Petra's last week in Christchurch!

Petra and Tim are moving to Wellington, on the North Island, for Tim's job in forestry. So Petra has been staying with us for the last week while Tim has already made the move north. It has been so much fun! We worked our last shift together in CCU last night. Blaine had to go to the west coast for work, so it has been like a slumber party! We went out for another friend Anouska's going away party and had a good time with a bunch of hospital staff.

It will be so so sad to say goodbye to Petra.

Crazy to think that Blaine and I only have 5 1/2 weeks of work left!!!

Lake Sumner Cont'd

The can I am holding is Off bug spray because we have something in NZ called sandflies and they loooove Blaine. Very neat experience. Smelled just like Yellowstone for those of you who have visited there.

Our Hut, Blaine being a 'poser'

Lake Sumner II

More pictures to follow. Last weekend Blaine and I went away just the 2 of us and drove on a 4x4 track up to Lake Sumner, slept in the hut and hiked to some hot springs. It was a much needed break to get out into the woods, away from the city noise and busyness. We ended up being in the hut with a French couple who were our age, living in NZ temporarily like us. The hot springs we hiked to were in the middle of a waterfall and the view from sitting in the pool was of the valley, Hurinui River and snow-capped mountains. It was one of those pinch-yourself-is-this-real moments.

Holcim Wine Tour

We had a lovely weekend last weekend on Blaine's company's wine tour through Waipara Valley. We invited a few friends along since there were extra seats. Pictured from left to right: Me, Jonny, Una, Cat, Rebecca, Esther and Blaine. We had a grand time: stopped at 3 wineries for tastings, ate a BBQ lunch at Waipara Hotel and ended with a game of pool at a local pub before heading home. I am so glad it is turning to spring weather and we have more fun activities to do. Sheryl Crow and John Mellancamp are putting on a big concert in December in Waipara Valley at Mudhouse Winery which we are hoping to attend. We are trying to cram as much fun in before we have to leave this place!

Well Folks, We're Coming Home

It is truly official...Blaine and I have both put our 8 week notices in (we are such nice guys we give 4x the required amount!) and we are starting the process for shifting back to the US of A! But don't get your hopes up so fast--you won't see our shining faces back for Christmas--we are going on a 2 month journey through the jungles of Southeast Asia! March will be our ETA for Stateside. Throw a dart at a map and that's where we might be living when we get home b/c Blaine's job is up in the air.
As you can see from the picture above...we are trying to squeeze every last drop of fun out of this place before we leave. We were dice for Halloween (don't know why I had to explain) but Halloween is new to New Zealand and when we walked in the party I don't think anyone knew why we were dice. They still think that dress up for Halloween has to be scary...so everyone else was goblins, witches, and ghosts (just coincidence that the singular from of dice is die?). Oh well...leave it up to us to teach this place about American holidays such as Thanksgiving, Halloween, 4th of July, etc. What are they going to do here without us???!!!