tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69883842024-03-05T18:57:58.658+13:00Scott & Sarah KennedyAmazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
(John Newton)Scottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.comBlogger328125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6988384.post-81484725411129012912014-03-28T19:11:00.002+13:002014-03-28T19:26:37.408+13:00Auckland's Low Carbon Action Plan<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's been a long time since I've been fired up enough to write something here, but it's finally happened. I saw in the Manukau Courier that submissions were being taken on Auckland City's Low Carbon Action Plan. No I hadn't heard of it either. Well the article informed me that the plan was to reduce Auckland's Greenhouse gases by 40% by 2040.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I became interested. Firstly it struck me as an odd target to make, when month by month the science around anthropogenic climate change is looking shakier. Such huge cost to our economy seems odd when the benefits to the environment seem highly unlikely. Why would we commit to this? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I decided to check out the </span><a href="http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/EN/AboutCouncil/HaveYourSay/Pages/lowcarbonstrategicactionplan.aspx"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">website.</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> There was a nice brief 85 page document with a large number of action plans. Seriously who has time for that? Nice that some person being paid rate money (i.e. a net drain on the economy) can afford the time to put together such a document. Pity the poor sap who actually contributes to the economy who has to read through it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did read through it. I was appalled. You should be too. Can I strongly suggest to citizens of Auckland that you read this plan, or at least the Executive Summary which is <strong>only</strong> 25 pages. Once you have read this plan, make a quick online submission. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Below are some highlights from my submission. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Question 3A: You have indicated that you don't think we have identified the key issues. What issues do you think we have missed?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I believe that the whole goal of reducing Greenhouse gases by 40% is fatally flawed. First of all the science regarding the harm of these gases is inconclusive, and the evidence that GHG actually have a detrimental effect on our climate is looking shakier by the year. Why are we reducing energy consumption, when consumption of energy suggests a pumping economy. Surely a city that has an economy moving in a positive direction should actually be increasing energy consumption, not reducing it back to levels of the 1990s. </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Question 5A: You have indicated that you don't think we have identified appropriate targets. What targets do you believe we should set?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I do not believe we should be setting
targets in this area. These targets will lead to increasing burdens on the
people of Auckland. <o:p></o:p></span></em></span></div>
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Example 1: Built Environment action 8
proposes a WOF on private rentals. While this will produce a nice income stream
for the council, which presumably is the reason for its suggested
implementation, the costs will be passed on by landlords to their tenants.
Rents will increase affecting struggling families.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></em></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>
</em><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p><em> </em></o:p></span></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Example 2: Action 3 of the Travel plan
suggests that pricing tools will be investigated to help manage travel demand.
This sounds suspiciously like making it more expensive for people to travel
freely about their city in their own cars. Aucklanders do not support this.<o:p></o:p></span></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>
</em><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p><em> </em></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Example 3: Actions 6 & 7 of the
Energy part of the plan suggest that we move 90% of Auckland's energy to
renewable sources by 2025. While this sounds nice in theory, I noticed the plan
mentioned wind energy. Wind energy is extremely costly in the long run, with
physical breakdown of turbines. Furthermore wind energy is responsible for
playing havoc with birdlife, and is not a 'green' option in that sense. <o:p></o:p></span></em></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>
</em><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p><em> </em></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In action 7 you propose to promote the
use of renewable energy for heating and cooking at residential and commercial
premises. With whose money? Presumably rate payers. Surely people should be
free to decide what energy they use and not be brainwashed by campaigns that
have taken their own money off them to make them change their behaviour! <o:p></o:p></span></em></span></div>
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Example 4: Action 9 of the Built
Environment part of the plan proposes the introduction of disclosure of the
energy and water performance and design standards of residential, commercial
and industrial buildings at point of sale, rent or lease. It is proposed this
is going to be mandatory by 2020. Again one can only presume this is going to
cost money, and the council will clip the ticket on the way increasing its
income stream. But all of these types of proposals are only just going to make
Auckland a more and more unaffordable place to live. <o:p></o:p></span></em></span></div>
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>
</em><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><em>I do not have the time to pick holes in
every single action point of the document. I actually work a job that produces
something of worth for the economy. My essential problem with this plan is
that it is placing more controls and costs on the citizens of Auckland. Instead
of Mayor Len Brown's dream of Auckland becoming the world's most liveable city,
we will end up with an unaffordable city.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Question 6B: What else do you think we could be doing?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Less is more......The
city doesn't need people running around thinking of ways to spend money we do
not have.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Question 6C: How should these actions in this plan be funded?</span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most of these actions
(<em>specifically the ones I have identified) should not be taken because
ultimately they do not need to be taken and will place a huge burden on
Aucklanders.</em></span>Scottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6988384.post-71383888463029061452010-10-11T18:46:00.001+13:002010-10-11T20:21:26.358+13:00The kingdom of grace and the world of ungrace – part 1Like so many other New Zealanders I was shocked and disappointed at the recent revelations that ACT MP and “3 strikes” law campaigner David Garrett had used a dead baby’s birth certificate to get a false passport. It is disappointing when people in positions of influence are found to have ‘skeletons in their closet’. However what for me was most shocking was the self-righteous and venomous indignation of the media and general public baying for blood. It highlights for me what has elsewhere been described as ‘ungrace’. <br /><br />I am not really interested in exploring whether or not it was the right thing for David Garrett to resign. In fact I am not really interested in the case per se except that it highlights the way the world works. In our world, we are judged for who we are and what we do. If we treat people nicely, they generally treat us nicely in return. If we treat people in a way that metaphorically burns bridges, we can lose friendships and alienate ourselves from others. If we do something stupid, that gives people the right to condemn us, and based on the magnitude of the folly, the right to dismiss us completely. This is the world of ungrace. And in a world of ungrace, people are very eager to put the boot in when someone is caught in wrongdoing. <br /><br />Because we live in a world of ungrace we try to hide the real ‘us’ from those we come into contact with. We live in fear that our acquaintances and those closest to us might discover some of our own ‘skeletons’ and perhaps wipe their hands of us. We all know in the depths of our soul that if people could see the real us, they would find fault with much they saw. Indeed few of us have more than one person with whom we can be entirely honest about our true self. These true friends who love us in spite of our faults and flaws are rare and precious jewels, and their friendship mirrors the kind of friendship that God extends to people.