choices were alcoholic and you were supposed to have your passport to prove you were old enough, and which we purposely didn't bring with us.
They have lunches and dinners here too, which would have doubled the price of our tickets.
One last hobbit hole on the way out. I was sorely tempted to walk up the walk, open the door, and move in.
Goodbye, Hobbiton!
Flaming sunset...
...that eventually turned into a lavender sky
We have neglected keeping track of the ongoing pukeko soap opera. Here, Mr. & Miss Pukeko were enjoying having the lawn to themselves when Ms. Third Wheel showed up, and running in a rapid and agitated manner, flew at Miss Pukeko with malice aforethought and loud unladylike squawking . The pair ran off and Ms. Third Wheel, who isn't making any friends with this sort of behavior, was left alone, again.
If you don't believe me, Elder Rooks also witnessed Ms. Third Wheel making another scene. If she would only take my advice, she would go back to Kuirau Park and find a solo bachelor rooster looking for a chicken lady just like her.
