Let it Shine, Let it Shine, Let it Shine!

We have arrived in paradise! While strolling leisurely along the Marine Parade in Napier NZ in shorts and sandals yesterday we heard the Christmas carol, Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow! Couldn't quiet wrap my mind around that while slathering on more sunscreen! We decided to attend the Anglican Church on Sunday morning in Gisborne. We felt so welcomed there and the Rev. introduced us and everyone insisted that we stay after service for a "cuppa" in the fellowship hall. The church was built in 1915 and was lovely, but it suffered alot of earthquake damage when the big quake of 1931 stuck. They have done a lovely job of restoring it. I sat down next to a nice lady and introduced myself and she introduced herself as Joyce also. So easy to remember names that way. We also met Vera from Gisborne and Florida! Lovely people. We toured the botanical gardens on Sunday afternoon and spent alot of time at the beach too. Beautiful day! We drove from Gisborne (oh, did you know that it is the first city in the world to see the sunrise each day?) on Monday, Dec 17 and arrived about 3 pm. We found our apt. with expert directions from our hosts, Alan and Sally Monk. We are in a luxury apt. for the next 10 days and our hosts could not be nicer people. The apt/house is on the Westshore area of Napier and out near the port and harbor and airport. We drive about 5 minutes to get into town, but the real treat is the apt. doors open right to the ocean and is 50 ft. directly ahead. We are sleeping with our windows open to hear the surf at night. Sally and Alan greeted us with a glass of wine. The apt is simply the nicest we have seen. Beautiful furnishings and the most luxurious shower ever! Alan and Sally really put alot of thought into making this a beautiful retreat. Last night they had a birthday dinner and invited us to meet their friends for dessert in their home. There were 13 friends, and they were so interesting and fun. Sally made Christmas pudding with brandy sauce and a fudge cake that was nothing short of spectacular. We are meeting some lovely people. Alan is retired from the police and most recently retired from operating a service station. He is an expert wood craftsman and in fact has made most of the wood furniture in our apt. Sally is a delight and works for Wattie/Heinz foods 3 days a week and then handles the bookkeeping for her daughter Kurstie (sp?) who is an attorney here in Napier. Don't know how she has the energy to do it all, but she does make it look effortless. Yesterday, we toured the aquarium here in Napier while the sun was hottest. We were there at feeding time, so the diver gave us a good show of the sting rays and the sharks feeding. Great fun. Today we woke up to pouring rain, so are spending the time with email and catching up with this blog. I am going to attempt to post pictures today. In fact, I think I've done it. The red plant/tree is actually called a Pohutukawa or Christmas Tree here in NZ because of the red flowers that blooms only in December. The latte bowl speaks for itself, and the beach is in Gisborne and the sting ray is here at the aquarium in Napier. Wow! Can't believe I finally got it to work! I think you are caught up, we are having a wonderful time and miss all of you desperately. So hard to imagine that it is Christmas. We are going to see if we can get in on some church Christmas programs.
Hope you enjoy your holidays. God has blessed us richly.
Jon and Joyce