Family Trip

Trip to Nelson

October 24, 2021 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

The first weekend of October, we went to Nelson on an overnight trip to visit friends. We were planning to go to a wedding, but because of Level 2 lockdown, only Esther was able to go. We decided to go just to see people, though. We went up there on a Saturday morning, and it was a beautiful day! This has been a very wet year on the Coast, so we thoroughly enjoyed seeing sunshine. We had to stop a few times because of carsick tummies, which made it a longer trip than it would have needed to be, but that gave the boys time to enjoy a creek along the road. Elijah took these pictures on his phone.

A little farther on, I took this picture as we went over the Hope Saddle. The mountains were so gorgeous that day!

We spent that afternoon with a family we got to know in Kaikoura the first few years we were in New Zealand. It was great to reconnect with them! They live at a Christian camp, where he is the cook, so our boys had great fun all afternoon using the obstacle course and other equipment there. Sunday morning we had an open-air meeting with several families on top of a hill on a farm, and then we went into Nelson to meet another old friend from Cheviot. After spending a couple of hours with her, we went to her church, and then drove the 3+ hours home. We were all very tired, but it was great to catch up with so many people.

Trip to Kaikoura

May 26, 2019 by NZ Filbruns 1 Comment

This weekend we made a quick trip to Kaikoura. We hadn’t been back there for church since we moved here, almost a year and a half ago. Most of us went to visit our friends there a year ago, and we’ve seen some of the people since then, but there is one dear lady we hadn’t seen at all. It was so good to be there and touch base again with the people we spent eight years with!

On our way, we stopped for a little while in Waiau, and the children enjoyed playing at the playground in the warm sunshine. Mr. Imagination got hit in the face with a piece of playground equipment (a brother got a little careless in bouncing it) and apparently had a slight concussion; the next half hour of his trip was miserable. After he had a short nap, he was fine.

Left to right: Mr. Intellectual, Mr. Diligence, Mr. Imagination, Mr. Sweetie, Simon

Our next stop was the cemetery in Cheviot where Seth is buried. We had bought a headstone for him six months ago, and hadn’t seen it yet. That was rather an emotional part of the day.

We next moved on to St. Anne’s Lagoon, just south of Cheviot, where we had a picnic lunch. The lagoon was gorgeous on this clear fall day–look at those reflections! It was so nice to see the lagoon full of water again. A couple of years ago, during the three-year drought that Cheviot endured, the lagoon dried up.

After lunch, we headed on to Kaikoura, where we had a joyous reunion with old friends. There were still a few hours of daylight, so we went out to the Peninsula. Most of both families walked partway around at sea level, then climbed a stairway to the top and came back to the car park. The mother and I, and some of the children, walked out on the rocks a little way, then went back to their house and started preparing food. It is so amazing to see what low tide looks like now–so different from before the November 2016 earthquake, when the sea floor rose two meters.

Nelson

January 5, 2019 by NZ Filbruns 2 Comments

We have some dear friends who live near Nelson. We don’t get to see them very often, but always enjoy being with them when we can. One Sunday in December, we decided to make the trip up there to attend church with them, and then spend the afternoon together. It suited our friends, so we left here earlier than we usually get around on a Sunday morning and headed north! This was one of those times that Google Maps gets it right about the time it takes to get somewhere, so we ended up only a minute or two late for church. We had a great time reconnecting with people we know and love, and got back home that night tired but thankful for the gift of good friends.

Some of the scenery we enjoyed along the way was spectacular!

We ate lunch at a reserve on an estuary near our friend’s home.

After lunch, we walked around a small pond at one side of the reserve. I was amused when we came across Simon washing his boots in the pond. One of his brothers had gotten him muddy.

It almost looked like snow all over the ground—it was actually fluff from the cottonwood trees!

I think this was a shag sitting over the pond.

On our way home, we stopped for fuel in Murchison. Simon spotted this old truck across the way, and had to go take a closer look at it. He’s under the sign in a blue shirt; Mr. Imagination is standing next to the sign, in another blue shirt.

As we drove through the Buller Gorge, we were surprised to come up behind this horse and wagon!

We’re guessing the people were headed back to this picturesque farm.