Easter

Happy Easter to you all



On Easter Friday Morning all the Churches of Picton joined together to carry the Cross through our small town of Picton NZ.
Around 50 people ( sorry I didn't count them and I was in the front group so not sure it could of been many more ) took turns at carrying the big heavy Cross just as Jesus did so long ago for us.
I didn't personally carry it mainly the men did that, I just followed in the procession. I was amazed that there was no jeering or heckling at all, cars stopped for us some of them giving us a friendly toot and people on the street smiled, some young people called out respectfully to ask what we were doing, so some of the many Pastors within the procession went over to them to explain otherwise it was a silent witness.

 At each Church we stopped a few moments to sing a song or have a short reading or as at our Church for a short skit which while funny was serious too.
Photo shows the restart outside our  AOG Church must people are still within the Church I am standing on the doorstop dressed in black.
This made Easter much more touching to us all.

The Eagle and the snake

The Eagle does not fight the snake on the ground. It picks it up into the sky and changes the battle ground, and then it releases the snake into the sky. 
The snake has no stamina, no power and no balance in the air. It is useless, weak and vulnerable unlike on the ground where it is powerful wise and deadly.
Take your fight into the spiritual realm by praying and when you are in the spiritual realm God takes over your battles.
Don't fight the enemy in his comfort zone, change the battle grounds like the Eagle and let God take charge through your earnest prayer. You'll be assured of clean victory.
Pray without ceasing.

I published this because I really want to remember it.

Birthday Treat for 4 of us

Four Friends combined their Birthdays so to celebrate together. We had bought a Voucher each for a sea trip to Lockmara Lodge in the beautiful Marlborough Sounds, it included a meal in the cafe and a day pass for all the activities.
The day dawned a perfect clear sunny blue sky day after the wind had blown a roaring gale all night.
We enjoyed the sea trip as the sea was smooth and calm. The trip only took about 20 mins.

Judy and Wayne had brought a bottle of wine with them so we found a nice cosy corner and sat in the sun and drank good wine, my favourite way to drink wine, outside in the fresh air and sunshine.
We then wandered round to the cafe and enjoyed very nice food well cooked and presented and I bought another bottle of wine to go with it.

After a nice rest we headed off to help feed the little green parrots, there are two sorts red crested and yellow crested parrots, the yellow ones are very rare and are being bred  We also saw a large Ring Neck Parrot that is just flying free in the bay, he was visiting his feeding station and posed  nicely for us.

 Bush walks were lovely and cool There was a stairway but it didnt go to Heaven we checked!

by the team at Lockmara Lodge with is a kind of a wildlife sanctuary. They also bred Kuni kuni pigs, Alpaca  and eels among other things. Sadly we took too long  eating and drinking to be able to help feed all these animals but we still saw them nibbling on their food.


 There are lots of interesting bush  walks and I think we walked them all over the course of the day!

A highlight was visiting Crumpys cabin, the men liked the rough hut.A very manly place.

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We swung in hammocks all around the place and loved the view  sat in concrete and mosaic Settees we found along the way

The last thing we did was to feed the fish and the big Sting Rays in the harbour while we enjoyed restful cup of coffee on the edge of the water, watching other kayak around the bay, we didnt have time to do that ourselves this time.
What a beautiful place.

All in all a perfect day was had by all four of us.
We were very tired by the time we took the return boat trip back to Picton.

Church Picnic at Ngakuta Bay

Today  is Waitangi Day here in New Zealand a public holiday and is also Church Picnic Day.  Our Church and also a Blenheim Church join together for this lovely picnic by the sea at the private home in Ngakuta Bay of one of our members.

 About 50 / 60 people attended, sitting out in the sun on the beach edge, food and coffee seemed to taste so much nicer.

 Good conversation with people we didnt know as well of some we knew well.  Many went out in kayaks some swam while I played Frisbee with a dozen others. the children and some of us adults who are still a bit child-like enjoyed the lolly scramble. They did the scramble by throwing the lollies and hitting them with a badminton bat to send them all over the lawn and a few into the sea.

Then there was a Water Baptism,  Renee, a lady from the Blenheim Church was Baptized in the sea while we all sang and prayed for her. She was very happy if rather wet.

Our Pastor and a young Dutch girl who was just visiting Picton who went with us in our nice red car, lovely to have company.
Our car enjoys the view at Ngakuta Bay.

New Car for us

Such a lovely day Erle and I have had. I woke thinkigg something nice happened yesterday and it was like oh yeah we got our new car. Good start.
It is a Toyota Camry Hybrid, runs on Petrol and battery should be very economical.  Its Australian assembled.








Pretty soon Judy came visiting for coffee and to see our new red car. Whilst drinking coffee she said where are you going to drive that lovely car and we said oh maybe Rarangi. She said be mad take it for a lovely long drive go out for lunch make a day of it. So we did. Drove out to Havelock to have lunch at Slip Inn but it was packed to the gunnells it is a holiday weekend here in New Zealand and every man and his dog seem to have had the same idea. We photographed the car visiting Slip Inn

Then we headed over to the local Pub,for a counter lunch, while the food was being prepared I playe the poker machines and won back the money lunch cost, then after lunch I had another go and won the same amount again. Wow. Decided we would still go to Rarangi to visit my Brother and show off the Toyota Camry Hybrid where we enjoyed a pleasant afternoon tea with Bob and Jan before driving home for a rest. But the pretty red car was all dusty so Erle set about giving it a good wash. What a spoilt car.

New Years Day BBQ

 New year's day was such a lovely sunny day that we decided to try out our new bbq. All those year's like 20 year's or so of driving taxis and shuttles I used to dream of being the one was going out in the evening to a bbq at the beach instead of being the driver who took them. So we made it happen. We asked our neighbour  along too and we had a lovely evening it was still nice and warm with no breeze a perfect evening. We enjoyed our wine and nibbles an watched others catch small fish on the beach while our food cooked to perfection.

 We should do this more often now that I can.







We bought this cute wee BBQ for ourselves for Christmas, it is a kind of special one with many different top grilling plates and there is even a wok, it doubles as a cover for the whole thing. One reason for buying it is the constant talk of everyone having an alternative method of cooking in case of earthquake or other emergency where there may be no electric power for days.

This family was doing really well catching small fish, probably for the cat, it kept them happy. There were lots of other swimming in the sheltered water too.

Our neighbour Marcia lends a hand on the BBQ too, we cooked sausages, mushrooms and tomatoes, everything was just perfect as the weather was. The two bottles of wine were pretty good too.
A great start to the new year.

Punga Cove Resort and helicopter

While at Punga Cove Resort in the Marlborough Sounds, I threw myself into a hammock and as I lay sprawled in unlady-like grace in zoomed a helicopter with guest coming for lunch at the restaurant! At only $1500 a flight I do hope the lunch was spectacular.





It came in so low it was almost hidden behind the sun umbrella before is gently touched down on the heli pad.















Whilst I was still laying in the hammock I looked up into the huge Punga tree fern high above me and decided to photograph it too. These tree ferns are what the resort is named after, there are many of them on the hillside around the Cove.












We did have a lovely time while staying here, sadly I came down with a nasty heavy cold so didn't feel up to going out fishing or playing in the spa pools as we had intended. Being together is the important thing when celebrating your Anniversary, we drank several toasts to just that and also to My Dear Mother who we felt was with us in spirit some times. She was approving.