A group of 26 people met at Ian and Christine Marshall’s in Glendowie at 2:45pm. Our walk took in Churchill Park and Achilles Point. From the end of Whitehaven we entered Churchill Park and followed a track heading northwards. We looked out across to a large park-like area sharing the backyards of about half a dozen homes. We carried on through bush and open parkland to come out onto the streets near Glover Park. From there we went on to the cliff tops overlooking Ladies Bay, and our afternoon tea break at Achilles Point arriving at 4pm. There was a great view out to Rangitoto, Browns and other islands in the Hauraki Gulf. 15 minutes later we continued on through Glover Park to re-enter Churchill Park. We followed a track through open pasture with views all around. We came out to the coastal walkway and followed that to Riddell Rd before returning across Glendowie Park to Ian and Christine’s. We had our potluck BBQ dinner on the deck at 5:45pm. Not only did we catch up with one another, we were also pleased to welcome Judith, a former member who now lives in Brunei and has come home to NZ for the Christmas holidays. The formal time began at 8pm with devotions from Paul on references in the Psalms to Christ’s birth, before we had carol singing with the piano - Good King Wenceslas, Angels From The Realms of Glory, Te Haranui, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, Joy To The World, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Mary’s Boy Child, Silent Night  and Once In Royal David’s City. Ali led two Christmas games. First of all we were each given a strip of paper with a Christmas song. We had to hum or sing these songs and find others doing the same song. Once each group with the same song formed they had to sing it. Our second game was to place a sheet of paper on top of our heads, and use a crayon to draw Christmas items directed by Ali without seeing what we were drawing. We finished with a talk from Christine on her recent trip to Borneo.