Christchurch, revisited

February 16th brought both beginnings and endings. I'll begin with an ending which was the end of our campervan sojourn. Yes, by 4:00 pm we needed to turn this rolling home back to where we started. Our circuit ended up being almost 2,400 km and our Kim was was behind the wheel for every single one of them. Except for the very first day out yours truly spent all of those hours largely in a prone position alternately entranced by the scenery and my book. Julie, in the co-pilots seat was chief navigator but I think her greatest joy was the hours and hours of mother daughter time over the ten days we shared together.

Lighter than air!

There was a lot of talk but also a lot of companionable silence. Kim enjoyed her time away from her YWAM responsibilities and loved simply being a daughter and not the person everyone else depended on. Having said this, we watched her excitement grow as her return to Crystal Springs and the beginning of a new term grew nearer. Julie and I were also feeling this looming parting but with different emotions. Yes, it was going to be an ending, but also a beginning. The beginning of 3 weeks where Julie and I would be holidaying on our own. Not that we had not relished every moment, but after all, we chose each other. Kim was a gift. The other beginning was the beginning of my seventh decade arriving one day early given the whim of circumstance and other planetary considerations. After a successful Skype call with Blake, Lauren, Molly & Stu the three of us walked to a restaurant nearby and enjoyed a fine meal washed down with a bottle of champagne, which we brought with us to the restaurant. It was a fine send off to my three-score self. What with emails from friends and time with family I felt much loved. Feb 16 was also the end of our days on the South island as bright and early the next day we would board the train for Picton and then hop the ferry that would take us to Wellington which was to be our entry to the north island. Endings and beginnings.
  Beginnings and endings.