This year our compound hosted a 'Southern hemisphere Christmas' - to give people a heads up that the meal would include salads and cold desserts rather than roast meats and steamed pudding!
We also had a water slide for the kids during the afternoon, and George the puppet made an appearance too.
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| Water slide fun |
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| About 50 people came |
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| Festive salads and Christmas ham |
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| My dessert contribution - before they were devoured! |
Rimutaka Incline
An old favourite!
It was sunny in Lower Hutt but cloudy in Upper Hutt and quite cold, so I didn't really hang around. At the summit, I debated how far to go down the other side, and decided to go down to the big new bridge at Siberia Gully, and from there decide if I wanted to continue on to Cross Creek. However, arriving at Siberia there was danger tape and signs informing that the bridge and track were closed. So I didn't have to make a decision after all! (But it would have been courteous if there had been a sign at the top of the hill...)
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| Incline summit |
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| The end of the line |
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| Summit tunnel - 584 m long |
Mount Holdsworth
This was a bit of a compromise - heading into the Tararuas, but not staying overnight (since I didn't have all the necessary gear or a tramping buddy to go with). Again I kept an eye on the weather forecast for a fine day with not much wind, and it came on cue.
I left Lower Hutt at 6:50 am and arrived at Holdsworth Lodge at 8:15. A quick change of footwear and toilet stop and I was on my way by 8:30. First sandwich at Powell Hut around 11, second sandwich at the top around 12. I spent about half an hour at the top, soaking in the serenity and waiting for the clouds to lift a little bit more. They didn't seem to want to, so I made my way back down, arriving at the car park around 3:15. I was quite pleased with a sub-8 hr return walk!
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| Not much to see here! Reaching the cloud base, well before Powell Hut |
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| Popping out on top of the cloud |
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| Top of Mt Holdsworth (1470 m) in the clear |
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| Cloud blanket covering the Wairarapa |
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| View from the summit towards the northwest |
The final two weeks of my trip back home were annual leave. The goal: be refreshed (and maybe even a little bit bored) by the time I went back to PNG.
I had various ideas about what I could do... book a holiday house somewhere for a week and make a start writing my novel... do a section of the Te Araroa trail... do some day walks, maybe some of the 'Mount X's around Wellington (Kaukau, Climie, etc.)
In the end, I decided to stay local and use the time to do things that I can't do in PNG, primarily bush walks and bike rides on my own.
Mount Lowry
An easy one to start with! My entry point was the top of the Wainuiomata hill road.
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| The sign says it's a 'Mount'... |
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| Not much of a view, but I found the survey marker |
Mount Ken
I don't know if this is the official name, but I've read it somewhere before. (In other places I've seen it referred to as Mt Fitzherbert.) Anyway, it's the highest point at the back of Naenae with a transmitter tower at the top.
The weather was sunny but quite windy, so I opted to do this one as a bike ride rather than walking up Mt Climie, which is a little more exposed. I went up the Te Whiti riser, along the firebreak to the top, then back down the Summit Rd firebreak. It was a good afternoon out!
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| View of Mt Ken from the top of the Summit Rd firebreak |
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| Tower and trig at the top of Mt Ken |
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| View of the Hutt Valley from Mt Ken |
Paekakariki Escarpment Track
This one didn't include a 'Mount' anything, but when the forecast for Saturday was for light winds, I couldn't pass it up. I've done this track twice before, once when it was windy and once when it was very windy, and I can say it's not much fun in the wind. But the views are stunning!
I parked the car at Pukerua Bay and took the train to Paekakariki, walking from north to south. There are a bazillion steps up and down, but going from north to south the stairs going up are a little more spread out.
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| Looking north |
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| Some of the bazillion steps |
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| A tui enjoying the flax flowers |
Back in Wellington
We arrived back on Wednesday and I took the next day off, since I hadn't really had a full weekend while I'd been away on the road trip. We pilots are very aware of our duty time limitations!
