The Other Island....

I had mixed feelings about my trip to "The Gathering" (The National Baptist Assembly) this year.  

I have been looking forward to this conference for the last year - there were awesome speakers coming, the focus was on children and family ministries, and I LOVE meeting other children's ministry leaders from around the country (its not exactly a common job!).  

So when it was announced that this years Gathering would be held in Christchurch to make it free for the locals,  I was a bit nervous!  I have never been to the South Island before so thats really cool but the trip was now going to be way more expensive for us (Marty was tagging along to help with Luke - My "Manny") and of course the thought crossed my mind - what if there was another earthquake?!  

God blessed us with the most amazing flight down New Zealand - perfectly clear skies all the way. When we flew into Wellington, I turned to Marty and whispered very excitedly "I can see the South Island...I see a snow capped mountain".  It was crazy to be able to see one Island from the other.  Very cool.  And very cool that Luke sat on my lap happily sucking his thumb the whole journey.

After a very brief stopover in Wellington (the most crowded and small waiting area ever) we were off on the second plane to Christchurch.  Now I was truly entering new territory - I got butterflies! I love seeing new places, and have wanted to see the South Island for ages...and even though it was just from a window of a plane, it was beautiful and exciting.  

The South Island!!!!

The Top of the South Island

 I kept turning to Marty and exclaiming about the snow on the mountains (I am such a tourist).  I just couldn't get over the fact that there were all these mountains - the entire journey down the Island - that were covered with snow!  It was just like the weather picture on the news - I hadn't really thought it was like that!

 

Check out that snow!

 The other thing that surprised me was the lack of communities and townships - I barely saw any signs of life - and those that I did see were very small and I had to search them out.

The East Coast of the South Island

 When we came into the Christchurch area, everything changed out the window - it was like a pancake shaped rock had flattened the mountains in one area and that is where Christchurch had built its home.  It was so flat!! It was quite a contrast to all the mountains that surrounded the area.

 Luke was a dream baby for this trip too - he fed quietly and then slept the entire journey - the man sitting behind us didn't even realise we had a baby with us until we stood up to get off the plane he said!! 

Luke sleeps the trip away

There is too much to say about the actual Gathering - it was so inspiring, relevant, practical and interesting - my head is swimming with ideas and thoughts still!  We did have one minor earthquake while we were there - just when we all stood up to join in with a song, a shudder passed through the building and made us all startle!!  We drove past the city centre, which looked like a bomb had been dropped there - what an eerie feeling to see blinds flapping from broken windows in empty buildings.

On the way home I took these photos - it was a bit more cloudy this time, but we could see the top of the south and the bottom of the north Island in one view, pretty cool huh?  It was lots of fun, but I hope next time we fly to the South Island we will get to see more then just views from the window of a plane!

The top of the South Island and the bottom of the North  Island