raft build

internet failure

We have so many pictures to share and so many stories. Even the “fast” internet in town is not fast enough to load our masses of photos at this time. Bleh.

Our time here is essentially over. Our hearts are heavy with the weight of sad goodbyes, and the knowledge that this is the end of a very powerful year. That said, we are thrilled by the thought of seeing family (and friends) again and excited by the very unkown, next.

We leave this pretty country next Monday and travel to the Cook Islands for a week before stopping in California to visit family briefly and then on to Yakima to spend some long awaited time with more famiy.

Fairbanks comes in February (silly timing, we know).

For now we pack and toss collected rubbish (who know you could collect so much stuff even without a home?!), visit friends for the last time and bike each afternoon.

Oh, and we’ve taken to sleeping on the porch. The stars are spectacular.

behind

Wow…we are so behind on sharing pictures and stories from our weeks on ABS.

We just returned from a four day tramp and a two day white water trip. Both were wonderful. The weather has been in our favor and the experiences enjoyable. This week the students are spending a lot of time at Monovale in lecture. It’s hard to believe we have only 10 days left with this special group. The end of ABS means the end of our year in New Zealand as well and this is something we are struggling to fully come to terms with. We are excited about what is next (despite our complete uncertainty to what that next thing is), but this year has meant a lot to us. We’ve been challenged and strengthened and had our eyes opened and our perspectives adjusted. There is just so much to this time in our lives. It’s hard to even process it all.

For now, we enjoy the students and savor the last few weeks in this beautiful country.

learning to roll or drowning in water

This is old news now, however a couple weeks ago in preparation for our white water trip we did a lot of this. The skill is not imperative, but gives those who can confidence on the water.

free day

On Monday we took the students to Mt. Maunganui for a little rest and relaxation.

fun in the sun

group run

first group pic (minus a couple staff)

kiwi burger time

caving part II

A small glimpse into the underworld.

“oh, go jump off a bridge”

This has been a week of jumping off things. It started with this bridge.

down time

 

caving

 

We took the students away for four nights. Sometimes we slept outside, sometimes we slept in the woolshed. We tramped through jungle, navigated in and out of paddocks, went deep underground, abseiled (sp?) under a natural bridge and cooked meals over a fire.

Caving is a very interesting sport. It’s dark, wet, and cold. Endless caverns, rivers, holes and secrets. Glow worms light up caverns like stars light up the night sky and it’s pretty hard not to acknowledge the sheer creativity God had even when creating the underground. That said, Beth and Sam never care to be deep in one again.

This week has been a great one to get to know our group. We are enjoying them very much. The first week is purposely intense to challenge them. The ugly side of people quickly emerges when you are perpetually wet and tired and smelly. Which is kind of the point of ABS.

We didn’t bring our nice camera, and Sam’s camera battery died day one into our trip. Pictures of all we did and saw are a bit scarce.

Day five: no shower, no soap, no deodorant, no clean clothes

 

resting up

This is actually last weekend.

We are now on day three of ABS. A little sore, a lot happy.

The weather has been super windy, so we haven’t gotten off to the intense start that was planned, we have none the less, been busy and active.

Yesterday we hiked the largest hill in the Waikato (five hours). Sadly we didn’t take a single photo.