Who wants to look at 4 million photos? .... GOOD!

Click HERE to see the millions of photos we took over the holidays of the new house, new hair cuts, new bird, etc...

Sandra, Al, and Claire are here! Finally, real live Visitors! We are having fun letting them be the dumb American instead of us. We actually get to explain things, like what the verb "sus" means and why they don't sell wine in the grocery store but instead at the bottle shop. They are adapting quite well. Claire and Karl are well behaved... occasionally. In addition to the Rosen family there is another member of our family we would like to introduce you to, Lucky. As in, "That bird is Lucky to be alive." He is a Budgie we found in a parking lot sitting on a minivan. He may be the most handsome Budgie in New Zealand. He also makes a disgusting mess and he likes Karl better than he like me even though I feed him and clean his cage.

Anyway, we are waiting to see if his owners claim him from the ads we have put out. However, I think this may be a case similar to The Ransom of Red Chief. No one seems to want the cheeky bird back. It has been nearly a month since Lucky's arrival so we have given him an upgrade in his living space...a real cage! He got to move out of the china cabinet where he had been happily residing when not riding on Karl's shoulder leaving little gifts on his shirts. (Don't worry, I sweep him off before he returns to the office.)

So, since I last posted anything, we have been all over the place. Queenstown is our new favorite place. A lovely resort town in the mountains which also happens to be surrounded by vineyards. We also got out to Fjordland, specifically to Doubtful Sound and the Tasman Sea.
What else shall I report? The Twelve Days of Christmas?

Twelve, the number of times Sandra beat us all at Gin Rummy.
Eleven trips to Hayes Hardware.
Ten new episodes of Flight of the Conchords.
Nine, the number of times Claire turned on the wind-shield wiper instead of the turn signal:)
Eight hypothyroid dogs, (inside joke...sorry I know its rude...but three of us think its FUNNY.)
Seven swans a swimming. (I'm running out of numerable stuff)
Six, what the word SEX sounds like when Kiwis say it! Seriously.
Five American tourists asking Kiwis silly questions.
Four trips to the Queenstown Airport.
Three visiting Rosens.
Two Christmas dinners.
And a Tui in a Pohutukawa Tree!

Karl & Claire at the Roaring Meg at the Kawarau Gorge in Central Otago. (you may need a very good map if you really want to know where these places are.)

This is the sign on the way into Invercargill from the north. The sign is in reference to The World's Fastest Indian, which is a film starring Sir Anthony Hopkins about local character/hero, Burt Munro. I do recommend viewing the film. Just read the sign and think about it for a minute. I won't make too much fun of it as I am sure to take a bunch of heat from our Kiwi friends as it stands. This sign just cries out to my desire to read things literally and make sarcastic remarks! Alas, I restrain myself and leave it to you.

I know I have left out a plethora of stories, photo explanations and lists of recent grocery store prices but there is just so much. I would instead like to take this time to thank Sandra, Al, and Claire for visiting us. Thank you for all your love and generosity, your sense of humor and patience, and for traveling to the other side of the world to visit us. I hope everyone gets inspired by the pictures and decide to come and visit too. Just drink a little scotch while purchasing the plane ticket$, it will soften the blow.

Childs' Play

Karl and I are regressing. Our new pastimes of choice is....wait for it...Honking at the sheep in paddocks to watch them run away! I'm not kidding. I'm getting a little bit giddy now just thinking of driving down the "highway" watching the little lambs poke their heads up at lightning speed at the sound of the horn, and then hauling tail to the other side of the paddock. The best part is when they get to the other side, or even just half way, they stop, look around, and try really hard to remember what they were running from in the first place. (similar to that feeling you get when you are standing in the bathroom with a jug of milk trying to figure out what you went in there to do.)
Today Karl and I decided we would separate the lambs and their mothers from the rest of the heard. Easier said than done. I don't know if you've gotten the picture yet or not, but sheep are super stupid, and fearful. They are afraid of me clapping my hands. They literally pee out of fright when we get near them. They either have exceedingly short memories or have been severely abused by a short dark haired woman. If they possessed the capacity to remember back a few days, the only action we have taken with them is to move them into the neighboring paddock.
Falling sheep poo mud is no fun. Neither is forgetting that fences are electric. Shockety shock shock.

So, we are getting ready to move into town. Into one of the charming 1950s numbers with no insulation, no central heating, and single pain windows. Whoopee! This house is owned by the practice Karl will be working for. The last locum who lived there moved her bed into the living room because of the dank and cold in the bedrooms. The good news is, it is "summer" here so hopefully we will not freeze to death.

