Sunshine on Christchurch

Christchurch changes when the weather is good, everyone comes out to play and there is a definite holiday atmosphere about the place; we saw a lot of sun this weekend and I loved it! On Saturday I was invited over to my friends Tjun wi and Lyndsey for lunch, where I met their friend Zane (unusual names I know, but I can assure you these are real people!). We had a great time discussing the tramp that we are planning for next weekend, apparently there is a sauna near the hut where we will be stayin'! After lunch we all decided to go to this refuge shed that sells rubbish to hunt for bargains (you know, the kind of stuff that you think you need but in actual fact is completely useless) and I bought an old sink (!?)...I've decided to try and grow tomato plants over the summer, since you can grow them outside here in Christchurch, which is quite a novelty for me! I bought two varieties, Russian Red and Potentate so I hope this proves to be a fruitful venture!

After an interesting afternoon with Tjun, Lynds and Zane I headed into town to celebrate Katies's birthday, one of the students in my small group; she decided to have a meal in a Greek restaurant called Santarini's, where they smash plates and make you dance on barrels...they were quite good to our table, however and the dancing didn't start for our lot until after I had left (of course I was secretly disappointed, as you might imagine!).

I had to leave early since my flatmates Marie and Hayley were meeting me to go to another party, which was just outside Christchurch in a place called Mount Pleasant. This party was in a very cool flat, which had a fantastic view out to the sea and there was quite a mix of people there, from interior designers to worldclass, hip-hop dancing, Maoris! It was good to meet some different people. My friends Charity and Alan were also at the party along with a few other Scottish people and at one point we ended up doing the Dashing White Sergeants... bizarre I know!

After the party, my flatmates and I decided to go back into town and see if we could go dancing for a bit but Christchurch was not having a good night, what with a fire in the "Strip" (where most of the clubs and bars are) and a stabbing near the place we were trying to go to, we decided to give it a miss and headed home for an early night at 2am.

On Sunday I was up at 9.30am to go to Navs church, since I had been asked to share a bit of my story with the people there. I told the story of how I became a Christian and how God healed my hip and connected it with Ephesians 1:3-6 and it seemed to be well received. After church we had a BBQ lunch and then I headed back out towards Mount Pleasant to go to the beach at Sumner with my flatmate Marie and about 10 guys! I attempted to play touch rugby with the guys, but didn't really have a clue as to what the hec was going on, so I went for a run along the beach instead! I'm really enjoying running at the moment although running along Sumner beach reminded me of my friend Rose and I thought about how much I miss having her here with me, which did make me feel a little melancholy.

Sunday night I stayed in since I was absolutely exhausted, prayed with my flatmate, spoke to Gregor and Nicki in Auckland and then mum and dad in Perth before finally hit the sack. Really must learn to slow my life down!

Love to you all from Ayley