To Lower Hutt

On Wednesday (which is Tuesday back in the US), Andy and Angie drove us 2 hours to Hamilton to catch the Overlander train. We caught the train (barely) at 10:00 and it drove us 10 hours south through the country. Two words could sum up most of the trip: GREEN and SHEEP! I have never seen so many sheep!! The steep green hills were covered with them the whole way. The train was a neat way to see new parts of the county, and in places we wouldn't see driving. As we rolled in to Wellington, we enjoyed seeing the hills covered in houses, looking over the water. We were picked up at the train station by Wayne (the pastor) and Peter, and they drove us about 15 minutes north to Lower Hutt, pointing things out along the way. It's a really neat area surrounding the harbor, and Lower Hutt sits in the Hutt Valley. We are staying with a family from the church, and everyone has been so wonderful; we feel so welcomed!

Leigh drove us on a tour of town and took us into the mall, then to the church, where we had a quick tour and finally met Matt and Angela (the other Americans who are taking on the youth pastor position). After a great Indian food lunch, we spent the afternoon driving all over the place looking for places to rent. We have really enjoyed getting to know people here, and they have taken great care of us!

Beaches

We went to Hot Water Beach, where you can actually dig holes in the sand to get to hot spring water running down to the ocean. People were all over lounging in their pools!

We also went to Onemana Beach, a smaller beautiful beach where we had a picnic with the whole family and kids. Sunday we went to Andy and Angie's church, and had a big BBQ that afternoon. The highlight of the day was going out on a fishing boat for a spin around the bay!

Today we went to Cathedral Cove, possibly the most beautiful place I've ever seen! (It's where part of "Prince Caspian" was filmed)

We did a short steep hike up Mt Paku, an inactive volcano in Tairua, and had amazing 360 degree views

Paradise

We're here! Our flight was uneventful (we did get to check all of our bags for free, instead of the $300 we had planned on!), and we arrived on Tuesday morning. Kris' brother Andy picked us up in Auckland and drove us to their home in Tairua, on the Coromandel Peninsula. We are amazed at how green the hills are. We are staying in an ocean view cottage with an incredible view. WE have enjoyed spending time with Andy, Angie, and the boys Solomon and William. The weather is warming up a bit now, so we will get to spend some time at the beach the next few days.

Countdown...0 days!

All is packed and we are ready to go! The flight leaves Phoenix Sunday at 5:05 PM, and then it leaves Los Angeles at 9:30 PM. We fly for almost 13 hours and, thanks to crossing the international date line, arrives in Auckland Tuesday morning at 6:30! Kris' brother Andy will pick us up at the airport and drive us to their home in Tairua, where we will spend a week relaxing with the family. Then on Wednesday, October 27 we will take the train down to Wellington! The church has graciously arranged for us to stay with a family until we find a place to rent.

We are so excited to be leaving, yet it is still quite surreal. We are actually moving, not just going on a vacation! We will try to update the blog and post pictures as soon as we get a chance.

Prayer requests: Safe flights, our bags make it to Auckland with us, good time with family, prayers for our families/friends that we leave behind, that God would provide us with a nice and affordable place to rent, and that He would prepare us for the things he wants to do in us and through us.

(Finally) Leaving on a jet plane

We rebooked our plane tickets for October 17 (for a lot more than our original tickets)! Now we get busy cancelling things, arranging shipping, practice packing to make sure it all fits...Can't wait!

It's official!

Friday afternoon we got the best news--the approved visas arrived in the mail!!! No more waiting, wondering if/when they would be approved, being "on hold". The airfares are quite a bit more expensive now than they were the first time we paid for them, but we are praying they go down in the next couple days. We are still planning to leave in the next 2-3 weeks, and we have a lot to do between now and then. You can be praising with us at this good news, and praying that we remember everything we need to take care of here, and that we get a good deal on tickets.