Esther Filbrun

Pororari River Walk – January 2020

February 4, 2020 // Esther Filbrun Leave a Comment

Two weeks ago, we had two sisters come to stay with us for a week. While they were here, they wanted to explore the West Coast, so we recommended a few places to them, and in the end, I went with them on their different day trips around. I’ve loved West Coast scenery ever since I first came over here, so it was a special treat for me to see so much of it again in such a short amount of time!

On Monday the week they were here, I went with them to the Pancake Rocks (a popular tourist destination around here—a lovely spot!). After going around the walk there, we explored a cavern in the area, took a short bush walk down to the beach, then headed back to the lovely Pororairi River, where there is a longer walk back through the bush along the river.

I’d never been on this particular walk before, so I really enjoyed it. The water was so green, as well as the vegetation—they get a lot more rain on that side of the mountains than we do. And we saw a shag!

Aside from the usual temperamental nature of New Zealand’s rivers, I think this would be a lovely river to take a kayak down. It was very peaceful the day we were there, with lovely clear water. There were a few fast-moving rapids, but aside from those, I think a trip would be quite enjoyable!

Even just walking alongside the river was enjoyable, though–the deep greens were spectacular!

And then, after walking for about an hour, we came to a crossroads and decided the swinging bridge we had been told about must be quite a distance on yet. Since it was getting late and we were tired, we decided to head back—but a Canadian couple who were coming along just then reinforced our faith in our guide’s words. Sure enough, another five minutes or so along the trail, we got to the swing bridge!

In all, it was a lovely walk, and if we have visitors come at some stage, I’d recommend it. It’s a great way to get out into the bush of NZ and still see some spectacular sights along the way. We even saw—and smelled!—some wild goats on the trail!

The day after we did this, we took a trip down to our local glaciers. But I have quite a few pictures from that, so it may take a bit to narrow down which ones to share!

Have you done any walking lately? What are some of your favorite spots in your area?

Top 10 Books from 2019

February 1, 2020 // Esther Filbrun Leave a Comment

I just realized I never posted a “best of 2019” book list! I did one mid-year last year and intended to do one at the end of the year, but Christmas, then New Years, then visitors happened, so here I am now, ready to share.

It was a great reading year for me. I met my goal of 50 books by reading 55 books (some of which are not counted as individual books by Goodreads yet). I had several definite favorites, but I’ll be sharing those soon.

Total books for 2019: 55
Non-fiction: 15 (27%)
Fiction: 40 (72%)

And of those 55 books . . .
Audiobooks: 4 (7%)
For-review books: 39 (71%)
Physical copies: 11 (20%)
Most-read month: May and July, both totaling 9 books for the month

I think the review books and physical copies ones disappoint me the most, honestly. We have something like 1,000 or 1,500 books sitting on shelves here at our place, and I’ve only read (or heard) probably 50% of them. I also have shelves full of books I’ve picked up different places that I haven’t read (literally—about three here in the house, and two boxes full in storage!), as well as a shelf of mostly borrowed books. It’s an epidemic, I tell you!

This year, I’m trying to figure out how to include more in-print books, especially the ones I’ve borrowed, but not read yet. I may just drop the Netgalley/Eidelweiss challenge, or do something similar just for myself for paperbacks. We’ll see. I’m still working that out!

So . . . top 10 books of 2019. Some of these, I know, are included in my top six from the middle of last year, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got some new favorites, as well.

My top three favorites:

Interestingly enough, I have 13 books under my “top favorites” label on Goodreads (given that label as I read each book), and of those, 8 were non-fiction titles . . . I find it fascinating that those are the ones that spoke to me the most!

Note: Several of these books mentioned today were given to me in exchange for my honest review. Also, links in this post may be affiliate links, which help support this blog. Thank you!

Favorite non-fiction: The Waiting by Cathy LaGrow. I keep going back to this one over and over, so it must be my favorite. It’s so, so good!

Favorite ARC (advanced reader copy): Blessing Bentley by Chautona Havig. One quote, especially, keeps coming back to me, because it struck me that this applies in many more areas than I tend to think about most of the time:

“I’m realizing that marriage was intended to be another way to glorify God, and, in doing so, mankind was blessed as a byproduct. [ . . . ] What I see based on Scripture, is that all of life, including and possibly especially marriage, is about glorifying God.”
—Bentley

Favorite fiction: Several stood out for this one, but I’m picking Between Two Shores by Jocelyn Green. I didn’t love everything in this book, but it surprised me in several different major ways, and I’m still pondering on the story to this day! Definitely one of my top historical fiction books of the year!

And the other top seven, in no particular order:

1. Chosen People by Robert Whitlow

I got this one right at the end of 2018 but didn’t read it until February. An excellent book; this and the sequel both show modern Israel in an unforgettable light, along with having a very strong Christian base. I’ve loved them!