The Giant Trout in Gore, our neighboring town.

Our Kiwi Thanksgiving was delightful if different. It was odd to work all day and then have Thanksgiving dinner in the evening, but you do what you can. All the Kiwis at work were very interested and curious about this holiday. Don't worry I told them all about the rituals, eating too much, drinking too much, fighting with your sisters over who has to sit next to a certain relative...all that good stuff. Oh, and watching the Gators kick some Seminole ass.
We had a great Turkey Day with with Mary, John, and Mary's family who came all the way from northern California. There were four dessert pies (not to be confused with meat pies) between the seven of us. Good food, good friends, a lovely evening....and left over pie for breakfast!


We took more bad advice from the Fodor's Travel guide and stopped at the Moeraki Boulders. Advertised as one of the Natural Wonders of the WORLD! Really? Why? You look at the pictures and tell me. Am I being a rock snob? Karl is hard to impress in the rock department, he's from Arizona, rocks are one of the only natural formations in the state, aside from sand and cacti right? Anyway, when you all come to visit us and take an awesome road trip on your way to our place, skip the boulders, you'll be glad you did!



Last weekend Karl and I headed up to Dunedin and then to Oamaru for their Victorian Heritage Festival. People dressed in period costume cheered at penny farthing races. (Penny farthings are those antique bikes with a giant front wheel, the penny, and the teeny tiny back wheel, the farthing which was apparently a minuscule coin.)
Also on functioning display were steam powered tractors and a train, which one can ride back and forth on all day through the Victorian town of locally quarried limestone buildings. We were treated to a wool spinning lesson, a craft that many Kiwis practice. Sue Vercoe has a spinning wheel in here at the house so I may have to practice myself. Karl spun too tight and I spun to loose. Between us we'll make the perfect yarn.
See More Pics of Oamaru & Dunedin

Don't Ask Questions & "How do we eat this?"

Whenever Karl & I cannot understand why the Kiwis have done something a certain way or built something differently than we are used to, we tell each other, "Don't ask questions, it's Kiwi ingenuity." This saves us from further confusion and pointless debate on the matter. It is not going to change and there may not be an answer. I have also invented a new stress relief programme, it is call "slap an engineer." I know this sounds mean spirited but it makes us feel better to visualize slapping the person who designed the winding road across a broad strait valley without obstacles, or a single car lane bridge, 100kph signs two meters in front of stopsigns, or exposed electrical wiring, etc.

An example of the silly side of Kiwi ingenuity. At the local bottle shop (liquor store) you can get beer on tap in large containers, a growler to us. We were inquiring about the prices when the shop keeper recommended joining their beer club.
Karl: "So after joining we'd get a better price each time we filled up, right?"
Teenage cashier: "Well actually, it's fifty cents more every time you fill up. But, after you buy 20, you get one for free."
Karl: "For free huh?"
TC: "Yeah."
Karl: "So I'm assuming it's free to join then?"
TC: "No there's an application fee"
Karl: "Really?"
TC: "Yeah."
Karl: "Um, we'll just take the wine thanks."
Why the hell would we pay to join a club to pay more for beer? Some things here just don't make any sense to us.
We have also found Kiwi's don't always understand us either. The week after Halloween, I made a pumpkin pie out of our white Kiwi pumpkin. (They are still orange on the inside and taste the same, but their white shell is harder than our American variety. You cannot carve them.) Karl & I were super excited about this pie, we were telling everyone about it. I had so much pumpkin left over I decided to make two more, one for Karl to bring to the office. Apparently, they do not eat pumpkin pie here. It's thought of more like we think of zuccini. After Karl left it for them, they pondered. Karl happened to call from the rest home he was visiting with a question on how to handle a situation with the hospital. After this serious discussion, a concerned question was posed, "Hey Karl, how do you eat pumkin pie? Is it served hot or cold? Do we serve it with yogurt or whipped cream?"
I was floored! Pie is a staple over here, mince pie, streak pie, kidney pie, egg pie, chicken pie and sausage rolls which are really just sausage pies with cut outs on the end. Oh well, I guess none of these examples are desert pies anyway. When I asked how they liked it, they said it was growing on them and they would have to try it again. As in, please don't let the strange Americans make us another zuccini pie for us to try. (This from the people who eat Vegemite)
I think I'll make pecan pie next to see what they make of that.
By the way, we are going to miss you all over Thanksgiving. We will celebrate English, religious fanatic, land pillagers and the start of the demise of the Native Americans over here with our American friends, Mary & John, who have been kind enough to invite us to share their turkey. This is a big deal. Turkey is hard to find in NZ. When you do find it, it is frozen, small, and expensive. (This bugs me. There are turkeys on the islands, I know, I tried t hit one with the car on the North Island, but then remembered how unpleasant plucking a dead bird is and I changed my mind.)

