Hannah and I

Hannah and Andy

Hannah's wedding day!

Saturday was a crisp blue sky day! Rather more like a Nelson winters day than an English one! As I sat in the train on my 70 minute journey from Clapham Junction to Reading there wasn't a cloud in the sky. At Reading I changed trains and went on to Pangbourne. Here i followed Hannah's great directions and found the church a short walk from the small station. I was really in the country now! I was plenty early but a few others were there already so I sat and waited as I knew no one other than Hannah! I introduced myself to Andy--her fiance as he was greeting guests as they arrived. At about 1pm the minister began the service and shortly after Hannah entered the church. She had 3 bridesmaids each of them accompanied by a flower girl. The service had the traditional Church of England bits but also was unique to Hannah and Andy and had some great songs with a band from the Putleys church. It was a really nice old country church and a great setting for a great wedding! After the ceremony I met Hannah's parents and her Dad arranged some of their friends to look after me for the afternoon and give me a ride to the dance reception. They had a family reception in the afternoon and then we all arrived at around 7:30. The people that took me introduced me to a few others and then I met Hannah's sister and some of Andy family. His family are from Newcastle and have brilliant accents! We had a great time dancing and eating and drinking. Met some really nice people and had a great time. Most of all was so good to be celebrating Hannah and Andy's commitment to each other--Andy is a really nice guy and I'm sure they will be a great couple! Getting home was a challenge as I missed the last direct train from Reading to Clapham so took a train into Paddington but by the time I got there(12:40am) the tube was closed so had to take the bus to Trafalger Square and then another bus to Clapham Junction and then walk 30 mins home! Even tho its December 29 it wasn't freezing outside at 2am!

Lost?

Ok so I've had the week off and after Christmas not much to do so I got the Lost Series 3 DVD's out and have just finished watching all 23 episodes! Finally we have got some answers and much developments but it is still wide open in season 4 for where they may take us! There was a glimpse tho that they will be rescued from the island. Another brilliant season tho and can't wait for more!

Merry Christmas!!

Ok so its been a while since I wrote on here! A lot has happened in that time! I am now living in south London and working for All Souls Church in central London. All Souls Church is a well known church of which John Stott was rector for many years. Christianity Explored has also come from All Souls. I am the church coordinator meaning I handle all the day to day management of the church--bookings, events and heaps of other things that crop up! It is very interesting and varied with lots of challenges along the way. I have a great flat in London with 3 Christian flatmates. Its a big warm house with large rooms which is kinda unusual for London!

I play touch rugby every Saturday and have been running a bit too. Hoping to join a soccer club in the new year. If anyone is over this way you are welcome to come and stay!!

It's been amazing to see God lead me this year from NZ to Indiana and now to London. Thank you to all of those praying for me and writing emails to me. I will try to write more on this blog next year! God bless you all over Christmas.

Me with my beautiful friend, Molly.

July 4th Fireworks

Awesome fireworks!!

Looking across Lake Tippecanoe. You can see the 5 pontoons loaded with fireworks in position!

The lake house and the guest house!!

the boys

Josh, Josh, Heath, Me, Alex, and Theo

Fireworks!!

Saturday means up early (7:30am) and out to cart luggage from the cabins up to the tennis court for parents to pickup. Then I supervise the whole of the camp cleanup. Make sure everthing gets cleaned and picked up etc etc. This is all done by 11:30am hopefully and then we have a short staff meeting and lunch and are off for 24 hours! Normally I work on looking after the few campers that stay over Saturday nights but last weekend I had Saturday off. Home to shower and sleep and watch TV (Wimbledon). Around 7:30 most of the staff meet and car pool 5 mins down the road to the Schwartz house. (Rachel is on staff) She lives on Tippecanoe lake and they have a great house with a big lush front lawn going down to the lake. They have a big party every year for July 4th with all 130 of their employees and family members there. We got some great food and hung out, then we watched as police boats escorted 5 large barge pontoons into position in the lake. Another boat further away played music which could be heard clearly right across the lake. Hundreds of boats swamped the lake their lights making the lake look like a sea of stars! It was incredible!! All around the lake shore on all sides their are houses with fireworks going off. At 10:30pm the show started and it went for 30 minutes! It was the biggest and most awesome fireworks I have ever seen! I was right out on the dock in a deck chair and the booms were huge and the fireworks massive and impressive! The finale was huge with so many going off all together! We ate a lot of really nice pie-apple pie, blackberry pie, pecan pie, and strawberry pie. OOoo it was good! It was such a cool nite and they were great hosts!! Thanks Rachel and your family!