2. Lords of the Earth by Don Richardson

I read this while I was in the States last January, and even though in a way it wasn’t my most favorite story ever, it landed on my top ten list because it was so good. It’s not the story you expect to read when you pick up a missionary story—but it was an excellent reminder that the Lord is in control of all situations!

3. A Company of Heroes by Tim Keesee

I feel like I read this book in a hurry, although I’m not sure why. It’s the kind of book I want to go back and re-read, though, just because there’s so much to learn from it. A fascinating look at modern missions with unusual stories, but also a great encouragement to us in our own lives to keep our focus on Christ and continue sharing the good news.

4. The Number of Love by Roseanna M. White

I had a hard time picking between this one or On Wings of Devotion, which I read this past December. In some ways, I liked Wings better, but I loved Margot’s story, and had been looking forward to it for a long time! If you like World War I fiction, or numbers, or codebreaking, check this book out. It’s a goodie!

5. Defying Jihad by Esther Ahmad

This is one of those books you read and it sticks with you for months and months afterward. I read another great book co-authored by Craig Borlase in early December, but this one was my favorite. Not necessarily because of some of the content, but because the Lord’s goodness was shown so much in here. I came away from this book very encouraged. (My review of this will be posting on my website in just over a week from now.)

6. Wonderland Creek by Lynn Austin

If I counted right, I read four books by Lynn Austin in the past year, and although the others got very close to the top favorite mark for me, I had to choose this one because of the setting. I adored the descriptions of rural Kentucky, as well as the piece of history during the Depression that this book showed me. It has a lovely mystery, as well as a delightful “granny” character who has more secrets and is wiser than you think at first!

7. Each Perfect Gift by Alicia G. Ruggieri

One thing I am sad about is that I only read one Ruggieri book in 2019. Perhaps I can change this year; I have several lined up that I really want to read! This one, as always, delivered a solid storyline and intriguing characters. Once you get past the multiple points of view, Ruggieri writes excellent stories. I can’t wait for the next one I get into!

Let’s discuss: What were your favorite books of 2019? Are there any books you’re particularly looking forward to in 2020?

The Five Minute Tip

January 16, 2020 // Esther Filbrun Leave a Comment

One of the most lasting things I learned from NaNoWriMo in November was how much writing I could accomplish in just five minutes. So today, I’d like to share a simple tip that you’ve probably heard before, but I was reminded of again and have found it so very, very helpful over the past few months!

Set a timer for five minutes, and write as fast as you can in that time.

One of this morning’s tasks was looking for new replacement book covers for a project that I’ve been working on for the last 3-4 years—a complete upgrade and refresh of my book reviews website. It’s a massive job, and I haven’t gotten nearly as far with it as I would have liked, but that’s one of my goals for the year, so I’m tackling it again. Over this last week, I’ve gained a bit of clarity as far as what I can do now while I wait for several other things to fall into place, so I have a bit more steam to push ahead.

While I was looking for covers, I happened to see a search result come up from the current website—and the description of that particular result was my author bio. Which reminds me that I need to put together a quick description for that particular search function on the new website, to be more helpful to the end-user searcher . . . . #SolopreneurDoesItAll

Okay, that’s noted in my ever-increasing list of things to do before launch day.

The Five Minute Tip — We’ve had some gorgeous sunsets this last little while thanks to the smoke from the Australian bushfires!

Now, where was I? Oh, yes. So this bio said something like “I’m the girl who decided to write uninspired reviews instead of inspired fiction.” Something along those lines, anyway—and when I saw it, I remembered how it was something of a personal joke to me at the time. That was my trade-off then, as I put all my writing energy into the website and left the side of me that loves writing fiction in the dust.

But, when I saw that, I realized that’s not me anymore. I’ve come to the place where even though we’re still posting at least three reviews per week on there, and I’m still writing quite a bit for it, fiction writing has its place in my life again.

It’s not big, or grand, but it’s there—and like I proved to myself last November, it’s still vastly important to me. It was important enough to keep writing even while I was taking three trips, losing sleep in preference to writing, and trying to balance my other responsibilities here at home and on the reviews website. Some things fell through the cracks, yes, but this is one thing that isn’t as much on the back burner now as it used to be.

And I’m so very, very thankful!

At this point, I have a daily commitment to write at least a little each day in or for a fictional story. One thing that has helped me with this is a five-minute timer.

This morning, before I sat down to write this blog post, I set the timer for five minutes and wrote in my Biblical historical fiction story. I only got about 160 words in that time, but often I can get up to about 210 or 230 words—I had a bit of research to do before I could continue with that particular scene. I didn’t particularly want to do it then, because I wanted to get on with other things, but since that’s my daily commitment, and told myself I only had to write for those five minutes, I was able to get it done.

