If you have ever lost an important key you will know the awful sick-in-the-tummy feel that Val experienced this week.
Yes, it was pretty bad - I still don't know if I actually lost my passport or weather it was stolen. I went to such lengths to have it in a pouch on my person the whole way and when I arrived at the Rubins place I seem to remember saying I can take it off now - but that is vague - it may well have been dropped or stolen at the airport - the pouch with the passport and itinerary all disappeared mysteriously.
The poor things they had us turning their entire apartment upside down and inside out and we emptied every bag three times etc., etc., and finally we had to contact the Australian Consulate who were very helpful.
In brief, we had to re-apply for a new one, have lots of documents faxed to their office to prove who I was and that I was married to Kevin - it certainly caused me great stress and Kev many hours of skyping and phone calls scanning documents in Wayne's office, Wayne printing screeds for us, Wayne driving us to downtown LA to the Consulate etc. - all took several days. I am happy to say that we had a call from the Consulate last night (30th) to say all was well and it would be forwarded to our address in Massechussetts in time to reach us before we leave the country.
What we would have done without the back-up team of Sarah-Jane, Linda and Rach at home I do not know. The exclamation " You waaarrrt.....you laaaaast your paaasssport" from folks here with incredulous expressions on their faces leaves me a bit shaken to say the least!
Thursday, May 31, 2007
The Longest Day!
as at May Friday 25th...
We were driven to Jacobsen's home today and met by Wayne and Sheeba and Sierra (their two lovely dogs or as Val puts it, two small horses).
But that's getting ahead of ourselves. The flight from NZ was long and we arrived in LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) tired but delighted to be met by David and Jackie Rubin, a couple whom we had met quite a few years ago now.
It was just after noon on Tuesday 22nd, LA time but when we considered that we had left Aus around the same time on the same day we recognised that we had been going for nearly 25 hours and in order to be able to see a dear friend we agreed to go to a restaurant for an afternoon lunch. It was wonderful to see Sandy Solomon again as a result we found second wind. We went back to David and Jackie's home and eventually went to bed around 11 pm which was 36 hours since we fell out of bed in Lancefield!
We had two delightful days of discussion and reminiscing which along with a tour of the Mandalay marina just across the street from where they live made a wonderful start to our journey - and to Val's delight there was a real caffe latte available close by. We listenend to their story of their adventure as they stepped out in unusual ways at the call of Father. A small group of them have the sense that they should go to Las Vegas to share God's love and good news.
David said as we left that he felt that the Holy Spirit's presence had been with us clearly whilst we had visited together.
We were driven to Jacobsen's home today and met by Wayne and Sheeba and Sierra (their two lovely dogs or as Val puts it, two small horses).
But that's getting ahead of ourselves. The flight from NZ was long and we arrived in LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) tired but delighted to be met by David and Jackie Rubin, a couple whom we had met quite a few years ago now.
It was just after noon on Tuesday 22nd, LA time but when we considered that we had left Aus around the same time on the same day we recognised that we had been going for nearly 25 hours and in order to be able to see a dear friend we agreed to go to a restaurant for an afternoon lunch. It was wonderful to see Sandy Solomon again as a result we found second wind. We went back to David and Jackie's home and eventually went to bed around 11 pm which was 36 hours since we fell out of bed in Lancefield!
We had two delightful days of discussion and reminiscing which along with a tour of the Mandalay marina just across the street from where they live made a wonderful start to our journey - and to Val's delight there was a real caffe latte available close by. We listenend to their story of their adventure as they stepped out in unusual ways at the call of Father. A small group of them have the sense that they should go to Las Vegas to share God's love and good news.
David said as we left that he felt that the Holy Spirit's presence had been with us clearly whilst we had visited together.
Up, up and away...
As at 23rd May...
We took off from Melbourne Airport just after noon yesterday. All the urgent 'must do' things that we needed to complete and Rachel drove us to the airport. Arriving early to try to obtain a seat in the exit row of the airplane was to no avail. Air New Zealand staff in Melbourne had no authority to allocate these seats they said/ The fact that that included the Auckland to Los Angeles 12 hour segment made Kevin somewhat sad and a little sore at the thought.
The 3 hour trip to NZ seemed to slip by quickly probably because Val listened to her new MP3 player and Kevin talked the time away with a man seated next to him. Val found the button earphones did not cut out the noise of the aircraft and was loaned Bose 'noise reducing' headphones that the man next to Kevin had planned to use himself but having entered a long discussion had no more need of for the flight! (Val was so impressed she purchased a set of an inferior brand at a New Zealand Duty Free shop.)
Kevin's new friend shared how he was going to San Fransisco to help a family who have a child who was born with a brain injury. The family were following a treatment my friend has prescribed which entailed taking the child through exercises which 'teach' the brain to reset and allow the child to have a normal life. He said in his work he saw again and again the miracle kids being given a whole life. He said he was not a believer though raised an a church famil
y he often said thank you to God or the power behind the miracles he saw.
Kevin wasnt happy with his seat as there was no leg room or room to read if the person in the seat in front reclined his seat and made up his mind to be first off the aircraft to try and obtain a better seat for the long haul.
The kind, kind people at Air New Zealand did change Kevin's seat allowing him to sit next to the galley while Val sat behind him in the next row.
We took off from Melbourne Airport just after noon yesterday. All the urgent 'must do' things that we needed to complete and Rachel drove us to the airport. Arriving early to try to obtain a seat in the exit row of the airplane was to no avail. Air New Zealand staff in Melbourne had no authority to allocate these seats they said/ The fact that that included the Auckland to Los Angeles 12 hour segment made Kevin somewhat sad and a little sore at the thought.
The 3 hour trip to NZ seemed to slip by quickly probably because Val listened to her new MP3 player and Kevin talked the time away with a man seated next to him. Val found the button earphones did not cut out the noise of the aircraft and was loaned Bose 'noise reducing' headphones that the man next to Kevin had planned to use himself but having entered a long discussion had no more need of for the flight! (Val was so impressed she purchased a set of an inferior brand at a New Zealand Duty Free shop.)
Kevin's new friend shared how he was going to San Fransisco to help a family who have a child who was born with a brain injury. The family were following a treatment my friend has prescribed which entailed taking the child through exercises which 'teach' the brain to reset and allow the child to have a normal life. He said in his work he saw again and again the miracle kids being given a whole life. He said he was not a believer though raised an a church famil
y he often said thank you to God or the power behind the miracles he saw.Kevin wasnt happy with his seat as there was no leg room or room to read if the person in the seat in front reclined his seat and made up his mind to be first off the aircraft to try and obtain a better seat for the long haul.
The kind, kind people at Air New Zealand did change Kevin's seat allowing him to sit next to the galley while Val sat behind him in the next row.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Departure gets closer and closer!
It is just under three weeks ubtil we depart on this tour. To be honest we have been rather busy doing things around the house that need to be left in good condition so we haven't had time to notice the days go by. But now we are getting a bit more organised and Val told me yesterday that she was going to do a 'practice pack'. I found that hard to appreciate as I have never practiced packing to go away! I usually (because of her loving care) see what is in my case after I have arrived at my destination!
We have been asking God and pondering where we should spend our time and asking what we need to be prepared for. It has been wonderful to have phone or email contact with some of the folk we will meet and some who will host our stay. It seems, as you would expect of our Father, that everything seems to be falling into place.
We have been asking God and pondering where we should spend our time and asking what we need to be prepared for. It has been wonderful to have phone or email contact with some of the folk we will meet and some who will host our stay. It seems, as you would expect of our Father, that everything seems to be falling into place.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)