As hard as it was to leave our home in NZ, it will be much harder to leave England, having spent so much quality time with family and not knowing when we’ll return. We leave England on the 3rd January, and will both be sad to say our Goodbyes. We both finished work just before Christmas, with both employers saying they are sorry to see us go. Amy’s school will particularly miss her, and made a big deal of her leaving, with gifts in the assembly, the staff room, the classroom, hundreds of Christmas Cards and leaving books that Everyone in the school signed! And she was just a relief teacher! One teacher told me (James) that she’d been a breath of fresh air to the school, showing the other staff that teaching can be fun and vibrant! Her attitude and competence has been rewarded back home in NZ with a promotion to Senior Teacher, of the Year 7 & 8’s (although she's now very keen to get Smart Boards into Kiwi classrooms)!
Spending Christmas with the Ridpath family has been special for everyone. To give (and recieve) gifts with the whole family for the first time, play games, watch Christmas TV and be involved in the family Christmas party - this has been one of the best parts of our trip! We also made a day trip to Birmingham to visit family Amy's never met and had a wonderful day with aunties, uncles, cousins and half cousins!
We now begin the next part of our Round the World Journey with a flight from Heathrow to New York, and after a couple of short stops in Vegas, Honolulu and Sydney, we arrive back in Christchurch! Looking forward to getting back into our own home, back into our jobs and back to some sunshine! We pray a blessing on all our friends and family as we begin the next decade - that you will be filled with an inner love, joy and peace that cannot be taken away! God Bless :)