Thursday & Friday

Thursday

Sleep in! Yay! Woken mid morning by my friend Molly texting me. Laxed all morning. After lunch and a quick catch up in the office, I finished putting tents away from the campouts earlier in the week. They were finally all dry. Then I started writing mid summer evaluations. I like doing them but don't like the time it takes thinking them through! I have to write evaluations for the counselors that work with me in the teen program (Challengers). Thursday evening I spike my hair up and emcee Mock Rock. Each cabin sing/dances/performs a song and we have judges and select the best boy and girls cabins. We alternate weeks with the Mock Rock and a skit night. They can be a lot of fun with some hilarious acts. I am kept on my toes doing all the music and announcing each act. Praise God for Ipods! I am also MOD on Thursday nite so its another late night.

Friday

Write some more evaluations and then find there is a volleyball class today so rush out to teach that. Kinda hard with 8 kids of varying ages and abilities and Fridays are really a recreational class rather than a teaching class. We have a pretty decent beach volleyball court and I got new outlines, a new net and proper beach volleyballs so that all helps! Back to the evaluations. There are always plenty of interruptions along the way to doing anything. Someone to help or get something for. 4PM I load the station wagon with the food etc for a banquet at the North Village. This is a pretty cool event. The teen boys arrive there early and clean the pavilion up and set the picnic tables putting candles on them etc. We have a big new grill there and so we grill Italian chicken breasts putting pineapple and cheese on them as they finish cooking. We serve bread sticks, corn on the cob and raw baby carrots. Followed by watermelon. The teen girls dress up for dinner not knowing what they are going to or where. Their counselors take them to the dock where they get on the pontoon boat and are transported to the North Village. At the dock there waiting are some of the boys and a counselor playing guitar. The girls are escorted to the pavilion and given drinks. Once all the ladies are there 2 of the older boys say grace and explain to the girls that they want to be gentlemen to them tonight. The boys wait on the ladies tables and there is live music and a fire in the fire pit. I am kept busy helping cook on the grill and overseeing everything else as well. The ladies have a great time and the boys hopefully learn something! I clean up after it all and take stuff back to the main kitchen and clean some more! Read over some of the camper survey forms just filled out and then catch the end of the closing ceremony. Help clean up after that and after talking to 2 boys who have been fighting with each other head home for a shower and some icecream and to write this and watch the Letterman show!

Wednesday-Independance Day

There was a bit of rain overnite so the girls camping out got a little damp! Lots of wet tents for me to hang up to dry. Having obtained a soldering iron I also worked on the radio antenna. Got it all put together and after a bit of brain scratching managed to get all the equipment set up and working. Was cool to hear myself on radio when I tested it! 107.9 fm- sorry you probably are not close enough to tune in! Late afternoon and back to the campout site to roll up tents and sleeping bags now they were dry. Then dinner time! Dinner tonite was good! Chicken breasts and spaghetti and garlic bread and corn. After dinner I set up for Party at the Point. I do this every Wednesday night for the teenage campers. The point is a really nice piece of land that juts out into the lake. I set up tiki torches and had Adam build a huge fire right on the end of the point. We have some picnic tables under a willow tree on the point with giant checkers and cards on them. Have hillbilly golf and bocce ball (petanque), hoola hoops and beach volleyball. I set up the portable sound system and lights (red white and blue lights tonite being July 4th). Around 9pm the kids arrive and my volunteers start serving drinks. We had made fruit punch which they served with sherbet icecream and little umbrellas for decoration! After the sunset there were a lot of fireworks going off all around the lake making it a very pretty evening! By the time its all cleaned up and I come home its almost midnite but I can sleep in tomorrow. A good day today!

