Last day of work...again!

Yup, just closed shop at the Otautau Medical Centre...forever. Well they'll still be there, I just won't be back. Well, that's what I keep saying anyway. A patient just told me today they're glad I keep having one more "last day". I do think I'll be back once in a while just to help out and for that country doctor experience. And the drive out there isn't bad either. Check out our springtime lambs on flickr...too cute. OK so maybe I'm sad to leave Otautau where I've spent practically the first two years of my first real practice, first years of marriage and first two years in New Zealand. Who wouldn't be sentimental!? But from now it's on to bigger and better things now that the Balance lifestyle centre is really up and running and work at Vercoe and Brown Medical Centre (another private practice) starts up in March.

But first, we're off to California, yippee! Hope to see as many of you there as possible. There's no fixed plan, but I'm feeling spontaneous so start thinking up ideas. Would love to get out surfing, climbing, coffee shopping, climbing, etc!

We had a good Kiwi Christmas and got invited to friends from church for Christmas lunch so didn't even have to cook! We went surfing too and the dolphins joined us! It was amazing....too bad the pictures didn't turn out of the dolphins but here's some of our friends, Wayne and Kim in their kayaks.

Then we found a hidden beach over the hill from Riverton. Somehow we never knew it existed until now. Here's what it looks like.

And here's a great little beachfront cottage for sale. Are you sure you all don't want to move to New Zealand?

The day before Christmas...

It is close to 70 degrees out and that makes it a hot summer day in New Zealand. It's still doesn't feel natural to have Christmas in the middle of summer with not a flake of snow in sight so we've decided to bypass Christmas altogether this year. We're quite pleased not to be contributing to the excessive commercialism this time of year but wonder if we should spend just a little to help the economy.

Well the Safari book is done and if you haven't seen the pictures yet, you can email me or facebook and i'll send you the flickr link. The photos are amazing!

We're both on call this Christmas Eve so will probably have a quite night at home of Scrabble (and looking at our pictures of course!)

We miss all you lovely people on the other side of the world and hope your Christmas is a peaceful and happy time. We wish more than anything you all would have a greater understanding and love for God in the New Year and that you would have a joy that is limitless!

Heaps and Heaps of Love from us,

Amy & Kimball & Kiwi (da bird)

South Africa Safari and Faith's Wedding

Hi all! We're back from Africa and had the most fantastic time ever with Melissa & Mark and the rest of the gang at Faith Lukens' wedding to Charl in the Kruger National Park. Pictures coming soon. We have thousands to sort through and plenty to delete...

In case you haven't noticed, we're now on facebook! Check there for pictures etc. We'll get back to posting here when we recover from jetlag (is it age or does it take longer than I remember to get back on a normal sleep pattern?).

Thanks to Faith and Charl for the great idea of a destination wedding. We hope the rest of you single people get the hint and plan your weddings in fabulous destinations around the world. We like this!

I'm on a roll!

Here's the latest family photo taken last July(from Jon's summer camp pier).

Kiwi, the bird

Our lovely "Kiwi" is growing up to be a circus clown. She can still only say "Hello" "How are you?" and "I don't know" but we're working on her repertoire.



She loves bath time and the smaller the bowl the better she seems to like it. It's so funny to see her try to squeeze into her drinking water for a bath but we had pity and got her this bowl (though she would still rather bathe in her drinking water!)

Glenorchy

Just another fun memory of the Glenorchy trip we took not too long ago.




What Kimball does in his free time!

Moke Lake, NZ

Even though it's been ages since Jeff and Fab came to NZ, I don't think I've posted these pictures of a cool bike ride to Moke Lake (just past Queenstown on the way to Glenorchy).



What a perfect day for it!

Massive Cute Attack!

Yesterday was my last day working at Otautau Medical Centre where I've been for the past two years and enjoyed myself immensely. Once a week I would do a clinic in Nightcaps where you can see views like this (below).

Those are the Takatimu mountains and beyond that is Fiordland. I will miss this. But good things come to those who.....go on vacation!!! Next we're off to Tauranga, NZ and then Kruger Park, South Africa where my dear friend Faith decided to get married.

A whole lotta lamby fun!

Frisky as!

Mama, come and play!

It's spring here!


Those pictures were just a couple weeks ago. Temps were soaring into the 70's (F) for a day or two. Quite the heat wave for this part of New Zealand.

Key Summit, Routeburn Track, New Zealand

When we hiked Routeburn Track we didn't have time for this detour but came back for it months later and it was worth it! 360 degree views of mountains covered in snow, glacier valleys and lakes and crazy little plants.

Horsing around in Glenorchy

A couple of weekends ago, we headed up past Queenstown to Glenorchy, the main filming site of Lord of the Rings and Prince Caspian.

Bastketballs and butterflies

It's Queen's birthday weekend (it's not even really the Queen's birthday but at least we get monday off!). We just got back from Dunedin (2.5 hours away) for a basketball tournament. We played 4 games and won one. All in all we improved heaps each game and had a great time. I'll practice next time though!

Kimball was up in Dunedin another time and went to the live butterfly display and got some awesome pictures of beautiful butterflies up close. They were shipped in from all over the world. Check out our flickr account for all the glorious pictures and more: www.flickr.com/photos/getoutdoors

We were just trying to guess who would be our next visitor from America-who knows it could be you! Hope to see ALL of you soon (or again!)

We'll be back in Georgia June 27 to July 6 and California July 6 to 11 (Kimball may stay on a little longer)...hope to catch up with some of you then for mexican food, sushi, surfing or boba.

