The trip continues!

It seems ages since I left NZ and began this big trip. I am really missing my boys but I know they are doing well at home with the grandparents. Nige joined me in London last week and we have been tripping around since. Currently we are sitting in the airport at Casablanca, Morocco awaiting our flight to Niger.

We have had a great couple of days here experiencing Moroccan culture. We have managed to ride a camel, eat pomegranates, relax at the beach and shop at the markets. All heaps of fun. At times we felt as though we were back home in Ecuador. Things are very similar except the fact that they speak French and Arabic and the women are covered from head to toe. The men still leer at the women and I did feel a little underdressed in my capri pants at times but all in all it was fun.

The weather has been a lot warmer than in England for which we are very thankful. It honestly couldn't have gotten much colder! Now we head into 40 degree temps so expect to sweat a lot more. I have my skirts and head scarf packed so I suspect I will be quite hot most days.

In the next 10 days I am hopping on 10 different planes. Not too enthralling I'm afraid. My tail bone is already really sore and the seats on the planes seem to be made in such a way that I'm always sitting on it and hurting it more. I guess I'll pop some pain killers and that should help.

It's nearly time to board so I must pull out my French dictionary and try and learn a little more than hi and thanks. I'm thankful for people in Niger who will be able to speak for me. Still half the fun is in the trying.

Greetings from England!!!!

I've been here for the past 5 days and it hasn't stopped raining since! They say this is the worst summer in 50 years but I think it's like this all the time. It has drizzled and been grey ever since I arrived.

The great thing though is that I have seen some amazing countryside and the manor where SIM UK has it's offices and guest house is incredible. It's like living in a castle. There is an amazing story as to how the Lord provided for them. The manor is just gorgeous.

The meetings are going well. It is so inspiring to be around professional communicators who have a passion to see God's mighty deeds shared with the world. I mentioned the other day that I dreamed of being a journalist when I was younger but for various reasons that never happened. Now I feel like God has brought me back full circle with a way by which I can express myself and God's work creatively. There is much that I can and want to accomplish in the communications area in NZ it will just be a matter of time and resources. Watch this space!

Nigel is currently flying the world to catch up with me. He should be landing in London in just a few hours so I'm really looking forward to seeing him. The boys are doing okay at home although they are missing us both terribly. Caleb has been sick a couple of times this week with a migraine and ear infection so that has been hard to be away as a mum. I'm so grateful for caring grandparents.

After we leave here on Saturday Nige and I are going to do the sights of London including the London eye. Should be a fun weekend and we'll have to make sure there is a visit to an English pub as well.

One Year On.

Yesterday was one whole year since we left our beloved Guayaquil. We can't believe where the year has gone. So much has happened....good and not so good. I've just written a newsletter updating people on where we are at and it caused me to reflect on the past 365 days. As I said before...where has the time gone?

To celebrate we went up the sky tower here in Auckland. It is the tallest building in the southern hemisphere and has a revolving restaurant. What fun to see over Auckland city. It really is quite breathtaking with the water surrounding it, the boats, the tall buildings and the volcanoes. You really must come sometime :-)

So here are a few picis of our afternoon out.


The Sky tower, right in the heart of Auckland City















With my two lovely boys.



The thing to do is to bungy jump off the top of the tower! Here a brave soul (hanging in mid air in the blue and yellow suit) tries it. Not my cup of tea!



In the observation deck there are glass floors that you can walk over. Caleb and I did it but it was fun to watch others edge around it. Here Caleb is lying on the lfoor, thundreds of metres up in the air.










The boys had fun making this photo.

I just love it!!!! Makes me giggle every time I see it. It also reminds me that in a couple of weeks this will be me....but having to deal with French!

Our big trip is upon us. I leave Friday 17th August for a week in London for the SIM Communications consultation. This is where all the people involved in media/communication work in SIM get together to ponder the bigger issues and get inspired. I'm going in my role as NZ Editor of our magazine, "Serving in mission Together." I'm really looking forward to the time away although I must admit that I'm not so keen on the long haul flights by myself. It's something like 28 hours to get to London with just a brief stop in the middle somewhere.

Nige is meeting me in London on the 23rd and then when the conference finishes we are stopping off in Morocco for a couple of day en route to Niger. This is where we are going to be spending the bulk of our time, travelling the country, encouraging our kiwis there and having our first African experience. We are really looking forward to it although the French is going to throw us a little! I studied French in high school and only know a little...enough to introduce myself, count to 10, ask if they speak English and maybe a swear word or two :-) Not sure how far that is actually going to get me. But we are going to make the most of it and I hope to see some giraffes while I'm there.

After 2 weeks there we hop back on a plane to London where Nige and I part ways....him heading to the USA for meetings and me back to NZ. After 3 1/2 weeks away I will be well and truely ready to be home again. The boys are staying in NZ with grandparents who will look after them. It will be the longest time that we have all been apart so there are going to be some tough days. They have primed us up to buy them pressies from every country we visit so that's their incentive to letting us go so far away.

I'm not sure that I will get to post while I'm away but will try. Otherwise I'll just have to recount all my experiences when I get back. This week is hectic with all the things that need to be done before I go, one of which is our one year anniversary of leaving Ecuador. Can't believe the year has gone by already. We're going out for lunch together as a family so that will be special. Hopefully I'll get to write about that before I leave as we're going to a really neat place.

Until then it's time to get some more work done and then it's onto packing. I thought I had finished with all that!!!!!