Brett and Sue Walker nwes from 2023
What a year 2023 has been.
HB had a wet summer which finally got worse with cyclone Gabrielle on Feb `14th. We evacuated our house as it was near the river but thankfully the stop banks near us held and we could return about 4pm and slept in our own bed- there was no power or phone coverage for about a week which made it an extend camping holiday. I took our camper van down at the church each night to boil water for people and cook on the church BBQs as many people had no gas cookers. It created a nice sense of community for a few days.
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EIT had lots of water through the ground floor buildings but not Sue’s office nor the Flats she manages for EIT- so other than sweeping some mud from driveways and garages we got off lightly. 2 family’s from the church had water and mud through their houses and are not back in their houses yet. They are both insured so it is just time and work. Various churches around NZ gave us over $30000 to provide relief for families in the community which was nice and we shared it out as well as we could to families and lovelink who bought beds and a rural chaplaincy service. EIT rented 3 or 4 of our rooms at Church for classes for the next 6 months – which mad the place a hive of activity and helped the church finances.
Another momentous
event for us this year was selling our house and buying another. We have gone from 6 bedrooms to 4 (3 plus an
office) and only have john boarding with us, he has been with us for about 10
years. The place we bought has over 1000 sqm. (1/4 acre) and our intention is
to subdivide and build a retirement size house on the section. I miss the old
house with its park views but there was maintenance issues that were coming due
and with 2 stories it was going to be difficult and costly. It took a few months to sell the house with
lots of expensive dramas along the way. Currently
the new house has lots of maintenance and lots of gardening so at least
temporarily it feels worse but the long term aim needs to be kept in mind. We
were so pleased when the house sold we didn’t have 2 mortgages and 2 lots of
lawns and gardens to do.
Funnily enough David also decided to sell his house and moved into one end of King Street (No. 20) and we are at the other end (5 minutes’ walk away.) David has been with his partner Vincent for 3 years now and got engaged this year. He still works as an accountant/ bookkeeper from home and Vincent now sells cars for Turners. We have a new dog called Ginny an SPA special (about 6 years – mostly fox terrier) and they also have a Rescue dog – a big dog called Key so Sue and David and the 2 dogs do many walks together.
Paul is still in Gisborne and we get up there when we can. He is now the head chef at the vineyard restaurant (the Vines) where he has been for several years. James turned 3 in October and is a lovely kid. Paul and Mary are great parents. They were down in HB for Christmas so that was wonderful.
Work: HB Presbyterian churches have had several
ministers retire in the past year or 2 so I am providing oversight for one
church and helping them seek a new minster.
We have also so had several meetings about churches cooperating or
merging as some of the other churches are not financially sustainable for long
term. We have seen some good growth in
our young adults groups and the worship has appreciated some new skills of
pianist and guitarists. Sue’s job had 2
parts, 2 days looking after EIT flats and 3 days with e EIT facilities
dept. This second part was a temporary
contract and she had to apply for her job which she was successful at
thankfully but it means she will give up her flats work
which was he remaining contact with international students which she has enjoyed so much over the years. Covid saw a huge drop in international students but the numbers are way up last year and next year esp. at the postgraduate level.
The rest of the year seemed to pass by quickly enough. The coming month has a few momentous dates. On Jan 14th we will have been married for 40 years. On the 16th Jan Brett will turn 63 and on the 29th he will have been minister at ST Columba’s for 25 years.
On Thursday before New Year we head off to Nelson for a
week’s holiday. Sue’s mother went in to
a rest home earlier this year so we are driving down and will bring back a few
mementos from her house. She turned 95 this year so is doing pretty well. Sue gets 2 weeks holiday and Brett 3 so he
will be doing some house painting if it is not too hot.
We do hope you had a good year and blessed Christmas. Best wishes for 2024
Brett and Sue
