Ok... at the end of the last entry there is a postscript that says “another coming soon”... well, ‘soon’ it seems is a variable term!
It’s been almost three months since the last blog and several things have happened since then. As a result this blog is both really long and very condensed.
For those who want a quick overview, here is what we’ve included in this blog:
The last week of the honeymoon in Hawai’i
Coming home and Adam’s Birthday
Christmas and the New Year
Visa news
Kate’s Birthday
Together Day
Now and the future
As you can imagine, that’s quite a lot to write about, so let’s get right into it. There are no photos in this edition, sorry.
The last week of the honeymoon in Hawai’i
The last week in Hawai’i was as great as the first. Here are some of the things we did: We drove to the top of the tallest volcano to an elevation of 10,023 feet (3055 metres) to see the sun rise. We drove into the beautiful Iao Valley at the centre of another volcano, where there were lush rainforests and swam in the pools of a small waterfall there. We went to a luau – a traditional Hawaiian dinner/dance with hula dancing and a roast pig which was cooked in the traditional way under the ground. We drove the complete way to Hana (the first time we only covered 7 of the 35 miles as we left far too late in the day!) and kept driving as far as the road allowed us ending up at the “Seven Sacred Pools”. These are a group of about 25 pools that the tourism people thought needed a more romantic name than the traditional one which means “Gathering of the Waters” - which we think sounds just fine!
Along the road between Hana and the pools is a very large waterfall which is “the most photographed waterfall in all of Hawaii”, according to the tour CD we were listening to on the way. I (Adam) went for a swim in the pool at the base of these falls in the crystal clear water. Unfortunately, the water was so cold that my wedding ring fell off and we didn’t realise this until we were about to leave the seven sacred pools and by that time it was dark.
We drove home (about a 3 or 4 hour trip normally) and prayed – thanking God that we still had each other. We checked the videos we had taken that day and saw on one of them footage of me getting into the pool, at the base of the waterfall, with my ring on and coming out without it. So we knew it was in the water. The next day at 5am, before the tourists would normally leave, we drove back there with my snorkelling gear. We were the first to arrive and aimed to search the clear water for as long as it took for us to find it.
Our hearts sank as we looked from the bridge overlooking the pool and saw only mud. It had rained in the night and the water in the pool was now pure brown. Determined not to have driven this far only to give up, I got into the pool but my heart sank further when I realised that there was only 1 inch visibility under the surface. Further down, and especially at the bottom (it was about 7 or 8 feet deep), it was as if I had my eyes closed.
I searched the bottom for about 30 minutes in total, on and off because it was so cold. We went to the shop in Hana after the first 10 minutes to buy a dive torch, but this didn’t improve things as the visibility was still so bad. All the time both of us were praying for a miracle and asking God to help. Eventually, however, I gave up hope as it was too difficult to search. Each time I went down I was blind and then ran out of breath after prodding around for a few seconds. When I came up for air, I lost my place, which meant that when going down again I wasn’t sure if I’d already searched that location already, or if I had missed a section that possibly could have contained the ring.
As I came towards the edge of the pool and was able to crawl with my hands, I was again praying and thinking that I was glad I still had Kate, even if I didn’t have the ring. Suddenly, I felt what I thought was a smooth rock around my finger (my mind was not quite working at this time). Eventually the gears in my head started turning and I realised that it was a ring. My first thought was that I had found someone else’s ring (since mine was impossible to find!) I then started feeling it in more detail and realised with a shock that I had found someone else’s ring that was identical to mine. Slowly I held it up and showed it to Kate who exclaimed ‘You found it!?!’ Only then did I realise that it was actually my ring. I burst into tears and Kate and I sat in the water and hugged and cried together and praised God that He had answered our prayers and put the ring on my finger. God is SO faithful.
Coming home and Adam’s Birthday
The very next day we started our trip home – four flights end-to-end. We flew from Maui to the Big Island then to Seattle then to Calgary (where we changed airlines) and then flew to London. It was sad to finish our official honeymoon, but nice to think that we would be home soon and able to start our “real” lives together. As it turns out, apart from the lack of tropical weather or snow capped mountains, it’s not actually been that different – a few more responsibilities, but still quite relaxing.
The reason for this is that I have not been able to work due to visa restrictions. I came to the UK on a fiancé visa and there is a limitation saying no work permitted. Since I was not able to work, Kate felt it was her duty to support me in this and not work either *grin* so we were forced to extend our honeymoon here in London! We looked into changing the visa to a Spouse visa which allows work and booked an interview for the 2nd of January – the first available.