<br /><br />We cannot hide the real us from God. One of the occupational advantages of being God is omniscience. That means God sees the real us – our actions, our words, and scarily enough, the thoughts and motivations of our innermost self. He looks at each one of us warts and all, and still offers his love to us. This is an incredible truth. He sees our skeletons; the selfishness of our heart, the malice towards others, the deceit, and yes, even the stupid things we have done in our past, yet he still offers his friendship to us no strings attached. <br /><br />What makes this offer even more gob-smacking, is that God’s grace to us comes at a great cost. For God to be just, he cannot allow the guilty to go unpunished. All of our obvious wrongdoings, and our less obvious closet skeletons must be paid for. They represent a relational block between us and God. This block cannot just be ignored. A husband who has cheated on his wife cannot just say to her ‘Let’s forget this ever happened’. But God has demonstrated great love for us, by finding a way to remove the block so that our wrongdoing before him and injustice towards others can be dealt with. God’s innocent son Jesus agreed to take the punishment that our wrongdoing deserved in order that God might look upon us as innocent. Jesus was nailed to a cross and forsaken by God as we deserved to be, in order that we who were once enemies of God might be made friends. The Bible poetically puts it this way; “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our sins from us.” Those who trust in Jesus are treated as if they had never done anything wrong. Nothing is allowed to get in the way of their friendship with God. <br /><br />This is a most beautiful truth. God is a God of free grace. He does not require us to act in a certain way to receive his love. In him the world order of tit-for-tat ‘ungrace’ is slowly being dismantled. With Jesus a kingdom of grace broke into this world and the free offer of salvation from God’s just wrath has been offered through faith in him. His kingdom will gather in people from every tribe, every nation, and every language. And when he returns, we will celebrate God’s grace to us in a world removed of all sorrow and injustice.Scottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6988384.post-55648379437512225192010-04-23T16:46:00.004+12:002010-04-23T17:24:59.732+12:00Chalk and CheeseI rarely have any good to say about customer service. In my experience people are a lot keener to sell to you than they are to help you when something goes wrong with their product. My recent <a href="http://scottkennedy.blogspot.com/2010/03/epson-does-not-exceed-my-vision.html">Epson printer complaint</a> is an excellent example. I complained about a piteously poor product, was offered a couple of measly cartridges if I bought another printer, and was told to call an 0800 number if I wanted to discuss the matter. Epson your customer service is pathetic. I have since replaced my Epson printer with a Brother HL-2140 laser printer thanks to Flybuys. The print quality is excellent, the speed is impressive, and there are no paper jams or misfeeds. So far so good.<br /><br />What I really wanted to write about however is a recent experience I have had with excellent customer service. I want to hand a customer service trophy to <a href="http://www.dell.co.nz/">Dell</a> computers. In January of this year I bought a laptop for<s> gaming<o:p></o:p></s> university purposes. Having a small home and a young daughter who sleeps in the computer room, I needed a portable option. Since we don't own a TV, we also use it to watch movies. However, ever since I got it, I've noticed that it intermittently struggles to play a number of our DVDs. So I decided to write to customer service and ask if something could be done. Enter Dell's excellent customer service. The person I emailed asked if I could do a couple of checks myself and email the results, which I did. Then he organised for a technician to come out to our place in Parau. The technician rang the next working day and arranged to come out at a suitable time. When he arrived he immediately started dismantling the laptop. I had been a little worried that he would check whether various DVDs worked on it. Since it was an intermittent issue I was dreading what many of us technophobes dread:- the ol’ phantom computer problem, that disappears when a competent geek comes along, and reappears as soon as they have departed. But he didn't muck around with checking DVDs. He immediately replaced the drive. After briefly checking it, he left, and asked us to call if we have any problems.<br /><br />I've been very pleased with my Dell laptop so far. It is a fantastic machine. But I'm twice as happy now, knowing the customer service that backs it up. I've heard of people having to send machines away for weeks on end while they get tested and repaired. I have never heard of technicians being sent to a home to fix a machine on site. So if you are looking for a laptop, may I recommend a <a href="http://www.dell.co.nz/">Dell</a>. Next time I'm in the market, I'll be certainly looking at one.<br /><p></p>Scottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6988384.post-43465959930231260452010-04-17T16:43:00.007+12:002010-04-17T17:32:17.967+12:00A walk in the forest<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQmOWPI36_8a591JdMJeq_xrArWbnQCd6XYjobXqyy95QaPidYtW62-2-hV-ph33NuqyXM4Aw-wXyQykYVpbrmD-0s_tSlc47PJSBDBcdaYIpDowEKY183WwGaZCfoFdV6C6T/s1600/walk.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQmOWPI36_8a591JdMJeq_xrArWbnQCd6XYjobXqyy95QaPidYtW62-2-hV-ph33NuqyXM4Aw-wXyQykYVpbrmD-0s_tSlc47PJSBDBcdaYIpDowEKY183WwGaZCfoFdV6C6T/s320/walk.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460968950448348210" border="0" /></a>Our little family took a trip to the Arataki visitor centre this afternoon. We popped across the road and did a short walk along part of the Arataki Nature Trail. Walking this trail provides one with a religious experience, for posted at various intervals along the path are signs that encourage an almost superstitious 'worship' of nature. I may comment on some of these at a later date.<br /><br />However one sign that I really appreciate describes some of the deeds of Tane Mahuta the god of the forest and birds. On the left side of the sign is written:-<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Ko Tane Mahuta te atua o nga ngahere<br />Na Tane i whakawehewehe a Rangi raua ko Papa<br />He maha nga Tamariki a Tane<br />Ko nga rakau katoa, nga manu, nga ngararu me nga kararehe katoa<br /><br />Ko Tane hoki te timatatanga o te tangata<br />Nana i hanga a Hine-ahu-one te wahine tuatahi o te Maori<br />Kei roto i enei mea katoa te mana o Tane.<br /><br /></span><span>On the right side a translation in English is provided. </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Tane Mahuta is the God of the forests<br />Tane separated Rangi (sky) and Papa (earth)<br />Tane has many offspring<br />All trees, the birds, reptiles and animals<br /><br />Tane is also the beginning of humans<br />He formed Hine-ahu-one the first Maori woman<br />The spirit of Tane is found in all these living things<br /></span><span><br />This reminded me of the creation account in Genesis, part of which I have reproduced here:-<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">And God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. </span><br />(Gen 1:6-10 English Standard Version)<br /><br /></span><span>Its fascinating to see the links in the mythology and creation stories of various cultures to the Hebrews' Genesis account recorded in our Bible. While I know there are other explanations, it is worthwhile pondering whether these incredible commonalities suggest there is an element of truth in the stories. In Genesis we read the story of God creating the heavens and the earth, and the story of his creation of various kinds of animals and finally his creation of the first man and woman.<br /><br /></span><span>Anyway I am quite interested to eplore further parallels and have got the <a href="http://www.fishpond.co.nz/Books/Nonfiction/Social_Sciences/Customs_Traditions/9780790009506/">Reed Book of Maori Mythology</a> out of the library to aid my investigations. Watch this space.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span>Scottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6988384.post-59644305696216864682010-04-04T09:00:00.000+12:002010-04-04T09:00:03.013+12:00Hope beyond death?If you are reading this, you are terminally ill. You may be reminded of a certain gruesome film “The Ring” where a message on a video gave its viewers seven days to live. While the message you have just read does not contain this same power, it is nonetheless true. From the moment of our conception, our time on earth is counting down. Morbid? Yes. Unimportant? No. <br /><br />For such a universally important topic, death is not something our culture contemplates deeply. Sure, there are reports of death in the papers; there are accounts of murders and tragedies. Films and books are riddled with death. But somehow these deaths seem unreal; for the most part wholly ‘other’ from us. We cannot really imagine a world where we are no longer present. Our whole understanding of the world assumes our own being. In the rare incidents where we do contemplate our own mortality, we are distressed at something that seems so unnatural. <br /><br />Why do our hearts rebel so much against death? Why do we grieve when a loved one dies? Why do we dread our own mortality? I put it to you that we rebel against death because it is unnatural for us. We are not designed to die. While some may say death is part of the circle of life, our hearts tell us this is not so. Death is an unwelcome intruder – a thief which humiliates us and robs us of our dignity.<br /><br />Unlike those who hold to an atheistic evolutionary framework where death is an essential part of the world, I believe death is an intruder. As sons and daughters of God, we were created for life abundant. And yet in that garden of perfection our first father rebelled against God and brought death into the world. Since that fateful day, our race has been doomed to death. Our original glory and dignity as image bearers of God has been marred and defaced by our rebellion, and we all must face steady decay until death finally humiliates us.