It's only a couple of weeks until Christmas, but today we went swimming in a nearby river. Well, I say nearby - that is only in New Zealand terms, because it is miles and miles away, but everything is so far apart here that people think nothing of driving 45 minutes to the nearest supermarket. We had to take a 34km detour to Rangiora on the way back from the river today just to get ingredients for tonight's dinner, because that was the closest place to get them!
Anyway, we went in a convoy of four vehicles to Ashley Gorge, which is a river gorge surrounded by beautiful, lushly forested mountains. Skry, Lou, and I went with
two of the kids to a swimming hole beside the river, while the rest of them went fishing. The swimming hole we were at was pretty small, so there wasn't much to do except splash around, but it was lovely to be out in the sunshine. At one point a couple in a 4x4 drove past and yelled something rude-sounding out the window. We were much amused to see them, ten minutes later, stranded in the middle of the river they had been attempting to drive along! It took them a good half hour of revving, splashing, and putting the bonnet up and down, before they could get out.
Tonight the two of us made dinner for Stephen and Caroline, our fantastic hosts. They barely know us, but they picked us up from the airport, opened up their house to us, fed us and watered us, introduced us to people, and lent us a car for as long as we need one. Stephen is taking us to a second-hand car dealership tomorrow, so we should have our own before too long, but it was great to be able to borrow one. Our first week in this new country would have been so much harder without the two of them and the kindness and ge
nerosity that they and their family have shown us. I know they did the same for Phil and Lou when they arrived here, and we really do owe them a great deal. After dinner Caroline took us for a quick spin down the road to see a house that has been very well decorated for Christmas. It certainly was nice, and very tastefully done, but how weird is it to be looking at Christmas decorations while wearing shorts and t-shirts??
2 comments:
Ok Jenny - Time to get back to work:) I am looking for a screen saver or something that I can use at a Christmas concert next week at church to be displayed on a screen. What he wants is something that looks like a window that we are looking out of whee it is snowing outside. I found one but now it doesn't appear to work. NOt a big deal if you can't find something for me but I'm just a bit stressed now with Cheryls' wedding just 5 days away! Help if you can - I'll still love you if you can't!
Sorry Debby, I haven't been able to find anything for you with a very quick search, and I only have half an hour of internet access here! We are reliant on internet cafes and wireless hotspots, which means I can't really afford to stay online much. It seems that the internet is very expensive here in New Zealand :(
Hope Cheryl's wedding goes smoothly and your blood pressure returns to normal before long. So long as they end up married at the end of the day, nothing else matters that much anyway. But I do hope there aren't any hiccups!
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