Yesterday we went on the annual church picnic to Motuihe Island in the middle of the Hauraki Gulf. What a spectacular day it was. The sun was out, there were 300 of us on the ferry zooming acros the pristine seas to a gorgeous recreational reserve island. It was just stunning.

We have been going to Eastgate Christian Centre for 3 weeks now and have decided that this will be our church home in Auckland. The first week that we went the boys so enjoyed their time in children's church that they begged us to return the next week. What could we do? When your kids beg you to go to church you can't say no can you? They have struggled so much with tradtional churches and rather boring children's programmes in Ecuador that this was just a delight for them. They have thrown themselves into church life and Caleb has even been asked to be a part of the kids worship team. He was thrilled and so were we!

Anyway we decided to take the plunge and get involved in church life. I have been going to the weekly woman's bible study group which is a nice way to get to know new people. Yesterday was a larger scale "throwing ourselves in" thing. It all went very well with us meeting new people and having time to chat to them about life. It is hard to relate to them though as we don't have much in common, except our love of the Lord but apart from that we are a bit of a novelty and they just seem so busy in their lives. By 3 PM I was feeling overwhelmed by the share number of people on the island and the need to get to know them. I went to the beach and watched the boys in the water for an hour or so. I had a little solitude and time to think about all I had left behind. Life seemed so much more simpler then. As much as Ecuador has its ups and downs it was very familiar and comfortable. Now I am up in the air again.

It's hard to settle down again. I fee like I should be packing my bags any minute now and winging my way home. Last week I went to the fruit and vege shop and saw a huge Ecuador banana sign and burst into tears. The dear old lady beside me didn't know what to do and I had no desire to explain it all to her. She probably wouldn't have understood anyway.

All in all it was good day yesterday and I think an important one. Nige got to meet some new people that hopefully he will be able to connect to. We got home sunburnt and exhausted but it was so lovely to be outside the city for a while and just relax. We haven't had much opportunity to do that as a family for a while.