Tuesday-Honesty Day

One of my jobs at camp is Director of land sports. I oversee all the land sport classes and make sure they have the equipment they need etc. Being Wimbledon week today we got some new tennis balls out! My morning was mostly checking those classes. We have 3 activity periods a day--2 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon. After a leadership meeting, I began setting up the radio studio. Our plan is to run our own station so we have basic equipment to send out a signal around camp. This evening the teen girls went on campout so I made sure they had what they needed and helped start 1 of the fires. After dinner I did some office work but had a headache and didnt feel so good--maybe I didn't drink enough water today. Not the most exciting day but still a good day!

Sunday and Monday

Sunday--Up at 8:30 to serve breakfast for the stay over campers. Clean up and tidy up loose ends before my time off starts around 11am. Home to shower, eat and fall asleep on the couch watching sports on tv. Around 6pm I walk over to the Scotts place just around the lake a little bit. (they manage another camp—smaller than Crosley) Eat dinner with them and their staff. They have a small summer staff of 8 and I find it so relaxing going over there and just hanging out. Rebecca Scott is like my Mom over here and always makes me feel like it’s my home. Go to Wallmart, don’t buy anything but going to Wallmart is just something you do when you have nothing to do! Back to the Scotts to watch a movie. Overall a relaxing day! I miss getting to church tho but we are starting week 5 of summer camp so are halfway thru now.

Monday--Aaahhhh sleep in day! I love to sleep in! Up around 10:30am and off to the office at midday. (the end of my 24 hours off for the week) Office work and bits and pieces today and then preparing for the boys campout and taking them over to set up camp. Back for dinner--meat pies!! Wow unheard of in America but our cook made awesome meat pies and they tasted kinda like my Gran used to make them! Tonite I was MOD-Manager on Duty, so that means visiting every cabin around bed time and checking on them, talking to a counselor from each cabin etc. Then locking up the dining hall, staff lounge and office before leaving around 11pm. Some nites it can be a lot later--luckily tonite is a quiet nite so ill be home on time!

A week in my life during summer camp-Saturday

Up at 6am to watch the All Black beat Australia. But the idiots went and handed it to the aussies. How did we lose that? 7:45 and I'm in the truck loading luggage from cabins and taking it to the tennis courts. I organize the crew to move it all and direct traffic and start cleaning camp. 220 campers checked out this morning in about a 90 minute period so kinda crazy! Check camp is getting cleaned and direct the ants to where they need to go. 11:30am staff meeting to close the week off. Lunch, a leadership meeting and then I sort out lost and found and trash and help the 8 counsellors who are looking after the 20 campers who are staying over tonite. These kids are at camp for at least another week yet! Do a general cleanup all around camp putting things away. Take laundry to the laundrymat for campers and then pick up pizza and pop and icecream for the 30 of us for dinner. More odd ends in the evening and some prep for next week/office work. Its a quiet day at camp and kinda nice really!! 11pm now and time to do bed time medications and sign off for the day!

Pics from my bikeride

Stark comparison. All around the lake and in fact most of Indiana looks like this! Corn fields!