<br /><br />Yet today is a special day. Today we celebrate the man Jesus who conquered death. Nailed to a cross and left to die, Jesus was the only human being who was not infected with the disease of sin. Jesus did not need to die. Yet he submitted himself to death in the stead of those he loved and desired to save. Death could not own him – for in him was no sin – no trace of rebellion against God his Father. So triumphant he rose from the grave and appeared to many of his disciples - eyewitnesses so committed to the truth of the resurrected Jesus that many would give their lives up rather than deny it in the years that followed.<br /><br />Why does history so vividly remember this man who conquered death? What is so important about Jesus? Sure there is the amazing fact that he managed to escape death, but the rest of us are yet helpless and will all stare death in the face at some point or other. We remember and celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, because he is the first fruits of the dead. The first fruits in a harvest signify a promise of more to come. In the same way, Jesus victory over death is a promise to his people that they too have victory over death. <br /><br />Though we must still taste death, the sting of death can be taken away. Jesus now holds the keys to death, and we do not pass through the door unless Jesus has opened it for us. Moreover, for those who have been joined to Jesus Christ through believing in his power to save them from their own rebellion against God, Jesus promises that at the end of the world as we know it, they too will be raised to life – with perfected bodies ready to live life abundant in a restored world where death and suffering are banished forever. What hope Easter Sunday brings to us all as we contemplate our own mortality. <br /><br />He is risen! He is risen indeed!Scottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6988384.post-21897501475262923982010-03-26T16:50:00.004+13:002010-03-26T17:00:11.302+13:00Ever get the feeling you're not being listened to?To Epson's credit, they replied very promptly to my email. Unfortunately, their email sent the message that they were really not listening to me. And I quote (with spelling mistake uncorrected):-<br /><br /><blockquote>Due to your expereince with the Epson Stylus CX3100 Epson Customer Service Management would like to extend an offer of a set of complimentary cartridges if you purchase a new Epson printer through an Epson New Zealand Stockist. Please note that this offer is only valid for 30 days from today.</blockquote><br /><br />So apparently I'm supposed to be bribed back to the brand with a couple of measly ink cartridges once I purchase a new Epson printer. In the immortal words of some beer we drink; yeah right.Scottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6988384.post-91621489377752238032010-03-25T12:35:00.001+13:002010-03-26T16:58:48.377+13:00Epson does not exceed my visionTo whom it may concern:-<br /><br />I'm fed up. I really am. I have spent the last hour trying to print a nine page essay for my university course. From the third Epson printer I have owned. The first one came free with a computer I bought and printed green when I wanted red or yellow when I wanted blue and was finally replaced by the shop I bought the computer from. The quality of the second (same model as the first) was marginally better. At least it printed the colour I chose rather than some randomly picked hue. But the third. The third has gone far beyond the first two in its annoying idiosyncrasies. <br /><br />The stats looked good. It had a fancy name. Epson CX3100 multifunction printer sounds like a class act. If only. Multifunction? What a misnomer. More like multi-malfunction, for since I have owned it, this printer has gone where no printer before it has gone in exploring new ways to function inappropriately. The scanner stopped working, rendering the copying function useless, and leaving me with the print function alone. <br /><br />Well you would assume that the print function should be all right since after all, this machine claims to be a printer. Alas how naive I was. This printer prefers to mess with minds rather than print documents. Let’s begin with the ill-conceived document feeder..what a place to start. It jams and then continues fruitless attempts to feed 50 odd pages through at once finally printing on the same line of the piece of paper it cannot feed through over and over again until the ink gleaming on the page is an inch think, and for the next 100 documents black patches of ink appear at regular intervals on the top of the page. Alternatively it might decide to misfeed so that the one page of the document prints hard up against the top of the page leaving Sahara size regions of white at the bottom of the page. Another of its party tricks is the ol’ feeding it through on an angle trick, which leaves one with a piece of paper with a gradually decreasing white margin.<br /><br />And let’s not forget the print quality. It is appalling. Gutenberg's first printing press had clearer type quality. No matter how many times one cleans the heads or faffs around with 'maintenance' settings, it refuses to print clean lettering. If I wanted a strikethrough effect on all my documents, I'd select it in my word processor. Then to make matters worse, after finally having got the print quality from ridiculously poor to slightly better than ridiculously poor, the next time one attempts to use the printer, the type is back to unreadable, with missing lines of ink. So again one must clean the print heads using up more of Epson’s completely over-priced ink. How is it that humble black ink is bordering on the price of gold per ounce? <br /><br />Which brings me to changing ink cartridges. How is it that my colour cartridge runs down when I’m only printing black text? Why is colour ink consumed when I want to clean up the quality of the black ink printing and vice-versa? Why do I need to install a new colour cartridge when I only want to print with the black cartridge? The only way any of this makes sense to me is to assume it is some ploy by your sales team to increase revenue.<br /><br />Every time I attempt to print a document now, I have to retry at least three times, fiddling with maintenance settings in an attempt to get a type that is passable in terms of readability. Reams and reams of paper are wasted in the process. I swear that my Epson CX3100 is solely responsible for vast swathes of destruction in the Amazon rainforest. But alas this darn machine has crossed me for the last time. No longer will I endure its petulant shenanigans. I have decided to introduce it to my trusty friend Mr Claw Hammer. I will not sell this machine to some unsuspecting citizen. No, I could not inflict this on my worst enemy. <br /><br />So I'm off to buy another printer. And I assure you it will not be an Epson. I have been driven to distraction with your printers which in my experience are the poorest quality printers around. I have never had such problems from the HP printers which I have used. I will never purchase another Epson product until I hear there has been a vast improvement in quality, and I will tell all my friends and family about my experiences with your piteously inadequate products. Your by-line at the moment is “Exceed your vision with Epson”. The only thing of mine that has been exceeded by Epson is patience. <br /><br />Yours mostly sincerely,<br />ScottScottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6988384.post-82308196826071278162010-03-07T10:19:00.003+13:002010-03-07T10:34:32.006+13:00Silencing Dissenting Voices?What is it about human nature that we always seek to ban messages or silence people who disagree with us? I was half listening to a conversation at Teachers’ College the other day where a young lady was up in arms. It turns out she was irritated because another student had taken a different approach to an essay topic than her. She did not think he should have been allowed to have the viewpoint he did. Now you may laugh at this – and perhaps notice the similarities this young lady shows to those who disapprove of physical discipline on their children so seek that it should be banned for everyone else. Yet I think Christians also suffer from this neurosis.<br /><br />Take for example the reaction of some Christians to the atheist bus campaign in the UK and the similar attempt here in New Zealand. A significant number of Christians think that atheists should not be able to advertise their beliefs in public places. We are concerned perhaps that people may read “There is probably no God, so stop worrying and enjoy your life” and doubt the existence of God, or perhaps turn away from the faith. We are annoyed that Christians are falsely portrayed as living joyless lives, when we know from personal experience that Jesus has come to bring us life abundant! However I believe that attempting to ban what we disagree with sets a dangerous precedent. What if the majority of people decide they do not like what we say and want to ban our thoughts and the public expression of our faith on billboards, pamphlets and radio? This would be a deplorable state of affairs. In general I believe we should support the right of others to say things publically, even if we disagree with them, because we also want to speak about our faith publically. It is hypocritical of us to demand the right to express our beliefs yet deny those rights to others. <br /><br />What further amuses me about this situation is the contradiction in the thinking of some Christians. They get their knickers in a twist because “There is probably no God, so stop worrying and enjoy your life” is posted in the public space of a bus. Yet some of those very same Christians send their children to public schools, where