Tuesday 17th December

Today our part of the family adventure begins!

I guess it all started with Jeremy and Brenda coming to the end of their contract with Christ Church, Kenilworth in Cape Town. This happened at the end of November 2013, and they decided that they would take a three month sabbatical before they started on a new path of ministry - Jeremy has been appointed Director of Alpha, South Africa and starts his new job on the 1st March 2014.

Amanda has longed for her brother, Jeremy, along with his wife Brenda and their two girls, Ruth and Nici, to visit her and her family in Perth. Amanda and Gavin with their boys, Joshua and Caleb, moved to Perth just over five years ago and are now very happily settled in their own home. So it seemed that the right start to the sabbatical would be a trip to Australia, in December.

It didn't take Sarah and me many seconds to realise that the whole of our family could be together for Christmas for the first time ever! So it was that we booked our tickets for Perth, via Dubai travelling on Emirates.

Jeremy, Brenda and the girls arrived in Perth early in December and have had a great time exploring Perth and Margaret River with aunt, uncle and cousins.

Today we lock up our home and head for the airport for what looks like being a loooong journey - eight hours to Dubai, a five hour lay-over, and a ten hour flight into Perth. (SO glad the family didn't move to Brisbane!)

Here is a picture of our home in the glow of a golden evening sunset.