Camp Crosley Dining hall from across the lake

Lake Tippecanoe--someones lakehouse

Music and mountainbiking

It’s been a busy 2 weeks! Have had outdoor education groups each Thursday and Friday and cub scouts and princesses on the weekends. 6 days work and 1 day off (Tuesday)! So yesterday it was nice to finish work around 2pm and then Richard took me to Wabash for a Michael W Smith concert. It was the Stand Tour which is a church tour but we were in a large theatre which is very modern and was really impressive. We had great seats by the sound desk and the acoustics were awesome. Started with some worship songs and led into some songs from the Stand album. Christa Black played violin while singing a solo and Michael Olson played 2 songs for us as well. It was an acoustic set with Smitty on piano, Christa on violin and guitar, Michael Olson on guitar and another guy on keyboard and the computer with percussion etc. They played Carolina from the Freedom album and This is Your Time (the tribute to Cassie Bernall from Columbine) After an intermission Michael W played a melody of his classics from the 1st decade and then the band came out and they just kept playing! Played us a new song from his next album (will be a Christmas album) played the music video of the song he wrote for Whitney his daughter leaving home to go to college. Finished on Healing Rain which was so cool and that led into everyone standing and singing How Great thou Art. Then there was an encore which of course was Friends! All up nearly 3 hours and a brilliant concert. Michael challenged everyone to sponsor children thru Compassion but also challenged the church to be active outside the 4 walls and change this world. Today was my day off so I slept in and then watched super 14 rugby, cooked bacon and this afternoon went for a big bike ride. I biked all the way around James Lake and Tippecanoe Lake and saw a lot of really nice expensive lake houses. Was a good couple of hours riding and then rode around the Wetlands that camp owns across the other side of the lake. We will do some campouts over there during the summer-it’s a huge area (couple hundred acres) with a few tracks thru the bush but needs a lot of maintenance done and then ongoing management. It was a beautiful day here today and so nice to be out biking by the lake and exploring this area.

Sunset from my cottage

Deck outside dining hall

Jumping Pillow

Just installed last week-it is tiring!

History Makers, Rebecca & Angels!

Wow! Thursday 5 April was an incredible day! Only 2 days earlier I had pretty much given up hope of gettting to Illinois for the Worship Revolution Tour concert. Then God provided an angel (named Amanda) who is also a big Delirious fan to pick me up from camp and drive the 8 hours with me to Quincy, Illinois! 8 hours proved to be 9 hours when deep in conversation we missed a turn and went the wrong way for a quite a while before realising we were heading north towards Chicago-whoops! It was snowing when we left camp which I guess is crazy for this time of year and the outside temp was below freezing! We finally got to Quincy at 7pm and ran into the concert at about 7:05-Rebecca St James had just started. She sang some of her songs (including Wait for Me!) and some other worship songs-she led the worshippers brilliantly and challenged us to worship God through purity in our relationships. After an intermission, Delirious played-their performance was incredible! Sang mostly songs off their latest album, Mission Bell, but of course threw in History Maker and Over the Mountains. They challenged us to be Jesus in the community and that our worship through music can change lives out there. They got us to face the outside walls of the theatre and shout to the north, south, east and west like there was no roof on the building so the community could hear us. Man what a noise! It was so freeing to worship God in that environment-the music inspires such a response! I am pretty sure its the best worhsip service/concert I have been to-Third Day at Parachute Festival would be right up there too tho, back when it was at Totara Springs. Then Amanda and I drove 8 hours back to camp-I was falling asleep, I dunno how she stayed awake to drive all that way. An incredible 20 hours with stimulating car conversation and the most awesome, inspiring concert. Thanks so much to Amanda for taking me and thank God for History Makers, Rebecca and Angels!

Sports and travel.

I am not enjoying the fact that I am not currently playing any sports. I havent done any physical exercise since I left NZ. Not good!! But I last week I got satellite TV and bought the Satenta Sports channel which has rugby and soccer 24/7! All the Super 14, Tri Nations, World Cup, Air NZ cup, 6 Nations, and all the english, irish, and south african rugby. It also has aussie rules and rugby league! And on the soccer front it has English premiership and all European championship games and all internationals! So its pretty sweet! I still hope to find some soccer or volleyball even if I am coaching!

Last week I spent 2 days in Muncie which is where our YMCA head office is. Its 2 hours south of here east of Indianapolis. I was making a movie with my director for an important meeting. I also managed to get the technology to all come together for the meeting and it went flawlessly! It was a bit of a challenge as had to change laptops at the last minute and incorporate another slideshow of financial graphs and charts etc! but I like that challenge and pressure!