God is banished and in essence the children are taught “There is probably no God – or at least he’s not relevant to what you’re learning about, so get on with learning without him”. In my mind the far more dangerous message is the silent and subtle message of the education system rather than the in-your-face attack of the bus slogans. Better that God be up for discussion in a public place than be ignored there completely. <br /><br />We do not need to be afraid of the enemies of the gospel. The gospel is powerful and does not need state protection to advance. When the gospel took off in the first few centuries after Jesus died, the state was not benign with respect to the church. Christianity did not spread because its beliefs were forced upon an unwilling population. Other viewpoints were not silenced - although later they were and we all know what happened to Christianity then! In fact, in the early days of the church, Christians were often persecuted by the state. A plethora of religions and gods surrounded the early Christians and the messages they were bombarded with were much more antagonistic than the slogan we are discussing now. Yet the gospel was able to spread in this situation because people were able to see the light of the truth in the midst of the lies and darkness of Satan. In the same way, I believe this campaign gives us a chance to discuss our faith in the public arena. It is a positive opportunity in a world that is increasingly trying to limit our faith to the personal sphere. So I say “Let them come!”Scottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6988384.post-3714284816968059242010-02-22T16:50:00.001+13:002010-02-23T15:50:49.739+13:00Idols in the ClassroomLast week, while on practicum for my graduate diploma in primary teaching, I taught a lesson on bullying. The text I used was a cautionary tale called “Don’t be a bully Billy”, which tells the tale of a young bully Billy who treats his classmates nastily until he gets sucked up into a spaceship by an alien – English literature at its finest. In the lesson I was attempting to communicate to the 5 and 6 year old children why they shouldn’t bully. In the end the angle I adopted was that “Bullies don’t have friends.” <br /><br />A couple of days later as I was mulling over my first week of practicum and in particular this lesson I had an epiphany. I understood in a powerfully new way the religious nature of a state education. State education is not some benignly neutral environment in which children learn bare facts. <br /><br />In teaching that lesson on bullying I could not make reference to the God of the Bible and his expectations of human behaviour. Rather I taught as if he did not exist, and instead appealed to the children’s desire for friendship to help them avoid bullying. I removed Jesus from his place as the one who is before all things and the one in whom all things hold together, and instead set up the false god of ‘peer acceptance’ for the children to worship. While the result may be a reduction in bullying, the children have been taught that there is satisfaction to be found in someone or something other than Jesus Christ, namely peer acceptance. This is a lie of the devil. He is constantly seeking to trick people that they can find satisfaction, true meaning and abundant life in something or someone other than Jesus Christ.<br /><br />You see, many people make the mistake of thinking that state education is neutral because it keeps religions like Islam, Buddhism and Christianity from being promoted in the classroom. This seems a fair assumption. The state is not giving any religion an opportunity to ‘proselytise’. Young impressionable minds are protected in an environment that will not lend support to any one religion. This leaves schools in a position to teach the supposedly neutral bare facts of life:- maths, reading, writing and perhaps more controversially history and science.<br /><br />But this is a fallacy. You see, when we remove Jesus Christ from the classroom we are effectively denying that he is Lord of all. We are banishing the Creator from our classrooms and then expecting that we can make sense of his world without reference to him. There are no ‘bare facts’. The facts belong to Jesus and any attempt to interpret his world whilst ignoring him is folly. The facts cannot be interpreted correctly by those who deny the one who owns all knowledge.<br /><br />Christian education is not about saying a prayer or two and inserting a Bible verse in your lessons. It is not about mentioning God here and there as one might sprinkle salt and pepper on ones meal. A true epistemology (theory of knowledge) must recognise that all knowledge belongs to Jesus Christ – who John describes as the one without whom nothing was made that has been made. A truly Christian schooling will have its curriculum, methodology and practice saturated with Jesus Christ. <br /><br />All this thinking has left me with two dilemmas. The ethical dilemma for me as a Christian teacher starting out in the state system is how can I teach without denying my Lord Jesus Christ and setting up idols in his place in the classroom? The ethical dilemma for the Christian parent with children in the state system is how can we keep our children from seeing our Lord Jesus Christ as irrelevant in their lives when he is ignored and replaced with idols in their classrooms?Scottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6988384.post-64922494688032951722009-10-16T18:48:00.004+13:002009-10-16T19:14:35.686+13:00One of the down sides of living in ParauSarah and I were shocked to find this giant centipede in our bedroom today.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi80_L_lYDbLPwTryJa8c6cbrjUewkFxqHkzcAMQui47QwaAgkKnwAGH8GMyyEM5MA6DBmDVgomCB3XhGV2V2_RilIzcE-hUiq3rjBKhU5rQwR9F0-3ZqoIwi5LiFy51kud0QS3/s1600-h/PA160039.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi80_L_lYDbLPwTryJa8c6cbrjUewkFxqHkzcAMQui47QwaAgkKnwAGH8GMyyEM5MA6DBmDVgomCB3XhGV2V2_RilIzcE-hUiq3rjBKhU5rQwR9F0-3ZqoIwi5LiFy51kud0QS3/s320/PA160039.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5393075231335447970" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />At about 15cm, it was far too big to be inside!!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPnQBGwSGHZF0bJ4w1dut5vP41quTS1cuHYzDcmbXq02yAyWBEpy7T_qgRhk_HvOLwuaLFr2EvmOJZi-TFZGDw27kdmON48t-SMNNLIKnzTJMVoR75OhyphenhyphenWOszS_Ki2hEfvYb5g/s1600-h/PA160041.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPnQBGwSGHZF0bJ4w1dut5vP41quTS1cuHYzDcmbXq02yAyWBEpy7T_qgRhk_HvOLwuaLFr2EvmOJZi-TFZGDw27kdmON48t-SMNNLIKnzTJMVoR75OhyphenhyphenWOszS_Ki2hEfvYb5g/s320/PA160041.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5393075237986685554" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />So it was given refugee status and released into the garden......the far end of the garden.<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9yhsbh_9crux1BmOKmPmz20T34qjDyaAWfiOXnVhbF0WXb0y1_mSaY7suKNk6m8IZRUBnUq_BRurhhBA0XK9K-cSWbHVKEgtdDYVrli_az3FnUCzSRJrTBt3V2FWPPt8j7uDH/s1600-h/PA160048.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9yhsbh_9crux1BmOKmPmz20T34qjDyaAWfiOXnVhbF0WXb0y1_mSaY7suKNk6m8IZRUBnUq_BRurhhBA0XK9K-cSWbHVKEgtdDYVrli_az3FnUCzSRJrTBt3V2FWPPt8j7uDH/s320/PA160048.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5393075244003334338" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5aLcHCaP1PCofaYnjGUB1iZaM9zD3PXYYxo8hVtDXesEpL7ps0Totg0Q4vDMGf4M-wy7DMgOO2Dt6yNwlYX3nVFvGN8dVQcO-6CW888_ND8frnAz0XrRuQBzclA2hZYjQ9Lor/s1600-h/PA160049.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5aLcHCaP1PCofaYnjGUB1iZaM9zD3PXYYxo8hVtDXesEpL7ps0Totg0Q4vDMGf4M-wy7DMgOO2Dt6yNwlYX3nVFvGN8dVQcO-6CW888_ND8frnAz0XrRuQBzclA2hZYjQ9Lor/s320/PA160049.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5393075246907136642" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />For the science geeks out there, we think it may be Cormocephalus rubriceps - the largest New Zealand centipede, which can grow up to 25cm.Scottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6988384.post-25545303632669934342009-10-13T22:41:00.000+13:002009-10-13T22:35:24.208+13:00Loving Ugly People<p class="MsoNormal">Recently a rather unfortunate side of my character was brought to my attention. In the course of daily life I dealt with someone who in human terms was extremely ‘ugly’. When I met this person for the first time I was aware of a feeling of revulsion and an intense desire not to make the effort to get to know this person any better. What made this discovery all the more distressing was that on further reflection I realised this was not a one off event. It has been a consistent pattern of behaviour that had until that moment not really surfaced in my consciousness. I realised that I've judged people my whole life. Certain people haven't been worth my time, while others have been. And in the final analysis, I have chosen my associations and friendships almost exclusively for selfish reasons - not for the benefit of others. In a new, fresh and utterly shocking way, I discovered how desperately selfish I am at my core.<br /><br />Musing further on this, I realised that this is a natural yet poisonous way of relating to others that most of us develop early in life. <span style=""> </span>We tend to shun the unlovely, give up on the difficult, and avoid the strange, all the while aiming to be ‘in’ with the socially acceptable, the beautiful, and those who generally make us feel good.<br /><br />In fact many experts tell us that this is exactly what we should do. Recently in studying a sales manual, I was interested to find that it encouraged the reader to surround themselves with people of a positive outlook who were going somewhere in life, as this would help the reader also achieve success. On the flip side the reader was encouraged to avoid people who are negative or not going anywhere.