Little things, people. Change those little things to give you momentum for the big. You never know—you might end up with a novel at the end of it—as I’m expecting to have in another month or two when I finally get this thing finished! I’m at 60k now . . . and am a little scared to think of how much it will likely be before I’m done!

So yes, I’m writing fiction again—more than I ever used to. Along with trying to keep up with reviews for the website. And I’m thankful to have been given the chance to do both!

Now I need to figure out if it’s possible to edit a novel in just five minutes per day . . . (I think it must be).

Let’s discuss: What little tips like this have made a big difference for you? Are you trying to prioritize something a bit more now than you have in the past, or have you had to put something on the back burner for a while?

Videos from the Interislander

January 13, 2020 // Esther Filbrun Leave a Comment

I had some videos I wanted to share with last week’s post about going to Hastings, especially the part of the trip spent on the ferry. I didn’t get them stitched together in time, though, so you get to see them today.

I took the videos with the intention of just showing them to my brothers, but then I thought others might be interested too. So here you go—the highlights from the ferry part of the trip! It was a fascinating ride for me, and I’m so thankful I don’t get seasick. The Marlborough Sounds are beautiful. If you’re needing to get from the South Island to the North, I highly recommend this mode of transport! Unless you want to get there quickly…in which case, take an airplane, and forego the scenery.

But in my opinion, the ferry is the best.

(See the pictures from the trip here.)

Hastings, North Island Trip 2019

January 9, 2020 // Esther Filbrun Leave a Comment

I finally got around to getting these pictures sorted out this morning! Back in the middle of November, smack-dab in the middle of NaNoWriMo, when I was more than half distracted with trying to get those 1,667+ words done each day, my brother, Simon, and I decided on the spur of the moment to take a 15- or 16-hour trip up to the North Island to help some friends move down to our area.

8 am on the West Coast highway—a beautiful time of day to be out driving!

We decided to go on a Thursday evening, after arriving home late from a trip across to Christchurch (which in itself was a 3-hour drive home!), booked our ferry tickets that night, and took off about 8 am on Saturday. It’s a good 4 hours up to Picton, where you meet the inter-island ferry, then you have to wait for a while until the ferry takes off, and once you do, it’s a 3-4 hour ride.

Boarding the Interislander in Picton around 1 pm

I was so thankful to be out of the vehicle, even if it did mean I was on a boat! I’m not one that necessarily enjoys traveling, but it was fascinating to explore the Kaitaki, the Interislander ferry we took from Picton, on the South Island, to Wellington, on the North Island.

Bluebridge ferry—the other ferry company going between the islands.

Once settled in on deck, Simon and I had fun exploring the top story (level 10), where we had a great view of Picton and the surrounding harbor! This boat had lots of outdoor seating (you can just see that on the right of the below picture) for fine days—unfortunately, it was far too rainy to want to be out there long the day we went. The two big orange things in the middle of the picture are lifeboats, and in the distance on the middle left, you can see a white warehouse with “Edwin Fox” on it. If you are ever in Picton, I’d highly recommend you go there!

To our right, there was a little sailing club of some kind. All the white sails are people learning how to sail; it was fascinating to watch them learn to tack with the wind! They balanced the one-person boats by shifting their weight from one side to the other. Several almost capsized while we watched, then they quickly slid over to the other side and turned the sail to get them back on course.

Finally on our way! The Marlborough Sounds were absolutely beautiful, even if it was an overcast, rainy day.

A mussel farm:

There was also an outdoor viewing platform that ran almost all the way around deck 7, underneath the lifeboats on deck 8 (we saw the tops of them from deck 10). Simon and I spent a lot of time exploring around there, too, and it was nice to be sheltered a little from the weather while still having a clear view of the scenery.

There were LOTS of houses dotted among all the different islands and formations in the sounds! I was somewhat surprised at the number, but I think it would be lovely to have one of these secluded places as a summer holiday spot.

We saw quite a few salmon farms, too:

And more mussel farms . . . I didn’t count, but I know there were a good number of these, too!

Wellington harbor, at last! Once you disembark at Wellington, there’s approximately another 4-hour drive up to Hastings, where our friends lived.

Coming into the dock . . . Wellington was a bit sunnier than Picton had been!

Even though it was a bit early to eat, Simon and I got fish and chips in Upper Hutt, then wound our way up into the hills toward the Remutaka Pass, looking for a place to pull off to eat. We found a nice quiet place overlooking the Macaskill Lakes—what a lovely spot! Water from the Hutt River is pumped up into these lakes when the river water is clean, and then it is held here for use as Wellington’s water supply when needed. It was quite the view to enjoy after driving or riding the ferry all day, and we felt quite refreshed when we hit the road again by 5:30 or 6.