The next event I had was a Friday night youth group at Capital Vineyard. The kids were really interested and asked lots of questions. I visited again on the Sunday night to speak to the young adults group.
My next event was on Tuesday, in Christchurch - a visit arranged by the MAF prayer group co-ordinator there. I also had the opportunity to visit Aidanfield Christian School, where again the kids had all sorts of questions. The one that made me smile was 'My dad flew in a plane once.' Good for him, moving along!
That evening I spoke at the MAF prayer group. A family from Amberley whom I met on my last home assignment had driven down to see me again, which was most humbling.
Returning to Wellington the following day, my next speaking engagements weren't until Thursday. In the afternoon I visited Miramar Christian School, where, it turns out, the wife of a former MAF PNG pilot is working. An afternoon tea invitation unfolded and it was great to chat about mission life then and now. Leaving there, I headed to Capital Vineyard (again) for another 'open event'. My home support team person and I were a bit perplexed when nobody turned up! Ah well - a night off.
The final week looked like it was going to be a bit cruisy, but two events were arranged at short(ish) notice, so it ended up being relatively full. On Tuesday I visited my former workplace, where some of the staff get together about once a month for prayer and fellowship. In the evening I spoke at another 'open event', this time hosted by Maungaraki Baptist.
On Wednesday I had an 'open event' in Masterton, hosted by Lighthouse Church. I was aware that the Rimutaka hill road was going to be closed for night works, so applied to be part of an escorted convoy to get back that night. Mum came along with me, and it was just as well - when we got back to Featherston after the event, the road worker informed us that there wasn't going to be a crossing that night! We chose to drive back up to Pahiatua and cross over to Palmerston North from there, getting home a little after 1 am. (We resorted to making up silly stories to keep ourselves awake...) Despite the drama, it was worth the visit - many of those who attended had been involved in mission work previously and were eager to support me in my journey.
On Friday I shared some insights into the spiritual environment of PNG with the Calvary Wellington youth group, since they were studying Galatians 4 (Paul's warning not to mix Christianity with other forms of religion - Judaism in his day, but equally applicable to animism in the case of PNG).
In my original plan, Friday would have concluded the 'ministry partnership' side of my home assignment, but there was still one more event to go. While we were visiting the Hawkes Bay, Raewyn was asked if she - and I - would be available to speak at their upcoming Women in Mission conference. I had spoken at their 2018 meeting, at a time when I didn't know which programme I would be going to, so I figured it would be a great opportunity to give an update. Raewyn herself was beginning her own support raising for a short-term mission with Mercy Ships. It was a good day, for both of us.
In the final count:
32 presentations (including 4 schools), reaching about 1000 people!
North Island road trip
Thursday was the beginning of my North Island road trip, together with my friend, supporter, hiking buddy - and on this occasion, driver - Raewyn. We kicked off by heading to the Manawatu to catch up with a mutual friend for lunch, and then I spoke at an open event hosted by Feilding Baptist. They optimistically put out 30 chairs, but then had to find more!
The following day I spoke at Cornerstone Christian School's assembly, and then we drove up to Hamilton. Saturday was an off day, so we planned to hike up Mt Pirongia. We made it as far as Ruapane trig, and decided not to go further as the track looked difficult and the weather looked like it was deteriorating.
On Sunday we managed to watch the first half of the Rugby World Cup quarter-final between the All Blacks and Ireland, then drove south, and I spoke at Te Awamutu Bible Chapel - 5 minutes in service as a 'taster' and then my longer presentation over a shared lunch. It was a great turnout, and I had lots of conversations with people afterwards.
From there we drove to Auckland. On Monday I popped in to see Mandy at the MAF office, and in the evening I spoke at another 'open event' hosted by St Chad's Huapai.
The next day, Tuesday, we drove to Tauranga and mentally prepared ourselves for a frenetic few days! That afternoon I spoke at a monthly missions group, and we settled into the MAF hangar apartment.
