Our end-of-year "BBQ" was at the Alpine Club Hut off Anawhata Road, attended by 30 people. The hut did not have a BBQ so all sausages had to be cooked in the oven. We all enjoyed a yummy pot-luck smogasboard of dinner and dessert. The hut itself was decorated in all sorts of items of yesteryear, including signs that graced the tracks of the Waitakere Ranges in the 1980s-90s.

Afterwards club president Paul Ungemuth presented Christmas devotions. Many saving acts and promises of God in the Old Testament are fulfilled in the coming of Christ. We Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus. God broke into our world and fallen humanity to redeem us. Jesus claims to be the real hope of the future, and we can have total confidence in Him. The Bible says our world is fallen - do you put your confidence in Jesus or in this world? After a short time of sharing, where thoughts were shared about the hope of Christmas, and how we celebrate the birthday of the greatest Person who has ever lived over 25 days instead of one day with all the events such as carol services and light shows, we sang the first and last verses of Come All Ye Faithful and Silent Night unaccompanied. Murray and Cathie led a game of scattergories afterwards.

We finished about 8pm as we had to be out of the place before dark because of the long stepped access track from the carpark.