Mr J. I’ve done you proud!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Me outside the battle grounds at Battle.
Me on the London Eye
Me outside Carlisle Castle.

Hey guys,

We are now in the U.K and on Thursday we went to a place called Battle that is the actual town where the battle of Hastings was fought. The way the battle came about was that Edward the Confessor and King Harold said that William the conqueror would become the King of England. King Harold broke that promise when he seized the throne. The battle was only one day and there is controversy over the way King Harold died. Some say he was hacked down by swords, and others say that arrows shot him in the eye! King Harold’s plan was to hold out until nightfall so that when the Normans retired to sleep, they would go into the camp and slaughter the Normans, but William also had a plan which meant bad news for Harold as William was a determined young man and he was feared throughout France. Now Harold’s army were tired, as they had just come back from another battle, so they weren’t at the top of their game and then the Normans let some arrows fly and that was when King Harold died and the Normans won the Battle of Hastings.

We have also been to London tower. We took the tour with the beefeater and he scared me stiff as he went into some gory details about when people had their heads chopped off, while we were there we got to see the crown jewels. But we weren’t allowed to take a photo - that was sad. A few days later we went on the London Eye that was fun even though mum sat there with her hands over her eyes I think I could have seen the whole of London from there!!!!!!!!!!! If you put the London Eye in Victoria Falls it would still be poking out the top! It is that high!!!

You know the nursery rhyme London Bridge is falling down its true London has had six London bridges!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The second bridge was pulled down by the Vikings as the Anglo- Saxons threw stones at them as they passed under the bridge so that is where you get the song London Bridge is falling down.

Today we are in Scotland in a town called Lockerbie. Guess what, we didn’t even have to go through customs. I guess if we had been cleared by the England we were ok!!!!! When we came into Scotland, there was just a big sign saying welcome to Scotland. Today we went for a drive and saw some of the Scottish countryside. It was very beautiful – a lot like home except the buildings are made of stone and so are the fences which are called drystane. The grass is very green and there are lots of Suffolk Sheep! They are the ones with the black faces and legs. Over here they don’t dock the sheep’s tails so they look a bit different to ours.

Tomorrow we are going to a place called Motherwell and we will be staying at the GLO centre. Dad will be taking the devotions for the students on Friday morning. On Saturday we go back to England and Dad has a few more meetings there over the next few days.

After that we are going to spend one more night with Mr and Mrs Fair and then we go to a hotel close to Heathrow Airport for Wednesday night. On Thursday morning we are flying to LA.

Bye

Katie.

Last Days in Samfya

Me with my EMI friends Rachel & Melissa
Hi there,
The EMI team is here so they are developing the master plan sooooooooooooo they are surveying, testing the water, drawing sketches and checking the electrical it is all very interesting cool. I have been able to watch them.

We are leaving Samfya on Saturday morning and then we go to the Protea Hotel Safari Lodge so that Mum and I can see an African lion in Africa! This is in Lusaka. After that we fly to Joberg and then to Port Elizabeth which is in South Africa near Jefferies Bay which is where the Tomaselli’s are from.

We haven’t had full power since Friday so we haven’t been able to clear our emails and it is now Monday! The low power is driving mum crazy as she is doing the cooking for the Team. Aunty Patricia has been helping mum heaps! She made the best muffins!

Not anything to report on copper as we found some rope and he is getting tied up!
Well in the next few days we will be packing all our things to leave Samfya. It will be sad to leave the friends I have made here, but I am looking forward to being home with my family and NZ friends again. I have missed my pillow as my one here is flat!
See ya

That Naughty Copper Dog!!!!!!!!!

Top is my new hair, then Lily & Me in 2001 and last in 2010!!

Hey Guys,

Woof says copper as he tears down the road and into the Church building “get out Copper!!!!” Oh no!!!!! Yet again Copper manages to get out of the yard and cause terror among the locals!!!!! That Copper is the Naughtiest (no naughty doesn’t define him) most mischievous dog that ever lived!!!!!!!!!!! First he jumped the fence then led us all the way to church thinking he had done nothing wrong!!!!! Then he came inside the church and WOULD NOT go outside and guess what I spend most of my days doing - shooing Copper out!!!!!

The other day I got my hair done but within a week I took it out!!!!!!!!! It took 10 hours to do my hair and it felt like it too!!!!!!!!!!!! My Hair looked like it had dreads in it!!!!!!! I took it out because of the wool that made me sweat and the wool made my scalp itchy.

Liy is gone now and it is just over two weeks till I leave Samfya!!!!!!!!!And go to the UK and US!!!!!!!!

We really enjoyed having Lily here it was soo great!!!! We even got pictures almost the same as when we were little at Teal Bay, Northland, but now in Zambia.

Well that is all from me for now so bye

Katie.

