The Montifiore Manse

We have begun the New Year together in Tasmania, by God's good providence. A blessed New Year to you all - I believe you've made it into 2007 by now, though you are 16 hours behind us. :) Of course, my siblings in Mexico will have to wait a few hours yet...

We have been having a lovely time here. The jetlag has been pretty tough, but the people have been so warm and welcoming here we are getting to feel at home quite quickly. The manse is just gorgeous; they have stocked it with some dishes, food, and furniture until we get our own. There is even a lemon tree, an apricot tree, and a peach tree in the back yard - not to mention strawberries and roses. We had our first guests the other day, when we brought in the New Year with the Kingstons at the manse. We're actually at Mrs. Julie Kingston's brother's house right now to use the net here. Hopefully we'll get ours set up soon, but of course all the shops are closed for the holiday today. Terry's only mode of communication with the locals right now is a cell phone.

I am staying at Pat and Mavis Connors, a wonderful couple in the Launceston church. We all went to a church barbeque up at the Travellyn Dam today; it's one of the power stations here in Tassie supplying their hydro power. The water's pretty low right now, though, because the island is in the middle of a very bad drought. We had a wonderful time there, though. I'll have to post pictures once I have the equipment to get them on the computer.

I'm picking up on the "Strine" accent a bit; we'll see how much I'll have acquired by the time I come home. It's hard to believe that I've only been here for two days; it's so nice to be here. Terry's doing pretty well driving. We have a white Mitsibishu Executive car from the church. The people keep reminding him to "stay left, look right." The roundabouts are a little confusing too, but not bad once you get used to them. They do help keep traffic moving (as opposed to traffic lights).

Well, I'd better be off. Again, a blessed new year to you all from the land down under.