Christmas Festivities

I felt as christmassy as.... I'm too confused even to explain how un christmassy I was! The sun was out, everyone was having bbq's and eating strawberries! Yet the bbq's were christmas bbq's! I was very disorganised at buying my christmas presents as in my brain I had months and months to get it all done, it can only be June afterall!

The festivities continued despite my denial though and I got swept along very confused by it all. For lifegroup we got together with the group we split from at the beginning of the year and had a bbq (of course - it's christmas!!!) and did secret santa. It was a really fun evening and during secret santa you got to swap presents (well steal), it was a new and fun way of swapping $5 presents which were never going to be something you always wanted! I had a chocolate fondu set for a while - brilliant, but it got taken in the last few rounds so I ended up with a water gun - still pretty good! :-) I've really enjoyed lifegroup this year and I look forward to the year ahead.

My flat and the flat next door got together for our christmas get together, where we did secret santa, had a lovely meal and then went out for Carols by Candlelight in the basin reserve cricket ground. It was definitely an experience to remember, sat in the middle of the cricket pitch, in summer, singing carols, with santa circling in a helicopter overhead! Crazy!
It was a lovely time with flatmates and friends though.

We also had a work bbq and an office trip out for lunch which were both fun times with collegues. The bbq was also time to say goodbye to James who's off to Canada to study for a year and Karen who's moving on from TSCF.

For christmas itself I have headed down south to spend Christmas with Tim and Lizzy Hodge in Lincoln. I used to work with Lizzy in Gloucester and I have known them for about 5 years and so it has been lovely spending Christmas with them as they are the closest thing to family I have in NZ. Christmas day itself, felt more christmassy then I thought it would as it was overcast and pretty chilly at a cool 19 degrees! I did a full english roast although I forgot the cocktail sausages wrapped in bacon. We watched the queens speech and the vicar of dibley and we even had the fire going for a while!

I got up at 6am on Boxing day to have a webchat with the family in the UK. It was true chaos but lovely to be part of their day. I got to see Jessica walking around and Oakley looking so smart and handsome and Gracie getting to that age of being really excited by what is going on. They are all growing up so fast.

The weather has been fantastic since christmas day and so we have spent a couple of days at the beach. Today is a chill out day at home although I am currently melting in the garden.

My Poor left foot!

Firstly, I broke my left big toe a month ago on my return from Hong Kong and endured a very swollen foot for a few days which was a bit of a pain as I had to wear my jandals (flip flops) in the rain! It has slowly been healing but is still a bit sore on occasion but I thought the drama was over until going away to SLC conference and getting bitten on my left ankle. At first it was just very itchy like any old mosquito bite but it became more and more swollen, hard, hot and itchy! Once back in Wellington I decided to visit the pharmacy (my first port of all nowadays as the doctor costs $58) who informed me that it was quite likely to be a spider bite and probably from a white tail! The biggest thing to look out for was throbbing pain as that indicated a deep rooted infection which would kill all the flesh! Yuck!!!! I was back in my jandals with a very swollen foot. I am back to normal now and did not get an infection - phew! It was all quite exciting really! I'm quite proud of my spider bite which mum didn't quite understand! :o)

The pictures are not from the most swollen day but give you a pretty good idea of what my foot looked like! If you don't like feet then look away now!

SLC 2008

Here are the motley crew from SLC 2008 (most of them anyway!). From the 17th - 23rd November I was at my second student conference of the year with TSCF. I am still learning my way with being involved in organising these events but by God's grace things ran smoothly!

It was a great opportunity for me to build on relationships I had made with students at mid year conference in June and also to meet lots of new students. It was a very tiring week full of har work but also lots of fun as I worked with collegues I don't often get to work with and students who I rarely get to mix with.

I tried to do my work while students were in their sessions and seminars which enabled me to spend some of the free time in the afternoons with students, playing sport, dancing and generally getting to know them better. It was an exciting end to the week when one of the students gave his life to Christ. What a privilage it was to witness the power of God in his life.

I had been told that historically SLC has always had bad weather so I was prepared with lots of warm clothes but as it turned out, we had amazing weather every day and I now know that sun block is an essential addition to the first aid kit!

I am enjoying some time off this week, recovering from the hours put in during the conference but I am very thankful of the job I have.

Hong Kong

After a really good deal on some flights, I took the opportunity to go and see one of my best friends Abi in Hong Kong. Abi moved to HK a couple of months to volunteer for an organisation called Mothers Choice. She works in the nursery of the orphanage looking after 24 babies.

I had such a fantastic time and really enjoyed the chance to chill out and see another new country! It was also fantastic catching up with Abi and spending some quality time with her and her friends.

Hong Kong is a stunning place to visit with so much to see. I was really struck by the smog when I first arrived, it is certainly a contrast to New Zealand air! The humidity was also a big part of being in HK, but to the locals, compared to the summer it was actually quite a dry heat! There were also some interesting smells as I explored HK.

We have such a lot of internation al students in New Zealand, the majority of which are Asian (Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian etc) so it was great for me to visit an Asian country and understand more of the Asian culture.

The public transport in HK is fantastic and makes it very easy to get around whether by MTR (underground trains), bus, taxi, tram or walking - I did sooooo much walking.

