And finally

The final three days of our trip were spent in Singapore, the original plan to return to England via Bangkok, having been scuppered by the volatile political situation there, not to mention the closure of the airport.

If you like shopping malls, then Singapore is the place to come. The guide book described shopping as the national sport, or words to that effect, but we are not great city people and not great mall fans. Add to that the fact that we were a little jet lagged and beginning to think about coming home. However, we did enjoy visiting Chinatown and the India and Arab quarters and ate very good food, as well as imbibing (just one - they are quite expensive!) the traditional Singapore Sling. The weather was extremely humid and hot and the occasional thunder claps didn't seem to get rid of the hot muggy feel.

Thankfully, our trip to the airport was much less eventful than the previous one, and in the early hours of Friday morning we began to wing our way back home, tired, but with our heads crammed full of memories.

The trip was over.

We return feeling incredibly privileged to have had the opportunity to visit so many wonderful places and be awed by God's creation. We have really felt that God has been with us and that he guided and oversaw the whole thing. We are both very grateful to him.

We are thankful not just for the places we had chance to see, but the people we got to meet. And, as a result of hanging out with some of these folks, we have been challenged and inspired by the way they have chosen to live their lives. In many different ways we have seen how people have ordered their lives - to prioritise God; to share with , to serve, to bless - both others within their own communities, and beyond. We have seen the fruit that this has borne in both their lives and in the wider communities in which they live.

So we are grateful for the past three months, and, as we look forward, hopeful for our futures. We pray God will give us the grace and the will to change our lives (and our hearts) in the ways in which we feel he has prompted us. Again, we gratefully give him thanks.

Chris and Katharine

A last hurrah in South Island

We left the Stillwaters guys on Monday (24th Nov) and took a cheap (thank you Richard Branson) early morning flight to Christchurch so that we could make the very most of our last week in New Zealand. We wanted to do a southern loop of the South Island including the Otago Peninsula, Milford Sound, the Routeburn tramp and the Franz Josef glacier trying not to wear the car tyres out in the process! Overall it turned out to be a fabulous week, probably our best in NZ. Milford Sound was spectacular with waterfalls everywhere after several days of heavy rain -- the grandeur and majesty was reminiscent of Yosemite only this time there was water everywhere! From there we drove round to Queenstown and then Glenorchy to prepare for our next challenge, a four day and three night tramp along the Greenstone and Routeburn tracks (around 60km total) which take you through some of the most eye-popping alpine scenery. As with the Abel Tasman tramp we had to carry all our kit including food and water for the four days and this time we would be 'freedom' camping in the back country away from any traces of civilisation. We had been anxiously watching the weather and were SO grateful that the four days we had chosen were forecast to be dry, clear and even sunny. In fact it rained heavily the day before we started (we were warm and dry in our car at the time) and the day after we finished! We started off with two steady days walking (6 or so hours walking) building up to an epic 28km on the third day starting at 8am and ending at 8pm. We were so entranced by the scenery that we even added in an extra peak - just as we had reached the highest point of the tramp, - a pass - some wide eyed hiker assured us that the very best views were, actually, just up there. So there we clambered, in part through the snow, and indeed were rewarded with a panoramic 360 view of the mountain ranges all around. We really enjoyed our hard earned cold beans and tuna just before sundown. (We still hadn't bought any cooking equipment. I should also mention that we did not bring any towels either - I'm talking about the whole trip, not just that hike! Part of our travelling light ethic, though I am not sure why we both have books that we have carted round for three months but have failed to read...)

The last day was a leisurely two hour walk back to a hut where our prearranged transport took us back to civilisation. We had to camp at a very specific place on the third night hence the massive third day and short fourth. We loved every minute of these four days - sunshine and beautiful scenery are always good medicine for the soul.

What is definitely not good for the soul is running out of petrol in the middle of nowhere whilst hurrying to catch your next plane, a plane that you know that if you miss, you'll have to pay for the next one - concentrates the mind...

On our final morning we left ourselves with what we estimated would be a three hour drive from the west to Christchurch on the east coast. We had not bargained on there being no fuel until three quarters of the way there. With approximately 50 miles left before the next town where we could fill up and the fuel light having been on for ages, we decided to stop at a small settlement and ask if anyone could help. The only door that answered our knocking yielded nothing so we decided to flag down cars and ask if they had a fuel can we could borrow from them or if we could syphon some petrol. (note to Kiwi's - quite a few people did stop to see what the matter was and were very willing to help if they could. Full marks to NZ.)

In the end a man with a van offered to tow us, which he did for quite a few miles before we drove the last little, on fumes, to, aahh, a petrol station. We still had to get to the airport though and we were well behind time. K was dropped at the airport with our documentation while C sped off to take the car to the hire place. C got ever so slightly lost (believe me, it does help the prayer life!) and then when he got to the fuel station for the final top up before returning the car, realised he had forgotten to get cash when he dropped K at the airport. So, he put as much fuel as he had got cash for and ran round to look at the gauge - three quarters full - not enough to save a financial penalty for returning the car less than full). Fortunately he found a woman (the petrol assistant was uninterested in helping - boo, hiss) who changed a US$20 dollar note he had in his pocket to NZ currency. The car was filled, dropped off and then C was taken to the airport by the car hire van. Just as it was approaching the concourse Qantas phoned the car hire company - if I had been any further away I don't think they would have checked our bags, which they had held and would not send on their way until they knew I'd be on the plane. A massive PHEW all round!

When we arrived in Singapore our bags were not on the baggage claim belt and we thought that perhaps they had not been put on the plane after all. But they turned out to be at lost luggage - may be they went on a different flight, who knows, but another massive PHEW all round.

So, we write this from Singapore, as Bangkok airport was not operational when we were supposed to fly there. We'll tell you about Singapore next time, and perhaps add a few final thoughts on our trip as a whole.

Stillwaters

After a week or so with Urban Vision we moved to a different part of Wellington to spend the weekend with another community called Stillwaters. The core team are around 10 folk who live together in a big old house which they call the Castle. It was great to be welcomed and experience a style of life quite different to the guys at Urban Vision. The main focus of the Stillwaters involvement with the local community is via a communal meal that they host on Friday evening for around 50 folks and a church service on Sunday that is totally participatory with a rota for anyone to sign up to take different parts of the service from readings and prayers to the talk and communion. Leadership at the community is basically diffuse and not surprisingly some have called them Christian anarchists. A really interesting concept which Dave Andrews has written a book on, called 'Christianarchy'. The service was great with all kinds of people making a meaningful contribution - a working example of everyone feeling a valuable part and the 'important' things not being left to the 'experts'.