This last weekend Mark and I left at 6am Saturday morning and drove to Chicago again. This time we were at another big convention centre beside a hotel on the south side of Chicago. This expo we took a mini motorbike and a horse saddle and a wakeboard with a short piece of pvc pipe to put under the wakeboard so it was like a low see saw thing. We got kids to stand on the board and try to balance the board on the pvc pipe. We had a ski rope they could hold onto to help themselves. Well we had no idea it would be a hit! We had kids lined up from 9am till 4pm! The show closed at 5pm. At times I counted 16-20 kids crowded round our little booth with their parents! Their was a camp across from us with no one at their stall—they had 1 guy who looked disinterested and they had nothing really much as a display. We have a big colourful display board we put on the table at the back of our booth. Sat night we stayed in the hotel next door to the centre which was real nice. I spent ages in the indoor heated pool after dinner in the restaurant. I have been in hotels a lot lately! Sunday was just as crazy. We had lines again all day. We gave out about 800 brochures in the 2 days!

Yesterday I spent most of the day working on computers! We have a new one so I had to set that up and then for the summer I will be working with the multimedia stuff which includes making movies of each camp and getting photos on the internet each week and getting kids to write journalistic stories of camp.

Little things and a BIG wedding!

Sometimes its the little things that make the difference. Both positively and negatively! This week I've noticed a few. This week I met the cook (Renae) and her husband (Mike) who is head of maintenance. Renae is a Settlers of Katan player so on Wednesday nite I found myself invited to Richards house to play settlers and I got fed some great dessert! I lost Settlers to Renae by one turn but now I know how she plays a little and I can't wait for many more games! Other little things were finding I can buy an extra sports channel for only $15 a month which has all rugby competitions in all countries including the World Cup live and all English and European soccer--awesome!! But on the flip side the Cricket world cup is $200 for all games live--i just want to see NZs games and cant afford that! But again on the flip side of that I found Radio Sport streaming online and I live in the same time zone as the West Indies! So I can listen to Brian Waddle! Thursday nite all the staff went to Steves house for dinner and had a great feed and then played this cool game called Apples to Apples. (I think Renae is a big game lover so I'm happy about that!) Then there is the "little" issue of waiting for my first pay cheque--I understood it would be this week but now have been told April 2! And as already mentioned lack of internet and phone line and lack of my own transport are more little things. So some positive and some negative, the little things make the difference. You notice these things more when you are trying to live over the other side of the world. I am conscious that this trip is different to past trips in that I am planning to be here a lot longer and want to be able to function without always feeling like the alien! In my country I know how everything works but over here I know nothing!

Well Bekis wedding was a huge highlight for me. I had always planned to be over here for it and today was the day. Being St Patricks Day and as Beki lives in Dublin, Ohio you will see in the pics below she wore green on her dress and the bridesmaids dresses were also green. The ceremony was simple and elegant--flowed nicely and had live string instruments. Beki looked stunning of course and had her 3 sisters as bridesmaids. I hadnt met Kevin before but Beki tells me I'll like him and he seems nice! I met Beki back in 1999 when her college roommate Heather picked me up from Columbus, Ohio to take me to Kamp Kanakuk in Missouri. We stayed at Beki's house in Indianapolis on the was thru and Beki and I have been great friends ever since. Really like a sister to me, Beki has always been there for me and I for her over the past 8 years. There have been many emails and phone calls and 4 visits by me. We have and still do encourage and challenge and pray for the other one in our life journeys. Thank you Beki for your friendship--its unparalleled! God bless you and Kevin! Was great to see Charity again and also Heather and the Shepler family.

Bekis wedding

Cutting the cake

Kevin and Beki (centre) with Charity and me

Camp Crosley on Little Tippecanoe Lake!