Hong Kong has so many beautiful beaches, vibrant street markets, great shopping, and fantastic people. It was good fun being around so many people, coming from NZ with a total population of 4 million, I think I shared an MTR ride with about 4 million people during rush hour!!!!! ;o)

Another Tiki Tour

I have recently had lots of comments of the amount of holiday I have been taking lately but I can assure everyone that I am only taking my 20 days of annual leave it just happens to be all together.

I have had Mum and Dad here for the last few weeks which has been lovely and last week we had the chance to go on a bit of a tiki tour round the top of the south island. It was my first time on the Interislander ferry from Wellington to Picton. Thankfully it was a nice calm crossing so it was nice and enjoyable!

Once we arrived in Picton, we went for lunch at a lovely Marlborough vineyard, went to a chocolate factory and enjoyed a lovely scenic lookout.

On Sunday we travelled to Nelson and while Mum and Dad explored the town, I went to the beach and read my book - it was lovely!

Other highlights included an eco tour on Farewell spit, where we saw seals, birds, big sand dunes and the lighthouse at the end. It was amazing

We also enjoyed a boat ride around the Abel Tasman National Reserve and got to see split apple rock.

Dad and I wend Quadbiking in Hanmer Springs which although was very wet, it was brilliant fun power sliding round the muddy corners!

I think the highlight of the week was Whale watching in Kaikoura where we saw 4 whales, 2 pods of dusky dolphins, a seal and lots of different birds including albatross.

Mum and Dad leave in two days, and it has been great seeing them and I have loved showing them my new home, friends and church. I have also enjoyed exploring the country with them.

I feel such a responsibility to show New Zealand off at its best and feel very loyal to it which is strange after such a short amount of time. It is reassuring for me to feel this way and I hope I have done NZ justice in the recent family visits.

Not an Englishmen in New York but an English family in New Zealand!

Apologies for the lack of posts for the last month! I have been pretty busy! My big sister Jenny, her husband Simon and my two nieces Gracie and Jessica arrived in Wellington on the 1st September. I have been anticipating their arrival for most of the year and it's been great having them here. Unsurprisingly they were very tired when they arrived but they all coped amazingly well!

They spent their first week in Wellington enjoying its sights and attractions. I then took a week off work and we travelled around the central north island. We did a lot of driving and covered a lot of miles but we also had loads of fun! A few of the highlights were a rope swing over the river in Wanganui - free and lots of fun! The Gloworm caves in Waitomo - definitley worth seeing even with Jessica screaming for the first few minutes after the instruction for silence, Staying with the wonderful Goolds in Petaruru. A day trip to Rotorua and seeing the boiling mud, hot waterfall and hot spring spa pools! Also sledging on Mt Ruhapehu and watching Jenny and Simon doing a bungee jump.

I am currently sat having gotten the girls bathed and in bed. I am looking after them while Jenny and Simon are away for the weekend skiing. Man, I'm tired. I'm having loads of fun with them and really enjoy having the time with them but it's exhausting!

I can't believe they will be leaving this Friday! It has gone so quickly! I'm dreading the airport but just one week later I will be there meeting Mum and Dad. Yay!

26 or 1?

I got lots of wishes of "Happy first Birthday" on Sunday, meaning my first NZ birthday but much more water has gone under the bridge and I turned 26 on Sunday! I had a lovely birthday weekend with a facial and dinner on the Saturday. On the Sunday I had church where some very good friends of mine were being commissioned before moving to Nepal. I then went back to the flat for a pot luck lunch with lots of people from my church. The girls next door had baked me a birthday cake and I had a lovely afternoon with them. Then in the evening Nyree, Viv, Olivia and myself went out to the ballet to see Romeo and Juliet. It was my first time seeing a ballet and I thoroughly enjoyed it despite not feeling well! I am very glad that i knew the story though, I'm not sure I would have known what was going on if I hadn't! It was another excuse to get dressed up and we had a really great time!
Everyone here made it so special! I couldn't believe how many lovely presents and cards I got from people, it was amazing!

A Black Tie Affair

Nyree invited me out for a fundraising meal on Saturday night. She would pay most of the cost as a birthday present to me. It was a black tie, 4 course dinner! After being so good with food and going to the gym for 3 months now, it was nice to have a bit of a splurge and not worry! It was really fun getting all dressed up. It was lots of fun getting to know people that I don't know that well and the food was really good!

Shane from church was playing guitar and even took requests and then i was very embarrassed when everyone sang happy birthday to me!

Olympics - Scripture Union vs TSCF

Not wanting to miss out on the fun of the Olympics, our office were challenged by SU (who we share a building with) to an epic battle! The events included:

straw javelin - where Liz was our absolute star player thrashing the rest of the field.

sock hockey - the key was knowing the rugby ball behaviour of the rolled up socks.

egg and spoon relay race down and up the stairs - where despite dropping the (hard boiled) egg twice we still managed to finish 1st.

rubber band archery - Ouch! Some of us weren't very well practised at this.

balloon volleyball - It was quite difficult smashing a balloon to the ground as it definitely wanted to float!

Frisbee discus - SU were victorious at this highly skilled event.

table top soccer - which involved blowing a ping pong ball off the other side of the board room table. Fortunately no-one fainted from lack of oxygen.

It was such fun! We even had an independent referee. After a hard slog, TSCF were victorious by just 2 points and we were very pleased to receive our medals and trophy!