Tramping

In New Zealand they have an amazing set of tramping tracks (hiking trails).  One runs the entire length of the two islands.  New Zealanders ("Kiwis" as they sometimes call themselves) seem to do a lot more hiking than do Americans, on average. We haven't spent a lot of time hiking outside of Wellington, but we have loved hiking in the foothills around Wellington.

Note the poem on the bottom right:

We have found NZ a place of safety and learning.

Mountain Biking

Jonathan and I hired bikes and went for an amazing ride at the Makara Peak mountain bike park.  We got some full suspension bikes and were glad we did.

There's a great  sign post at the top that includes directions and mileage to Slickrock, Moab.

A view from the top.

This is a run that we didn't go down.

It looks like it goes right down  through the valley.

This is where dead chainrings end up.

The path doesn't allow much room for error.

One time I made a big error and went over the handlebars.  Ouch!  Just got a little scraped up, but definitely developed more respect for mountain bikers.  That requires some serious skills.

Buzz

I think we mentioned that New Zealand is expensive?  Mark likes trying to take care of business at home that we can.  Jonathan is shown here in barber training.  Mark then took a stab a cutting Jonny's hair in return, (and it turned out okay because Jon is still is a handsome fox).

Teeth?

 For those of you interested in the exciting day-to-day important items in the life of a six-year-old, we have a large news item to report.

Evelyn has her first loose tooth!!!!!!  It is still in the wiggling phase, and she enjoys worrying it with her tongue, fingers and whatever else is handy.  But I have a feeling that we are going to have the opportunity to discover if tooth fairies have the stamina to make it to New Zealand.  The kids here tell us that, yes, they do.

Old St. Paul's

 This building is "Old St. Paul's" and represents the pioneering-type spirit of Anglicans in New Zealand.  Mormons don't have the corner on the market.  Building Wellington took courage, endurance and seriously independent spirits.  Built in 1866, this was the Parish Church, then enlarged and made into the Anglican Cathedral and used for services in Wellington through 1964.  It is made from now rare NZ timbers; beautiful Rimu and Kauri trees.  It is known as one of the finest examples of a wooden Gothic church in the world.  Why wood?  A place plagued by earthquakes has few better choices.  We have experienced a few smaller earthquakes here and know that our old wooden house also rolls with the punches better than stone or bricks ever could.  The buttresses have helped it also endure the brutal southerly winds.  The glass windows are not really matching and were added after the building was made, whenever a donor was in the mood; so these vary in size and style from each other, a bit like a crazy quilt.  They are still beautiful.

Bungy Jumping

Jonathan returned from Queenstown yesterday and we are glad to have him back in one piece.  We thought you would enjoy photos of his extreme sports adventure.  He did bungy jumping, mountain biking, jet boating, etc.  He also made new friends from around the globe.  His review of Queenstown: "Awesome."

Lamb Dinner

We had two families invite us to dinner this weekend and both times we had wonderful NZ lamb dinners: roast lamb with gravy, potatoes, pumpkin, kumara (similar to sweet potatoes), and carrots / parsnips, and salad or broccoli.  One night we took a chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting, and the other night we took dark chocolate pudding.

We like NZ lamb more than the lamb we've had in the states.

Feijoa

This is a Feijoa.  Claudine loves this fragrant, aromatic fruit.  It has a unique flavor that is very hard to describe.  It's kind of guava-like with a hint of cinnamon.  Jonathan says, "the flavor is exotic, but the texture is terrible, so why would I want to eat it?"

Individuality

I'm posting this partly because Julia is cute, but also because this song is so representative of part of the culture here in NZ.  Be yourself; do your own thing; wear dreadlocks; go barefoot all the time (even adults).