Flying horses

This weekend Joanne and I had another weekend away. It was just a coincidence that it followed the weekend in Akaroa last weekend for Hannah's wedding. We wouldn't normally be away every weekend.


This week we headed down to Tekapo, which is about 3 hours south-west of Christchurch in what's called Mackenzie country. We stayed at a B&B called Alpine Vista and we can most heartily recommend it. When we do these weekends away it's sometimes nice to stay at B&Bs rather than in a motel or whatever. You get to meet your hosts and the other guests a whole lot more and for us it's a definite plus to get to talk to both locals and other travellers.

We drove down Friday night so that we'd have the full day on Saturday and got up early to make the most of the blue sky and sunshine. Tekapo is well-known for its lake which is a beautiful milky turquoise colour, due to the glacial rivers flowing into it. Iconic tourist attractions include the lakeside statue of a sheepdog as well as the Church of the Good Shepherd. These are next to each other and right at the start of the township so we went there and got these ticked off first.

Pete, the guy who runs the B&B, recommended a little spot down by Lake Alexandrina for a walk, so this was next port of call. It was a lake just alongside the much larger Lake Tekapo but quite a nice spot with a few typical Kiwi baches. It was lovely to stroll by the still lake basking in the morning sunshine. It's times like that that make me wish I carried a fishing rod with me. I hear the lake is full with brown trout.

Next up, as we headed back into town was the observatory at the top of Mount John. The Lake Tekapo area has been designated a UNESCO starlight reserve, the world's first. We didn't have a chance to look around the observatory unfortunately but its location serves as an excellent spot to view the surrounding countryside - the lake, the Mackenzie basin, the high-country sheep stations and the alps. You get an awesome view of the contrasting geographies and topologies that make up that area from up there.

The one thing we'd booked in advance for the weekend, other than the B&B, was horse-trekking. Now, Joanne's ridden before. As a kid she did it quite a lot and even found time in London at a riding school on the Isle of Dogs. Me, on the other hand, I've ridden a donkey on Cleethorpes beach. As such it was with great trepidation that I climbed aboard Rock, my horse for the two-hour trek, and set about trying not to fall off.

As it turned out, Rock was an experience old pro and knew exactly what to do. He stopped when he needed to, started when he needed to, turned left and right when he needed to - all irrespective of what I wanted him to do. He just followed the lead of the horse in front, plodded along, and mostly ignored the reins I was holding. I didn't fall off, which was a bonus. And didn't ache either, despite everyone warning me I would. Maybe that though is because we spent an hour after dismounting soaking in the nearby alpine springs.

At breakfast on Saturday we had spent a while listening to a couple from Portsmouth tell us all about the one hour flying tour up the lake and over Mount Cook and the glaciers. Sunday was even more beautiful a day than Saturday so we just could not resist the call of the air. It wasn't a cheap experience, but it certainly was an amazing experience. Getting the chance to see the landscape, the lakes, the mountains and the glaciers from that angle was mind-blowing, as we weaved in and out of the valleys and circled the peaks. Sadly the photos don't do it justice.

On landing we jumped in the car and sped as fast as (legally!) possible back into town. Joanne had noticed that there was a service on at 11:30 at the Church of the Good Shepherd. We arrived during the first hymn but were allowed in (they shut the church to tourists for the duration of the service). It is such a tiny little place, there were 23 of us in there, including the minister, and we'd have struggled to get more than 10 more. I think there were maybe 5 or 6 locals there and the rest of us were visitors, from as far afield as Germany, Seattle and Malaysia. The whole thing, including the sermon to some extent, served as a great reminder to us, that although this group of us gathered together for a snapshot in time in worldy terms as a disparate collection, we are all in fact united by Jesus and in spiritual terms are unified and family, even though we'd never met before and probably won't do again while we're here on earth.

Rugby and marriage

On Wednesday I went along to the first of three monthly events hosted by Brad Thorn. The idea behind the evenings is to hold an event in an unthreatening, non-churchy environment when people can come along (and bring their friends) to hear prominent Christians talk about the difference that having Jesus in their life makes to them. Kind of pre-evangelistic events. At the first one last week Simon Barnett interviewed Brad Thorn. Next time Brad will interview Casey Laulala, while the third one will see Brad interview Simon Barnett.