Fun in Livingstone

Never smile at a crocodile!!
Hey guys,
On Monday mum dad and I went to Lusaka and then the day after we went to Livingstone. We went to Living stone and dad showed us Fawlty Towers and that was where we were going to stay, but he had deceived us and we pulled into a really flash place and we stayed in a luxury tent and it had a flush loo and a shower with hot water!!!!!!!!!!! After breakfast we went to Fawlty Towers and went to pick the Atkinsons up from the airport. At five at night we went on a cruise on the Zambezi River. It was sooo cool!!! We saw an Elephant eating reads Hippos, Buffalos, and heaps of wait for it CROCODILES!!!!!!!!!!! We had dinner as the sun went down so that was really cool!!!!! We had dinner on the boat!!!!

The next day we had to arise early as we were going to Chobe National Park which is in of Botswana. In Chobe we went on a boat and we saw heaps of animals and this huge and I mean HUGE Croc I’ll put a picture on soon. Then we went to a lodge and had a Smorgasbord lunch and had a piece of Kudu pie had and even got dessert!!!!! It was really good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Subsequently we went on a game Safari that was really fun!!!!!!!!!!! We saw ok get ready for it giraffes, elephant, impala, kudu, hippos, lots of types of antelope and wart hogs. The end of another amazing day. The next day dads had meetings so we all headed out to the markets but were doing no more than looking!!!!!Saturday Dad had meetings yet again so I stayed with the Atkinsons and had a great time!!!!!!!!!

Sunday we went to church and it took FIVE hours and after that lily and I stayed at Fawlty Towers for the afternoon.

Monday we went to Victoria Falls and we went to the Zimbabwe side of the falls and the Zim side was bigger and we bought rain coats and we hardly used them on the Zim side but Oooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh it was a different story on the Livingstone side we had them on the whole time and we still got soaked!!!!! At the markets people tried to swap my drink bottle and they wouldn’t listen that I wanted to keep it and that it was special!! And then they wanted to swap lily’s socks that she was wearing!!!!!! They were VERY persistent!!!!!
Ok back to Lusaka and then home.

Bye.

Photos in Congo

Me at the Well - water for the loo!!
The kids just keep on coming!

Congo Weekend and then off to Lusaka & Livingstone

Hey Guys,
On Friday we went to a village for the weekend and it was in the Congo we got to see Uncle Murray and Aunty Joy. We stayed at the Catholic Mission and the men were saying that it was good to stay at this place but oh when we got in the room it was a different story the toilet had to be flushed by pouring water in the bowl and NOT in the cistern. Ok the shower starts off good but when we turned the tap no water came out oh no the shower’s not working so we are back to basin washes I can’t believe it.

Well the next day we went to a village and the kids just stared and got a bit overbearing at times. I even tried to hide in the truck but the kids just followed me and looked through the window!!! Oh and did I mention that there was a well at the mission! I loved working that well.

On Monday at five am we leave HOT Samfya to go to Lusaka, which is an eight to 10 hour drive. We will stay in Lusaka one night and then to Livingstone which is about 6 hours we will stay in Livingstone for one week.

Missing you all - thanks for the emails!!

Our Daily Routines In Samfya

Hey guys,
I thought I would tell you about our daily routines today.

We get up at about 6am because it is so light.
About 7am we have breakfast and sweep the floors (as it is concrete), make the beds, get dressed etc, fill the water bottles for the day with filtered or boiled water, then we go for a walk.

When we get back, I start my schoolwork, I am working through Anne of Green Gables at the moment. I have finished reading the book but I am still doing the comprehension part. I am also doing spelling and a project on Malaria.

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, we have ladies study, although sometimes I stay home with the housekeeper Rosemary and do more schoolwork!

The power goes off at about 6pm most nights and stays off until about 8pm. Mum has to be very organised with cooking dinner or we don’t get any until the power comes back on.

This is a typical day for me here in Africa!
Bye from Katie

Our Daily Routines In Samfya

Hey guys,
I thought I would tell you about our daily routines today.

We get up at about 6am because it is so light.
About 7am we have breakfast and sweep the floors (as it is concrete), make the beds, get dressed etc, fill the water bottles for the day with filtered or boiled water, then we go for a walk.

When we get back, I start my schoolwork, I am working through Anne of Green Gables at the moment. I have finished reading the book but I am still doing the comprehension part. I am also doing spelling and a project on Malaria.

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, we have ladies study, although sometimes I stay home with the housekeeper Rosemary and do more schoolwork!

The power goes off at about 6pm most nights and stays off until about 8pm. Mum has to be very organised with cooking dinner or we don’t get any until the power comes back on.

This is a typical day for me here in Africa!
Bye from Katie

Kasanka National Park

Hey guys,

Just recently we have been to Kasanka National Park and we saw heaps of animals it was so amazing!

Well here we go,

06.00: This was when our day began. Dad got us up at about first light and said “get up we’re going to Kasanka.” So I got up and got dressed and tied my hair up.

07.00: Well time for breakfast and then to load the car up. All this took about 1and 1\2 hours.

08.30:well now we leave to do our emails at Samfya basic school and then off to Kasanka.

Midday: Finally we are here and on our way to Wasa Lodge and on the road we saw a few baboons run across the road.

Well well well I was the first to spot some Puku and then mum saw some sable and dad saw some warthogs. It was an eventful day.

Wednesday

Well today was eventful.

