Flanders to Rome

Don and Robyn Parkinson

Robyn Hibbs is the eldest daughter of Jean Ropiha who was the youngest child of Erana Sciascia and Ieni Ropiha

We attend Destiny Church in Whakatane. We moved from Wellington to Taupo in 1983 and from Taupo to Opotiki in 1995. Our previous sporting interests have been tennis, squash, rugby league. Both of us have a church history which includes Marriage and Prison ministries, singing and children's ministries and Praying for the Sick. We have both had a terminal disease and overcome its debilitating effects in our lives and have nursed our nephew, Dennis through the third bone marrow transplant in the country - 1991.

We are presently grandparents to Chad, Joshua, Sharma, (Jamie's); Brianna, Braden (Victor and Megan's) and Turu and Jayden (Dennis and Nicole's). Jamie and Katrina have another on the way due in May (Luca in honour of our Italian heritage).