Duane fights back:

OK so Dean is tempering our unabashed positivism, our pollyannaism, our little miss sunshinism?

But really, look at this picture..... how bad can it be?

Lake Rotoiti is good! And for all of you who might think, well, that this whole trip looks a lot like VACATION, and not, in fact, like a real life with dirty dishes and dirty nappies (well, thank goodness we're past that) and, yes, gnats albeit very friendly New Zealand gnats that are all g'day and, how ya going?, I remind you that it IS in fact summer vacation here and school starts in exactly ONE WEEK. Let's here what the little bugger has to say in a week or two eh?

Hi I'm Dean.

Today we did an hour long drive(very boring) to go to a little place.
We started off to go eat our picnics, but we heard someone shouting that there were eels in the water! They were really cool because they were way up close and the water was very clear. l4k3=gud
We went on to eat our lunch and there were gnats everywhere! I hate gnats now.
We started the hike that I didn't much like so I turned back after about 15 minutes. When I got back I must've gotten like a 100 gnats before the family came. We drove home and now i'm here typing a blog entry.
That's it.

Andrew:
This is my shell collection. All of these shells were from a real beach in New Zealand. I was just walking along on the beach and I picked them up. One of them I was swimming and I saw it on the ground.

My favorite is the biggest curly one. One row has shells, clams, a mussel, some tiny curlicue ones. I have some broken ones, pieces that look really cool. The other row has sand dollars. If the sand dollar is broken you can see a thing like a baby starfish inside or these little bird thingamajiggywiggies. They don't smell too good.

It's been said before, but rings true, NZ is a throwback in time. The local amusements at Tahunanui Park are simple and sweet. You pay $5 for a half hour on the Euroslide. Two blokes run the enterprise and parents sit watching their kids on plastic chairs at the bottom. It all closes at 5:30 every day of the week. The local roller rink 2-4 PM Sat and Sunday only.

In keeping with this slowed-down paced, we opted to read a family story last night. In packing I had found Jim Trelease's "Read All About It" a remnant from my teaching days when I was desperately searching for literature to inspire my functionally illiterate students. (My task was daunting and a mere book incapable). Nonetheless, it's a great book and I recommend it to any parent of adolescents.

Trelease has compiled chapters and essays of wonderfully engaging fiction and nonfiction. Anecdotal biographies of the authors introduce the passages. Some are renowned, many obscure. We read "Aunt Millicent" by Mary Steele. It seemed appropriate as Steele is Australian (not quite NZ, but close enough.} Aunt Millicent tells the story of a wildly adventuresome aunt who becomes the talk of a small town Problem is, she doesn't really exist. In order to end her intrigue she meets a fate worse than death......

You'll have to read it to find out. Great book....Jim Trelease "Read All About It."

Ciao

On car pricing: Drive out means drive out!

What a sexy car we have purchased. A burgundy Honda Accord wagon - now that'll turn heads. As I am chronicling small differences between US and NZ culture I've got to say that the price posted in the window was EXACTLY what we paid for this car. There was no added TTL. No cleaning charge. No registration. No document fee. nothing. In fact, the dealership owner sent me up the street to get the plates with his own blank check, as we were in a hurry to get it plated up and turn in our rental.

We have yet to name him/her. Suggestions?

What a journey it's been. After months of goodbyes, packing and selling a home full of good memories and spending 8 days with the in-laws, we have finally made it to Nelson! And........it's beautiful.

I must confess there were many moments of doubt. It is not easy to leave such a fine community of friends.But, yesterday when the plane touched down and we walked out surrounded by mountains and turquoise waters, I remembered again why we came here.

While exhausted from 24 hours of travel (it's not so bad....... really), we drove into town. We walked the streets, the boys frolicked on the church hill amongst the trees and flowers and the local folks walked and road their bikes in slowed down contentment. In the afternoon Andrew and I WALKED to the beach. We made a sand "mouse" and collected shells.The water is lovely.....warm and shallow and protected by a bay. This is our local beach park. There is a BMX bike track for the big kids, a giant Eoroslide, and a playground. The sand dunes are protected and there's a nice walk around the point. All around you see mountains.

Anyway, I'll leave at that. We'll still be in a bit of limbo until March 1 when we move into our house. Until then, stay well. We'll miss you all.