My first event on Wednesday was a presentation to the MAF Tauranga prayer group. I then had a few meetings with Mark Fox and other MAF staff in the afternoon before heading out to Greerton Bible Church in the evening, for another 'open event'. Phew!
On Thursday morning I was invited to the house of a local supporter who had arranged for a few friends to come around for morning tea and to hear my story. I think we were all encouraged!
I had originally planned to spend 5 whole days in Tauranga, but at the insistence of the MAF Hamilton prayer group organiser (who said that they wouldn't be able to have a meeting on the Saturday I was in Hamilton) we found ourselves driving back to Hamilton for one more night. I was coming down with a cold as well, so was not in a particularly good mood about all the extra travel. However the meeting on Thursday evening went pretty well, and our host had also arranged for me to fill the guest speaker slot at his retirement village the following day. He informed me that Sarah Ulmer had been the previous speaker, so I hope people weren't too disappointed with a no-name like me!
After the talk we drove back to Tauranga to catch up with some friends in the afternoon and at least make it half a day off!
Saturday morning dawned and we headed over to Mark's house for the rugby semi-finals (All Blacks vs Argentina). He'd invited some others over as well, which made for a great atmosphere. It was then that we found out we needed to vacate the apartment by lunchtime for an AirBnB guest coming in, so we packed and cleaned up and had a leisurely drive to our next destination in the Coromandel. We stopped in the Karangahake gorge to do some bush walking on the way.
On the Sunday I spoke at Te Puru church. Never heard of Te Puru? Neither had I! They had asked me to visit during my last home assignment, but I didn't have any free Sundays in that part of the country, so I made it a priority to visit this time. After church we drove to the Hawkes Bay, stopping for lunch in Matamata on the way.
Monday was Labour Day and the sun was out, so Raewyn and I took the opportunity - along with thousands of other people - to explore some of the walking tracks at Te Mata Peak.
On Tuesday we visited Hastings Christian School and I spoke to three different classes. That evening, Riverbend Bible Church hosted another 'open event'.
The following day, Wednesday, we drove back to Wellington - road trip complete!
Photos
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| Speaking at Cornerstone Christian School assembly |
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| Speaking at Te Awamutu Bible Chapel |
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| Bird's-eye view at Greerton Bible Church |
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| Retirement village presentation |
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| Te Mata Peak |
My home assignment for 2023 ended up being divided nicely into four almost-equal parts: Wellington region, North Island road trip, more Wellington, annual leave.
Based on my previous such trip in 2021, I had a few aspects in mind:
a) Spend as many Sundays as possible at my sending church, Calvary Chapel Wellington. There were a couple of reasons for this: 1) The church has almost doubled in size since I left in 2019, so I wanted to get to know the people who had joined in that time; 2) I haven't been attending church in PNG, so I wanted to be involved while I had the opportunity.
b) Focus on mid-week dedicated 'open events', where someone would organise a venue and I would speak for about an hour. We found these worked pretty well last time.
c) Look for opportunities to speak to schools and youth groups. Inspire the next generation!
d) Don't try to fill in the whole 'ministry partnership day' with activities i.e. meeting supporters one-on-one. I did this last time, and although people appreciated it, I found it exhausting. Instead, I decided to let people know what my itinerary was, and if someone invited me to catch up, I would do my best to fit them in.
Week 1 - Wellington region
I arrived back in time for my brother's birthday, which we celebrated at the weekend by going to an escape room. It was my first time doing one of these and it was neat to see everyone in our team contributing something towards solving each of the clues - nobody was left out. And we escaped with 2:55 to spare!
On Monday I had my first presentation, to a young adults' church home group. I talked a little bit about MAF, but mostly about calling and how God leads us.
Tuesday was my first 'proper' presentation, at the Kapiti Aero Club. I drove up a little earlier, a) to beat the traffic and b) to treat myself to Burger Fuel. I was the first to arrive at the club and chatted to a few other club members when they came shortly afterwards. Eventually someone turned up with a key and we were all able to go inside!
