Out-Training Update

Out-Training is going well. It’s pretty full-on but I am enjoying being out and about again. (Bare with me as I write while I think!)

I am getting my head around everything I have to do, and trying to get decent sleep and decent meals. I have been around several people’s houses and fed the latter, which has been nice, though I think I may have stopped the invitations coming from one particular place when I popped a McDonalds bag and scared the cat. (But man, was it funny!)

Probably the hardest, yet most rewarding time so far was visiting the South Canterbury Hospice as a chaplain. One man I had met the week prior to my visit was still in, but had gone downhill. I got to meet his wife and heard lovely stories of how they met and their life together. I got to pray with her before I left and felt the most fulfilled after the visit when I started up the car.

Of course, I then thought about them all night and the familiarity with Nana last year was a bit much so Mum ended up with a very late night phone call with me crying rivers. It’s moments like that I wish my family were a lot closer than the 13 hour drive and 3 hour ferry crossing it would take to get me to them.

However, the good news is that summer has finally arrived in Timaru. I will admit, I don’t think I have lived in a more beautiful spot that Timaru on a good day. I can look out at Caroline Bay in one direction and at the Remarkables in the other.

I haven’t quite got used to hearing people say they are popping to Dunedin/Christchurch/Temuka/Waimate/Ashburton/Oamaru etc yet. I still think of them being places at the other end of the country, not just a bit down the road. And it amuses me to hear people talk about Hamilton and Auckland as if they are miles away (even if they are!)

There is a kindred spirit when you meet another North Islander. Like I met a guy today from Te Kuiti. The others I was with looked blankly but I was ready to jump up and down screaming “I know where that is!!!” There is often a look between North Islanders. I can’t really think how to describe it. But it is kind of like when you meet another Kiwi travelling overseas. (Except I’m still in New Zealand.)

One thing I do love about Timaru is the number of old church buildings. Incredible. I’ve not seen anything like it up north. The Basilica in Timaru especially captured my attention. The size, the history of it … I guess it is the closest I will get to Europe for a few more years anyway.

And then I also had Mum’s cousin Warren pass through … biking his way round the South Island before he has to be back in Auckland where he teaches at I think Kings College. Unfortunately I missed seeing him face-to-face, but it was cool having a person I knew down this way.

The Corps (church) people are really lovely. They have been incredibly hospitable and friendly. I even met one lady who knew my grandparents, Norm and Nancy! The families are quite intertwined, but it was expected and quite honestly isn’t as confusing as what the Smiths are like in Hamilton. It has given me a new appreciation for what people go through up there trying to sort out who belongs to who.

I work mostly with Jane, the Community and Family Worker, in the morning, and she listens to all my stories with a face that looks interested (believe it or not!) and Bronwyn, Ricky, Alan and the changing staff at the Family Store, which is attached to the Corps.

The Foodbank is incredible and I am amazed at how generous the Timaru community is. It always has donations coming in, which of course means the Army can be generous giving out.
And with that, I think I will sign off. Til next time …