Transfer Day Departures

I had hoped to be able to go to the bus station and help supervise the comings and goings but that didn’t happened. We left early afternoon for our trip down through Whakatane towards the north of Gisborne district. Two missionaries were also going to Whakatane that day so we arranged to take them with us. We needed to drop a bed off at their flat anyway. That was a fun trip with Elder O.

Elder Saunders drove the minibus and towed the blue trailer. After we had dropped them off we headed up the coast hoping to get as close as we could to Ruatoria. We had hoped to have found somewhere before it got dark but all the motels had no vacancy. We did stop at a motel/camp site which claimed to have vacancies but it took them ages to answer their phone only to be told they were full. We did eventually find a motel in Hicks Bay but it was very dark. In the morning we could appreciate the beauty of the area but that was only for a few minutes as we had an early start to arrive in Ruatoria by 10am.

Hicks Bay

 

 

Our first encounter was that the keys did not fit the locks. So, SHHHHHH, Elder Saunders climbed in through an open window. Well it was better than smashing it. I forgot to mention before but we had been asked to vacate the property because the college who own it have a teacher that needs to rent it.

We noticed a few cockroaches on the ceiling. Then a few behind the couch, then a few behind the boxes, then a few climbing the walls, then a few under the chairs, then a few in the cupboards, then a few in the bathroom.  Shall I go on? Elder Saunders claimed he has never seen so many cockroaches in his entire life. I must admit that I did scream when I was sorting out a box of books and there were a few under the books. I think we did a very good job cleaning and clearing out the flat. I even found myself a new toy to take home.

 Elder Ollie who has found a nice spot in my office.

We treated the hardworking missionaries to dinner from the local chippie van. Then we all sat and ate and unwound before our long trips back to Gisborne for the Elders and Whakatane for us. Actually we first stopped at  Kawera for a fireside given by  Hiriwini Jones, a well-known presenter of Maori culture and how it relates to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Before we headed back to the Clark’s home we delivered a washing machine to the Elders. So quite a long day for us.