The Hogans are on a Mission

We have now spent a whole term in one place. This has given us the opportunity to do everything needed to get our 3 year work permits approved for Fiji! We are still waiting on some final paperwork to be able to “activate” and use our permits. But at the time of writing this, Fiji has 35 cases of local transmission of COVID-19 in the last two weeks after a year with none. Majority of these cases were already in isolation before becoming infectious and they are all linked to the same cluster, but it is also still unfolding. There are a lot of different stages of lockdown and rules in place, and we are watching the Fijian news very closely to see what happens next. They are at least doing their best to contain the virus. So everything is on hold at the moment, but it is encouraging that like NZ, Fiji is making its best effort to “Go Hard and Go Early.” Please keep Fiji and all countries being impacted by COVID in your prayers! Showing them how to use a slinky appropriately on a building ...

So much has been happening with our family over the last couple of months, and as usual we have been able to fit in lots of places, people and things. Celebrations Just before Christmas we were able to spend a weekend at Waihi Beach (fortunately before sharks started attacking people there) with Roy’s family to celebrate his brother turning 40. It was a fun weekend filled with fishing, bodyboarding, swimming and spending time with the family. There were some special moments for a family that don’t often get the chance to spend a lot of time together. Since we had just had a weekend away with Roy’s side of the family and were heading down to Wellington in January, we decided to have a quiet Christmas at home alone in Pirongia. It is also a bit of a novelty to be at our house (with all our stuff) as opposed to travelling around so it made for a quiet and enjoyable day for us all being on our own schedule.  “I love Christmas, especially when we don’t have to go anywhere.” Gabrielle. “...

Moirs Point Christian Centre There are definitely worse places you could spend a November than in Northland. We have been lucky enough to be working at Moirs Point Christian Centre in Mangawhai.  Having worked in Christian camps for over 10 years, Roy and I both love the fact that he can now use his building skills to support those same camps. We really enjoyed, in this instance, the opportunity to support a camp where there is only one couple (Ben and Mel) on staff.  The main aspect of the job was to give the staff house a small renovation by replacing all the windows with new double glazing and installing a new kitchen in the staff house. But there was plenty going on elsewhere with some new cladding being done on parts of the house and garage, as well as painting a fence and part of the camp dining room exterior. For the first two weeks we had a large team of people to help, staying in motorhomes and the amazing camp lodges with us. There was a great community feel and it w...