<br /><br />What warms my heart is the wonderful truth that God does not treat people like this. God does not ‘get’ anything out of a relationship with us. His desire to relate with us is not based on a need he has that we can fulfil; it is a relationship of total inequality. He gives and we receive. What can you give to the God who has everything? Despite the truth that God has nothing to gain from a friendship with us, he sent Jesus into the world to bring people back into relationship with him. And Jesus was not selective. Not only did he associate with the rich and socially acceptable, but he was more often seen with people that the socially acceptable would never associate with: down and out prostitutes, hated tax collectors, fishermen and people struck with the dreaded contagious disease of leprosy. God showed us through Jesus that whatever barriers were between us and him, he was willing to stoop down and sweep them away that we might know him.<br /><br />One of the biggest barriers between humans and God is our natural state. We all rebel against him. We try to live our lives without reference to him. We have become enemies of God. But when Jesus came to earth he preached a radical message of forgiveness to God's enemies. He said "love your enemies and do good to them...and you will be sons of God because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked." Jesus told his followers that they shouldn’t just love those who love them. He didn’t want them to develop a pattern of relationships based on self-interest. Rather he called for selflessness in love. This same selflessness is the kind of love God has for his enemies. And Jesus lived this selfless love out. As the true son of God, he loved his enemies. Dying on the cross he prayed for those who put him there saying "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing". Jesus death was a sacrificial death. His death on our behalf breaks down the barrier of enmity between us and God, and allows us to relate to God as a loved Father rather than an angry judge.<br /></p>This truth spurs me on to want to be a true son of God who loves those who are not only my enemies, but those who I am not naturally interested in relating to; those of a different and difficult culture, those of a different sexual orientation, those who have few friends, those who are shunned by society....even those who are ugly. I'm sure that my epiphany will not make me a perfect follower of Jesus in this respect, but I do hope it will help me more fully mirror his unconditional love for people.<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Scottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6988384.post-41505255290825608422009-10-10T16:52:00.010+13:002009-10-12T19:23:29.047+13:00Lower to uppper Huia Reservoir Walk9 October 2009<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgViLSiPO6PHU1uSLlb1XxNz5Hbb86bjNZznvQaUOHfJcV8FylhAyllED9WoGpfB-3mRlgUfp8GiLZWR-BgAvpw9eJAA-8be3yBLIUX3rcSKFznbMLD_OKcIi6ll9JAofGgbizS/s1600-h/PA090083.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgViLSiPO6PHU1uSLlb1XxNz5Hbb86bjNZznvQaUOHfJcV8FylhAyllED9WoGpfB-3mRlgUfp8GiLZWR-BgAvpw9eJAA-8be3yBLIUX3rcSKFznbMLD_OKcIi6ll9JAofGgbizS/s320/PA090083.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390816093764375730" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Our intrepid heroes begin their most dangerous expedition.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsersRBmM6W0VIjBK6DIYF9Xtk1XsTuA50dDOkQWfpAo2oprwPmcBGVP1pFYBJ7YCRfjSkA-_rum-i3UJt_O1ncipG_xmOTenpPmfhrM3XHuIq4U2mi0loxzbB5SgigSzPju2h/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsersRBmM6W0VIjBK6DIYF9Xtk1XsTuA50dDOkQWfpAo2oprwPmcBGVP1pFYBJ7YCRfjSkA-_rum-i3UJt_O1ncipG_xmOTenpPmfhrM3XHuIq4U2mi0loxzbB5SgigSzPju2h/s320/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390816575033111234" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />A couple of our brave heroes in a contemplative moment.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4VqrukcxjYII6VKgAZtWM2bORLsAQJd4N17iR8N028f0h3gWuGhiI7rf2v3m9BW-ZCmFKe6t_Ad8RcnCu8zAdsOQr-MjJtjKRPBo6xKpQ67z_1_0WnBOtlAyHV0GXc7MlZ5mH/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4VqrukcxjYII6VKgAZtWM2bORLsAQJd4N17iR8N028f0h3gWuGhiI7rf2v3m9BW-ZCmFKe6t_Ad8RcnCu8zAdsOQr-MjJtjKRPBo6xKpQ67z_1_0WnBOtlAyHV0GXc7MlZ5mH/s320/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390817306261906482" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />That's it? Two of our bold explorers find themselves disappointed at the lack of loss of limb and life.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDugL23jOg4yFJgYax1GK-3KiJjO2p8BxGloSIbcLj2oEiHXIJ-av-zhPYdYyuM_v9rqn3WTgzKrQUnpyfKHpbih_AaJF3uDoB39-cDunjP7pslxoIwq3P-ktgNWY-bBeeAlUi/s1600-h/4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDugL23jOg4yFJgYax1GK-3KiJjO2p8BxGloSIbcLj2oEiHXIJ-av-zhPYdYyuM_v9rqn3WTgzKrQUnpyfKHpbih_AaJF3uDoB39-cDunjP7pslxoIwq3P-ktgNWY-bBeeAlUi/s320/4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390820296328904162" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />It didn't take long for some members of the party to fall back into the patterns of their primate relatives....seriously bringing into question the claims of creationists.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtuOz2wro8m_4N94_qmwxabJAvY46QI10lBard2npGEVUyYGekteF06q75EckzVPDzaobZTaE7jnFZGwaEdQOyE5N4qICG_bU7hMuH6Dqxjbz4TyAaHdjefmjYgVQknbF40RM_/s1600-h/5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtuOz2wro8m_4N94_qmwxabJAvY46QI10lBard2npGEVUyYGekteF06q75EckzVPDzaobZTaE7jnFZGwaEdQOyE5N4qICG_bU7hMuH6Dqxjbz4TyAaHdjefmjYgVQknbF40RM_/s320/5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390818457735127122" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Our three fearless adventurers complete their death-defying walk and are about to get fleeced at the Huia convenience store.Scottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6988384.post-63441361646299762472009-09-27T19:05:00.001+13:002009-09-27T19:07:49.298+13:00An Interesting Review<a href="http://jtcontracelsum.blogspot.com/2009/09/another-review.html">Check it out.</a><br /><br />If you found that interesting, you may well be interested in <a href="http://www.fishpond.co.nz/Books/Nonfiction/Social_Sciences/Future_Studies/product_info/13027370/?cf=3">this book</a>.Scottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6988384.post-22969683073284491842009-09-24T19:51:00.006+12:002010-04-03T19:36:33.775+13:00Hope<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana;">Hope is endemic to humanity. When we hope, we look forward to a better day. And in a world like ours, looking forward to a better day comes naturally to us. If we live, we hope.<br /><br />As teenagers we hope to find true love in our relationships. We hope that our lives and future employment will be significant. In our twenties and thirties we perhaps hope that we will be able to marry; we may struggle to have children, and hope that we will be blessed with a child. We end up in places of employment where we struggle with drudgery and long for meaningful employment. Perhaps we become caught in violent relationships and end up hoping that our partner will change and treat us with respect and dignity. As we grow older we may hope for many other things. We begin to long for retirement. We might desire that our children find a suitable life partner. We may become philosophical and perhaps begin to hope for an end to oppression and injustice. We desire that poverty and sickness be alleviated. All our lives we live in hope.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana;">And even in the most dire situations, people will dare to hope. Imprisoned in the most horrific conditions, Jews in concentration camps hoped that they would be rescued. Prisoners on death row cling on to hope to the very end. In the most torturous situations, people will continue to hope. In fact it seems to me that the moment that people give up hope, they give up life.<br /><br />But what if human hope is nothing but a vain delusion? What if there is no better day? So many of us have experienced hope becoming reality, and the reality itself has been far less satisfying that the positive feeling of hope that preceded the reality. It seems to me that much of what we hope for, far from satiating our desires, merely leaves our inmost being parched, driving us to hope for something else. Thus we live our lives in the perpetual pursuit of what we do not possess.<br /><br />Why do we hope? Why is it that we like mice run on a treadmill never reaching our goal? Is hope some evolutionary survival mechanism that prevents us from cutting short our otherwise pointless lives? Perhaps in some sad twist of fate, those who managed to develop hope managed to survive better than those who could not. But if this is the case, does this not leave us in a terrible predicament? Our hope is at best useful and at worst irrational, for in the final analysis, while it may spur us on to great deeds in life, the grave mocks all human hope with its certainty and its finality.<br /></p> <span style="font-family:verdana;">Is there any other explanation for hope? Could it not be that in the deepest recesses of our being, we somehow know that we were intended for a better world? Could it not be that as created beings reflecting in some marred way the God who made us, we long for the perfection that we were designed to radiate? Are not our innermost beings desiring a world without grief, injustice, anger, poverty, oppression and death? In short, is not our hope an echo from Eden?</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> </span>Scottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6988384.post-86002874558256266842009-09-12T20:30:00.014+12:002009-09-13T08:36:51.970+12:002009 Photo MontageOk I don't know how to format these, so my apologies.