We finally arrived in Hastings about 11 pm. To say we were bushed feels like an understatement! Sunday, we got to rest, then Sunday afternoon and evening, we loaded up.

Then on the road again Monday morning by 7 am, and down to the ferry in Wellington by noon! It was raining fairly hard Monday, but from our place in line, we still enjoyed our view of the Kiarahi, the Interislander ferry that took us from Wellington to Picton.

Just a tiny portion of Wellington, our nation’s capital, here:

Pulling up the ropes and casting off—farewell, Wellington! I wasn’t so sad to be leaving. I much prefer our quieter roads here on the South Island!

The second sailing was slightly rougher at first than our sailing Saturday. But about half-way across Cook Strait, the waves smoothed out—I was thankful for that! Can you see the two white specks in the middle of this picture, just above the water on the hillside? Those were the guiding markers to help us enter the Marlborough Sounds.

The markers closer up, once we were in the sounds:

We met several ferries coming out of the sounds as we were winding through them. I think this one was the Kaitaki, which we took on our Saturday sailing.

And Picton harbor again—with the sun out this time! I was excited to be back on the South Island again. Only four hours to home from here!

In all, it was a great trip. Although I didn’t take any pictures up in Hastings, I loved being back up there again and worshiping with the congregation on Sunday. I spent three weeks there a year and a half ago, so that area has a special piece of my heart. I’m not sure I’d recommend taking such a rushed trip up there and back again, though. 😉

What was the last big trip you took?

2020 Reading Goals (+ #ReadingChallenges!)

January 6, 2020 // Esther Filbrun Leave a Comment

It’s a chilly, rainy day here on the west coast, and someone got our fire going for the first time this year. Usually, we’re having warm (if not hot!) sunny days this time of year, but due to a combination of the smoke coming this way from the Australian wildfires and the normal cold fronts that move through from time to time, we have a cooler day today.

I just finished a cup of tea, and am about ready to tackle some other projects—but I though it would be fun to first sit down and drop a line to you!

Last year, according to my on-paper tracker, I read 55 books. Although I didn’t get Goodreads updated in time (something I’m hoping to rectify this week!), it was a very good reading year, surpassing my yearly goal by five books. I’m hoping to do more than that this year, although my “official” goal is to read 50 books.

One change I’m planning to do this year, as opposed to last year, is to participate in four different reading challenges!

As an avid reader, I’m really excited about these! I feel like I tend to get stuck in the Christian fiction genre a lot, so I’m hoping these will help me get out of that rut a little bit—besides the fact that, well, they’re just so fun! Of the 55 books I read last year, 37 (67%) were Christian fiction, and 15 (27%) were non-fiction.

So, in no particular order, here are the four challenges I’m looking forward to doing this year:

1. Netgalley/Edelweiss Reading Challenge

Last year, I read 12 books that came from NetGalley, and I still have 3 I haven’t read, besides some OLD ones I’m not sure I’ll ever read. I know there will likely be lots of other good books from here coming out in 2020, so I’m aiming for the Bronze (10 books) level, which may end up upgrading to Silver (25 books) before the year is out, depending on how many books I end up with.

2. Tim Challies’ 2020 Christian Reading Challenge

I was aiming to do this challenge two years ago, but only ended up reading one book for it. #epicfail This year, I have it printed out and pasted into the diary I use daily, so hopefully I’ll remember to refer back to it regularly this year! I’m aiming for the Avid (26 books) level, although I’d love to get to Committed (52 books) if I can. Depends on how many books I can find that would work for multiple lists!

3. Modern Mrs. Darcy’s 2020 Reading Challenge

I picked this one because it’s a short challenge AND one that I don’t think I’ll have too much trouble finding books for (well, maybe the “local author” one…might need to scope out our local library for that)! We’ll see. I’ve printed out her super-cute bookmark, and am looking forward to filling it up with the different titles as I read.

4. 2020 Christian Fiction Readers’ Challenge

Even though I would like to have a fairly balanced reading diet (which means, ideally, that I will be reading a good number of non-fiction books this year), if I am going to read fiction, I’d rather it be Christian fiction of some kind. I do enjoy some historical fiction that isn’t Christian, but not a lot. Some of the ideas here are fun—as in, I’m not sure how many “Esther” fiction writers I’ve come across so far (may need to fudge for that one…any ideas?). I’m aiming for Teir 2 (26 books), although I’d love to get through Tier 3 if I can!

Here’s my current to-be-read-next list:

Right now, I’m almost done reading Stories Behind the Songs and Hymns About Heaven by Ace Collins, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to fit it into any of the challenges besides the NetGalley challenge. My next two, though…I think I’ll be able to manage!

Now, I need to go try to finish the 12 (!) book reviews I need to catch up on!

Are you doing any reading challenges this year? If so, which ones? What do you have up next on your to-be-read list?