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.

Milford Track Day 2

Broke out of the trees into a splendid mountain meadow...





Just in time for a cuppa...

Can't beat a view like this...

Or a face like this!