Australia

Unfortunately our time in Australia was very short. We flew in to Cairns and went straight to the zoo. Here we got to feed Kangaroos and take pictures with a Koala bear named Buster. I wanted to take Buster home with me, but the zoo people wouldn't allow it for some reason.





Pretty much the whole next day was spent diving the Great Barrier Reef. We did a 2 tank dive. It was unbelievable. We saw a shark and sea turtle. Pretty fish. But the coral was amazing. Tons of colorful sea anemones with clown fish living in them. Best dive ever.



Still to come: Queenstown, Christchurch, Auckland, and our camper-van.

Hamilton Part 2

Our second day in Hamilton we checked out of our hotel and drove an hour to Hobbiton. There we took a tour through the sets of Hobbiton from the Lord of the Rings movies. It was really neat to see all the places from the movie.


Hobbiton was built on a sheep farm. So at the end of the tour we watched a sheep shearing demonstration. It was great. But the best part was we got to bottle feed baby sheep! They were so cute. And I decided I want to have a baby sheep one day. Michael already said I could :)



After that we drove up to Auckland for the next 2 nights. More to come on Auckland.

Hamilton Part 1

Our first 2 days in New Zealand were spent down in Hamilton. We stayed at this beautiful hotel at the top of these green, rolling hills. The view was spectacular. You can see the hotel up on the hill in the background.


Our first day there we drove to Raglan. A famous surf town and watched Michael surf for a few hours. The waves were not great but it's still a beautiful spot.

Then we went in the afternoon to go on a tour in some caves that have glow worms. We all got put in some wet suits and were given tubes. Then our guide took us through these underground caves. You should know though, it's winter in New Zealand. So the water we were tubing in was 50 degrees F. It was soooooo cold! I tried peeing in my wet suit but it only helped for a few minutes :)

The caves were amazing. Some parts were pitch black and the ceiling was glowing with hundreds of glow worms. Other parts required us to jump backwards off little waterfalls with our inner tubes under our bums. It was crazy. After the tour they provided hot showers and soup. Just what we needed after an hour in the freezing water.

Goodbye Tonga

After living in Tonga for 90 days, it was a bitter sweet feeling saying goodbye. We will miss the Fonua family in Ha'apai, and going to sandy beach everyday. We'll miss having limited responsibilities and no plans. But we miss our family and friends. And the many luxuries we enjoy at home (like hot showers).

But before we left we were able to enjoy 4 days in Tonga with my parents! We stayed on the beach in a cute little hut.

We took them to the temple and I went with Mom to a seminary class at Liahona (the church high school in Tonga). The teacher did a great job.


We went kayaking and snorkeling at the beach. Michael surfed. We went whale watching in the rain. And shopped at the market.


We took Mom and Dad to church and then ate dinner at the Bishop's house after. It was a blast. Now we are off to Hamilton, New Zealand for 2 days and then Auckland for 2 days.