<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUY2dgp6pjOxUmZrM7rWtK6bLah9BdYi3ujHPAcPUlg583nms2DjIQjpdIT11FWh_TVkaoS149km7W5-7QocqdSkrXvkKZ_8k-5kRYZWIv3BhhqKWliB5mJOrl9ulg480ThjmQ/s1600-h/1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUY2dgp6pjOxUmZrM7rWtK6bLah9BdYi3ujHPAcPUlg583nms2DjIQjpdIT11FWh_TVkaoS149km7W5-7QocqdSkrXvkKZ_8k-5kRYZWIv3BhhqKWliB5mJOrl9ulg480ThjmQ/s320/1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380528011667938530" border="0" /></a><br />January 1. An auspicious start to the year. Ok so it looks really weird - but it tastes really good.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifUg7JCZaMWgPF8MtCwVD_Fx7AdeRVAoYvgNTZsoyncRz1UzoielOx1EE-rXjUhjZK2qpCnwTCbm_hf59oLHmvjst96KFcmczEjw8cG1UFMjKrsd_O00rafJj6HVSTKV3ngC74/s1600-h/5.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifUg7JCZaMWgPF8MtCwVD_Fx7AdeRVAoYvgNTZsoyncRz1UzoielOx1EE-rXjUhjZK2qpCnwTCbm_hf59oLHmvjst96KFcmczEjw8cG1UFMjKrsd_O00rafJj6HVSTKV3ngC74/s320/5.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380528041775413570" border="0" /></a><br />Tongariro Crossing<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHuI6eVh10l6nw3Fn9p6TimySX3PRUGAX5a1OzU5A9ndzCu7DVNdcEKGrK2AKzasuuJxx5IIewdZ4zN-7M0X9Xnlz3njcL7nfoQ7pXmvz2YEN2D1VeAlsJsoJ5SHWTSR8wqUr6/s1600-h/6.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHuI6eVh10l6nw3Fn9p6TimySX3PRUGAX5a1OzU5A9ndzCu7DVNdcEKGrK2AKzasuuJxx5IIewdZ4zN-7M0X9Xnlz3njcL7nfoQ7pXmvz2YEN2D1VeAlsJsoJ5SHWTSR8wqUr6/s320/6.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380528807861833458" border="0" /></a><br />And again....<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Scp2PSKZlR-dshHlMJT9yjADdmx4SA3iQCWePB6UnS5zsTClHiOa0Rjg1CIOG6qIg_EOw5sSdHknh1dKTzP-20PIAmvF_FkO9yZwbjRG39f3kMTeaQ6JAYy_ONY2bYTmvyEo/s1600-h/3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Scp2PSKZlR-dshHlMJT9yjADdmx4SA3iQCWePB6UnS5zsTClHiOa0Rjg1CIOG6qIg_EOw5sSdHknh1dKTzP-20PIAmvF_FkO9yZwbjRG39f3kMTeaQ6JAYy_ONY2bYTmvyEo/s320/3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380528028647333026" border="0" /></a><br />Waitawheta tramp - I couldn't believe the sign!<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRf_fph6ewI7KPLee46fSevb7LH-nEoS8tEefkJryWEmMKPIdu7KjcWIzbyvSg0fJmNDFJSi44mqJkxrIpzj9pWKawhuMqJOWZ1y82DyFs5AKPCJ9yzs92O9uYZmIjqj4OR9px/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRf_fph6ewI7KPLee46fSevb7LH-nEoS8tEefkJryWEmMKPIdu7KjcWIzbyvSg0fJmNDFJSi44mqJkxrIpzj9pWKawhuMqJOWZ1y82DyFs5AKPCJ9yzs92O9uYZmIjqj4OR9px/s320/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380528020011951538" border="0" /></a>"Ahh so that's what the sign meant"<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS_MrP7iYCVi5QMp48VjDV144BjgEQAH5bbJ5g67syiPgCHq0OpChmQKwf9zWnsAWzd5S4ULu3AhA0CbtD0kj3JWBTY2GTeVx59O2_iG-Vd3G7Z0mvMdmx9nsGjSDHHLRS8F80/s1600-h/4.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS_MrP7iYCVi5QMp48VjDV144BjgEQAH5bbJ5g67syiPgCHq0OpChmQKwf9zWnsAWzd5S4ULu3AhA0CbtD0kj3JWBTY2GTeVx59O2_iG-Vd3G7Z0mvMdmx9nsGjSDHHLRS8F80/s320/4.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380528034659550002" border="0" /></a>Sarah is about to get VERY cold<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh9Ld6Zlo5h769SoM2soYVhtt4aT3cAYqbMFScoH5t8RyQM8TIjzb7PwD0o8Va4RdZknIvpvGMjcMubI-TOxqKj8b0K3vCtyq2uoi9u1dtHbe4TNLE2wGwGcQ0bw6jtqhd6RVd/s1600-h/P3210002.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh9Ld6Zlo5h769SoM2soYVhtt4aT3cAYqbMFScoH5t8RyQM8TIjzb7PwD0o8Va4RdZknIvpvGMjcMubI-TOxqKj8b0K3vCtyq2uoi9u1dtHbe4TNLE2wGwGcQ0bw6jtqhd6RVd/s320/P3210002.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380508937490128386" border="0" /></a>The view from our home in Parau - looking back to Manukau<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh87NO4kEryYPohpoNrrDzCuPtiUCbjvyP6hx9Gf-iORU-9FK-tB2XTPUc_RgK-3PTw85KLUnfKr8sWqJjlSoeigqC-bRoGmi_ETEV7Mj0T8yaJ5xlPHWWcGoy-NN7DuthmRUG5/s1600-h/2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh87NO4kEryYPohpoNrrDzCuPtiUCbjvyP6hx9Gf-iORU-9FK-tB2XTPUc_RgK-3PTw85KLUnfKr8sWqJjlSoeigqC-bRoGmi_ETEV7Mj0T8yaJ5xlPHWWcGoy-NN7DuthmRUG5/s320/2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380514223934878818" border="0" /></a>Just before sunrise, looking out from our front deck<br /></div><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Scott/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg" alt="" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ePR6UVr4SyteC_4Lve_2M-PnN7GQ3JzVdVYlk7W2MVR0NY-1T5DlWL_6KLD2iX4KNQbzQ7S4aCGg1JEzr75svWFxiRm2mvUZM2QWCjqZ6jIGdl695gf7ByHeZN4e5aye2HyG/s1600-h/4.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ePR6UVr4SyteC_4Lve_2M-PnN7GQ3JzVdVYlk7W2MVR0NY-1T5DlWL_6KLD2iX4KNQbzQ7S4aCGg1JEzr75svWFxiRm2mvUZM2QWCjqZ6jIGdl695gf7ByHeZN4e5aye2HyG/s320/4.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380514240000724754" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span> Walking along Whatipu.<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiUZHh96G1PoAejZprjFudE3pz4zmdtdJYJXNFanoh2PoSZp_kZIphyzwMLjymMAZ0S_kAE0w3y1OPdncrk5zvTQrk40EaJ2k0jGi-arcJ3h-UszRgbrnBm5Renf_GKvuy6h9y/s1600-h/5.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiUZHh96G1PoAejZprjFudE3pz4zmdtdJYJXNFanoh2PoSZp_kZIphyzwMLjymMAZ0S_kAE0w3y1OPdncrk5zvTQrk40EaJ2k0jGi-arcJ3h-UszRgbrnBm5Renf_GKvuy6h9y/s320/5.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380514244381736674" border="0" /></a>The massive dunes at Lake Wainamu<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUxNjRmZvtXoIdbkTWSrfQtdLXpnwZDkDO8TOa3wKYsx-aDYGMFSXm0HoTaYNitCfM_JHT8s1ZuMb5hJg2aatgWhnzxGFTtHLLUDvwtR3kLnNZ_Qbq5ygB5uwC7pKly_zsj7TZ/s1600-h/6.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUxNjRmZvtXoIdbkTWSrfQtdLXpnwZDkDO8TOa3wKYsx-aDYGMFSXm0HoTaYNitCfM_JHT8s1ZuMb5hJg2aatgWhnzxGFTtHLLUDvwtR3kLnNZ_Qbq5ygB5uwC7pKly_zsj7TZ/s320/6.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380514251411057074" border="0" /></a>Looking out from Mt Don Mclean towards the Awhitu Peninsula<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilLfiKHwcwatTiVaDJiUjjEJa3XunRAUFUHwCUTE3gsYGKmk0o_ab3F5lbokG98fIJl7PwL3u68RTwW357KQ1i4nsT9qf3sLFAfTugLH7F3Qs0wkMHPRiyw716rUyeRvwij3M2/s1600-h/7.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilLfiKHwcwatTiVaDJiUjjEJa3XunRAUFUHwCUTE3gsYGKmk0o_ab3F5lbokG98fIJl7PwL3u68RTwW357KQ1i4nsT9qf3sLFAfTugLH7F3Qs0wkMHPRiyw716rUyeRvwij3M2/s320/7.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380515898410662722" border="0" /></a>Entrance to the Manukau Harbour<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPHWqNi6OCFM7WAW75wPZoZE7uEGpIMU1vas2Qrr8KEjnChhb5UyqAE2taIge9jUlBmH2srHNYENqbNG0D5uLkmD2AE96EbXbgkmTlhyphenhyphen2v49YOuse_a6AawfQL_1-bwTCIm-Wg/s1600-h/8.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPHWqNi6OCFM7WAW75wPZoZE7uEGpIMU1vas2Qrr8KEjnChhb5UyqAE2taIge9jUlBmH2srHNYENqbNG0D5uLkmD2AE96EbXbgkmTlhyphenhyphen2v49YOuse_a6AawfQL_1-bwTCIm-Wg/s320/8.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380515900570527234" border="0" /></a><br />Sarah at 'work'....or at least at her place of employment<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq6KFV4lowIfau-MY2ob6qJOu2bi8Qi1GNKpfxpmZJRgLmQv2b3YsqzHbQKcIaxLOASRL2MycECftGBOji2l5Pcny_smNLf-1x8wuU6F6Uu1xAbjb5yrKLoDlvQltZ6ywPI5P_/s1600-h/9.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq6KFV4lowIfau-MY2ob6qJOu2bi8Qi1GNKpfxpmZJRgLmQv2b3YsqzHbQKcIaxLOASRL2MycECftGBOji2l5Pcny_smNLf-1x8wuU6F6Uu1xAbjb5yrKLoDlvQltZ6ywPI5P_/s320/9.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380520957888365682" border="0" /></a><br />Oh to be an academic!!<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2SB_dSOp_e0YscPgQ2W8thYe-l8i2zkP9DMRFtgnQ9-saKaN0Od0Lceq_NFHAQhzw7XPkfA_FuzKJx-QkyAH5ln6lS_gAm6GI69SgfBmdazR_5f6SgdFc_3S8jjDn7Yzz7ndy/s1600-h/3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2SB_dSOp_e0YscPgQ2W8thYe-l8i2zkP9DMRFtgnQ9-saKaN0Od0Lceq_NFHAQhzw7XPkfA_FuzKJx-QkyAH5ln6lS_gAm6GI69SgfBmdazR_5f6SgdFc_3S8jjDn7Yzz7ndy/s320/3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380520951854221858" border="0" /></a>The Tasman lookout walk near Piha.<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy_vbK_v40SS1I0GnyrQlwP6D37RAVcREKFWbg1Q28LV0KKMI5YMsyNkhlhiYtbojtlPAUpdf5H2v37xxkiQ_MdB6IwWmCS8tAjK8eLxPnUg0uJkYK3HajrX-FYQIJqLSxbArZ/s1600-h/10.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy_vbK_v40SS1I0GnyrQlwP6D37RAVcREKFWbg1Q28LV0KKMI5YMsyNkhlhiYtbojtlPAUpdf5H2v37xxkiQ_MdB6IwWmCS8tAjK8eLxPnUg0uJkYK3HajrX-FYQIJqLSxbArZ/s320/10.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380515912451633826" border="0" /></a>Sarah on the Arataki nature trail<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz2rsWAJ52EZe_1swjTmxcsnqSAKZn2_yfSV_bkPKWO2O0SmxzGdetdK-07sqi96CpwsT2vV_7Gh7hjjbZVwO3VaDH7lAEdEsMpCvjywIM9_IWlAUl0SYElTrC3928QysNiacf/s1600-h/11.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz2rsWAJ52EZe_1swjTmxcsnqSAKZn2_yfSV_bkPKWO2O0SmxzGdetdK-07sqi96CpwsT2vV_7Gh7hjjbZVwO3VaDH7lAEdEsMpCvjywIM9_IWlAUl0SYElTrC3928QysNiacf/s320/11.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380515922467012418" border="0" /></a><br />Goodbye old faithful!! Hello $1000<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-f4wdBV_QzWEqOjYnw7lH_vU-6F8cEnjDS-Xm2iVoHebmOXGxAd2Dy63EVuVbo_50gEoEO8VOSJ2HD2kKMkTDQigHlyq7QKU3maNDs1xCcNPl-I8X5amiqwC0aIrP63OkdlVT/s1600-h/12.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-f4wdBV_QzWEqOjYnw7lH_vU-6F8cEnjDS-Xm2iVoHebmOXGxAd2Dy63EVuVbo_50gEoEO8VOSJ2HD2kKMkTDQigHlyq7QKU3maNDs1xCcNPl-I8X5amiqwC0aIrP63OkdlVT/s320/12.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380517344876793586" border="0" /></a><br />Howick Historical Village<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy9v6BriSIuthG7Im-jw3hfSUUTrhnucufzkm5y-VJ_0KImNmHFiEUSA2IvtXF9Rtm8Vea-sZ-yz73JVpo0xB0GJw9SHfBFxFUyec1VgfnmQ98Z7KzumW9agt3bqJFyGYvlzeW/s1600-h/13.