The event seemed to go really well, with about 60 people there, many of whom were friends of people that they'd brought along. I hear the talk and interview went really well too, although I didn't get to hear them unfortunately. I was on sausage duty and had to make sure the bangers were cooked on the barbecue for everyone for the end of the evening. It was a shame not to hear what Brad had to say but it was great to be able to help to allow others to hear it, plus I have heard a potted version before. It seems Brad is keen to get more involved in things like this and use his exposure as an 'in' in this way and it would be great if we could get him along to give his testimony at the next Exploring Discipleship course.

This weekend Joanne and I have spent a nice, relaxing weekend away in Akaroa. To be honest the relaxing part wasn't the main focus of the weekend, but it sure was a bonus. Hannah, who I work with, was getting married to Luke and we, along with the rest of the Marketing team, had been kindly invited along. The ceremony was at Akaroa Heritage Park, a place with a fantastic view over the bays of the volcanic crater, while the reception was down in the township at the Gaiety Hall. It was a lovely day, the weather was great, and it was so nice to be able to share in their big day with them.

This morning breakfast was kindly put on for the guests that remained in town at Luke's mum's cafe so we headed down there. Also that was when Hannah & Luke opened their wedding pressies. It was such a lovely idea to open them infront of (and with) your guests. Really lovely. After that Joanne and I went for a walk. The sun was shining, the sky and sea were blue, and I remembered just how beautiful Nuzziland can be.

Culture vulture

This afternoon Joanne and I headed over to Mona Vale. The weather was awesome and the entertainment was an open-air production of Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost. It's great to be able to do this sort of thing every once in a while, something we wouldn't usually do. And hanging out with friends is always good. We went along with Sarah & Anthony, Pam, Andrew & Lydia, Tim & Melody and also Richard & Heather, friends over from London and in NZ for four days on a bit of a flying world tour.

I'm not the greatest officianado of Shakespeare, but in my amateur opinion, it was really good. I think a lot of the witty wordplay left most of the audience wondering (me included) but the cast was good enough to let us have at least the gist of what was going on. Also the precis, act by act, in the programme was a big help.

To balance today's culture injection, yesterday Al & Naomi came over for lunch with their kids. Barbecue and karaoke ensued.

Assimilated

I felt a bit more like a kiwi today. For lunch we had lamb chops with salad and fresh bread and potato salad of stuff. The lamb chops needed cooking, so rather than grilling them, or doing them in the oven, I just fired up the barbie. The kiwi way.

Oh yeah, and Julia brought some home-made curried rhubarb chutney. Oh wow!

Singing in the rain

If you're not of these shores, I would guess that you wouldn't recognise any of the three musicians in the picture above. If you are native to Nuzziland you probably can recognise at least any two of them, and probably all three. You'll definitely have heard of all three.

Left to right we have the leader from the band OpShop, Anika Moa and Dave Dobbyn. And they were all playing yesterday at the Mud House Winery as part of a summer winery tour. And we went along.

We went with Si & Bek, Al & Naomi, Al & Ruth and Sarah and it rained. Quite a lot. But we knew it would. We have waterproofs. And a tarpaulin or two. So we coped. It wasn't heavy rain, but that constant drizzle that just permeates all but the most waterproof of waterproofs.

On the plus side, I now know that my coat is most definitely waterproof.

It's quite a strange experience going to a gig where almost everyone around you knows most of the songs really, really well. And you're just hearing them for the first time. This is especially true of Dave Dobbyn, who is a real Kiwi legend. He was playing these iconic Kiwi anthems and I was oblivious. I was just glad that four others in our group are Brits too. At least I wasn't alone.

Despite the weather I think we all had a great time. It's just good to hang out, y'know. And I do now feel I understand a bit more of this whole Dave Dobbyn phenomenon. There were a couple of songs that didn't do anything for me, but most I really liked. And he does put on a real show.

OpShop were good too, and given they're relatively new kids on the block I recognised half of their songs. Anika Moa played some good stuff (although she swears too much, especially since it was meant to be a family show) and I really loved the reggae version of one of her songs that she ended with. Sometimes I forget how much I enjoy reggae. Bouncy.

The concert was only one part of what's been a hectic weekend for us. It started on Thursday with dinner out for Jo's birthday (excellent food; small portions; too much garlic in the veg), continued on Saturday morning as we caught up with Marvin & Tianhao and their (relatively) new arrival Eden at Monika's (good news - the PT Cruiser is still running smoothly!) and ended with us having Dave & Julia and John & Joan over for lunch after church (no comment in brackets for this).

Joanne's off playing indoor netball at the moment so I thought I'd take the opportunity to get this all down. It never stops, eh?