On Wednesday night I gave the first of many 'full length church presentations', to a meeting of two midweek home groups. I quite like speaking to smaller groups like this, because people often ask more questions than in a larger group setting.
Each morning during the week I helped out with our church school holiday programme. It was a great way to get to know some of the kids and parents, and also to contribute to church life.
The final event for the week was the first-Saturday-of-the-month Mana men's breakfast meeting, hosted by St Mary's Anglican Church in Whitby. It was well-received and the men didn't seem to have a problem with a woman being the guest speaker!
Week 2
On Sunday I was 'interviewed' at church, which was mainly to promote the event on the following day.
The Monday event went pretty well. At the end of the question time someone asked if I could demonstrate the pre-flight safety briefing in Tok Pisin! I was happy to oblige...
On the Tuesday night I spoke at our monthly church ladies' night. Drawing on what I had shared at the young adults' group, I mainly talked about how God leads us, and also shared some of the challenges of being an overseas missionary. I was really encouraged by people's responses.
Wednesday saw me venturing a little further afield, to Queen St Gospel Chapel in Levin for an afternoon meeting. This is a church that has been supportive right from the start and regularly prays for me in their Sunday service and midweek prayer groups.
Some final thoughts on our holiday...
Was it worth the wait? Yes!
Would you go campervanning again? It's probably a bit early to say, but we survived and our friendship is still intact. Campervan life did take some adjustment - having to put the beds up each night and down each morning did get tiresome, figuring out where you could sit or stand so you weren't in the other person's way (especially when it involved doing something in the kitchen), trying to park level so that the sink would drain properly. We also should have allowed more time to collect it (2 hrs instead of 1). It also took us 45 minutes of driving around at the end finding somewhere to refill the gas bottle (solution: BBQs Galore).
But it wasn't all bad. Taking the same bed with you everywhere helped (once we figured out the optimum mattress and sheet/duvet combinations), having an on board kitchen meant you knew what you had to work with each night instead of wondering what the next motel or lodge would have in terms of cooking facilities. We hired a table and camp chairs and we used them pretty much every day.
After the trip I did a quick comparison of 'regular' hire car and lodge accommodation, and the campervan option worked out at least $500 cheaper. So overall it was probably worth it. But we were glad to get to our motel in Darwin where we could spread out and have our own spaces!
How would you rate the campgrounds? We opted for powered sites wherever we could (i.e. everywhere except for the national parks). In order from best to worst:
1. Anbinik (Jabiru). En suite bathroom, not too close to the neighbours
2. Ivanhoe Village (Kununurra). Decent sized plot, good amenities, close to the pool
3. Florence Falls (Litchfield, unpowered). Huge plot, large bathrooms, not too close to neighbours so was quiet. Only downside was the plot had a slope
4. Riverview Tourist Village (Katherine). Noise from neighbours and the road
5. Djarradjin campground (Kakadu, unpowered). Cheap, had hot showers
6. Nitmiluk campground (Katherine Gorge). Amenities block way down the other end, small plots, noisy, tiny shower cubicles
7. Cooinda Lodge / Yellow Water campground (Kakadu). Tiny plot right on the road, busy, amenities block quite a walk
8. Victoria River Roadhouse (Victoria River). Sloped ground, very dated amenities, no toilet paper
Impressions of Kakadu? LOTS of driving. The rock art and walks were good, but did get hot later in the day. We didn't go to any of the waterfalls as we didn't have a 4wd vehicle.
Impressions of Litchfield? Points of interest were closer together than Kakadu. Waterfalls flow even in the dry season. Again, there were places we couldn't go as they required a 4wd vehicle. Like Kakadu, it did get hot later in the day, so if you plan to do any walks, try to do them in the morning. The same was true for the Nitmiluk Southern walks.
