Christmas in Invercargill

Christmas day began with the stockings, like in the good ol' days. Peter had organized a $3 limit, so there were lots of mood rings, plastic weapons, pocket tissues, and travel toothbrushes gleaned from airline packets. The hit was the back scratcher that had a noisemaker in it that Karen got.

Although, the canned string was a close second, especially after James and Peter got through with John.

John & Sara with fire starters and helicopter guns. These later evolved into a contest outdoors to see who could get it to fly the farthest. With a tail wind, they managed to get it to fly across the street.

James & Ami enjoying Pete's demonstration of the proper use of the weapon (in his case, a plastic ork ax). They spent most of the morning sitting in the same chair. Karen & I tried it later when we were watching TV -- until my leg went to sleep. Ah, young love (or is it just young skinny bodies?)

Scarves all around were a treat. We were amazed at the variety of patterns, styles, materials and overall sophisticated restults that Libby & Molly were able to achieve.

Karen's scarf was light as a feather and so soft. Mine was very rugged and masculine. Was it made out of hemp?

Christmas crackers were new to us when we got here, but have become a holiday favorite. The little prizes and paper crowns in them are as much fun as popping them.

Although I think Libby has us beat with her Christmas Quackers.

During lunch, I stuck my head out the window to try to capture a photo of the rain peppering down, without much success. The back yard just seems a little hazy here. In 10 minutes it was all over and the sun was shining again. Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Preparations

Christmas brings memories of snowy days and chilly nights in Kansas.

In Invercargill, Christmas follows shortly after the longest day of the year and is early summer with relatively balmy temperatures. We've had rain and a cold southerly wind, so it is not what you'd call hot, but it is a time for Christmas lillies and hydrangas like this one growing right outside our front door.













Three years ago we bought a live Christmas tree (see photo left)and planted it afterwards. It is now about 9 feet tall as you can see in the next photo. Trees have two growing seasons here, so they grow twice as fast. Last year we didn't have a tree, but this year we bought an imitation tree and even some stockings to hang by the chimney. Our youngest, Peter, insisted on it.

Here are a few photos of the festival preparations.
















Karen tries to keep some of the Christmas traditions, such as pumpkin pie. Unfortunately, in New Zealand, there is no canned pumpkin in the stores. Pumpkins are large green gourds that are as hard as a rock. Making a pie from them is a two day process, involving cooking, scraping, pressing, and finally cooking again. Not many people eat pumpkin pie here, but pumpkin soup is popular (and tasty!)



Turkeys are much smaller here also. This year we had the opportunity to try a free-range turkey from one of Karen's students. No, I'm not carving the turkey in this photo. I'm pulling pin feathers with a pair of needle nosed pliers! Call us city folk, but next year we're going back to the commercially prepared turkeys.

Patience is a virtue not often found in the young.







Fresh hot pecan rolls for a Christmas morning snack.

Kepler capers

Darrell, John, and James at the Kepler trailhead. Little did we know just how tough it was going to be!
A veiw at the top--the Luxmore Hut, which sleeps about 50. It was a very nice for a tramping hut with gas and cold water on tap. It even had solar powered lights!
Looking back down 1000 meters to Lake Te Anau. The view was worth the climb.
Near the Luxmore Hut are some limestone caves that we explored. I'm smiling, but you have to look close to see it. The others are all grinning because I had recently high-centered climbing over a rock and got stuck with a stalagmite sticking me in the butt and had to be rescued by John.
James, John, and Chris pausing by a huge granite cliff on the trail back down to Te Anau. On this trail, going down was definitely much easier than coming up.
A view from Pearl Harbour just off Lake Manapouri. We were taking the Southern Scenic Route from Te Anau to Invercargill and paused here for a break.
Chris Mikesell on Monkey Island just off the Southern Scenic Route. Luckily the tide was out, so we were only ankle deep in water to get out to it. On the way back we found several tiny hermit crabs in the shallows.
Another monkey on Monkey Island, thoroughly enjoying the outing.

