NZ: Driving Around N.Z.

A couple of hours from Gisborne we stopped at Opotiki for lunch and then drove on to Ohope Beach for a walk on the beach plus cappuccino :) Someone had the bright idea of serving hot drinks etc from a mobile cafe!

Ohope Beach:
This is a typical view from the back seat of our little loaned Nissan! We've all "enjoyed" the challenge of learning to drive on the left side of the road and the right side of the car. I must confess I've been backseat driving :(
Another normal Waikato view:
On our wee road trip from Te Awamutu to Matamata we took the side road to at least drive by one of the places where Lord of the Rings was filmed. This is as close as Bill got to living like a hobbit.
And of course we eat too much junk food while driving around. This is jellytip icecream. Yum.

For those who haven't bought NZ takeaways (aka carryout fast food) this is how you bring fish and chips home to enjoy:

This order consisted of Kumara chips, regular chips, battered fish and crumbed fish.

NZ: More Gisborne Shots

A Maori meeting house near one of our old homes (at the foot of Kaiti Hill):

I spent two years at this school when I was 7 & 8 years old:
We walked around the river and along Waikanae Beach with the Watsons. Here's Lara, Leasa, me and Grace. (Leasa and I have known of each other for about 30 years, but have been good friends for the last 23 years!
Lara and Grace invited me to share about Colombia with their class (they are twins).
As of today Bill has had Fish and Chips three times in less than two weeks!
The view of Gisborne from Kaiti Hill.
Gladstone Road... Gisborne's main street.
Uncle Lyn and Auntie Margaret (Dad's sister) hosted us:
This is a fun shot of U. Lyn & A. Marg's caravan which they leave parked on a section of land at Wainui Beach. We went for a walk along the beach before enjoying yummy soup in the caravan.

(FYI: You can click on any of these photos to view a larger version!)

NZ: Gisborne - Food & Waiuni Beach

The food has been good :) The family and views wonderful!

Sai, 1995 - 2008

I love animals.
I haven't had as many pets as I would like, but I have loved a few cats.
One of them died today. She was old and it was time.
I am very sad.

This is my small tribute to Sai, who no longer is.

4th of July

Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood CA

Classic Baseball tunes, American tunes... celebrating USA and the Dodgers 50th anniversary.

We went with the family: Jon, Mum, Trena (Dad's cousin-in-law), Dad & Kevin (Dad's cousin).
Us (Bill's having a hard time smiling - he broke a rib last week and is in a bit of pain!)
The show...

STEP 2008

We enjoyed hosting the third Summer Team Evangelism Partnership this year, from June 18 - 30. Here's a short summary of our time together with:

10 from Wisconsin
1 from Nebraska
2 from South Carolina
4 from Washington
1 from Oregon
and a bunch from Southern California!

Field Trip to Downtown L.A. - walked around Fashion District (visited a garment cutting factory and wholesale store...)Spent an hour at Olvera St (where Los Angeles was born a couple of hundred years ago).
Took the metro there and back - this is walking into Union Station.
Over the weekend and each morning we had Bible studies and practical lessons on evangelism.
Plus Spanish-speakers from around Latin America sharing their perspectives on life as immigrants to the USA.

The Children's Outreaches... we had 4 different locations and the team split into 2 groups to then go to 2 places each (4-5:30pm and 7-8:30pm). While the "youth" team focused on reaching the children, several older and bilingual members of the team visited with parents.


Began with games...Most days performed a skit to illustrate the gospel truth....
Five lessons on different Genesis stories were taught (Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jacob & Joseph... and the aspects of their lives that point to Christ!)

Songs were sung...

Then the kids were split up into small groups to go over the lesson...




Mealtimes were eaten together in our church... we had a bunch of wonderful cooks with meals from Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, Colombia, Korea, New Zealand and USA.

By the end of the week... naps were needed.The last Saturday the team was with us we had a play day down at Mission Bay in San Diego. Stopped for dinner in Oceanside on the way home. Here I am with Helen, Sara and Sonja enjoying the sunset!
Most bodies were burnt from too much time in the sun and not enough sunscreen! Here are three of the worst cases:

Sunday afternoon veging...