Sunday 5 January 2014

Belated Christmas Greetings



Belated Christmas greetings to you all from NZ down under and thanks for all your good wishes!

It's been hard to take in that Christmas has come and gone despite attending a nativity play and 2 carol services in Australia, a Christmas eve carol service in Wellington, 




viewing many Christmas displays/trees/banners/food in
streets, shops and houses, doing some Christmas shopping and wearing Christmas earrings but a cold, wet 24 December did help. 

Even a Glasweigan who has lived in NZ for 30 years admitted that Christmas in the summer still doesn't seem right! 







However the lack of Christmas feeling didn't detract from 
the celebration of Christmas being a reminder of
the reality of the angel's message "to you has been born a Saviour, Christ the Lord"(Luke 2:11).




Like the turkeys I've been "getting stuffed" with Christmas party food and a Christmas meal in Oz, 2 Christmas buffet dinners with friends' families in Auckland and in Wellington both on warm sunny days and a special breakfast in a cafe and dessert at a restaurant on Christmas eve to celebrate my friends' daughter's birthday with of course birthday cake. Santa paid me a visit in Wellington although I'd already sat on his knee in Hamilton but maybe that's how he knew where I'd be on Christmas eve?! 

Also celebrated New Year's eve well with friends and their friends whilst in New Plymouth with another buffet meal followed by fireworks,
a walk through a colourfully lit park in the town ( maybe similar to the Enchanted Forest near Pitlochry?) and a game of Bananarama while more fireworks exploded around our motel.

Folk have been asking if I'm not getting tired of travelling but the answer is "No, I'm still quite happy living out of a rucksack and enjoying touring around and meeting different people" but the questions are whether I'll be able to settle back down in Dingwall once I return in May and what's next.



And so before 2014 advances any further I wish you all God's blessing and
NZ Christmas tree (Pohutukawa)
help for whatever comes your way this year as His "plans are...to give us a future and hope" (Jeremiah 29:11).


Love from
Anne x

Ps Sorry to be so far behind with blogs but hope to rectify this before leaving NZ at the end of February.