Enjoying the sun down at the beach

Over the past few days we have had the opportunity to be enjoying the sun down at the beach – well at least for two out of three of the days. The weather was just perfect for the first few days as we took a trip to Oreti Beach to show Annette’s mum and dad around some of the landmarks and places to see while in Invercargill.

Oreti Beach was made famous by the exploits of Burt Munro who used to race his motorbike up and down the beach in preparation for his land speed record attempts on the salt plains in the States. One of only a few beaches in New Zealand that is classified as a road that you can drive up and down on. However, you do need to be aware that the speed limit is only 30kmp on the beach and police are close at hand to monitor this on a regular occurrence. As I found out on the approach road… 

For the past few years or more their has been the Burt Munroe challenge on the beach to commemorate his achievements on the motor cycle scene. Bikes from all around New Zealand and the world come to experience the thrill of riding on the beach and take in the stunning scenery.

The following day we drove out to Bluff to experience the southern most town in the South Island. Taking in the sites around Stirling Point. The afternoon was just perfect, for two days in a row Invercargill has reached the national high.

We took a drive up Bluff Hill (Motupohue) and enjoyed a picnic at the top which provides spectacular views over Foveaux Strait and the township of Bluff. It is also a great vantage point to see the size of the Tiwai Aluminuim Smelter and to take in the view across to the Catlins.

After enjoying Breakfast @ Church on Sunday we had a restful day at home before heading out on Monday morning to Riverton.

The weather was not the best but even amongst the drizzle you could still appreciate the beach and river mouth, which is popular with swimmers, kayakers, surfers & walkers. Definitely worth another visit weather permitting!

Tomorrow sees us heading up to Queenstown so that John & Tina can head home and we will continue on to Oxford to catch up with mum & Bill and build a wall…

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South City Family Store

The South City Family Store is starting to take shape. During the month of November we set aside a Saturday morning to move an internal wall and give the outside of the store a much needed make over.

A group of volunteers and staff from the Family Store helped to paint the external walls with the official colour scheme.

Meanwhile a few of the guys relocated an internal wall to create more selling space on the inside the store.

We have received many positive comments from customers who didn’t realise that The Salvation Army had a store in the southern suburbs.

There are still some clothing rails that need to be reconfigured and additional rails and racks to be utilised from the old Tay Street site that need to be put up so that we can maximise our stock holding. All going well we will see a much needed increase sales.

This week the transformation was completed with the signwriting going up to make us really stand out.

If you are in Invercargill why not check out the bargains that we have on offer @ our South City Family Store on Martin Street.

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Children’s and Youth Ministries Christmas Service

This morning we were privileged to hear the Christmas Story from the mouths of our young people at the Children’s and Youth Ministries Christmas Service. During the week the auditorium has been transformed with a number of Christmas decorations, streamers and wrapped presents adding to the atmosphere.

Over the past term the young people have been exploring the Christmas Story by focussing in on the key characters. This morning the whole congregation, which included a large number of friends and family of those young people who are associated with our pre-school, children’s and youth ministries were introduced to the angel Gabriel, Joseph, Mary, Jesus, Shepherds, Kings and the angelic host.

Emily and Madison (our two active Junior Soldiers) narrated the story and received their Bronze and Gold Awards respectively as part of this mornings celebrations, well done girls! And a huge thank you to Raewyn for teaching them throughout the year all about God and The Salvation Army.

It was fantastic to see the amount of young people in attendance (and of course their families as well). Well done to all those that were involved and also to all those that helped with the planning and decorating. Talking to a number of the visitors this morning they really enjoyed the service and were blessed by the atmosphere.

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All go for Christmas…

With the build up to the holiday season we are now all go for Christmas…

The brass band has been out and about doing Carols at a variety of spots around Invercargill, including a recent Christmas celebration at Waikiwi Countdown. We were presented with a trolley load of food for the food-bank while we were there, which is fantastic!

Throughout the year Countdown contribute to food rescue and for the past few years or more they have also donated a trolley load prior to Christmas for struggling and disadvantaged families. This contribution greatly assists our Community Ministries at a vital time of the year.

The brass band has also been travelling around the suburbs bringing a bit of Christmas cheer to young and old alike, which they will continue doing over the next couple of weeks and next weekend they will be performing at ‘Carols on the Lawn’ out in Winton.

Next week our Community Ministries will be all go for Christmas as it starts preparing all the Christmas cheer food hampers and toy parcels for those families with children. As well as receiving all the proceeds for the Adopt a Family programme and distributing them to those in need over the next couple of weeks.

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Christmas Wonderland…

Yesterday Annette & I experienced a Christmas Wonderland at Christmas Magic in Wallacetown. Christmas Magic is about 15mins out of Invercargill and has a wide range of Christmas decorations of all shapes and sizes.

If you have the opportunity to check this shop out then I suggest you do, especially if you are visiting Invercargill. What’s more it’s open all year round.

They have a huge range of Christmas decorations that are very well displayed and the staff were extremely helpful when asked if they had a wider range of Nativity Scenes.

The Nativity Scene which was brought out by the staff was absolutely stunning and Annette had no hesitation to buy it on the spot.

The picture above shows one of the gold themed Christmas trees while the one to the right shows one of the red themed trees with plenty of Santa’s keeping a watchful eye on proceedings. This store definitely lives up to its catch phrase of ‘bringing cheer throughout the year’.

Unfortunately it doesn’t appear that they have an online presence. But they do do phone orders and deliveries. Their contact details are: 1 Largs Street, Wallacetown. Phone: 03 235 8690

If you are after something special for Christmas to brighten up your home or work place why not check out there range.

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