We're Still Alive!

Hey folks! We're still doing great over here, been in some small towns lately, so haven't had much internet access. Today we are in Kaikoura, back on the east coast, and went out snorkling with seals in the Pacific. It was pretty freakin' hilarous, we had to dress in these incredibly thick wetsuits with hoods and snorkles and flippers. The site of our group waddling around on the beach gave me a horrible case of the giggles and I was the last one in the water because I couldn't stop! I even got the guide to giggle! When I finally pulled it together we swam out through these rocks, watching the huge seaweed grasses swaying in the swell, with little yellow fish and big blue fish darting in and out. We got out to the seal island and they proceeded to ignore us for about a half an hour. Then Ian took some of the folks in who were getting cold, but Dave said to stick around for a bit. Pretty soon one seal was out there with us, darting in and out between us. Dave told us the seal wanted to be chased, so we all took off. Then three of them came out to play with us, and were swimming around in a crazy game of seal chase! They have these huge expressive eyes and look so intelligent it is amazing. I sort of forget that I wasn't one of them and tried to dive after them, but then found my snorkle full of water. The thought crossed my mind to ditch this crazy awkward snorkle, but then I remembered that I can't really breath underwater. Amazing the things you can forget while frolicking with nature!
The group officially disbanded today, so Lee and I may be renting a car from here and driving out (on the WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD!) to do an overnight backpack trip. It feels funny to be on our own, no guides to act as a crutch! We actually have to plan our own meals now! Yikes! Hope all is well there! Talk to you soon!

PS. Lisa, do I have your correct email? Did you get an "e-postcard" from me?

I Felt Just Like Arwen...

So we are now in Queenstown, which is the "Adventure Capital of the World", or so the keep telling us. It is very bizarre, you can do anything here, bungy jump, sky dive, boogie board down a river, take jet boats up a river, bungy jump OFF of a paraglider or some such nonsense. It is like they have to invent all of these new "sports" 'cause the old ones weren't good enough? These new ones don't really require any effort though, just a whole lot of cash! So to try and save a bit of money Lee and I have taken the old fashioned road. Today we rented mountain bikes and actually pedaled them ourselves, up AND down the hills. It was really lovely, the trail was along side the huge lake here and there actually were a few technical bits. We made it back just before the rain downpour as well, so we are counting ourselves pretty lucky! And the little nugget I've been saving for last is our activity yesterday evening. We got into town pretty late, 3 pm or so and I was afraid we'd just crash out really early and not see anything, so I wheedled Lee into taking a horeback ride. He was a bit dubious, due to a painful previous excursion, but bucked up because I pretty much begged him. So off we went with Wendy the really hot horse wrangler. This definitely helped Lee's outlook. They took us on a lovely little ride with only two other people down to the Shotover River. At one point I looked back at Lee and said "Hey this looks like the place where Arwen called upon the spirts of the water and drowned the Nazgul with a horse shaped tidal wave." And lo and behold that is exactly where we were! ON HORSEBACK NONTHELESS! How cool is that! Then this hideous jet boat came up and spun a bunch of doughnuts, sprayed us and scared the horses. Bleah. But then we forgot all about that because they let us trot and then get up to a canter on the way back. It wasn't a full gallop, but it sure felt like we could outrun any run of the mill Nazgul!

One Piece (for the most part...)

Lee and I have made it to New Zealand pretty much safely and soundly. The one small incident occured minutes after his father had dropped us at the airport. While rummaging around in the pocket of his backpack, Lee managed to come in significant contact with his (rather sharp) razor. You know how when they're really sharp you don't notice you've been cut? Well, about a pint of blood later, not only did Lee notice, but the entire airport security staff noticed as well. They rushed him off to the men's room with a crack team of medics and he emerged a quarter of an hour later with a huge bandage. Meanwhile I was left to mop up the blood and pick the chip of knuckle skin out of his razor. Uh, ew. It really looked like that fake movie skin, which really means that fake movie skin really looks real. Huh. Who knew? So off we go into the wild blue yonder, being very careful of sharp implements...

Bye Dee Bye!

I am packing up the laptop and leaving the Falls Church apartment. This will be the last post from somewhere I call home for a long time! Momentous Occasion. Here we go!

Efficient Aren't They!

So I'm sitting here in my house while Fred, Dexter and Ben pack everything. Absolutely. Everything. I forgot to mention that the microwave came with the apartment, so it got packed. They packed our recycling bin. Full. They packed all of those grocery bags that you collect on the side of the refrigerator. This whole government sponsored packing thing sort of seems to defeat one of the benefits of moving. There will be no weeding out of extraneous junk this time. Extraneous junk? Packed! The muffin I was saving from yesterday for a snack? Packed! Toilet paper? Packed! If the dog would hold still long enough it would save us a ton in kennel costs... Fortunately I got to the kitchen garbage before they packed that. But not the bedroom. Heh.

I was Hoping for More Chrome and Less Tinfoil...

I finally got around to trying out this fairly expensive hoop tape (acquired here) to refurbish the few hula hoops that I haven't tossed to the karmic wind, and I have to say that it is some tricky stuff to work with! I may be a traditional hoop tape purist even. I enjoy the malleableness of a good electrical tape, graceful curves and swoops executed with nary a wrinkle. But this new flashy stuff. Well. Does sparkle and gleam always make up for an inherent lack of supple adaptability?

Duh. This is America, of course it does! Oooooh. Sparkly.

Merry Christmas...?

I finally finished my sister's Renaissance Faire bodice...



Not really the best timing, but satisfying to finish nonetheless.