What a huge change in seasons! Today was a beautiful warm sunny day! Daylight Savings began on Sunday meaning a longer evening and I’m sitting here in my lounge with the windows open—the air is warm! I’ve been at camp for 10 days now and all of last week was cold with snow everywhere. I finally left LA after waiting around in the airport for ages cause of delays at Chicago. Landed at Chicago in snow and my onward flight to Southbend was cancelled. So i had to get a hotel for the night-it was snowing and cold! The next morning I went back to the airport and got a bus to Southbend. It was a 2 hour trip and the further we went the heavier the snow got. At Southbend my camp director met me and I went to ask about my bags. Of course they were still in Chicago so they delivered them to me 24 hours later. At Camp Crosley I have a little cabin/house about 40 metres from the lake edge and fairly close to the main camp buildings. It has 2 bedrooms and a lounge/kitchen area and bathroom. It has heating and air con and washer/dryer so I have pretty much everything I need. I managed to get satellite TV as my director has it in his house so I can get it for $5 /month! 250 channels! I don’t have a phone line or internet tho which is a pain. Cell phone plans are expensive and pre paid hardly exists and they make you pay for incoming calls so don’t think I will be getting a phone. I have internet at the office and hope to get mobile internet on my laptop. So far work has been in the office on the computer. I have my own office space and desk and computer/phone etc. I have been going through all the files stored on the network server and sorting them into logical folders. Quite a big task!

Early morning at Camp Crosley

I disturbed the birds--this is the only part of the lake not frozen over so the birds are all here!

my cabin/house

pics at Camp Crosley

View from my house to the frozen lake!

Stuck in Chicago

View from my hotel window in Chicago!

Huntington Beach

Tracy & Katie Lindquist training. I had a game with Dave Lindquist (Tracy's Dad) and some other guys)

Los Angeles

Yep I'm in LA--Huntington Beach to be exact. 11pm March 1st I left Auckland on a new Boeing 777-200. I had a bunch of trouble with my hand luggage weighing 14kgs and only allowed 7kgs. My check in bags were 4kgs underweight so I had to go back to check in and take 4kgs of stuff out of my hand luggage bag and put in a big plastic bag to be checked in. The empty hand luggage bag weighed 4kg!! Then all the way upstairs to the viewing deck to find Mum and Dad who had said goodbye and were waiting to see me go thru to the gates. Gave them a bunch of books to cut my weight down more and then my bag weighed 8.5kgs and they were happy with that. Also had my laptop bag which weighed 6.5kgs. So I got to LA about 1:40pm local time after a rather bumpy ride at times. One bump got a considerable reaction from the passengers as we dropped a bit of altitude! Customs was pretty quick and easy with no questions asked whatsoever. Homeland security is sure secure! But then I guess I have a visa from a recognised government agency so that probably helps me. Jessica met me and took me straight to Huntington Beach where I found Tracy Lindquist playing beach with her sister. Her Dad was playing with some other guys so I joined in with them for a game. It was sunny but only about 15 deg and a cold wind. Home to Jess's place for a shower and relax until dinner. We went to Taco Surf--a cool mexican restaurant by the beach. Of course I had Dr Pepper! Then a drive to Signal Hill which is a bump near Long Beach and from the lookout up top you get awesome views of LA city in all directions. So many lights! (And so much smog!) Got some icecream on the way home and now it's bed time as tomorrow I fly off to Chicago and then South Bend Indiana where it is cold and snowing. Tomorrows high will be about 3 degrees I think! Will post some pics soon.

February is hot in Nelson

Been back in Nelson for just over 2 weeks and its been hot and sunny and this week even hotter! Waitangi day we had the Tasman Open Beach Volleyball tournament which I played with Hamish Ballagh. We finished 4th after having 3 match points to finish 3rd and stupidly losing it! Anna and Bella also finished 3rd. It was the best beach tournament we have had here since the pro tour used to come to Nelson. Check my Tasman Volleyball website for more details and pics. My temp agency couldn't find me any work so I have done some volleyball coaching and administration etc, built the Hope Church website and had 3 days working for a guy from church preparing his driveway for sealing. Last Friday night was touch finals. We won our semi 4-2 against Waimea College and then played Nelson College in the finals. It was 2-1 to us when Tim's knee gave way, letting a try in to make 2-2. I then made a run down the side line almost full length of the pitch before a diving defender touched me and then he dislocated his shoulder as he landed! Second half and we were missing Tim and let 3 quick tries in. We couldnt come back from that and final score was 7-4. A great game tho!

My cousin Danella and her husband Rick have been living here as they have just had their first child-Thomas. So I have seen plenty of the baby and been learning plenty about having them!! Only 3 days left in sunny Nelson before I head to Auckland for the Volleyball NZ Beach Champs on the weekend and then 4 days at Mum and Dads before flying to the USA.