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy9v6BriSIuthG7Im-jw3hfSUUTrhnucufzkm5y-VJ_0KImNmHFiEUSA2IvtXF9Rtm8Vea-sZ-yz73JVpo0xB0GJw9SHfBFxFUyec1VgfnmQ98Z7KzumW9agt3bqJFyGYvlzeW/s320/13.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380517348784598834" border="0" /></a><br />A very strange sort of rooster.<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAGnzZhj6hWteW0cipd0464esiPNWk0wPCg4Duy27oO_ZCv3obGIz8zDO9K9G1d4pFZ26fdCxfN8EXTDFG-ONGEzA8LalbNuB1wi8Wop3Y_aIpvV-FJPUwis-wTUkLoOq5cpCg/s1600-h/14.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAGnzZhj6hWteW0cipd0464esiPNWk0wPCg4Duy27oO_ZCv3obGIz8zDO9K9G1d4pFZ26fdCxfN8EXTDFG-ONGEzA8LalbNuB1wi8Wop3Y_aIpvV-FJPUwis-wTUkLoOq5cpCg/s320/14.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380517355633993474" border="0" /></a><br />Me at Kitekite falls - which apparently has a rather bloodthirsty history<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOLuHATYmzRg7BOWFSulgw-tlBWDT8m3mKPVOr7MYjT4NDfgK4Oi01QoHgf_pozR2I8uRbj4aMuXCSz-pfEk8-OZU8w1YoUO4Hn7T4YmKV8oTFt7vkzeaPmzF8ZUZPVCpMprxb/s1600-h/15.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOLuHATYmzRg7BOWFSulgw-tlBWDT8m3mKPVOr7MYjT4NDfgK4Oi01QoHgf_pozR2I8uRbj4aMuXCSz-pfEk8-OZU8w1YoUO4Hn7T4YmKV8oTFt7vkzeaPmzF8ZUZPVCpMprxb/s320/15.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380517366621521346" border="0" /></a><br />Sarah tip toeing across Armour Bay (1 minutes drive away) at low tide.Scottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6988384.post-87007160901679617372009-09-10T16:22:00.001+12:002009-09-10T16:24:00.439+12:00From the AshesI think I might begin to post again.Scottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6988384.post-80496123847017967162008-03-03T12:00:00.005+13:002010-04-03T21:29:49.568+13:00Creating Little MonstersSome of the best arguments for using a smack as part of loving parental correction come from the children of <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=1501165&objectid=10494956&ref=emailfriend">those who will not smack</a>.<br /><br />Good gracious me Deborah! What kind of little monster are you foisting upon an unsuspecting society?! Deborah doesn't want her little Mea to fear her as a parent. Well that's a nice thought, but when you read on and find out what sort of issues Deborah has with Mea you wonder who is running the show.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Now, of course, our wilful daughter seems intent on testing our resolve. On a daily basis, we contend with screaming and tantrums, along with the regular declaration "No!" There are the refusals to put on a seat belt, eat dinner, stop putting half-eaten fruit on the carpet, tidy up toys, have a shower, stay in bed and much more. We know that much of the behaviour is consistent with the developmental stage and it will change.<br /><br />A few times now we have sat in the car, stationary, while we persuaded Mea of the need to have her seat belt on before we drove anywhere. Of course, it's tedious to have to sit there and wait but in those moments humour works wonders. It diffuses the tension as well as enabling us to illustrate our point and get Mea to comply. Making a joke of how silly we are for having to sit there seems to work. She's also concerned about a policeman giving us a fine.</span><br /><br />For goodness sake woman! You are the parent and Mea is the child! You are in charge! You are meant to train your child, not be trained by her. Some people might be happy to have their households run by two year olds - but I and the vast majority of people are not. Two year olds need direction - not this "You're my equal" dialogue rubbish.<br /><br />It baffles me that Deborah wanted to have her model of child-raising published. It does nothing to convince me that smacking is not necessary. Rather I was more convinced that now and again a smack is probably quite a good thing to prevent your child ruling the roost and becoming an absolute monster.Scottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6988384.post-36119401378518290152008-01-29T07:18:00.001+13:002010-04-03T21:29:49.582+13:00Christian ExtremismI was reading a few blogs, and I was directed to <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/sundaystartimes/4375565a22678.html">this editorial</a> in the Sunday Star Times.<br /><br />What a distrubing editorial. As most of my readers will know, I am a follower of Jesus Christ - a Christian if you prefer. While I may be different from many New Zealanders, I suspect that like most I care deeply about this country. And so I was annoyed by the insinuations that this editorial made about Christians who have begun to actively promote the referendum on smacking. Consider the introductory paragraph with me.<br /><br /><strong style="font-style: italic; font-weight: normal;">The Right has found a heavy club to beat the government with: a referendum on smacking at the next election. This is a brilliant ploy by the religious extremists of Family First. It will gather not only libertarians, Act voters and other motley fanatics of that kind, but many decent and ordinary people. It is as though the Brethren had found a cause that appealed to the mainstream. The political and social effects are likely to be large and wholly malign.</strong><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><br /><br />Notice the words 'religious extremists.' Why does agreeing with over 80% of the New Zealand population on the smacking issue make one an extremist? Aren't people with religious convictions allowed to promote what they believe is right without being labelled as extremists? Are we supposed to lie down and let the government tell us how to live without attempting to play our part in the democratic process? Is democracy not intended for Christians?<br /><br />Notice also that by implication 'Christians, libertarians, Act voters and other motley fanatics' are not decent and ordinary people. No - they are a separate category. Presumably they are indecent and peculiar people. But surely if many 'decent and ordinary' people are getting behind this referendum attempt - the cause in itself can't be all that bad. Just because the people out on the streets collecting signatures are Christians doesn't mean that the cause itself is somehow evil.<br /><br />It saddens me that an intelligent journalist could have written such ill-thought comments. Like the Exclusive Brethren, Christians are being portrayed as social lepers. We are painted as people who can't be trusted; people who have a dangerous agenda. The reality? We're just normal people trying to follow Jesus in this world - trying to love God and our neighbour - failing often. But we're not the big bogey man. <span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span>Scottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6988384.post-50433523785771507982007-11-06T09:50:00.000+13:002007-11-06T10:29:04.186+13:00Kerikeri HolidaySarah and I were able to enjoy a wonderful holiday last weekend in Kerikeri.<br /><br />We saw a mother duck with 12 ducklings..<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGauB5eJQVABYQAKqC1q-qgk9h6LJ3v0T7dDF8J6e5mc_9jC7W9ooQWKzGfOvuD65losb33bU9rcWTg6DDVdmLFOl47IyygoINpdollc8PEGXYxKWY7xFJPLsh9XcypP4m8cSy/s1600-h/ducks.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGauB5eJQVABYQAKqC1q-qgk9h6LJ3v0T7dDF8J6e5mc_9jC7W9ooQWKzGfOvuD65losb33bU9rcWTg6DDVdmLFOl47IyygoINpdollc8PEGXYxKWY7xFJPLsh9XcypP4m8cSy/s320/ducks.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129467694826012946" border="0" /></a><br />Checked out the Stone Store...on the outside because we didn't want to pay to go in!!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxNerC8oO_2NMTuPrUe1cy1CHu1d1yhQdY0uP_olGVMnBElS3O4jWLwDU0CCdxqFyz9dmq-mc24Ih0fq6APlBzROXBXc9KLG_bpUmAP33xKEgvhyphenhyphenjtxd2D2rcMTmYTo7y5RpG0/s1600-h/stone+store.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxNerC8oO_2NMTuPrUe1cy1CHu1d1yhQdY0uP_olGVMnBElS3O4jWLwDU0CCdxqFyz9dmq-mc24Ih0fq6APlBzROXBXc9KLG_bpUmAP33xKEgvhyphenhyphenjtxd2D2rcMTmYTo7y5RpG0/s320/stone+store.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129467716300849474" border="0" /></a><br />Mucked around on the rope swing!!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAvd_UHJaZZ5zb6HFXQjsDDoKR6LSYS3Io52i_P9SrDBL4SQ2DpR5xJb3ctRKZjQz2q_5J2m84cFvz5Z0Pwv3_lpnU1f7Mg0yS1Jk27wJSa1BxAbGgs9hGsyKcYWFOkaMUL5dT/s1600-h/swing.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAvd_UHJaZZ5zb6HFXQjsDDoKR6LSYS3Io52i_P9SrDBL4SQ2DpR5xJb3ctRKZjQz2q_5J2m84cFvz5Z0Pwv3_lpnU1f7Mg0yS1Jk27wJSa1BxAbGgs9hGsyKcYWFOkaMUL5dT/s320/swing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129467720595816786" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Viewed some waterfalls...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3cXL8HHagfrSbpUkNhCFdpH5P8THvAr9BJTbNQml4D6WoT-LMXuPG6gs0bAGwAnhDTjII_Tc77M0Bcqgws7cXvICCMffjLKu89gpN0Ruf5984mGO6uNQuxDMTKYbore9sxrPZ/s1600-h/waterfall.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3cXL8HHagfrSbpUkNhCFdpH5P8THvAr9BJTbNQml4D6WoT-LMXuPG6gs0bAGwAnhDTjII_Tc77M0Bcqgws7cXvICCMffjLKu89gpN0Ruf5984mGO6uNQuxDMTKYbore9sxrPZ/s320/waterfall.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129468970431299954" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6SiFelBD-wBkYDfHQusugna9GEZPRjUK5W-unvOP37clfzp7_Qr8cUx8AihX8-ithlYAJxLq6NxhL2J__1MDWsVtwabFqEZY_ZojjG0R9c5ZFBidllAeP8bja466mEvrRcjoy/s1600-h/waterfall2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6SiFelBD-wBkYDfHQusugna9GEZPRjUK5W-unvOP37clfzp7_Qr8cUx8AihX8-ithlYAJxLq6NxhL2J__1MDWsVtwabFqEZY_ZojjG0R9c5ZFBidllAeP8bja466mEvrRcjoy/s320/waterfall2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129470452195017090" border="0" /></a><br />We visited the Anglican Church....<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ljZJC7yyDbi94LmnVCIBVqFNK4AhiqRU4W488AbNZXgfihY7ke-EXrGGn62hXfyA9aE2PqTTHJ2p4SgJKCR-nWFhAg0IqTQMnStaduR_49zGNXmeCKVC8xNfo9O27ps3_YMD/s1600-h/anglican+church.