Umatac Reef Hike With FriendsGreetings from Guam!
Well, it has been a long time since our last update, so a lot has happened. In the spring of 2012 the Holm family moved back to the Northwest for family reasons, and I was asked to take over managing the Medical Information Systems department at the Clinic. I have enjoyed the additional challenges, and have stayed busy with recruiting and training staff, and helping to prioritize our various strategic projects.
Shortly after Holms left I was able to attend an Adventist technology and communications conference in Hong Kong. It was a quick trip, so I really only had one free evening for exploring, but made the best of it with a trip downtown. The conference was a blessing though with lots of good networking and both educational and spiritual sessions.
In the summer of 2012 Brenda took a trip to attend her cousin’s wedding, and took Abigail with her since she could still fly for free. While Brenda spen
Manta Rayt time with family, Bethany and I went on several hikes and watched fireworks for Guam’s Liberation Day. When Brenda and Abigail returned they brought back some wonderful Washington fruit including cherries, blueberries, peaches, nectarines and apricots just in time for my birthday. Brenda also surprised me by getting a baby sitter and taking me to a dinner show at Fish Eye. The food, show and especially the time together were all great. The rest of our summer was filled with activities including beach, waterpark, and hotel days.
In the fall of 2012 we enjoyed learning more about the military on Guam with an Air Force open house air show and then a later tour of the submarine tender USS Frank Cable with a Navy friend. We also helped start a Pathfinder club at our church, which has been lots of fun while keeping us busy too.
In November our island wide Adventist churches sponsored a series of evening meetings, and I volunteered
Abigail at Lake Tekapo to help with a live webcast of the events. It was fun setting everything up for that and training volunteers to finish out the series before we left on our annual leave trip.
For annual leave we visited Tennessee for what turned out to be our last big family Thanksgiving at my grandparents house, then spent some time in Maryland with my parents. While in Maryland we took a fun day trip to Lancaster County in Pennsylvania where we looked for covered bridges and visited an Amish market. In the evening Brenda and I made a quick stop at the free part of Hershey Park, and then attended a Gaither Homecoming gospel music concert. We then spent Christmas with Brenda’s family in Washington State, with a side trip to celebrate with my family in Oregon too. Brenda and I also got to go snow skiing for a day, while her parents watched the girls. On the way home we stopped for a few days in Honolulu where we went sailing and en
Campervans Near Mt. Cookjoyed staying in the downtown area. We also met up with friends for some hiking, a visit to the Dole Plantation and some turtle spotting on the beach.
The first half of 2013 was filled with various hikes, snorkeling and gatherings with friends. One special snorkeling highlight was an April morning when around 30 Manta Rays congregated at Gun Beach. They glided within feet of us and we were able to swim with them for over an hour.
At the end of June we flew to the south island of New Zealand, where we met up with my parents and sister for a winter vacation in camper vans. We were fortunate to be able to redeem airline miles for the trip at a good rate, however the travel time was still quite long with stops in Tokyo and Singapore before we landed in Christchurch. My parents arrived a day earlier, so they were able to pick us up from the airport and take us to pick up our vehicle. After a picnic lunch and orientation on how
Campervan Fun to operate the various systems on the camper van we headed out and drove around 4 hours to the Lake Tekapo area. We had researched several possible freedom camping spots in the area, but had not anticipated how much snow was on the ground. The first spot we tried was not accessible due to the snow, and the second was also snowed in but we were able to park nearby just off the main road. By the time we got parked it was well after dark and the temperatures were below freezing. We were thankful for the gas heaters, although the one in my parents vehicle had some trouble the first night.
In the morning we awoke to find we were surrounded by a winter wonderland, with rolling snow covered hills, and aqua colored lakes in the distance. After a warm breakfast we went for a hike in the snow to get a better view of the lakes and surrounding mountains. Along the way we saw the first of many sheep, made some snow angels and snowmen 
Milford Soundwith the girls and took lots of pictures. We then took our time driving back into the town of Lake Tekapo, with many stops to admire the views. After a late lunch in the van, we went to Tekapo Springs for a soak in several hot pools surrounded with views of the lake and snowy mountains. We spent our second night at a caravan park with electric hookups, which helped us charge batteries and stay warmer.
