Welcome to HASTINGS and to HAWKES BAY

We live in Hastings in a "flat" (apartment) with three other units. We have a tiny front yard, and the backyard is a parking area and lines to hang clothes. We have only met one neighbor, a Maori named Jonno, his partner Mahi, their son CJ, and a new 2-week old son they haven't named yet. Our flat has no heater, no air-conditioning, no screens on the windows, and one electrical outlet in every room except the bathroom where there are NO outlets. We do have two bedrooms (a queen bed in our room and twins in the other room for when missionaries need to stay over), one bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen. Despite these humble circumstances (at least compared to what we are used to), our home here is considered very lovely, and we are comfortable and content. Neither our stove nor our oven worked the first three weeks we were here, but we could use a hotplate, a crockpot, and our toaster...or, if need be, we would go out to dinner! Going out to dinner is a challenge, too...the prices are exorbitant, the food really different, but at least there is no tipping in New Zealand. We have found out that we quite like Burger King and Domino's Pizza...see, we're just like the missionaries! We're not complaining, just commenting; every missionary needs to make adjustments to different ways of living, eating, and cultures...and we're loving it. Here are some pictures of our flat, and many, many Maoris live in far more humble circumstances.

Here's the front of our flat, living room on the left, master bedroom on the right.

See the signs for the intersection where we live...and Willowpark should sound very familiar to our family as one of our favorite places to visit in Logan. No wonder we feel right at home!

Backyard, our car, and clotheslines

...and our living room, complete with Christmas tree decorated in blue.

...and our kitchen with its tiny fridge...but plenty big enough for two of us.