Merry Christmas!

You might be forgiven for thinking that we have been swallowed up by some sort of antipodean black hole! No blogs since April. Yes, well, life intervened as it so often does, and blogging rather fell by the wayside. However, I'm back in the UK for my first cold, wet, dark Christmas in 4 years, and I thought I'd just send a few words your way to let you know I'm still alive and kicking :)

How best to do this?  A quick round-up of some of the events of the past few months is probably best.  Something of a whistle-stop tour, if you will....

When I last posted we were heading back to the UK to marry off Louisa, our younger daughter, to Ryan Randall.  Which we duly did in May, at Clandon Park in Surrey, with great joy:

A fabulous day from start to finish, shared and celebrated with family and friends :)

Apart from the wedding, which was obviously the highlight of our stay, we were as usual busy dashing around the country catching up with people as best we could.  I had another great week with my sister Anna down in the west country:

[Dartmouth, a firm favourite]

[Twins-four-years-apart, Anna calls us]

If we didn't get to see you, sorry: there just aren't enough days...

On the way back from the UK I spent a few days in California with American Julie and we visited Yosemite National Park.  I was profoundly moved by the giant sequoias in Mariposa Grove. If you haven't been I encourage you to make the journey.  This one, the Grizzly Giant, is the most venerable of them all.  It's 1800 years old, taller than the Statue of Liberty and about the same length as a Boeing 747!

Back in the UK again for my niece's wedding in August, up in Durham, I took the chance to revisit my childhood home in Worcestershire, and my school in historic Ludlow, as well as spend time down in Saltford with wee Lizzie, who was walking by then....

Roy and I met up at Heathrow to go to Gallipoli together, in preparation for the centenary of the Kiwi/Australian landings at Anzac Cove, 25 April 1914.  We had an excellent Turkish guide, Sukru, who drove us all round the area, visiting British, French, Kiwi, Australian and Turkish cemeteries, where so many lost their lives in a short few months.  And for what?  We were left with a sense of the utter futility of the whole affair doomed from the outset, following that initial erroneous landing...

The magnificent Turkish memorial, which can be seen from many miles away.

Back in New Zealand I took the opportunity to have a bit of a sabbatical.  After Helen left St Philip's at Easter two new priests-in-charge, husband and wife, were appointed to caretake the church until January 2015. I felt that it was fine for me to let them do their thing, and it gave me a chance to play some more tennis and have the occasional lunch with a friend.  Roy and I also took Kahu out, and spent one particularly special day exploring 'my' island - Motukorea (aka Browns Island) - which I've longed to do for over 3 years!

[Clearly a professional aerial shot of the island and its magnificent cone]

[My rather amateur effort, taken on the edge of the cone, 

looking out to Sky Tower in the distance]

And then in November it was Sydney!  Roy was speaking at a museum conference, perfect excuse to spend a few days in a stunning city only 3.5 hours flight away.  We were not disappointed.  There's so much to see and do (most of it rather expensive, sadly), but being on the water is a must.  We visited Darling, Manly and Watson Bays, and I spent a fun 4 hours at the zoo - where I finally got, if not to cuddle, then to be as close to a koala as I'm ever likely to.  He was called Tucker, and more importantly, he was AWAKE!

[The view from the swimming pool at our hotel!]

[An unusual view of the Sydney Opera House; the white blobs are seagulls, not stars]

And so, after spending the last 3 Christmasses in the sunshine, here we are ready to enjoy a real Christmas in Tollesbury once more, with our family, including the fabulous Miss Lizzie :)

And all being well Lizzie is looking forward to having a baby sister in March!

So, a quick flick through the past 8 months.  Of necessity I've left out many things, and I've had to use the photos available on my Iphone, but at least I have finally written something.

I'm looking forward to the advent of a new vicar at the beginning of February 2015.  It has been a long time coming, and the parish has struggled to adjust to the differing styles of priests-in-charge, but we will no doubt bounce back and warm to Matt, and his 3 small girls under 4!

All that is left now is for me to wish you all 

a Very Merry and Joy-filled Christmas and a blessed New Year!

And on that note I must get ready to head off to Tollesbury Singers Christmas concert; for once I'm in the audience, and looking forward to it :)
God bless you all.