Dad in Whanganui

Well, all good things must come to an end. Dad went home on Tuesday after an amazing three weeks that went by WAY too fast. I believe I can safely say that he had a wonderful time. Dad has the amazing ability to see the positive of every situation, so it's pretty safe to say that he usually has a wonderful time. But still. It was a good trip. He got to see some very beautiful bits of NZ, and I got to spend wonderful time with him. Dad always sees the best in me, and always thinks my qualities outshine my flaws, no matter how much of a fight my flaws put up. And that feels pretty nice. I am so lucky to have been raised by such a kind person, and privileged to have him as a confidant and friend as an adult. I am also lucky that he is now a professional at using Skype, and so I don't have to miss him too terribly much. 

On a less mushy note, I thought I'd share some pictures of last Thursday, which we spent exploring some pretty places around Whanganui. It was a great day - we only planned a few things, so we walked slowly and enjoyed taking our time to have great conversations and absorb all the beauty around us.

The first thing we did was visit a local apiary (I just learned that that means "a place where you keep bees"). It is called Canaan Honey, and it is in a very beautiful area full of flowers. Actually, they have hives all over town and out in the country that they travel around to take care of. Anyway, I didn't take any pictures, because they were actually closed when we went because they were extracting. It turned out to be a blessing, because they let us come in, and Dad and John (the beekeeper) had a wonderful conversation about beekeeping in different parts of the world, and all the things they love about bees. We are so glad we went.

Next, we went to the Kai-Iwi Beach and the Botanic Gardens, both of which were lovely. I did take plenty of pictures, so here they are.

This is the entrance to the Botanic Gardens.

These stairs are part of the "Friendship Garden" through which we walked. I love the bright, smooth pottery.

When we got to the bottom of the stairs and walked around the bottom of the hill a bit, this was the view of the side of it.

This is a bit of a side note, but bear with me - I think that this is the kind of tree that we found the centre of on the beach. I know I already include a picture, but I actually took this one myself, so it's better.

This is what you see if you go underneath it and look up. I think that the top part of the trunk already looks like what we saw on the beach, and that's probably because it used to have fronds growing out of it, but they've fallen off.

This is what I would call a "moss garden," although there is probably a better word for it. It's definitely beautiful, though.

Dad and I were impressed by the dazzling white of this tree. I find it less impressive in the picture, so you'll have to imagine it a brighter white!

As for Kai-Iwi Beach, I've been there lots of times (and am shocked and delighted every time that I live that close to the beach), but I noticed new things walking with Dad, which was very fun. Dad is good at seeing the beauty in everything, and there is plenty of beauty at the beach.

One of the cool things about Kai-Iwi is the cliffs. I have noticed them before, but Dad pointed out all the beautiful layers in the rock. We even figured out that some of the layers are clay, and it's no wonder they are eroding away, because they're not strong at all. I took a "rock" of clay home, and I'm going to bring it to Noah's Ark for the children to explore. They will be surprised to find out what happens when they rub it with wet fingers!

We also noticed several springs of clear water flowing down from the side of the cliffs. And at the very bottom, tidy little holes in the sand that the drops of water had created. We thought this was very neat, but then...

... we discovered this! We're not sure, but it looks like those little drops of water may have carved out holes right into this huge rock! (Hard to get perspective, but it is half as tall as I am.) 

Dad also noticed this canyon/landslide area, which he explored a bit. I love this picture of him - you can so clearly see the wonder he feels towards the magnificence of nature. And you can understand why!