Marlborough Sounds

Our weekend on a boat went well. The crossing to the South Island takes about 90 minutes and was a bit choppy but once you are in the sounds (a large number of inlets along the island's north coast) things calm down. We enjoyed diving (water is pretty cold here at 17C, 63F compared to our usual caribbean conditions, but we were well equipped) both to catch scallops on sandy sea floors and among rocks to find crayfish (lobsters), We also fished for the delicious blue cod and managed a night at a pub accessible only by track or sea. Tracy would like it noted that she caught a lot more keeper fish than Tim!

Weather got more settled for our final two days and the sea was very smooth (which suits me just fine!). Thanks to our friend Dave for taking us out!

Drought

Our "green and pleasant land" is currently looking awfully brown after only 16.5mm of rain (little over half an inch) in January, 90% of which fell in 1 stormy day. Like Scotland they usually expect the wet stuff to fall out of the sky so usage is not optimized and we are already having complete watering bans and emergency measures. There will certainly be some thin sheep around soon if the rain does not pick up.

Of course the warm dry weather has been great for those of us who don't depend on the land and have no stake in a wilting garden. It has also contributed to the limited number of blog entries and new pictures on the website! And the long range forecasts suggests warm dry conditions will continue, perfect for our travels. The weather has also been very warm and humid for the area, we're used to it but you notice the lack of air conditioning we all take for granted in the US.

Police Concert

30 years on it was still great to finally see the Police in concert. They put on a great show in Wellington, though it could have been longer. Support came from Fergie ("whose idea was that shit" said Tim; Tracy liked her) and Fiction Plane whose singer we thought could have done a good vocal rendition of the young Sting. Checking the internet later reveals that this may have something to do with the fact it's his son!

I'm On a Boat in the Middle of Summer and You Are Not

We are off to spend the holiday weekend (yet another NZ holiday) fishing and diving in the Marlborough Sounds on the north of the South Island. Enjoy the winter northern hemisphereites!

Sporting Update

Our shearer failed to start the attempt on his world record because his sheep were over-crutched. Sad to say I actually know what this means (my dental assistant is from sheep country).

Sir Edmund Hillary

While of course it was sad to hear of the death of someone who was still a hero to those of us brought up in the 70s many years after his Himalayan feats, it is quite something to be living in his home country. It is not an exaggeration to say that he was the national icon, the world's best known New Zealander and personified the Kiwi self-image. He was even given the rare honour of being depicted on a banknote while alive.

Breaking Sports News

Just to give a flavour of one of the sporting activities that might not earn the country international recognition:

Shearing longshot set to tackle ewe record

Fordell is the site of our favorite local pub by the way, and is real sheep country.

New Year

It is clearly considered to be a drinking holiday here but nowhere near on the scale of Scotland - where the rush in the off licences (beer/ liquor stores) has to be seen to be believed. Getting drunk on the beach seems to be popular and several busy beaches nearby have one night "liquor bans" to discourage the practise. Public drinking is allowed in most of the country except in marked liquor ban areas, mostly in town centers.