Sad news.

This is a hard one for me.

I know friends read this and I need to call for your prayers at this time. Louise and I won't be able to travel to the UK over Christmas due to passport problems. We are both very upset about it and so gutted that we won't get to catch up with family and friends.

We do hope that some time next year when the issues have been dealt with that we can try again.

So, we are very sorry to all who where expecting to see us both and hope you can be patient with us and as I've asked, keep us in your prayers.

Thanks guy's.

Heavenly Illuminations!

 

I've just been watching the most amazing thing from my sun room. The sky over the bay is peppered with evening clouds and theirs a storm that's causing the clouds to fill with illuminations. Its really cool to watch these massive puffy clouds glow. I can't hear thunder but the light display is great!

I hope it lasts up, it's getting darker and it's then that the real show will start!

 

Yeah okay, some strange things interest me!

Sunday in Port Alfred

Well not entirely!
We started our day with a beautiful early morning swim. Rather painfully we started of at the wrong part of the beach (it was very rocky under foot) but as we made our way further down the beach it became sandy and was absolutely great. I can't think of a better way to start the day.
After breakfast and a trip into town to visit the tourism center we decided to head out of Port Alfred for a drive to Bathurst. On the way we stopped of to visit a giant pineapple, how could we not?
The pineapple is huge and has a little gift shop at its base (no that's Louise!).

From hear we drove of to Grahamstown for a look around. Grahamstown has loads of history and a lot of Churches. I've been here once before very early in the morning and everything was shut, sadly, being a Sunday, most things were shut again! We did have a nice lunch together though. The drive to and from Grahamstown was very nice with great views of the countryside.
The countryside in this part of the country is very dry and harsh with lots of aloe vera trees and plants. The temperatures were very hot which kind of set the scene well.
Grahamstown has a yearly arts festival which I hope Louise and I can one day visit (if it's open!!).
We've been blessed with a lovely weekend; add to that great weather and that leaves Louise and myself very happy.

I will be putting more pictures on my photo blog so check them out:

http://mlk30.blogspot.com/

God bless ya

The Kowie river

Today we started with a nice stroll down the beach catching the early morning sun, wow man, even at such an early hour the sea was warm.
We headed back to the cabin for breakfast on the deck and yes, a dip in the jacuzzi!















Some nasty person directed the jets upwards! So things got a bit wet!
Jets pointing the right way and I was in bath heaven.

After breakfast Louise and I went into town to have a look around. Later we met with Louise's mom and dad, and the four of us went on a boating trip down the river Kowie.















Our guide took us all around the very posh canals and the canalside mansions, we actually saw a three story house that had its own elevator!
The boat ride then took us further down the river Kowie and further inland. It was lovely to be on the open water and to our surprise we sailed past our soon to be Associate Pastor, Donovan!

The rest of the day was spent chilling out, Louise and I went to the beach and enjoyed the sun and sea, cool man!

Port Alfred Sands

Louise and I were blessed with a very pleasant drive through to Port Alfred. We arrived early evening and shared a nice meal with Louise's folks. The wooden cabin that we are staying in is really nice, we've been given the double room with a jacuzzi in the en-suit which I'll have to try out!
The cabin is very close to the beach, the sound of the sea is just so nice.
We're looking forward to our first full day tomorrow.
I'll tell you more about it later.

Yay.........Holiday time!

Just a quick post before I set off.
Louise is just about to finish work then she's going to pick me up and we're off!
The weather looks like its picking up for us which is great, so the forecast is LOADS of laying in the SUN!!
Just heard from Louise's folks who are half way there already, Port Elizabeth is very busy with Friday traffic. I'm hoping a lot of that will have cleared by the time we get there??
So, what ever your doing over the weekend, I hope it involves FUN FUN FUN!!

God bless ya!

Let's just get away from it all!!

Louise and I are having a weekend away!
Thanks to her folks who have this great holiday points club thing!
I’m not sure of the proper name, but I do know that it’s enables them to book into some really great places.
Louise and I are both very grateful to them both for including us in their short break.
The place where we are going is called Port Alfred Sands in Port Alfred. It’s located between Port Elizabeth and East London and isn’t that far from Grahamstown.
Port Alfred is really a little fishing port but has become more of a holiday destination. It looks like there is plenty to do locally with game reserves and boating trips, theirs even a small train ride that you can go on taking you in land and into some beautiful countryside.