Americans at Stanley St Beach Volleyball

My best softball pic!

Young Life sports camp team

Sports Camp & Parachute

Friday I drove down to Totara Springs and joined in with the Young Life team for Sports Camp. Camp staff put me in this team as I knew no one that was going. But it was the perfect team for me. First most of the teams were island teams and I'm just a skinny white boy from the south island but the Young Life team had no islanders in it. Second Ed Roper was one of the team leaders. I worked with Ed at Kamp Kanakuk back in 2000! So that was pretty crazy! God put me in that team for sure! Was a pretty cool weekend, despite losing soccer semi in a shootout and getting hammered in volleyball! I came 6th in the 3.3km cross country so was pretty happy about that. Our girls came 2nd, 3rd, and 4th! Our soccer team was pretty awesome but our semi was against the other good team in camp. Nil all at full time meant a shootout. Our first penalty was a miss and then everyone on both teams put the rest in. I took our last shot and put it in in my usual spot! The keeper didnt even move for my kick--had no chance!! We realised at the end of the camp when we saw the total points that by winning the soccer and then one other final such as the mens hockey (where we felt the referree robbed us by disallowing a goal) we could have got enough points to win the whole camp overall! We finished 4th out of 11 teams and runner up in the sportsmanship award. Our girls won hockey and indoor soccer and us boys won indoor hockey. We also won lawn bowls and one hole golf. We came runner up in mens hockey, softball, girls indoor hockey, cross country, and kayaking. Ken Youngson, founder of Quantum Sports was the speaker and challenged us to guard our hearts. Our hearts are so important as athletes. If our hearts are in the right place our sporting performance will be better. Also met Eroni Clarke--he gave his testimony.

Saturday night I drove over to Mystery Creek to attend Parachute for the evening. Met up with some Nelson mates and saw a bit of the Lads with Kristian playing with them. Hung out with Chevy (Kristian and Chevy got married last weekend in Nelson and I missed the wedding). Then watched Rebecca St James in her first ever Parachute performance. She played a mixture of her older and new songs and even included "Wait For Me"!! Thousand Foot Krutch followed her on Mainstage but were a little dissappointing with the lead singer seemingly without much voice--could hardly hear him. He also had nothing much to say between songs. They used a kiwi guitarist for the first time also--dunno where their guitarist was. The song "Absolute" sounded good tho.

Was a cool weekend and made some good mates from the Young Life team. Nelson sports camp is just as good--less sports and less people but the food is way better at Teapot Valley!

Crazy month

The Pro Beach Tour for 2007 is over! Boxing Day we left Nelson in the Biopaints WRX and drove to Auckland. 2 days there and picked up Sara and her Mom from Vanuatu and then Tiffany from USA. Drove to Tauranga for beach tournament. Check out the new website for Anna & Bella for more details on the trip. We drove 4000kms in just over 3 weeks, in Wellington my car window got smashed and a couple of small things got stolen. I played at the Matarangi tournament with average results--can't expext much better with a new partner who was a young guy fairly new to the beach. I really want to play the whole tour next year and if can get paid to referee I may quit being a sandy and just play and ref next year. In Auckland last week we finally got better weather after a lot of wind and overcast days and even some rain. Had a great finish to the tour. I now have my new laptop and it is soo good! Tomorrow I am off to sports camp at Totara Springs for my first time which should be great. And Saturday night I will go to Parachute to see Rebecca St James and Thousand Foot Krutch play. Should be a great weekend. Also this week I was approved for my visa to the USA so the plan is to head over there the first or second of March. I am already doing work for my camp by recruiting staff for the summer. I can't wait to head over but first I will have about 3 more weeks in Nelson. Sarah and Tiffany flew back out this week and so did Anna and Bella so its just me left here now! I can't handle the mosquitos at my parents place when I'm trying to sleep so tonite I'm at my sisters house!! Lol this blog is jumping all over the place. Just brought 230 bales of hay in tonite for Dad. It's so hot! Off to shower and bed.