Impressions of the Bungle Bungles? Hard to say; it was a bit of a mixed bag. After the campervan (which also doubled as our accommodation) and flights, this was the next most expensive thing we did. Flying overhead gave a unique perspective. The walking tour was a bit disappointing not to be able to explore at our leisure. The lunch was quite fancy and may not have been to everyone's taste (quiche with quinoa salad).
How would you rate the activities you did?
A+ Kayaking in the Nitmiluk gorge. Highlight of the trip for both of us
A+ Barrk walk at Nourlangie and the associated rock art (two locations)
A+ Jumping crocodiles, both for the wow factor and the tour guide's dry humour
A+ Nitmiluk Southern walks - Jedda's rock and Pat's lookout. Worth the effort
A+ Aquascene fish feeding, Darwin
A Mirima National Park, Kununurra
A Katherine Show
A Victoria gorge escarpment walk
A Triple J Ord river sunset cruise (Kununurra)
A Rockalong gallery (Kununurra)
A Deckchair cinema (likely good rating because we enjoyed the movie)
A Ubirr (not the guided tour though)
A Litchfield: Wangi Falls
A Litchfield: Florence Falls & Shady Creek walk
A Mini golf, Palmerston
A- Joe Creek walk
A- Litchfield: Tolmer Falls
A- Recreational lagoon (Darwin)
B+ Wartime experience tour with military museum, Darwin (needed more time at the museum)
B+ Kelly’s knob lookout (Kununurra)
B Bungle Bungles tour overall (A Flight, B- Domes walk, A+ Cathedral gorge)
B Litchfield: Magnetic termite mounds
B Kakadu: Nawurlandja lookout walk
B RFDS (Darwin) - virtual reality headset displays were the best part
B Diamond shop in Kununurra
B Kakadu: Anbangbang billabong walk
B Cutta Cutta caves
B Nitmiluk southern walks: Butterfly gorge
B- Darwin self-guided heritage walk
C+ Mindil Beach night markets
C Darwin oil tunnels
C Gregory Tree
C Darwin botanic gardens
C- Yellow Waters cultural centre
C- Mamaluka wetlands walk
C- Kakadu: 2x lookout walks between Cooinda and Pine Creek (Gungurul, Bukbukluk)
Any surprises or things you learned? Where do I start...
The terrain is not all flat, like I was expecting - the Arnhem Land escarpment, Victoria River, Kimberley were all quite prominent geographical features.
Speed limits being 130 kph!
Driving from NT to WA and losing 1.5 hrs (time difference).
The different purposes of rock art, and how it wasn't ok to touch up someone else's painting but was perfectly ok to paint over it.
Some of the rock art we saw was made as recently as the 1960s - not all of it is ancient.
The orange and black stripes of the Bungle Bungles are only a surface coating, not the colour of the rocks themselves (which are white).
Crocodiles can sense vibrations 1-2 km away!
Barramundi can't reproduce in fresh water.
Freshwater crocodiles swallow their food whole, so they don't attack humans unless they feel threatened.
The waterfalls at Litchfield flow all year due to water seeping out of the rock slowly.
'Magnetic' termites are blind and can sense magnetic fields. Their mounds are oriented to give the most consistent temperature; if the alignment is changed then internal temperatures increase significantly.
At one point in history, 75% of Darwin's non-indigenous population was Chinese.
70-80% of Darwin's buildings were destroyed by Cyclone Tracy. 30,000 people were evacuated (out of 46,000).
It took 20 years to install the 9" guns at East Point, and they were never used in combat (only tested).
The Darwin oil storage tunnels' budget of £200,000 blew out to over £1,000,000 - and they were never used in the war.
The oil storage tunnels were a secret project, but the excavated dirt was simply piled up at the entrance; any Japanese reconnaissance officer would have instantly known what was there!
We finished our holiday with a few days in Darwin. In the last 100 years, two events have shaped the city and reminders of them are everywhere: the bombing of Darwin on 19 Feb 1942, and cyclone Tracy on Christmas Day 1974.
