West Coast of the South Island

And now let me show you some pictures of what many consider to be the most beautiful part of New Zealand, the west coast of the South Island.













On the InterIslander, headed back to the North Island.

Christmas in New Zealand

Wherever we have been at Christmas time over the past four years, we have tried to get to church on Christmas Day--an ancient Catholic church in Izmir where the service was in about four different languages none of which was English; a modern church with open windows and a beautiful choir in Viet Nam, again no English; we missed church in Spain though we visited a few and took pictures of Creche. I'm sure there wouldn't have been English there either.

We were in Wanake on Christmas this year and found a little Anglican church to attend on Christmas Day.





The day was beautiful, sunny and warm and we were able to walk there from our hotel. This time the service was in English and included traditional carols. The church was packed with all ages from the very young to the very old. It was encouraging to see the number of young families that were there.