Christmas and the big red bearded fellow

Christmas and the big red bearded fellow.

Depending on how you read the line above, you will probably imagine Santa. However I was meaning this...



The time in Waikawa was a real blessing. Alex (the farm manager) and Jacky and the family were again so generous with their hospitality and have become good friends. Generosity and ingenuity have marked this entire trip and this last fortnight has been no exception. Keith in Christchurch made me an extended screen for the bike out of a sheet of perspex and some duct tape. It deflect all the wind perfectly. Alex this week solved the problem of my ripped seat with... duct tape. Oh, and he also welded by broken side stand. The country's motto should be 'Everything is repairable'.

We have had great weather in the Sounds this week, and even saw dolphins, which circled us for about an hour, and came within 10 feet of the barge.

I have been blessed also by meeting again with Dave and Cathy who have been a great encouragement and inspiration. I have found God's provision in so many ways, small and big.

Christmas will give me more time with Matt in CC, and them I am going to meet old friends in Queenstown who are arriving from the UK for a few weeks holiday. Life is rich. God is good.

I have left Picton with real friends, more contacts, and a few more dollars to keep me moving. And it's still a small world. One of Jacky's neighbours who visited, got talking about friends in England. One of whom I knew in Birmingham from Elim church on Tiverton Rd- it has to be the same guy- how many Andy Ferrari do you know! So we looked him up on the 'net, found his mum in a picture of the governers of a random school in London, and mailed them to ask if they could put us in touch.Crazy times.

More pics to follow, plus video of how to prepare paua for eating...