Much has happened since I last saw all of you. I have finally made plans for my return to Hillsborough and look forward to seeing all of you again.

I sold my home on Monday and am now in the process of finalizing my affairs here in Dunedin. Tuesday I will begin my journey to lay Don's ashes to rest at our home in Tutukaka, which is on the north island. The drive will take atleast 3-4 days but I plan to stop and see Don's Mom and sister on the way.

I hope to have a small service for Don on either Dec. 3rd or 4th and will lay him to rest on the hill behind the house. It has been a long journey in order to finally reach this point. He would have liked the idea of resting on the hill and I think it will start a healing process within my soul and give me the strength that I need to make it back to Johnathan.

I will be staying there until Dec. 9th and then will start my drive back to Dunedin, arrivng on either the 11th or 12th. The movers will pack me up on the 14th and 15th and I'll close on my home on the 16th. My flight out of Dunedin will be at 11:20 a.m. on the 20th, which will be 5:20 p.m on the 19th your time. I will be arriving at RDU at 12:49 a.m. Dec. 21st. Please keep me in your prayers these last months have been devastating and these next 6 weeks will be very difficult. It'll be so hard to say good bye to Don and all of the plans that he had for us. I know that God is with me and will help me find my way as I begin again.

On Tuesday of this week I took another trip up to Queenstown, after I had sold my home. It seems that when I need renewal of body and spirit this is the direction that I travel to. On this trip I decided to go to Paradise Valley and you have to cross over the River Jordan to enter it. What a wonderful experience. I not only entered the valley but was able to take a boat ride into the national park. What a blessing it was to my soul. I was also able to collect a stone from the River Jordan and will place it on Don's grave along with other stones that I've collected and will be collecting as I journey up to Tutukaka.

I've included a few pictures from my trip. I hope that you enjoy them. I'm looking so forward to seeing all of you again and spending Christmas at home in NC.

Love to you all,

Cindy

P.S. On my way back from Queenstown I decided to stop at the gold mining area one more time. I've always wanted to find something and have tried before. This time I finally hit it big and found 4 flakes of New Zealand gold. I've included a photo of me at the dig site. It was a nice joy.
CindyMc@canecreek.org
November 12, 2005

Central Otago sheep pastures on the drive back to Dunedin.	Dart River into Mt. Aspiring National Park.
My little pieces of gold at the Kararua Gorge.	On the road to Paradise.
Paradise Valley.	Pure wilderness.
The River Jordan.	Valley Farm.