garyandpearl

Day 17 February 2

Happy Groundhog Day. Did he see his shadow??

It was another beautiful day here. Gary and I had to pack up our suitcases before church this morning, and then we joined Brian and Julia and the boys at the New Plymouth Bible Church. It was great to meet their church family and worship and learn together.

After church, we enjoyed a delicious lunch at The Bach on Breakwater Cafe and Restaurant. Julia’s parents were able to join us as well, and it was wonderful being able to enjoy such unique food on a rustic wood table outside in the sun with great company!

After a quick visit to a beautiful viewpoint of the city, we headed to the airport to catch our flight to Wellington. What an easy check-in process: we dropped the keys to our rental car in a box, we got our boarding passes in less than a minute without showing photo ID, and there was no security process; we just walked onto the plane a few minutes before takeoff! We said our goodbyes to our gracious hosts and continued on our way.

The Wellington Airport had a sign that welcomed us to the middle of middle earth. There were a few familiar creatures inside:

Here is a picture for Keanna:

Gary and I headed downtown for a few hours since we had a five hour layover. The downtown was filled with people enjoying the beautiful day along with various food and drinks available at the many restaurants and cafes. Gary and I enjoyed a delicious wood fired pizza followed by mocha chocolate cake. Back at the airport, we caught our flight to Christchurch and settled into our hotel for the night.

Proverbs 17:28

“Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise;
when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent” ESV