24th Dec - Five Rivers to Arrow Town

Up at 8 and joined the family for breakfast. The 2 boys were very excited about Santa arriving tonight. They are very cute.

Angela gave me lots of contacts for their friends and family around NZ that I might be able to stay with. Awesome. It had stopped raining early in the morning and was sunny when I set off. The bike ride was again great and I was looking forward to getting to Arrowtown for Christmas.

As I was biking along I got a text from Shauna and Amanda (2 girls I met in Milford Sounds) asking where I was. I texted back and it turned out that they were only 5 mins behind me on the same road! Cool. I had just stopped off at the cafe in Kingston to use the loo. I waited a couple of mins for them and then we sat and chatted for a couple of hours over coffee and cake at the cafe. What perfect timing. I really enjoy their company. They invited me to join them for New Year up in the North of the South Island - which would be great if I manage to get there in time. It also turns out that they are in Kathmandu on exactly the same dates as I plan on being there - again amazing timing. I am now planning on meeting up with them then. They are from Toronto and have many friends there and so we will try to get them to meet up with my lovely friend Jacob (who is there is work at the moment) :-)
I went to the supermarket in Frankton to get some Christmas Presents for the family that I am staying with for Christmas and then biked to Arrowtown for about 5.30.

The Jenkins have a really lovely old converted cottage made of stone. It is actually one of the nicest houses I have seen in New Zealand. I do miss the oldness of buildings in Europe. The wooden bungalows of NZ seem very temporary in comparison and not as solid. It was really great to be in a family environment with a Christmas tree and decorations etc on Christmas Eve.
I spent some of the evening on the internet and sorting out my washing etc and having dinner with the family. I decided to go to the mid-night church service with a couple of others. I have not been to church in many years and do not like a lot of the Christian doctrine but I really enjoyed the service. It reminded me of being a child and going to church with my Grand parents and singing carols. It also reminded me of home. The service was in a great little, quaint church and the sermon had a strange colonial feel to it. I good way to see Christmas in.