Greetings from the islands (news from the Palmers in New Zealand - if you are new to this letter!)
It's the second of May down here - I guess by now it will be where you are too. May is a celebration of something or other - probably spring in the northern hemisphere. We are freezing already - the dreaded southerly came up today, with buckets of rain while we were up in Paraparaumu. Where is that, you may ask. Well it's past Porirua and Plimmerton, in fact past Paekakariki on the way to Palmerston North. All these Ps - there are more on state highway one out of the capital. We enjoyed the last day of our school holidays which, believe it or not, started with sun in the morning. I enjoyed coffee and a meeting with our Director of music at our favourite coffee shop called Carlton Cafe, a Greek institution in Kilbirnie. The drive up to Paraparaumu followed the winding contours of the rugged coastline and through some generic green rolling Kiwi hills with the mandatory sheep happily grazing. The road ends up hugging the side of a fairly sharp-edged bit of the island where the views back towards the city and towards Kapiti island were stunning as the sun shone with vigour over the ocean and created a silver yet warm reflection. Our destination - lunch with dear friends whom we met in Waipukurau in July 2006. Our lives changed so radically the following August that we never did get to have that promised lunch. Finally in May 2008!
Blair and Lorna Rogers are a wonderful couple, steady in faith and a real example of people who face change with a deep confidence that God remains their constant guide and companion. Blair is a retired Presbyterian minister, while Lorna his wife is an artist. Lorna is facing health challenges, and despite their challenges we were able to share special time with them. We prayed together before we left - a really good strengthening experience.
Leaving Paraparaumu we wandered back towards Wellington and stopped at the chocolate factory at Raumati Beach. Armed with Boysenberry and Kiwifruit chocs, a very pleasant journey home followed. Porirua was our next stop - a firm favourite as this was our first shopping destination on our arrival here in April 2006. The shopping centre is more multi-cultural than where we live on the Peninsula - the Maori, Asian and Pacific Island folk make for a nice blend of journeys. Crucial repairs to Robin's glasses, coffee at the Muffin Break, and a helpful winter purchase at Miller's all proved to be a significant end to the day. An acquisition of a selection of food from the Golden Chopstick for our enthusiastic sons at home settled the deal. Fighting heavy rain, we navigated a busy highway home to our freezing wooden house....
What a nice end to the holidays. We forgave the cat (the gender-neutral Alexis) who decided to eat a bird just inside the front door as a special surprise for us, and happily vacuumed the feathers. Roxanne had phoned in our absence and left a message from Shanghai airport to say they were about to board for Singapore. We haven't heard from her for 10 days and will be glad to have all the troops at home tomorrow afternoon. Christopher engaged the howling gale and buckets of water from above to bring the washing in - in a raincoat and sporting gloves. The kiwi way (of course you could just leave the washing there for a few days!).o
Through the week we have faced the challenge that school starts and back to work we have to go. A visit to Brooklyn's Penthouse cinema on Tuesday for a treat and a viewing of "The Bucket List" proved to be another worthwhile exercise in self-indulgence. Perhaps all of this is about our own bucket lists? Not really - just the enjoyment of the fascinating place where we live.
Monday morning begins at 9.00 with a College Chapel service. The theme - encouraging one another. Will put the message on the blog site on Monday. Nothing complex really - just the old choice of being there for others, or being a pain to others. Sheilagh has already been to work for a day to get familiar with the new computerised library system (the old one - in PCschools - was painful as is that program generally). She has made the huge conversion to living with computers at work. Brave lass. The term ahead is only 9 weeks, so it will fly. Winter sport begins - I have 75 students signed up for Badminton. Ten teams are signed up for the Wellington Sport Competition. Did I tell you that our new Bowls teams which started in March did really well? The B team were second in their pool. Not bad for newbies. Good coach hey!
Roxanne goes straight back to school Monday - David continues his job on reduced days ( a good move) while Chris awaits news from his interview. In the meantime - all in these holidays - I was asked to consider a return to Parish work. The answer to that process was a clear no. School work is where I am to be. The scary thing about the local churches in our Presbyterian family is that the spectrum of belief is very wide - stretching from post-Christian characters who have ditched the divinity of Jesus to fairly serious followers. Imagine a church with all of those - hardly possible to say anything without probably offending someone.
So it our third winter is on the way. It is on these days when we are grateful that we have gas heating in Miramar - despite the inflated costs that will arise. Out come the winter thermals and life goes on. For those on warmer shores - enjoy!
Monday of course is 5th May - Christopher's 21st! What a busy time. If you want to wish him happy birthday, email him on pyroghozt@gmail.com
Blessings and write soon
Robin and Sheilagh
