Vivid Greens and Blues

Yesterday was Saturday and it was one amazing day. We first woke up to go with our family to Waitakere Ranges which is this beautiful look out spot/visitor center on top of the mountain. The view was absolutely beautiful. I still can't get over how green everything is here. It is unlike anything I have ever seen. You will see what I mean as you see the pictures (none of which have been enhanced) and still the pictures don't even do the colors justice. It is truly a beautiful place here!

After the ranges we met up with all 20 girls from our program to go horseback riding. The horseback riding place was in Helensville (called Tasman Horse Rides) which is about an hour away, so we all had to catch a bus up there together. It was really neat because a bunch of the horses that were at the ranch were used in the Chronicle of Narnia movies. On the horseback riding adventure we were able to ride our horses up, down, and around mountains. For the most part the horses just followed each other in a line, so I was able to sit on my horse and be engulfed by the beauty around me. I have never seen anything more beautiful in my whole life. The green hills and grass were the most bright, beautiful greens I have ever seen. And the sky...oh man the sky was this beautiful bright blue which added to making all of the other colors more vivid and amazing. You will see some of the beauty in the pictures I took, but you really just have to experience it sometime in your life to understand how beautiful it really was. I could not believe I was able to see NZ landscapes on a horse, in the sun, with my friends. Words cannot even describe the beauty I was able to see!

Me and Brooke were matching identically again. We did not even plan it
one bit. I don't know why we keep having that happen haha.

Maori designs at the Waitakere Ranges

One beautiful view

I love learning about this culture!

None of my pictures really show how beautiful it is

Me and Brooke

This explained the reason for the Maori designs out front

Postcard of where we were

Love these little kids and my roommates

Maori tongue

I love these girls and couldn't have asked for better roommates

Koru. These are all over the place and are the Maori
symbol for "New Life". 

This is what Dia always does to us, it is so cute. She
loves snuggling :)

Phil and his kids! I love them all so much!

See...the Koru design is all over!

I realized I never got a picture of the cool NZ money. I think it is so pretty.
The coins are interesting because some are worth 2 dollars,
some 3 dollars, and some just like 10 cents. Oh and I wanted to thank
Jess Hurtado for giving me some NZ money before I left. It came in really
handy to have the money already converted once I got here. I needed it, so
thank you Jess!!

Maori design

Taking the bus up for horseback riding!

I love Brooke, can't you tell? We are always in pictures together and matching :)

Brittany! Oh and if you look at those legs in the picture, those are a guys legs.
In NZ the guys wear their shorts pretty short. It is kind of funny!

On our way to farmlands so we can get to the horses!

I still can't get over the "toilet" signs all over the place. It is funny to ask
where the "toilet" is instead of the restrooms. 

Petting the little baby Shetland Ponies

It was pretty warm but overcast, so we still got burnt on our arms

Getting ready to get on the horses!

Me and Trojan. He was a funny horse. All he wanted to do was eat and walk
on the edge of the trail, so that's what he did. We followed the line and he'd
try and eat as much as possible. He didn't like to listen to me! But at least
he was easier to handle then some of the other horses. 

Ye-haw! I'm such a cowgirl right?

This was Brooke's horse Phillip. He was the horse in the Narnia movie that
says, "My name is Phillip". Look! I met a famous horse haha!

Here we go!

Our BYU instructor Ramona!!

Everything almost looked fake in real life. It was so pretty!

This is not enhanced...look how green it is. That's how it all was and even more!

Beautiful!

I can't even tell you how pretty it all was. It was amazing!

Good ol' Trojan!

And when I got home, look what was waiting for me! Phil was so excited to
finally give me a letter I had been waiting for. Three weeks without hearing from
Andrew is a little too long for me haha! Phil pulled it out of his back
pocket to hand to me and I was literally jumping up and down
and screaming haha! :)

Did you know that there is an Aloe Vera plant? You just peel
off the skin and the gel comes out that you rub on your
sunburn. It felt way nice!! Phil went out back
 and cut some for me to use on my arms :)