We saw 3 zebras, four hippos, 7 crocs, and lots of other things, but the highlight of my day was when I had an ant in my pants literally!!!! I was sitting in the car and all of a sudden owwwwwwwwwwww!!! Something bit me but dad thought it was all in my head but then it bit me again and I pulled my trousers up and what did I find nothing but the ant.

Well we are home now and I’ve got to go do some school work

Bye from

Katie

Hi Everyone

Hey Guys,

I’m in Samfya .I have loved it so far here except for yesterday when I got asked to marry a man that I didn’t even know and I think he was a little bit drunk and when mum told him I was only twelve he said he would wait for me to grow up it was a little bit freaky actually I was freaked out!!!!!!!!!

Well that’s all the interesting things for now so Bye

Greetings From Samfya Bible School

Hey Guys,
We are now in Samfya and have gotten to grips of where stores are, like the bakery, Mr. Cabeke’s store, Samfya basic School, (that’s where we get internet) and stuff like that.

I have met Elizabeth She’s REALLY nice.

I have also learnt how to carry a baby on my back with a Chtange and also I can carry a load of washing on my head!!!!! Isn’t that amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m an instant celeb here as they think I’m white. Hahahahahahahaha I’m not exactly White am I!!!!!!
We have found these really yummy lollipops and I wish we could get them back home! Maybe Dad and Mum will let me have some to bring back with us for you to taste.

Katie.

Hot ‘n dusty Lusaka!!!!!!!!

Hey guys, (and girls)
We are now in Lusaka and staying in a little inn and the room is small, but I’m glad to have somewhere to rest my head at night, as I have already seen people who are homeless and they are often outside begging for money as they are hungry. In a city like Lusaka you wouldn’t expect to see such poverty. God has really opened my eyes as to the poverty as it is great in Lusaka.

As to the bugs the only bug I’ve seen was a little cockroach and that was in the taxi!!!!!!!!!! I feel more intimidated here than in South Africa, because the army are everywhere and they walk around casually with semi automatic rifles. I have seen little puppies for sale at either the roundabouts or the traffic lights the reason is that the people are desperate for money. The puppies are so cute but I wouldn’t dare touch them as they probably haven’t had the necessary vaccinations.

It is not ALL poverty as there are malls and some people can afford a comfortable lifestyle. Last night we went to a mall for dinner and there was a movie theatre and it costs 14,000 Kwacha that is about four New Zealand dollers. Now that’s CHEAP!!!!!!!!

The fences are a bit intimidating for example if there is a brick fence they will have broken glass bottles sitting on the top so that if any one tries to clamber over the fence they will fall as they have glass in their hand.
Good Bye.

From your sister in Christ,
Katie.

In Polokwane

Hey Guys,


Yesterday we drove from Jo-burg to Polokwane it was three hours long. we stopped about half way and had lunch at Whimpys it was good. when we drove through Pretoria the girl who came with us gave us wrong directions and she almost wet herself laughing as we ended up in this really dodge taxi stand.
T.T.F.N.

Oh My Goodness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh My Goodness! We went to Sandton today. We were sitting down having lunch I needed to go to the loo and when I came back a man came up to us and asked me why I had a N.Z. sweatshirt on and I said we are from NZ and it turned out to be a Fifa World Cup Official From NZ he was actually in charge of the team. Also there were two of the team that went to the world cup in 1985. We got a picture and they gave me a silver fern badge and all this was all because of MY sweater. This was all my excitement. Bye Bye.

Lost Passports!

All is going well except we lost our passports. We went to the police station to report our lost passports and the police officers were carrying around guns on their belts and one of them walked in casually with a semi-automatic gun and then he put it on top of the bookshelf and went to do something else!!!!! Eventually he came back, picked it up and walked out of the room and down the corridor. we were so pleased he was gone. It was so scary!!!

Jo-burg!

Hey Guys,
We JUST got to Johannesburg yesterday and I got called back by Customs because my temperature was too high. But eventually got let go. Our flight was 14 hours long! I was a bit board on the plane, but we were soon there. We got here at about 1/4 past 4.

Bye now.

On our way!

Hey guys,

Tomorrow we fly out from Hawks Bay Airport. We arrive in Auckland at about 10:30then a few hours later we fly to Sydney spend the night, to spend the night with my mum's family.The next day we fly a 14 hour flight to Johannesburg. The next time you will hear from me I will be either in Sydney or South Africa!

Okay got to go T.T.F.N.

2 Weeks to go!

Hey there,
We are now preparing to get on a plane to Africa, as it is only two weeks to go. We are almost ready to go we're just packing bags to see how many books and bibles we can take. Got to go now. T.T.F.N.

GETTING READY TO GO

Hi there everyone,
Well there is only 4 weeks to go now until we start making our way to Zambia. I am starting to get very excited. My teachers are getting work ready for me to take, Mum has piles of stuff ready to pack all over the place and Dad is getting our itinerary all sorted. I am trying to take photos of my friends, school, Sunday School etc to put in a small scrapbook to take away with me.

Our first stop is to Sydney Australia and we will catch up with My Pa and Nana and Uncles and Aunties and cousins.

I can't wait. Then on my birthday we travel to South Africa. That will be a long time in the plane.