The first days back from the honeymoon were spent moving boxes from house to house as we moved into our temporary home (our sister has kindly lent us her home while we look for one of our own). Once this was complete and we had a semi-neat place to entertain people, we invited our family around to celebrate my birthday. Kate and I cooked some really yummy stuffed tomatoes and peppers (capsicum for us Aussies) for the occasion which was lots of fun for all. It was lovely to spend time with everyone and share stories about our honeymoon, of course!
Christmas and the New Year
The weeks between my birthday and Christmas always go fast, especially with preparations for Christmas. We bought a Christmas tree which we put up just in time (it’s still up! Since it’s our first tree we don’t really want to take it down!). Christmas day was spent with the Hadjipateras family and the extended family too. That was SO much fun – everyone together and happy. Lots of yummy food, lots of crackers and lots of Christmas music to back it all up. Lovely!
A week later Kate and I spent New Year’s eve in the city. We had intended on watching all the fireworks by the Thames but unfortunately, we left it too late. By the time we started walking down there, everything was closed and we were channelled (just as a river is, but this river was of people) into Trafalgar Square. Here we watched the fireworks on one of four big television screens they had put up there. There were hundreds of thousands of people there and it was good fun – in spite of the little bit of rain we had too. Next year I think it would be best to either leave several hours earlier, or to stay at home and watch it on TV!
Visa news
On the 2nd of January, Kate and I went in to Croydon to get my spouse visa. It was quite a trek, but worth it as later that afternoon, after several hours of playing travel battleships and eating lunch (which we’d thankfully brought with us) the man handed me back my passport with my visa stuck in it! YAY! I can now stay in the UK for two more years before I need to apply for a settlement visa to stay here permanently. The new visa also means that I now don’t have any restrictions regarding work. This news was received with mixed emotions. It meant that our forced “honeymoon” was over and that I could now start looking for and applying for work. I’ve applied for a job – more news on this as it comes.
Kate’s Birthday
Mid January was Kate’s birthday! I made her a chocolate cake and brought her breakfast in bed. That evening we went to see the Sound of Music at the theatre. It was a wonderful experience! The songs were really true to the originals with some extra verses here and there and two new songs. I particularly liked the hallelujahs sung in the abbey by the nuns – it was breathtaking! The set designs were wonderful with huge sets being moved on and off the stage throughout the play. The mountain scenes were done on a huge round disk that could change angles and move up and down. This was covered with grass and rock and when the actors walked (or climbed as the case may be) up and down this it looked like they were actually walking up and down a mountain. Very good indeed and something that Kate enjoyed very much as a birthday present.
Together Day
January 27th marked the day, since we began going out, that Kate and I have been together more than we have been apart. As you know we both lived in different countries while we were dating and even when we were engaged with a few weeks here and there when we were together in the same place. Well, on “Together Day” we celebrated the number of days together finally outnumbering the days that we’ve been apart. We spent the day together and went on a walk through Hyde Park in the afternoon ending up at a restaurant for dinner. We were wanting to go to a theatre, but they were all shut (since it was Sunday), so instead we came home and watched a DVD together on our “big screen” projector – a wedding gift.
Now and the future
Which brings us up to date! YAY! At the moment we are continuing to house hunt – something we’ve been doing since we got home. We are looking for something in London, but finding a home with the right features and at the right price (especially in London) is proving to be hard. We have seen many places that have almost been right, but then they lack one or two of the things that we are really looking for. It’s a slow process!
I’m still looking for work and, as I mentioned above, I’ve applied for work at the Natural History Museum. The job looks fantastic! Everything about it seems to be shouting “Adam – this is for you!” but we will have to wait and see what they think. It really would be a good job though – something I’d love to do that fits my skills perfectly!
In the near future, we are going to be sending our car away (or rather driving it away and coming back on the train) to get converted to run on pure plant oil. This conversion allows the car (currently diesel) to run on diesel, biodiesel, pure plant oil (unused vegetable oil you buy in a supermarket), or any combination of these. Both Kate and I are aware of the need to protect our environment and plant oil releases much less pollutants than diesel. It also helps reduce the need to rely on the diminishing quantity of fossil fuels. From an economic point of view, it also costs about 30% less to fill up on veggie oil than diesel. All in all, we think this is a good (if not strange and out of the ordinary) choice. So, as one of our friends has said: soon we’ll be running our car on [unused] “chip fat”!
Well, (finally) that is our news for the moment. We’ll try and keep you up to date more often now – we’re starting to get into some routines (of a sort).
God bless you all. Take care.
Adam and Kate