At last.

Here it is - my last paper. (and the tape recorded interviews it is based on) My final project (counts for 2 different classes, one at the graduate level). The culmination of a semester's worth of work. The exams are taken, the literature essays are written, and finally, the project is packed up and ready to be turned in. I am so, so done. I can say quite assuredly that this was the hardest, most draining semester so far. This picture was taken Monday morning, right before I left to go turn the paper in. It is now Tuesday night and I'm still tired. Boo hoo. But.... aside from catching up all the hours I've missed at work, and washing (I kid you not) at least 2 week's worth of dishes, (there was a film on the water in the sink, and I had to fight the gagging long enough to tie up the trash and shove it at JF. He still has 3 exams to write.) I've been doing this! (In case you're looking carefully, Libby, yes - all the ends are now woven in. Sigh!) On the left, we have one six-months-in-the-making sweater for JF. On the left, legwarmers (ok, only one so far) for his sister. And finally, my new best friend. The Slipper Pillow!! Picked this up at Ikea mostly due to its oddity, but am now in love. It's a pillow.. that you can put your feet in!!! And if you're wondering, yes, both JF and I have been caught doing the bunny-hop when we were too lazy (or afraid of the cold) to take our feet out to walk to the kitchen.

Darrell & James

Well, Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore!

Le Halloween

Well, since Libby covered Halloween, I thought I'd throw in some of our pictures too. We didn't plan very well. I was a sailor (note to self: Hornpipe costume no longer fits.) JF was a Pirate. I don't know if you can tell from the photos, but his eye patch was a piece of fabric (actually a remnant from when Sarah needed to shorten some black pants.. which expains the hem running through the middle) tied on with a piece of (blue) yarn. We were in a hurry. Patate is posing as a parrot in the second picture. We only had two groups of kids come to our door, so we got to eat most of our candy!

Idiot #1

This is cheating, I know, but I wrote Mom & Dad something and they seemed amused, so I'm ripping off my own email and posting it here.

"We (and I believe most of our street, which is much more commercial than residential) lost power for about three hours today - really not that much fun. I lit a couple of candles because I was reading articles for school, and the cat came sniffing around. I figured animals have, you know, instincts and that she wouldn't hurt herself so close to the flame. I now have a cat whose whiskers look a bit melted and whose tail caught on fire. And she is completely oblivious. Lessons learned today: 1. Don't let cats near candles. 2. My cat is an idiot."

Here is the idiot on a less melted day:

Fiordland Waterfalls

When it rains in Fiordland, the waterfalls come out to play. When it is sunny, Fiordland is beautiful. But when it rains--it is magic!

Put yourself in the picture

Once upon a time, about seven years ago, I downloaded a screen saver that showed a group of people hiking in a setting like this in New Zealand. I looked at that photo every day for almost a year, and each time, the yearning to put myself in that picture grew to the extent that it hurt. Finally, I decided to stop dreaming and do something about it. This is a photo of us tramping with a group of Venturer Scouts. That is native red tussock grass in a highland meadow near Green Lake by the Borland Saddle--in New Zealand, of course.

Doubtful Sound

Doubtful Sound is deep in the heart of Fiordland, a lush wilderness of mountains and waterways that are as difficult to live in as they are beautiful to see. Early Maori who had been banished for some offense would hide out here because it is so impenetrable. Whilst on a cruise here, we saw rare crested penquins, dolphins, and a colony of fur seals. This ain't Disneyland, folks. This is real!

Takahe

Once thought to be extinct, this colorful bird was discovered near TeAnau in 1948 by an Invercargill doctor. They had not been seen for about 60 years and had been declared extinct. There are now about 200 known to exist.

In New Zealand, most towns have a giant cement statue of some bird, fish, or animal. In TeAnau, it is the Takahe, as you can see.