More Sight Seeing

Over Waitangi Weekend we went and did a bit more sight seeing. We went to Reefton a bit of a non event as most of town was closed but then we detoured to the Buller Gorge Swing bridge. It was another beautiful day and we had lots of fun.

This rock formation hangs over the main road from Murchison - Blenheim or actually from almost anywhere (other than Greymouth) into Westport.

ONe of the many view of the mighty Buller river as you drive along it.

Emily and I on the swing bridge. It is a long way down. Patrick by the way is the tiny figure you can see in the middle of the bridge. No fear in him.

Christina at the beginning of the bridge. I think that by the time we got half way she was wishing that she had gone before Emily and I who were taking it one step at a time.

The view of the water of the Buller river from the swing bridge. What an amazing colour and see that waterfall way down below.

The Swing bridge takes you over the Buller river into an area of significant historical value and there are lots of different walks that you can take. Also for a price you can try your hand at Gold panning, jet boating and of course you can do the superman or flying fox back instead of using the swing bridge. The swing bridge is a must if you can handle it.

Westport

Well I have finally got around to some blogging. I had almost forgotten how.... I will back date this entry a bit just to make it look good but also so I can keep things straight.

Westport is a small town. There is approximately 6000 people in the district. It is a beautiful town with rivers on either side and the sea on a third, so we are surrounded by water. It is interesting talking to locals about what we are doing here in Westport. During our first week I had to find Melissa (my sister) a birthday present and went into a shop and was asked how long was I on holiday (it being summer hols) and the lady behind the counter got the shock of her life when I told her that my family and I had just moved to town. We still get the standard 'So are you enjoying your stay in Westport?' like we will be leaving next week. And we get asked all the time 'How long do you think you will stay here?'

Our congregation is small and made up of people who are mostly 50yr +. Numbers have been in decline over the years. The previous officers had started to replant the church and have started some family and children ministries and we are looking at taking what they have started, change it a little to suit us better and add to it. There is a lot to consider about the direction that we are going to go though and what ever we decide to do will be done with limited resources.

We are slowly getting grips with all the things that we need to do and all the places that we need to be. We are also getting to know our way around even if we get a little bit messed up on the order of the streets in the grid system.

The children have settled into school well and are making friends. Emily is doing things tough with afternoon kindy being the only thing available for her. She has gone from Educare at Training College 6 hours a day to only 3 afternoons at 2 hours a time. All the childcare places here are full with waiting lists and I wager most of them will take full time children before Emily for whom I have booked her for 4 hours a day (mornings basically) I would like to spend some time with her in the afternoons before she goes to school next year.

Well that is all for now...

Photos of our Sight Seeing

The lighthouse at Cape Foulwind

The Kids and I waving to Perry

The Seal Colony
Patrick and Christina having a rest at the Pancake Rocks

Emily on the steps at the Pancake Rocks. Her hat is too big and keeps falling down over her eyes.

Patrick and Emily climbing the steps back up towards the road

One view from the walkway around Pancake Rocks

Welcome to Westport

And so I have finally found a small space of time to get on the computer (now we have broadband or internet at all at home) and do a post about where we are at now.

Well we have finally made it to Westport and I can say that we have almost unpacked all the boxes. There are just 4 or 5 left and they are not important.

We are slowly coming to grips with being in this new place it has taken a wee while and it has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster. There was a brief moment in time... actually a few of them when I considered just packing everything back up and disappearing somewhere where nobody could find me but that has passed and I have to say that I am really enjoying Westport and our role here. We are still obviously finding our feet and trying to work out which demands for our presence and our time we are going to accept.

Our first and most pressing job upon arrival has been to hire a new Family Store Manager/Supervisor. We had a lady start on Monday last week and that has made a big difference to where our time is spent.

We have also been doing the tourist things. We have visited Cape Foulwind where there is a lighthouse and a little further on is a seal colony. We also went about 3/4 hour north along the coast to a place called Granity. It is amazing how much the beaches can change with just a relatively short car journey. The beaches around Westport are all sandy and at Granity there are rocks, rocks and more rocks. We have also made the journey along the coast south to Greymouth to do some real shopping (warehouse etc) and to pick up our new lease car.

We took all day and stopped at punakaiki (pancake rocks) It was a beautiful hot sunny day and the coast road is just beautiful. We did not get home until 7pm and were exhausted but it was lovely.

I get to go to Nelson next weekend for a regional rally and Officer's Councils. That should be interesting... Another chance for a Warehouse shop too.

Well once I am able to get photos onto the laptop (which the kids are hogging today) I will try to get some photos of all sorts of things around here onto this blog.

TTFN - God Bless