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ljZJC7yyDbi94LmnVCIBVqFNK4AhiqRU4W488AbNZXgfihY7ke-EXrGGn62hXfyA9aE2PqTTHJ2p4SgJKCR-nWFhAg0IqTQMnStaduR_49zGNXmeCKVC8xNfo9O27ps3_YMD/s320/anglican+church.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129470456489984402" border="0" /></a><br />Went to the grave of a good friend.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJjlfunKkOnMrkWvrFIwLfipX23vKgYbeR-BEj72z4_F-0GE77iMZRAStco4ESi5eR4ME6xcn9jfmGAoddR8WFu7lsboRpxGXlrfy561c3j0fvGfUU4eQOud4bt8K-ITJ0tLpB/s1600-h/grave.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJjlfunKkOnMrkWvrFIwLfipX23vKgYbeR-BEj72z4_F-0GE77iMZRAStco4ESi5eR4ME6xcn9jfmGAoddR8WFu7lsboRpxGXlrfy561c3j0fvGfUU4eQOud4bt8K-ITJ0tLpB/s320/grave.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129467707710914850" border="0" /></a><br />Saw St Paul's Rock.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolQu0YXDLnTvvxVpYMk44ARAH1z4hpEkx4BDu9Ep2XRuwds3-w2jsFumKZmVPvzz6OWQ76XxzGSIA-xlDtc4vgE429amHXT7NjermXyKhmdvRiM9zaW-1y_81GX84KEo_TyQY/s1600-h/st+pauls+rock.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolQu0YXDLnTvvxVpYMk44ARAH1z4hpEkx4BDu9Ep2XRuwds3-w2jsFumKZmVPvzz6OWQ76XxzGSIA-xlDtc4vgE429amHXT7NjermXyKhmdvRiM9zaW-1y_81GX84KEo_TyQY/s320/st+pauls+rock.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129467712005882162" border="0" /></a><br />Conquered it too!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFJWPl5tfWxmJhAWHdF-8d0sswzor9ivYjyi-_Ca5ChWjDxSfzoO7qFVOgz-vq4nHJcW6aK30DdKqjPtdGsP251vkCHy3E4wYqSfY2hBBaizpc_TXr5VCavxFhTXpHeTvanHl7/s1600-h/views.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFJWPl5tfWxmJhAWHdF-8d0sswzor9ivYjyi-_Ca5ChWjDxSfzoO7qFVOgz-vq4nHJcW6aK30DdKqjPtdGsP251vkCHy3E4wYqSfY2hBBaizpc_TXr5VCavxFhTXpHeTvanHl7/s320/views.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129468961841365346" border="0" /></a>Scottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6988384.post-63613757769676364722007-09-11T10:15:00.001+12:002010-04-03T21:29:49.606+13:00Another Step Towards TyrannyIf <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=146&objectid=10462427&re">this</a> actually happens, we might just move out of New Zealand.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Children's Commissioner is proposing mandatory screening of every baby's home life in a bid to halve New Zealand's high child murder rate</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Those who refused to take part would be referred to welfare authorities.<br /></span><br />Wow. We can only hope that this supremely daft proposal is ignored by parliament. But one thing I know is this: No one is going to enter my house to check on how I raise my children without a big fight being put up on my part.<br /><br />Now why is this being proposed? Well apparently this could save five children a year. Ha! That should be on the next Tui billboard. What a load of codswallop. I suppose it will be just as effective as banning smacking. Because that has been a <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10455314">roaring succes</a> hasn't it? What it will do is increase a nosey government's reach into my homelife. Back off.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>Scottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6988384.post-85933379882671565452007-08-29T06:52:00.001+12:002010-04-03T21:29:49.622+13:00We need more of this!I was heartened to read of <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10460467">these teenagers who caught a robber</a> and dragged him to a police station. Awesome stuff. Great community-mindedness and action.Scottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6988384.post-44620336837675889782007-07-24T07:11:00.001+12:002010-04-03T21:29:49.636+13:00HomeschoolingThere was a bit of a discussion in one of my recent posts about homeschooling. I was quite interested in the different approaches taken. This led me to think "Is there a lot of conflict over the idea of homeschooling because people have different ideas about the goals it should achieve".<br /><br />I want you as the reader to lay aside your fundamental issues with homeschooling for the purposes of answering this question. "What is (or should be) the goal of homeschooling?"<br /><br />I'm not looking for a particular answer. I'm just interested to see what your ideas are. I have my own on this matter, and sympathise with some of what has been said recently on this blog with respect to the problems of homeschooling.<br /><br />I'd rather there not be a huge comments argument on this. (We can save that for a post in the future.) What I would prefer, is for you to help me develop my thinking on this subject by offering some ideas as to what homeschooling should achieve.Scottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6988384.post-64003460026937725022007-07-16T13:39:00.001+12:002010-04-03T21:29:49.653+13:00Encouraging StuffLast week after preaching at church a 10 year old girl came up to Sarah and I to show us the notes she had taken from the sermon. The notes came complete with a picture accurately depicting my geeky self resplendent in striped jumper and square specs.<br /><br />However what really was encouraging were the notes. This little girl had accurately summarised my sermon. She had listened and understood the basic message. I was very impressed. It just goes to show that children are often a lot smarter than we give them credit for.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Edit 17/7/7<br />Striped, not stripped!!<br /></span>Scottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6988384.post-1160522861378912742006-10-11T11:22:00.000+13:002006-10-17T11:23:34.913+13:00Honeymoon Photos part 1<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/1600/p4030020.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/200/p4030020.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Here is the first place we stayed at. It is a farmstay in a place called Okains bay about 20 minutes from Akaroa.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/1600/p4030030.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/200/p4030030.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/1600/p4030025.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/200/p4030025.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/1600/p4020006.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/200/p4020006.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Okains bay has a school (with about 10 children I think), a museum, two petrol pumps, and a general store which is pictured here.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/1600/p4030037.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/200/p4030037.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span>Here is Okains bay itself - about 2 minutes down the road. Lovely bay, but it was autumn, so we didn't swim.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/1600/p4030039.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/200/p4030039.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/1600/p4040054.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/200/p4040054.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Here are a few pictures from one of our day trips. We visited the Christchurch gardens which was really beautiful being autumn - with leaves golden and red.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/1600/p4040056.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/200/p4040056.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/1600/p4040066.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/200/p4040066.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/1600/p4050087.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/200/p4050087.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />And here are some photos from a Banks Peninsula walk we did. Notice that in the South Island, they must label the track <span style="font-weight: bold;">and</span> the view.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/1600/p4050088.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/200/p4050088.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/1600/p4050091.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/200/p4050091.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/1600/p4050109.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/200/p4050109.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Sarah and I decided to go on a cruise out in the harbour.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/1600/p4050176.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3964/189/200/p4050176.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>On another of our many walks, we got this view of Akaroa itself.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />This is part 1 of 3 of our honey moon slide show! We took about 600 photos, so if you want to see them all - come round. :)Scottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6988384.post-73344151145144902362006-10-03T09:07:00.001+13:002010-04-03T21:29:49.666+13:00Cool StuffLast night Sarah and I went to a concert in Old Government House celebrating its 150th aniversary. We got front row seats right in front (as in no more than 2m from) of the Fazioli grand piano. Michael Houston performed the second half of the concert which was a real highlight. The first half was performed by some students from the university.<br /><br />Music included some arias from Handel's Messiah, music from Mozart's The Magic Flute, Brahms Variations on and Original Theme, 6 Chopin Mazurkas, a Debussy piece, and 1 short little piece by a Cuban composer whom I had never heard of before.<br /><br />A fantastic evening.Scottyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07277188945264092720noreply@blogger.com0