Tales from the West Coast with TEA-02/2009

Its been another busy and eventful week and a half. We made our way back up the West Coast. We've stopped in many towns along the way including Wanaka where we walked up a mountain in which there were spectacular 360 degree views from the peak (It was good training for the leg muscles).

After that we had a fun afternoon at Puzzling World working out illusions and had our teamwork and patience tested at the garden maze... Brittney was tempted to use the emergency exit of the maze and Ruth and Sarah were desperately trying to resist the temptation to crawl under the fence. On the way to Fox Glacier we stopped at the side of the road to view some amazing waterfalls. We were amazed to see some (what we assume were) local college students create hundreds of small stone statues which only added to the already incredible view. Our team then walked through a dense rain forest which led to a stunning beach, the kind you only see on postcards. During this time we were able to sit in awe of God's work as the waves crashed into the beach. We all enjoyed the hour of prayer at the beach although we were eaten alive by sandflies. Some of us went to extreme lengths to keep the pesty critters at bay. We were just amazed at the diversity of the scenery all around us. We saw rain forests, beautiful beaches and glaciers all within a hours of each other.

We stayed at Fox Glacier for a night before packing up and travelling to Greymouth. As there were no churches in the area we had our own church by a stream, surrounded by God's glorious creation. We enjoyed a fire on the beach that night which involved dampers and chocolate bananas and to top it all off a spectacular sunset!

The following day we made our way to Westport stopping off on the way at Punakiki to see the pancake rocks and blow holes at high tide. We had a laugh watching the waves roll in and build up through the blow holes drenching us from head to toe. Each time a rainbow appeared above the blast of water reminding us of God's promise and his presence with us on this trip.

When we eventually arrived at Westport we attempted to pitch our tents (Ruth and Ally had a few problems as the tent had a mind of it's own). We packed our bags and food and headed to bed early, in preparation for our longest tramp yet at Nelson Lakes National Park.

On the first day of our five day tramp we walked for three hours to Lakehead Hut which was packed with many other trampers which gave us many opportunities for conversations about Christ.

On the second day we walked for five hours uphill to John Tait hut where we met two locals who own stands at the market in Motueka (we plan to meet up with them before church on Sunday).

The third took three hours of tough terrain to Upper Traver's Hut. Some of the gang stayed behind to journal while the rest of the team made it's way up the most challenging part of the tramp yet . . . the SADDLE!!! Jordan and Tyler even made it up a further ridge to top off the views. The struggle to reach the summit was well worth it as the view from the top blew us away.

On day four we walked from Upper Travers Hut to Lakehead hut. The walk took SEVEN LONG HOURS and we were all relieved to reach the hut. Our night at the hut involved the most surreal events in the history of T.E.A. There was a snoring competition to where there was more than one winner, giggling girls, other interesting noises and an alarm clock that went off at 4:30 AM that no one seemed to own up to or turn off. The alarm went off 4 times every 15 minutes before Ally eventually removed the pack (which contained the alarm) from the building.

On day five we made it out of the park in record time as kiwi fruit and showers were waiting for us.

In the past 7 weeks we have continued to meet and talk with a lot people from around the world. We have been challenged with tough questions and as a result have grown from the experience. We have had many God centered conversations, some going on for hours and others for a few minutes. Despite the length of time, the seed has been planted and we are leaving the rest in the hands of the Gardner (God).

Prayer requests:

- Continue to have discipline as a team and as individual for achieving our goals

- Continue to step outside our comfort zone to bring glory to God

- Make the most of every moment and opportunity

- Choosing our attitudes wisely

- Safety

- The people that we have met along the way

- Praise God for blessing us with the most beautiful weather on our tramp

Thank you for your love and prayers. Will continue to keep you posted.

Crunchie, Touque, DJ, Sunshine, Allyburger, Twinkletoes and Frostie.