Conference

I'm at conference this week which is extremely cold!!! I have met a lot of James'students which has been good. It has been an adjustment to be around students. It has been non-stop all week helping out with registration and general stuff, It is great fun though. The theme of the week is Eternity and in the morning sessions we are studying 1 Thessalonians and in the evenings we are looking at Theology for life: Engaging secular institutions. Although i'm not able to sit through all the sessions, what I have been in has been really good. Today (Thursday) has been an interesting day as we had a 3rd world lunch today. There were 20 specially selected people who enjoyed a table with as much food as they wanted with bread and fruit and the staff were serving them, while the other 100ish students were sat on the floor with rice and cabbage. It was interesting to see their reactions!
I am slowly winding down now ready to leave tomorrow!

Mid Winter Christmas

On Sunday (24th June) we had a mid-winter Christmas celebration as it was the equivalent of Christmas eve or so we decided! There were 9 of us there and although we didn't have a Christmas dinner, we had crackers and christmas music and games. It was great fun!

A visit from the south!

Tim and Lizzy came to visit for the weekend! They flew up from Christchurch on Friday evening and it was great to see them. We had a very nice, relaxed evening on Friday. I cooked lamb chops with roast potatoes, honey roasted parsnip and carrots and broccoli. It was really yummy! On Saturday,we went for coffee in town. As you can see from the photo, the boys were feeling very sociable:

We then wandered into town and did a bit of shopping including buying me some thermals ready for camp this week - Yes! I now own two pairs of long johns!!!!

We stopped off for lunch at an Irish pub which wasn't very Irish!

and then went for a lovely drive round the coast!

I then subjected everyone to 'The Holiday' but they didn't seem to mind! ;o)

It was great to spend time with them.

Week 3!

I can't believe I'm in my third week already!

On Monday I attended my second week of Christianity explored - the discussion group that James' church is doing for non-Christians to come and find out more about God and Christianity. It went really well and it was great to be part of the prayer group. It was a really encouraging evening.

Last night we went to my last home group before coming home. It was a really great night. It is so great as a Christian that you can go anywhere in the world and just be accepted in as family. James' church have really made me feel accepted and a part of what's going on.

Things are getting a lot chillier now, I was sat at my desk this morning with my scarf and gloves on!

I forgot to include a picture on my last post demonstrating the extent of the rugby mania in NZ so thought I would include it on this one :o)

YES!!! It is actually counting down the hours to the world cup! There are also 3 other boards for days, minutes and seconds!!! I think I would definitely fit in living here!

Auckland

This weekend James and I went to Auckland to visit some of James' friends. We flew up on Friday afternoon and spent a bit of time with the family.

On Saturday, we took the ferry into town which took about 40 mins. There were some great views of the city as we got closer.

Auckland is the only city in the world to be built on a volcano fault line so from the top of the sky tower you are able to see 48 volcanoes!!!!!

Once in Auckland, we went straight to the sky tower which you can go to 220m to look at views of the city. It was a beautiful sunny day so we knew the views would be good! They were stunning!

There was a walkway with glass panels in the floor so that you could see down to the street below you which was slightly unnerving! We then decided to have lunch in 'The Orbit' restaurent in the tower which rotates as you eat so that you can see 360 degree views of Auckland. I had pan fried snapper with sauteed potatoes, chorizo and a tomato relish/sauce thing. It was amazing!!!!! I then hand a selection of handcrafted chocolates. mmmm mmm mmm! It was a great treat!

We then did a bit of shopping and met up with a friend of James before going back to where we were staying. Once back, the 8 of us went out for a chinese which was freezing(not the food) but good!

The Shudall's (who we were staying with) go to a Baptist church and we attended their morning meeting on Sunday. They were having a baptism during the service which was great! It was quite different to a UK Baptist church but denominations here are generally less defined than they are in the UK.

We flew back to Wellington in the afternoon and went to the evening service at 'The Street' - James' church. It was good to see the difference between their morning and evening service. The night service is much more studenty.

It was a great weekend and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Time passing quickly

I can't believe it is Thursday on my second week! As I look ahead to my plans over the next two weeks, time just seems to be passing too quickly!
The days in the office are really helping me to understand TSCF better which is really helpful. Tuesday night was James homegroup again whuch was really good as it was the second time i'd been so it wasn't all new people, I had met most of them before.
Last night James and I went to dinner at James and Nicky's - a couple who are leaders in James church. It was a really enjoyable evening and great to get to know people better.

Christianity Explored

I have now started into a more solid routine now that I am helping out in the TSCF office which is going well although probably not as exciting for you all to read about!
Last night, I went to Christianity Explored at James' church which he is helping to lead. It is a little bit like alpha/Y course and basically goes through the gospel of Mark in about 10 weeks with discussion groups and DVD clips etc... It went really well and it was great to be involved in.

An All Blacks Birthday!

James got me tickets to go and watch the All Blacks play France on Saturday night!!! What a great present!!!!! The atmosphere was brilliant! The game was a bit one sided but I thoroughly enjoyed it none the less.

Went to church on Sunday morning which was really great. I felt so welcomed. The service was great and after not having a Sunday last week, it was good to be back in church. It was pretty similar to Kings church really only on a much larger scale.

Making New Friends

James had the day off work yesterday (Friday) which was nice as we could do some fun things together. We decided to go to the cinema and watch 'Shrek the Third' which we both really enjoyed. The cinema we went to was brilliant. It's very small(3 screens). You buy your coffee and go into the screen and it is basically rows of sofas, so it's really comfortable and cosy. There was just James and I, two mums and their kids in the cinema so it wasn't really very crowded!
In the evening we went for a lovely meal with some very close friends of James - Bryce and Olivia. Bryce is responsible for the Pentecostal Shimmy as mentioned in an earlier post. It was a really enjoyable evening and it's great to be making new friends.
It has taken me a bit longer to get over my jet lag this time. Thursday evening I was struggling to stay awake thinking it was 10pm ish but when i looked at the clock is was only 7.45!!!!!!! I am much better now though!

Moving House

Sorry for the lack of a post yesterday, it has been a quiet couple of days. As the title might suggest, I moved yesterday from Nigel and Ailsa's to Raewyn and Keith's. I have put a picture on of their house so that you can all see where i'm staying.

Pentecostal Shimmy

I had a really good day on Tueday, with quite a lazy morning. I then did a bit of exploring, getting the train into Wellington and then walking around and I got a bus! It was good to get into the heart of the city, using public transport. You might be wondering about the title of this blog, I was initiated into James church home group last night with the pentecostal shimmy (just a bit of fun), it was all very entertaining! They put on a Kiwi pudding evening for we and it was a really great evening where I met lots of great people.
I didn't sleep so well last night waking up at 2.30am but am feeling ok!

I've arrived!

Welcome to my first blog from New Zealand! The travelling went very smoothly overall and I arrived safe and well yesterday morning with all my luggage in my posession! I don't feel too jet lagged today having gone to bed at 8.40pm last night and sleeping solidly for 11 hours!
The weather yesterday was beautiful, sunny and warm and James and I spent the day walking round a small town visiting a couple of vinyards. It was a lovely day even though I was tired beyond tired!!!
It's 11am here and the weather isn't looking so good today. It is going to take some time to get used to no central heating!
I apologise for not putting any pictures on this post and will endeavor to put some up soon but I am still sorting myself out!