Ballymoney Farmstay and Garden Christchurch

A lot has changed in the last few days. Most notably, the arrival of Daniel has given me a bit of company. Say hi, Daniel. Hi!

It is a strange feeling to have someone along for the ride, not to mention someone from Decorah. It has been far too long since I have seen the friendly faces of folks from NE Iowa.

I picked him up from the Christchurch airport on Monday afternoon, after finishing the south bound drive from ...

... of our favourite places. we have had a few disasters but will reveal when we get back. enoughth to say we have lost a few bits of essential gear!! fleeces walking boot etc etc........ We have leant and we will be changed people when we get back!!!!!! Oops forgot to bring card reader today so no photos. Not quite there yet!!!
speak soon ...

... was going to change for the worse and if we wanted to do it, we should do it then and there. 40 mins later we were at the aircraft hanger, after having filled out about 5 consent forms and watching the briefing dvd in the van, I was terrified, i think Andy was too, but he was just trying to act all macho!!!! We got all suited up, then at the last minute, Soph decided she was going to do it, rather than just watch. I couldn't believe it. She had ...

... requirements. This may seem like an advertisement for the company, however it is a honest feedback from a delighted customer! It turned out that they really walk their talk! a Friendly welcome immediately putting us at ease. They went through the entire formalities with minimum fuss, explained the van, which turned out to be exactly what they promised on the web and even more perhaps.

we then took off and hit the highway! Well not exactly, first we went to a mall to ...

... are, where you are from on the island and who your tribe is. The tattoos are only for important people in the tribe. Women wear them on their lips and chin and mean wear them on their whole face and body. We enjoyed some singing and dancing. The music sounds very much Polynesians (the origins of the Maori) and is very relaxing to listen to. The men in the audience were taught how to do the Hakka! As you have seen many times before the rugby games, the ...

... Nikki and Neeve turned up and we did the Shotover Jet (awesome). We also visited Arrowtown which was pretty cool. The rain did ease up but only for the snow to kick in.... bugger! Had to make a quick trip to the Warehouse for some Winter supplies. Taking a gamble on the weather we headed to Te Anau to base ourselves for Milford & Doubtful Sound. On the way though we passed through Kingston and though it only best to take a little trip on the Kingston Flyer - an historic steam ...

... that God gave a lot of the leaders of YWAM Oxford as they were starting this base and the Discipleship Training Schools here. Ray also shared some about his experiences going into the Amazon Jungle to a tribal people group, and that was really cool to hear about. As a school, we also watched the movie "The End of the Spear" for World Awareness and Mission's Night which is a movie I have already ...

... in the city less than an hour and was from Australia. Not a good time to bring out the good samaritan in me. Not perturbed I continued on. The air was crisp and cold. I'd been waiting for this moment for the past few months; to be standing in Cathedral square, not just looking at a picture of it on a website. I took tentative steps until I eased into this solo-traveller thing. I visited a souvenir shop and took pics of the river Avon and various points of ...

... in ages and have a perfectly lazy hangover day available the following day we get sorted and head out for beers, which turn into shots of tequila, sambucca and various other things. It is safe to say that I remember little of where we went or what we got up to apart from promising to get someone a MacDonalds and then forgetting, getting back to the room embarrassed and feeling guilty and promptly passing out. Friday 6th A true hangover day, and for those that know me well, this ...

... when the girls spotted another market! Dave and Barb bought some really nice and unusual industrial jewellery, before we headed to the Botanical Gardens. These are beautiful and had some of the most spectacular hot house plants including huge vibrant double Begonia's which were so perfect that they looked artificial. We had intended to have a leisurely afternoon punting on the Avon, but kept getting diverted ...