A few weeks back I was about to throw out some boxes from the opportunity shop and decided they could tell a Christmas message.
The inside message is Jesus, and that God loves you,happiness ,forgiveness, hope and a future and peace is what God has for us.
This is the third Christmas letter from Tennant Creek.
Karen has helped Anyinginyi Health Aboriginal Corporation get accreditation,
since then she has taken on the job of Clinic Nurse Manager for the Anyinginyi Health Aboriginal Corporation.
They are very busy with 40-70 patients a day with often quite complicated complaints and poor health .
Karen is responsible for 20 staff nurses and doctors, drivers , pharmacy ordering etc.
She is kept busy with lots of things going on, yet handles it well, and is appreciated by the way she works through often complex issues.
On the home front I experiment with cooking, cleaning , playing the banjo! I have even started watching cricket !
I help at the Uniting Church Opportunity shop, and lead a service a month. On Fridays after Op shop in the morning I spend the afternoon teaching at the High School as a volunteer.
Like all years this has been special, celebrations of Tuiana turning 21 in January, and starting her early childhood degree with Te Tari Puna Ora O Aotearoa in Nelson.
Brother Allan turned 70 in March, another good cause to be there.
Another highlight this year was our OE walkabout adventure .
Landmarks seen on TV and film became real. Nephew Phil Crew was a great help in London .
It was great seeing the part of London he helped transform.
Meeting up with Lisa was another highlight along with Mick and Chloe Kent was amazing , friends pick up where they left off and continue to make more memories along the way.
You know that song , 'I've been everywhere man' . Well we haven't. However this year saw us going to places that had only been names and misty distant feelings of, 'It would be good to go there sometime'.
Well it happened, with Karen doing a terrific job of putting legs on the dream trip of Ian & Karens 'Travel Walkabout'
We headed away on the 6th of September from Tennant Creek by car , onto the first of a number of flights, Alice Springs, Sydney , and on to Dubai , to stay on Khalid Bin Waleed Road.
From Dubai it was back to the land of our ancestors Glasgow, Oban, Inversdale ,Martyrs Bay Iona, Holyrood Edinburgh.
At London, Heathrow we changed planes and airports.
Gatwick to Rome Fiumicino Tempio Di Pallade Via Giolitti ,Rome
At the Port of Civitavecchi we left for ten days on big boat,heading for the Turkey and the Greek islands via Sicily (Messina ) Italy .
Some steaming at sea to Athens (Piraeus) Greece and onto Ephesus (Kusadasi) ,Turkey Rhodes Greece,Santorini , Mykonos a day at sea back to Naples ,Rome (Civitavecchi) Italy Via Gaeta, Fiumicia Rome .
We went back to the United Kingdom Dublin, Waterford, Cork and London.
Charles De Gaulle airport saw us saying goodbye to Europe as we headed back to the land of Down Under and Oct 15 saw us back in Alice and driving the 500km in the Northern Territory back to Tennant Creek.
Each name and place is a story in themselves , some has been put on our blog: teatotennant.blogspot.com
We have a very full memory bank of,'dinning out stories.'
It is good to be having Joel, Hayley, and Tuiana here with us for Christmas.
Today a bowlegged Akubra wearing Warumanga man asked me the time , when I was sweeping outside the Op shop. I told him and and he said, "Thanks Old timer! "
Yes another year nearly gone. What wonderful people we have met along the way.
Family and friends we carry in our hearts in our travels.
We pause at this time the year again at the Manger and look again at the one who gives us hope and joy and hear the Angel's message,Te harinui ! Glad tidings of great joy!
Merry Christmas !
God bless
Arohanui
Ian and Karen
Sent from my iPad
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