Louise and are both very excited and both feeling very much like we need this break. It’s been a year since we had any real holiday with us saving up our holiday time for our trip to the UK.
So, we may only have a weekend away because of work but it’s going to be great. Great company, great location, great food and a great big rest!
Last weekend Louise and I got to speak to my family in the UK via Skype which was wonderful. We saw Jack and Susan for the first time since we left the UK, man I miss you guys.
It’s all very exciting at the moment because we know that the next time we all see each other will be in the UK for our holiday, YAY!!
I can’t believe just how soon it is now to when we fly. Christmas in the UK, with family and friends, we can’t wait.
(But I do want to say that we will miss all those that we leaving behind and are looking forward to having another Christmas with you guys when we get back home!).
So, that’s it for now, I’m going to get some breakfast.
I’ll take pictures while I’m away and I’ll post them on my photo blog:
http://mlk30.blogspot.com/

God bless ya!

The department of home affairs!!

Well, as you may have read in my last posting, Louise and I went to PE so as to extend my visa, Louise had done a lot of ground work together with her Mom in order to make sure we had all we needed.
Having arrived nice and early and both of us taking a day away from work we were told that we couldn’t extend the visa until thirty days before my current visa expires!
Why they didn’t tell us this on the many phone calls that were made before we went through I don’t know!!
Anyway, they have told me that I shouldn’t have any trouble at the airport when I arrive back from the UK as the visa is still current; please pray for me that this will be the case. It was a very upsetting experience for us both mainly because Louise actually had to take a day’s holiday leave to be able to go and she doesn’t have much.
I will say that the guy who dealt with us was very nice and I’m hoping to see him when we return. We have to go through in January to try again to extend the visa so watch this space for more news and prayer requests.
The day ended up being an enjoyable one, we spent the day with Louise’s folks and managed to get some Christmas presents which was great. So the day wasn’t a complete waste.
Next time we go to PE it will be to fly out to the UK.
I’m getting excited now!!

PE again!!

I know, I said that Louise and I won't be going back to Port Elizabeth in a hurry, but we have to go through tomorrow in order to extend my visa. The office is in PE and Louise's folks are going through for other reasons so we're going to catch a ride with them. If we're not driving I'm sure all will be fine!
My visa runs out about March time next year but with us going to the UK for Christmas I don't really want to be trying to get back into the country with only a short time left on the visa . We've been told various things about what we must do to get my visa extended so it might be a bit of a trying time for us. Louise is great in such circumstances, she really brings the balance needed to get such things sorted out.

Yesterday, at Church, we found out that possibly five guy's from our small group are going forward to be baptised this coming Sunday which is really great. I know that God is going to be meeting with them in this and I'm so excited for them as they take this next step in there relationship with God.

If you read this before the end of Tuesday 6th November, I.E. tomorrow, please pray for us that all will go well with extending my visa.
Many thanks.

Yay.............I got to swim!

So, Saturday didn't start quite as planned, the weather looked a little bit like it was going to be a wet day but hey this is J'bay man, even if the weather looks down early, chances are it will brighten up as the morning progresses and it did.
Louise went off to a Christmas fete which gave me a chance to sort out my garage, something I been wanting to do for a long time.
But it's the weekend man and I can't spend the whole thing doing horrible job's eh?
So Louise and I took a drive over to Aston Bay and hit the beach, the weather was a little cold for Louise to want to swim but for me it was just begging for me to take a dip!
Yay, all week I've wanted to get into the sea and I really enjoyed this chance.
It's evening now and I've been sat in our stoop looking out at our garden, the sun is setting and the sky is taking on that red glow. A perfect end to a lovely day.
God bless ya.

PS, I've posted some new pictures on my photo blog. If you want to check them out visit: http://mlk30.blogspot.com/

The Heavens split open!

Wow man, last night (Wed, 31st Oct) we had a kicking thunder storm in the Bay!
Well, let’s just say that for an Englishmen it was kicking!
I don’t remember too many big storms in the UK with such incredible displays of lightning.
The sheet lightning kind of lit up the sky then the forks came crashing down. When you see such displays of nature created in and through our Great God you realise just how small we really are.
Small, but still so important to God.
Creations displays really remind me of how great our God is.
But that was last night!
This morning I woke to the sound of the sea and birds singing all around (Yes, God is amazing and how often He blesses me with such mornings). I went out to fetch some tea about 06.45 and sat with Louise in our stoop and already the sun was so hot.

On a day like today theirs only one way to start the day and that’s got to be a walk on the beach with Max!


Problem is
I just want to go and swim!
Still the weekend is approaching fast and I’m hoping to drag the wife too the beach for a swim (her first of the summer! Some South African’s need the water to be warm before they venture out in it!! Light weight!!).
So anyway, today is Thursday and we have our small group tonight, I’ve got some prep to do for that and I’m continuing with my studies, so its time to go, hope your day goes well.
God bless ya