Gubitz "Down Under"/LOTR 2026

Treat of the Day : God blessed us every moment, His grace and protection, by His indwelling Spirit, carried us along for these 30 days.  We are thankful and prayerful that our aroma and witness may draw others to saving faith in Jesus!  For His glory!  Our coughing calmed down sufficient to travel and so we launched out of our beautiful VRBO at 10am on Sunday morning. (Here's a wow: We arrived in San Francisco at 7am on the same Sunday morning). The kids were checking out later and they did a great job closing up the home and tidying everything such that the host rated us great guests. Hour and half to car rental, van to airport, walk into checkin with our bags.  Premium economy treated us well and our credit card got us into the nice lounge, so there's that.  . Nothing gets in her way of world domination Relaxing lounge 2 hours in the lounge, resting, getting comfortable then boarding was simple.  Seats were ok for me, though we spent most of the time tryi...

Treat of the Day :  Spending 2 weeks together as an extended family is priceless.  Whether doing amazing adventures or sitting around a card table or chatting over dinner!  Praise God for the large and small things, as all are great blessings! Amen?!!! AMEN!!! Glow Worm Caves are pretty cool other than not being able to take good photos. God created these amazing creatures, that turn into flies for 4 days only, such that their bioluminescent rears attract insects hoping to find light at the end of the dark tunnel, only to be trapped in their sticky filaments that hang down up to 3 feet. Once an insect is caught, the glow worm reels up the line and feeds on the stuck bug. Amazingly complex process for such a simple task of eating. We had the combo pack!  Very cool underground boat ride.  Caleb loves these kinds of activities!  The first cave had a nice little boat ride while the second had a complex of caves, deep underground with some nice formations. ...

Treat of the Day :  People with vision, paired with people that can turn vision into reality are gifted by God to bless us! And we were certainly blessed today!  The landowner allowed Peter Jackson access to 30 acres of his 1200 acre sheep ranch to film the Lord of the Rings trilogy for a 3 month period. They built temporary sets and when filming completed they returned the hillsides to their original sheep farm use. But then! When Peter requested filming the Hobbit, Mr. Anderson, the land owner, negotiated for permanent construction that would remain after filming ended. Brilliant move! They created a 50/50 partnership and have been "shoveling cash" ever since! 40 people per bus, $100 per person, every ten minutes, every day, 8 hours each day, always full! Do the math!  And yet, it's so worth it!  Check out these uncaptioned photos, because if you know, you know, and see what I mean:  In 2023 they opened up 2 hobbit holes you can enter, and they were amazing!...

Treat of the Day : Thankful for God's provision of health, logistic support, safety, joy and experiencing the highs of family travel (even when it's stressful). Feeling sufficiently healthy for the intense process of disembarking, taking a bus to the airport in Auckland just to rent 2 cars, then driving back to the cruise port on the "wrong" side of the road, only to have another 45 minute single file passenger pick up line before getting all 8 of us loaded in the cars. Steve and Elva headed directly to the airport for their return flight (ours is Sunday, with Kevin, CJ , Dave and grandkids heading back on Monday). We both enjoyed flipping the wipers on each time we wanted the turn signal.  Everyone, and luggage, all snuggly  It is a farming country, so just Chillin!  By God's grace we then made it about an hour and a half south to our country house vrbo. It's lovely and positions us for a visit tomorrow to Hobbitton and on Saturday to Glow Worm caves.  A priv...