The next day we visited a few more sites in Lake Tekapo including the Church of the Good Shepherd and a sheep dog memorial. We then drove past several scenic lakes to the Mt. Cook area were we caught a sunset view of the mountain before spending the night in a campground.
In the morning we awoke to more sunrise lake and mountain views and then went back into the town of Mt. Cook for lunch and a short rainy hike. After exploring the visitors center and lodge, we then made our way south to the town of Queenstown on La
Colac Bayke Wakatipu. Along the way we stopped for a roadside picnic on a mountain pass. We got in to town after dark and did some grocery shopping before heading to a campground by the lake a few miles out of town.
In the morning we spent a few hours getting some campervan repairs done, then did a little shopping before heading further south. We found a free spot along the lake shore to spend the night, with excellent views.
After watching a spectacular sunrise, we continued on our way to the town of Te Anau, where we stopped for fuel and lunch. From Te Anau we started on the Milford road, and found a campsite next to a stream just before it got dark.
We had a slow morning and did some exploring around the campground before continuing on the Milford Road. We were blessed with heavy rains, which created hundreds of waterfalls on the high cliffs along the scenic route to Homer Tunnel, and then on to 
Hong KongMilford Sound. We did some exploring before dark, and then spent the night for free in the parking lot with views of Milford Sound and the surrounding cliffs.
In the morning we went on a boat tour of Milford Sound, and since it was the low season we ended up being the only family on the boat. The captain took us a little ways out of the mouth of the sound, but it got really rough with big rolling waves, so we headed back to calmer waters. The views of waterfalls and steep mountains were breathtaking, and we even got a little bit of sunshine. After the boat tour we headed back south on the Milford Road and on to the southern coastal town of Colac Bay for the night. We were glad for a chance to get free wifi and laundry at the holiday park, which was located a short walk from the beach.
In the morning we made our way through Riverton and Invercargill to the Catlins region in the southernmost part of the South Island. We stopped for a short hike 
Macauat slope point, which is the southernmost point of the island, and then continued on gravel roads to Curio Bay Campground. Since it was the low season the campground was unstaffed, and we had the place to ourselves with only 1 other vehicle spending the night in the large campground.
We went looking for penguins in the morning, but only found tracks in the sand along the beach. The sunrise views were awesome though, and we had fun exploring the coast before getting on the road again. We made our way north with stops along the way for scenic views and ice cream. In order to make some headway back towards Christchurch, we drove several hours after dark and made it to a free campsite on a bluff overlooking the beach called Campbells Bay.
Another great view of empty beaches greeted us in the morning, and we did a little exploring before continuing our journey north. On the way to Christchurch we stopped to look for blue penguins
Flounder again in Oamaru, but ended up seeing a sea lion on the beach instead. We had one last night in the campervans at a holiday park near the Christchurch airport before saying goodbye to my parents and sister, and catching our flight to Auckland in the morning.
Just before boarding our flight to Auckland we learned that Air New Zealand had a strict weight limit for carry-on bags. Since ours were well over the limit, we quickly juggled things to minimize our extra charges by only gate checking one extra bag.
Upon arrival in Auckland we picked up a rental car and drove to a lovely Airbnb place we had booked for a few days. Our first day in Auckland we went to the Zoo, which we all really enjoyed. The second day we drove north to Sheepworld, where we watched an informative show and got to feed baby lambs. On the way back we stopped to eat at a great little café in the small town of Sandspit. For our last day in New Zealand we attended one of the local Adventist churches, and had supper with some new friends that we met at church.
We made it back to Guam in time to celebrate Liberation Day by attending the annual parade and watching the fireworks. I then took another brief work trip to Hong Kong to attend a conference and visit the Adventist Hospital there. This time I had a little more time to explore, and enjoyed a bus tour around Hong Kong
Turtle island, and also took a day trip via ferry to attend church in Macau.
Our flight back to Guam was quite an adventure, as we boarded a plane without working AC. After taxing in preparation for take off, a determination was made that we needed to return to the gate due to the hot cabin temperature. The problem was that it was a late night flight, so all of the airport and immigration staff had left. It took most of the night to get ourselves officially back into Hong Kong, and to an airline provided hotel for a few hours of sleep and some food. At least they put us up in the very nice JW Marriot, and we did eventually make it back to Guam about 24 hours behind our original schedule.
Well, it has been several years since I first wrote this, but better late than never, I guess!
Until the next post,
Andrew