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| Deckchair cinema |
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| We saw the movie 'Red White and Brass' and enjoyed pre-show entertainment by the Darwin City Brass Band |
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| Darwin military tour in a 1940s army bus - the tour guide was VERY informative! |
Anglican cathedral. Survived the Darwin bombings and had a porch and gate built by the army from rubble of the post office, which was destroyed. After cyclone Tracy, the porch and gate were all that survived.
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| Feeding fish at Aquascene |
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| Sunset at Mindil Beach (night market) |
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| WWII oil storage tunnels - a colossal budget blowout by a factor of 5, and never used for their intended purpose... |
Our final national park was Litchfield, about an hour's drive south of Darwin. We stayed at the Florence Falls campground and were pleasantly surprised by how well laid out (and quiet!) it was.
Along the way we overheard people discussing whether it was better to do Kakadu or Litchfield first, with the consensus being 'if you do Kakadu first, you'll be disappointed by Litchfield'. But I imagine that's if you had a 4wd vehicle and were able to see the Kakadu waterfalls - which we didn't. So for us, Kakadu was more about rock art and Litchfield more about waterfalls.
Another interesting fact is that due to the porosity of the rocks, the waterfalls in Litchfield flow all year round as the rain that fell during the last wet season slowly seeps out. In contrast, many of the well-known Kakadu waterfalls slow to a trickle or stop during the dry season.
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| Wangi Falls |
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| Tolmer Falls |
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| Florence Falls |
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| 'Magnetic' termite mounds - all face the same way for temperature optimisation |
On our way back to Darwin we had some time to kill so had a game of mini golf in Palmerston. It was quite fun (and our scores were quite close too!)
Returning from Kunnurra to Katherine, we spent two days at the Katherine Gorge (Nitmiluk National Park) - one day kayaking and one day hiking.
The kayaking was probably the highlight of the entire trip - being out in nature, a moderate level of exercise (apart from the portages - pushing and pulling the kayak over rocks), able to go at our own pace and explore at our leisure with the only requirement being to be back at the boat ramp by 4:30 pm.
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| Boat trip on the first gorge |
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| Lining up for our kayak |
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| Gorge two |
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| The obligatory selfie |
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| Gorge-ous |
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| We later figured out it didn't work as well with me in the back |
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| Afternoon tea break |
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| View of gorge two from Jedda's Rock - worth the effort! |
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| View of gorge one from Pat's Lookout |
As mentioned elsewhere, our original plan had been to drive to the Bungle Bungles and take a 4wd drive tour from there. But with the tour company unable to open this season, we had to change plans. The only feasible option was to fly on a day trip from Kununurra. Naturally this was quite expensive, so we decided to forego the private aircraft hire we had planned in Darwin (for me to fly us over the parts of Kakadu that we weren't able to get to) and use that budget instead.
The Bungle Bungle ranges, specifically the 'beehive domes', are limestone rock formations with orange and black stripes. I was surprised to learn that the colour does not come from the rock itself (which is actually white), but a surface coating: the limestone is layered, and one of these layers gets coated with red dust while the other can support a particular kind of cyanobacteria, which is black.
The day tour we did involved flying over Lake Argyle and various large cattle stations to the Bellburn airstrip, then a short 4wd bus drive to the park, walking through the domes and up to Cathedral Gorge for a packed lunch, retracing our steps and flying back to Kununurra. It was a little frustrating not being able to explore further in the park, because we had to stay with the tour group and the guide seemed to want to stop at every termite mound and every tree and tell us something about them. I just had to remind myself that it was this or not seeing it at all. And the flight overhead did give us a spectacular view that we wouldn't have seen at all if we had driven there.
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| Rivers south of Kununurra |
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| Lake Argyle from the air |
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| Bungle Bungle range from the air |
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| Bungle Bungle beehive domes |
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| Domes walk |
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| Domes at Piccaninny creek |
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| Walking into Cathedral Gorge |
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| Lunch at Cathedral Gorge |
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| Black and orange stripes |
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| Departing |
