Merry Christmas

For the past week and a half we have been camping out at The Coledale Beach Camping Reserve in a suburb of Sydney. Our intent, and resulting success, was to soak up some sun and live as cheaply as possible with every earthly possession fitting, with us, in two tents. By the end of 10 days we felt quite at home in our surroundings and became good friends with the reserve owner and several locals. (Cheers to you Luke, Ben, Chad, & Norm! Thanks for your kindness, hospitality, and for showing us a truly good time)

While every past Christmas Eve has been spent with a host of family and friends, this one finds us en route to Brisbane on the 4:30 train.
Although it does not feel like a typical Christmas, I need to remind myself that it really should not. For one, it seems fitting to be a foreigner commemorating the sacred birth of Christ. Was He not also a stranger, not simply in Bethlehem but to the world at large? He came to live among us but He wandered the earth much like we are doing, living generally on the kindness and hospitality of locals along the way. This trip has opened our eyes to the benevolence bestowed upon us by people we have met. This Christmas we are thankful for the gift of friendship and the way each encounter brings us a glimpse into the heart of Christ. It is His love manifested in acts of kindness that gives us joy this Christmas Season.

A very Joyous Christmas to you and yours!
~Grace-Emma

our home for the past week and a half or so

Our friend, Luke Irwin

Back In Australia

Hello hello

Here we are back in Australia. Since our return from New Zealand, we have been on a road trip up the east coast of Australia. We started by renting a car at the Melbourne(a nice one this time) and then, taking our time, making our way up to Sydney. The weather was amazing and we saw some brilliant scenery and met some really cool folks along the way. The kindness of Australians toward travellers in their country continues to amaze us. They must be have a competition with the Kiwis to see who can be nicer.

At present we are living in our tents on the beach in a little town called Coledale. We will be here until next weekend when we catch a train/plane/car/camel to Brisbane for the holidays. Due to the remoteness of our current home, it is unlikely that you will be hearing from us for a bit. But not to worry, we are not dead. Much to the contrary we are basking in the sun on the beach. Don't feel bad for us. We don't.

Many thanks to all of the people who have been keeping up with us via e-mail and comments on the website. It is your support that encourages us to continue with what we are doing, and believe it or not, there are times that world travel gets old and we get bouts of homesickness and the like. This is when contact from all of our friends and family get us through the day.

Happy holidays and safe travel to all of you who are making your way to Mom and Dad's house for the Christmas. More from us soon.

Best,

E

New Zealand Reel

We have just returned from a one-week hiatus in New Zealand. It would be best described as a whirlwind tour. And in keeping with the tempo, here is a quick rundown of our experiences:

Day One:
Fly to Auckland after camping out for the night in the Melbourne airport. Nice flight. Food OK. Call rental company upon arrival. Car we end up with doesn't look like the sweet one we saw in the ad. Most likely former life as cab somewhere in Asia. Pack stuff in, strap surfboard to roof and head for Raglan.

Day Two:
This country is amazing. Like something out of a fairy tale. Hilko gets some surfing in at the Raglan Beach. Apparently the sets were good. That's what the locals were saying. Today we saw Mt. Doom from Lord of the Rings. Just as imposing as the movies. Reach Lake Taupo toward the end of the day. Good view of the lake. Nice evening at the cafe on the promenade.

Day Three:
Check out of the camper park just in time to avoid late fee. Long drive today. Due to poor sleep last night (or maybe other things) abundance of snide remarks about poor quality and inferior handling of our ride. We stopped in Marton for Hilko to visit his crew at the Training Center. He is welcomed as a returning hero. Everyone is in awe of him and we are in awe of their awe. Everyone wins. After a few hours of interaction, we hop in the car and drive down to Porirua, near Wellington, to stay at the home of Hilko's friend Peter Elder. Peter takes us to the highest point in the bay and we get a spectacular view of the bay and the South Island off in the distance. One day, we vow, we will return to see the other half of the country.

Day Four:
We spend the day in Wellington. Very nice city with a sort of European feel. We split up and spend the day finding our own ways around the place. Hilko heads for the surf shops, the girls to the cafes and clothing stores, I make my way to the book stores, of which there are many. Dinner at the Flying Burrito Brothers. No flying burritos or brothers, for that matter. Another evening at the Elder residence.

Day Five:
Today we make it up to Gisborne, which is quite a drive. The China Cab holds up even in the mountains. It must have been a very trusty taxi back in the day. We had another of many picnic table lunches with food from the local Woolworths. Thanks to TJ Stewart for the WW card. It saved us lots of Kiwi dollars. Props. Gisborne is a ratty town, but their caravan park is n-i-c-e. Great food for dinner and then a movie in the lounge. This place is posh.

Day Six:
We had a scare today thinking that the China Cab had an issue, but in the end it was a stone caught in the underbody making a terrific noise. Hilko's advice was to 'floor it'. He was right on. More beautiful driving with lots of sheep and not a lot of people. Today as we were cresting the top of a hill, there was a guy in a campervan headed the opposite way. He recognized us as backpackers and gave us the thumbs up. Made my day. One of the most attractive features of this country is how friendly and laid-back the people are. It's like they actually want you to see their country. People from Boston should take some tips from them. We spend the night at Waihi Beach. It was a little out of the way but there are few things that beat the experience of falling asleep with the sound of the ocean in your ears.

Day Seven:
Up early and a few hours drive to Auckland. I try for a chance to go bungy jumping but no luck as they are closed for the day. Nice lady says that they will be open at 9AM tomorrow(about the time I will be boarding the flight out of here.) Hard to be disappointed after a week here. Besides, there's no way that this is the only time I will be in NZ so I will just have some bungy next time around. We spend the day wandering around Auckland. Another nice city, but not as nice as Wellington. Too many tourists, though. Wait a second... Drop off the car and catch the shuttle back to the airport. Another night camping out. Better benches to sleep on. We even whipped out our sleeping bags. Bold. When morning comes, we board flight 123 for Melbourne. Big plans already in the works for trips back to NZ when there is more time available. This was a preview of sorts.


There you have it. New Zealand is amazing. And I don't use that word very much. Hopefully we will be able to put some pictures up, but words and pictures don't do it justice. Everyone out there, make plans to visit this country at least once in your life. Enough said.


We are currently on the road headed for Sydney. Hopefully we will be able to publish another post in a few days when we can hook up a camera and let you see some of the things that we have seen.

More soon,

Erick

New Zealand~*

Somehow the simple life is not as intrusive as i had originally feared it would be. Intrusive meaning a foreigner to my domestic preferences. It has been good for me to see just how "cushy" my life really is.

New Zealand is even more beautiful than we had anticipated. It's beauty is enhanced, naturally, by the fabulous weather we've been having. The locals have informed us that bright blue skies for days on end is not customary for New Zealand so we are doubly blessed.



We have travelled basically all of the North Island in our short week here. Beginning in Auckland we moved southward spending the first night in Raglan (near Hamilton). Our next stop was in Taupo, the center of the North Island. It is a little town on the waterfront with a majestic view of "Mount Doom" (For all those Lord of the Rings lovers, this is the place to visit!) Taupo was definitely my favorite spot in the NZ tour. From there we made a stop over in Marton to surprise Hilko's "fans" at the Arahina Training Centre. Needless to say, it was a huge success! We spent the evening hosted by Pete Elder in Porirua. We liked it so much we decided to spend Friday there as well and spent the day checking out Wellington. Saturday we drove from Porirua up the east coast to Gisborne. Our plan is to drive up the Eastern coastline up to Mt. Maunganui and up to Auckland tomorrow.