We decided to"Heart attack" several people for Valentines day...and we were able to do so without being caught!

We took a few days and  pedaled the Twin coast cycle trail from Opua to Horeke, and then back to Opua from Kaikohe for a total of 135 km.  Lots of interesting signs along the way...

           Tuna = Eel, so be careful when asking for  a tuna sandwich.

               Panel beaters =  Automobile body shop!                        Quite the fine for no leash!

Lisa living dangerously!

The B&B we stayed at in Horeke

Cooling off the feet after pedaling all day

Unique mailboxes in remote areas of the far north. No address numbers, only the family name written on the boxes, microwave and refrigerator.

Lisa met many friends along the way. The little dog followed her for quite some distance, before she had to turn around and take him back to his home. This horse received an apple from Lisa on the first day and then recognized her as we peddled back by on the return trip. He came galloping up to us to receive another apple.

 Tile and art at the famous Hundertwasser toilets in Kawakawa, which were created by architect and artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser.

Kaikohe and Whangarei combined Zone conference

The Sisters from our previous district and the Elders in our current district.

 Sister Perriton and Chibota

Elder Tholen and Nilsson                                                                             Elder Johnson and Evans      

Elder Hamblin and Burkhardt

With no measurable rain in close to 50 days, homes that rely on tank water (water collected from running off roofs into storage tanks) are having to purchase water. Elder and Sister Barnes in Coopers Beach got their tank filled the day we stayed with them.  Due to the demand, the typical wait time is 4-5 weeks to get a truckload of water.

The view from the Barnes's back deck!

We waited until school holidays were over so campgrounds would be uncrowded. We did not know a biannual bike ride would be starting from our campground with 100 bicyclists leaving daily for 10 days! During the day we were the only tent, but by late afternoon we had LOTS of tents and people around us! We did enjoy visiting and learning about a lot of them. They were "real" bikers, leaving from Cape Reinga heading to the bottom of the south island , some 3,000 km in distance.

Caught and released several fish from off the rocks and off of the beach.

We started at sea level and headed up the mountain, then down the steps at the top of this steep decent, then across the bay, and then along the ridge of the next mountain, and  then over the top and down again to get to the lighthouse!

Somewhere in the distance is a lighthouse!

Made it !

These tourists took the easy route and drove to the lighthouse!

Cape Reinga, where the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean meet

Hiking back over the  mountains to our camp.

Stopped at  this small private beach and took a dip before tackling the final mountain.

We decided to wait and do the camping and biking once the summer crowds were gone. So it seems like in this blog we played a little more than usual!
We were still able to do many visits and perform much service! We met with Nicole and Kitt for the first time, visited Ricky Marsh and delivered water and a home made cheese ball, inspected the missionaries apartments,  did a FHE with the Buxton family, attended Zone Conference in the North, had Gloria and our local Elders for dinner, visits at the rest home, taught lessons at church, attended district councils, worked in the Chapman's yard, helped repair the Chapman's  mower,  worked at the Food Bank and talked about the Gospel with many people on our journeys.