As integration week turned into debrief week students made preparations to return home to North America. Some were ready to go home, others weren’t so keen to leave life at the OC.A few of the highlights of the week included;
· Christmas celebration service at New Life Church followed by a potluck at which eel, freshly caught by CCSP students, was served.
· Hiking up Sawcut Gorge and swimming as we went.
· A White Possum gift exchange. Some of the gifts were truly terrific. A number of hand-made bags were exchanged, as well as treasured earrings, books, and an empty twice-imported hot sauce bottle.
· Watching a Zen garden materialize in our back yard thanks to Kelley, Mike, Tyler and Curtis and possibly others.
The entire program took to the high seas on Wednesday afternoon to go Whale watching with our very own Lisa Bond at the helm. We saw three sperm whales, dusky dolphins and various seals and albatross. It was an incredibly meaningful trip. Lisa has been an invaluable member of our community here in Kaikoura and someone none of us are likely to forget any time soon. As the whales flipped their tails and headed for the depths some of us were close to tears (to be fair this could also be attributed to sea sickness or getting locked in the bathroom, nonetheless, it was unforgettable).
Which brings us to our final celebration night. I won’t attempt to describe it here. If you have attended CCSP then you know, if you haven’t, well perhaps you should come and find out. Suffice it to say that at one point our neighbor looked out his window and saw 24 people watching the New Zealand sunset for the last time, he said it was one of the more moving things he’s seen.
No comments:
Post a Comment