On Christmas Day we were most graciously fed and entertained by Mrs. Joan Cooray who lives in a bungalow on a hill some twenty minutes from Kandy.  Mrs. Cooray, a member of the English Congregation at Kandy Methodist Church, lives for music and was delighted when Rosemary agreed to play some carols on her piano whilst she sang.

After Christmas we drove to Sri Lanka's highest and coldest town, Nuwara Eliya - our fifth visit - to say goodbye to the Reverends Philip and Judith Chapman who have been volunteer ministers since January 2006. Here they are outside their Manse. Note their clothes! They have been responsible for a number of small churches in the tea estates as well as Union Street Church in Nuwara Eliya.  They flew back to UK on 29th December to re-commence their retirement.  We much enjoyed their company on various small tours and walks, as well as Rosemary appreciating seeing them at Synod and Conference.

Nuwara Eliya boasts a very long golf course and we walked up and down the deserted fairways.  The membership mainly comprises the Colombo rich whose visits must be few and far between.  James contemplated a round but decided that soft ground on such a long course combined with his complete lack of practice (not played since 2003) would lead to unnecessary frustration.

This is half a boulder that was washed off the hill by heavy rain near Pusselawa and left straddling the recently remade road from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy.  The other half has been broken away.  It was when coming to see this boulder that five people were killed by another land slip further up the road.