~ Samoans & Sky Towers

It's a blur! This can't possibly be our last day here! I guess I'm glad that I'm feeling this way, rather than be glad to be leaving... it means our trip has been terrific.

Sky Tower

View from the tower

That's 600+ feet down, baby!

Today we had kind of a different experience - I had in my head that I wanted to attend a church service in Auckland today (and Ben and Tom were game too!) but had quite a time trying to find service start times between the internet and the yellow pages. I wish someone had told me that the reason they put "English" beside some church service listings is not to denote Anglican influence or something! Imagine our... (fright? chagrin? delight?!) at finding ourselves the only non-Samoans in a 100-strong Samoan-speaking service in Papatoetoe (for real - it's a somewhat run-down subdivision of Auckland). It was actually very neat to be there; they specifically translated several bits into English for us so we would know what was going on. It was really sweet to hear people singing with all their might and in great harmony, and to do our best to join in. It's extraordinary to experience worshipping God with people in a different language and culture, even if you know theoretically that it's happening all the time. They welcomed us to stay to lunch after the service, but we decided to head to downtown for a last good-bye to Auckland before heading out.

We went to the Sky Tower (the tallest building in the southern hemisphere) for a magnificent view of the city, did a wee bit of shopping, and headed to the airport. We returned our rented cell phones & vehicles, and everyone made it safely to the flight home (well - we hope that's the case - Patrick's staying through Monday to finish up the rally fun, so he won't hit Appleton till Tuesday morning). GOOD BYE NEW ZEALAND! WE LOVE YOU!