In this issue:
- New Zealand memories
- Australia Day Thoughts
- Why make room for kids
- News from Yvonne and Craig
Happy Wanderers Return
A New Zealand Odyssey brings treasured memories for a couple of St Paul’s church friends. Proving that friendships formed at church are more than just standing over the urn making cups of tea at Mothers Union or earnestly discussing the implications of the Markan Messianic Secret on a dialectic of suspicion when considering an imminent eschaton, Ailsa Gill and Robyn Lawler, pictured here at the edge of the Franz Josef Glacier, recently returned from a trip of a lifetime to New Zealand.
Both returned to us still friends despite the close quarters of the bus trip. Living closely with each other and with the various quirky characters that make up a bus tour group has had a profound impact on their friendship and outlook on life, the universe and everything. They have some great stories of personalities they encountered on the way and new perspectives of how community is formed and sometimes stormed. Have a chat to them to hear more about their glimpses of God in the glory of creation in the natural world and the people on the way.
Ailsa writes: The trip to New Zealand with Robyn was a one down memory lane for me. I was excited as we approached every destination, trying to find familiar sights from when I was a 20 year backpacker.
First up was Christchurch. When I worked in Christchurch I caught a bus to Cathedral square every day… here’s a picture of the cathedral as I remem-bered it. However, after the earthquake of 2011, the cathedral is now only partially restored, and may not ever progress any further as money has run out. The cost of repairs and restoration after the Christchurch earthquake and in more recent times the earthquake on the Kaikoura coast of the South Island, has been enormous on a country with such small population.
Our trip took us around the South Island of New Zealand and we enjoyed the most amazing scenery. We did have one or two cloudy days, but mostly the weather was perfect for taking in the most amazing vistas – didn’t seem to matter which side of the bus we were seated. I was really looking forward to the visit to Franz Josef glacier. From the pictures you may be able to see that in 1969 the glacier came down to meet the road. Now the glacier has receded a very long way up the valley and it would be a very long hike before you even came to the glacier to commence walking on it.
We also visited Dunedin, Milford Sound, Queenstown, took the Trans Alpine train across Arthurs Pass, toured the beautiful Kaikoura coast and travelled on the interisland ferry from Picton to Wellington on the one day of that particular week when there was hardly a ripple on Cook Strait (the ferry didn’t run for three days prior to our trip because of bad weather).
The North Island also turned on perfect weather, after a wet and cold start in Wellington. The geyser in Rotorua sent up some steam just as we visited, there was bubbling mud all around and the Māori hungi and concert was a real treat. Our trip included bus and train travel, four wheel drive over one way roads beside very steep cliffs, jet boat ride, a helicopter flight, boat and ferry rides, luge, chair lift, gondolier, golf cart ride, milking a cow, lots of food and lots of laughs (and just a few wool shops).
Robyn adds: This trip fulfilled my bucket list – to visit New Zealand. Following an introduction to the joys of the Qantas lounge, I took my longest flight ever arriving in wet and cold Christchurch – not terribly inviting. However, from there on it was a great adventure as we travelled around the country enjoying beautiful scenery, great company with our fellow travellers, and also for me, seeing so many places that featured in Lord of the Rings. I had to keep educating Ailsa on what all these places were and we sat through the Hobbit Movie one evening to bring her up to date.
So a visit to Hobbiton was definitely a highlight. I was able to ride around the Shire on a Golf Cart with my own personal guide, (Hero) – what a great experience. Even had my photo taken outside Bag End, home of Bilbo and Fro-do Baggins. Mount Doom (Mt Ngauruhoe) was another special place to see. Also Skippers Canyon (above) site of Ford of Bruinen. Those who know, know 🙂
I had to make Ailsa cup of tea every morning to get her going so we wouldn’t miss the breakfast or the bus. However, she did encourage me to walk a little further each day and I was able to enjoy some of the little extras that were offered on the tour. This included St Faiths, Rotorua, an historic timber church intricately decorated with Māori carvings.
We are both very thankful for such a wonderful trip and very happy to be back home safely.
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