Guest Bloggers... Brian and Robin!

The helicopter we rode on: close to Mt. Cook:

Today's blog is brought to you by guest bloggers Brian and Robin from Riverside, California.

We have been traveling around New Zealand for the last week and a half, and have been staying with Kimball and Amy since Monday night. It has been a great vacation (or "holiday" as the Kiwis say) and we have learned a lot.

One important lesson we learned is that, although there are lots of small towns scattered over the country-side, there are NOT many gas stations available after 8PM. As a matter of fact, if you are not in one of the large cities, do not expect to purchase anything (gas included) after 7PM or so. We thought we would get some gas on the way to Kimball and Amy's house late Monday night. However, as the time went on, and the kilometers passed by it became apparent that we were in serious trouble. In Lumsden, our Ford Focus told us we had 14 km left of gas. Lumsden is 80 km from Invercargill. The only gas station (or, "petrol station") had been closed for a long time. We called Kimball and told him we were going to have to spend the night there in Lumsden, get fuel in the morning and come down to their place in the morning. Kimball, being the good friend that he is, decided that he and Amy could come up to us with a gas can, and get us enough gas to get to Invercargill! That was a great relief, because spending the night in Amy and Kimball's spare room was much more comfortable then our car seats.

Other then that little hiccup, our trip has been great and the weather has been extremely co-operative considering that we are here during the rainy season. We have met some of Kimball and Amy's friends and have been traveling the Southland. We are going to post our pictures in a week or so at www.grattanengineering.com/gallery. Look for them after May 22, 2008. Our only regret so far is that we can't spend more time here! It is really a beautiful country.

Motatapu Bike Race

Good news...I got a last minute chance to enter this bike race of 45km for free! Bad news...I had to complete a grueling mountain bike race through terrain that had to be the worst I've seen!


There was a crowd of 2000 bikers and more with runners. The largest race of this type in New Zealand.


We rode through private farm land, through rivers, past Shania Twain's place (couldn't see it) and ate wild blackberries along the way.


Thank goodness for chocolate covered espresso beans!

SCUBA diving Milford Sound

Kimball gets his dive certification in Milford Sound...


...and catches a lobster!

A-OK...though the water temp is 14 degrees Celsius!

Poor Knights

Finger sponge


Life at 130 feet!! Long-finned boarfish

Yellow Moray

Yellow Moray
Originally uploaded by *amy&kimball

This scary guy popped his head out when Kimball swam by on our scuba trip to Poor Knight's Island

It's been a blur

The local tulips in bloom just 15 minutes from our house.

The Superbike races at Teratonga Speedway.

Motocross races at the Sandy Point track 10 minutes from our house.

On the way to Jack's Blowhole, Catlins.

This year so far has been amazing...let me catch you up to speed. I went bodyboarding down Roaring Meg (class 3+ rapids) while Kimball took Psychiatry Boards in Oregon. We made it out to the Catlins for more exploring and found lots of spoonbills and some amazing coastal hikes. Went to the Invercargill rodeo and motocross in the same day. We were awed by the speed of the 1000cc bikes at the Superbike races and Kimball got some good pictures of some bikes sliding out at the corner (don't worry, the bikers were ok).

On the way home

On the way home...survived the sandfly attack, the river swim, the zillions of mud holes and it was all part of a fantastic day in New Zealand. Thanks Belinda for being our tour guide and fellow adventurer.

Somewhere in Middle Earth

The start of our 4 hour ride at Mavora Lakes, home of the mouse-eating trout...seriously! (try fishing there with a mouse lure at midnight)


I LOVE mud!

Ahhh, just what we needed, a cool river and picnic lunch afterwards on the beach.

Then off again in search of Frodo...

"Kiwi" with her new beak

Now that Kiwi is older (12 weeks or so) her beak is turning black and she will soon have a salmon colored face.


Her favorite things are breaking toys and kicking seed on the floor like a chicken. She's learned to compensate for her clipped wing and can fly all over the house anyway. If you let her sit on your shoulder, watch out for your ears!


When she's not sleeping, she's learning lots of new birdy words...we hope she'll start speaking human soon.

We have a baby...

...a baby bird. Here she is at eight weeks making a fuss!




We call her "kiwi" because she likes to eat kiwifruit and is green.

She keeps Kimball's teeth clean...

She is a moustache parakeet and loves her millet...
...and eating her feet.

Mt Cook Christmas

Having Mike and Grace here for Christmas gave us a perfect excuse to head up to Mount Cook ('bout 5 hours drive) where we explored glacier lakes full of icebergs and ate tons of yummy food at the Hermitage buffet with a view (dessert shots of flan and tiramisu...genius!). The Sir Edmund Hillary Museum had just opened with movies on mountaineering and Everest and brand new planetarium. Definitely worth seeing and though not the cheapest, a comfortable place to stay. www.hermitage.co.nz

Christmas morning we opened presents sent from our lovely families and gobbled down homemade almond roca. Then off to Wanaka to sit in the 6 hot tubs and swim in a warm and cool pool while digesting Christmas dinner. Later we got inspired to hike off the rest of our meal and discovered a hidden mountain meadow and lake with a view of waterfalls.

The next day Mike and Grace took a scenic flight out of Queenstown over the fresh snow in the mountains to Fiordland where we met them after their cruise through Milford Sound and took them on a variety pack adventure of mini-hikes and photo ops.