Mary & John @ Louie's, the wine bar which is open occasionally...

Te Anau

Karl and I drove up to Te Anau for the weekend which is about two hours to the northwest. It borders the fjords. We can see the mountains from the beach here in Invercargil, so it was nice to see them up close and personal. I think Karl wanted to get further into them, but more planning is required. Watch out Rosen family, Karl is planning a fjord adventure. We took a boat across the lake to the glow worm caves which is a very young cave, geologically speaking. There are no stalactites or stalagmites yet formed. The glow worms are an insect in their larval stage that have bioluminescence in their tails. They are actually nasty little carnivores but they sure look pretty and twinkly in the dark of the cave. I hope there are no entomologists reading this.

We also got a chance to take a short walk into the Fjordland. The Kepler Track is a well maintained hiking track that people generally spend three days walking from hut to hut and finishing off the circle back where they stated their trek. The area was beautiful, with a crystal clear rushing river, cable suspension bridges, birds singing everywhere and soft green vegetation everywhere. Katie was even talking about how she would like to do an overnight hike some day. I think the heat was getting to her.
See the rest our scenic and silly photos Te Anau

Dead birds & odds and ends

Three dead birds so far this week. Two brought in as offerings, one met a window head on. The compost heap has been the burial ground, which worked out well until Neko discovered this and rolled in carrion to his hearts content. I wouldn't care, really, except that he spent the rest of the day napping on our bed. One can only hope that a certain canary makes it through these uncertain times for local birds.
Karl and I hiked the Foveaux Walkway in Bluff this afternoon. Karl lies a lot. Lies before our hike included false statements about the weather, the length of our planned hike and worst of all he omitted the fact the hike is 90% uphill and then 10% down hill at a 90 degree angle. ("Pu-leez", says Karl)

More lies. I would like to point out, now that it is the day after, Karl had to go to sleep at 9:00 pm. Also we found three more dead birds today. I think one was a suicide in the barn, but foul play cannot be ruled out.


Fun Facts:
1. There are no pennies or nickels here. There are $1.00 and $2.00 dollar coins. Kiwis use the Swedish system of rounding.
2. Vacation homes on the North Island are called "batches" whereas here on the South Island they are called "cribs."
3. Halloween is not a big holiday which is good in the sense that Hallmark-esq garbage has not infiltrated but sad because we didn't get to dress up or play tricks on co-workers.
4. True Fact: I witnessed a man eat a banana with Vegemite on it. (my PTSD is resolving slowly)


Nostalgia is bitter sweet. I lucked out at the Countdown this week and found real bagels. Real New York style everything bagels. Joy to my world since they also had salmon, capers, red onion and cream cheese. What else do you need to complete the perfect weekend morning besides bagel with lox and coffee? Prairie Home Companion, of course! I love the internet, podcasts more specifically. So we had our lox and coffee while laughing at Garrison Keillor and how could a moment like this be destroyed? (well, I suppose many ways, but thats not part of this story.) By two canaries, thats how. They get all giddy when the radio is on, when there are people in the room, when the sun shines. Miserable creatures. They are trying to destroy not only my inner ear but also my sanity. Karl, having grown up with birds, does not share my disgust for them and their "singing."

North Island Holiday

Visiting Auckland kicked off our tour of the North Island. Auckland is a great walking city with lovely gardens interspersed throughout and quaint suburbs surrounding. They also have crappy weather which makes me feel better about our Southland climate.
Karl and I found a "real" Mexican restaurant in the Parnell district of Auckland. They had real black beans!! Our hotel room view from the Heritage Auckland looked out over the harbor. We stayed there again at the end of our trip and had a view of the Sky Tower. Apparently, your real estate value goes up in Auckland if CANNOT see the Sky Tower. We made the mistake of going into the Sky Tower and connecting Sky Mall. I'm not sure why it's called a mall. It is actually several floors of garish casinos and a gift shop full of Kiwi bird tea towels and All Blacks tee shirts. (Don't worry, I got everyone one of each.) (The All Blacks is the NZ national Rugby team.)

DOES THIS LOOK LIKE FUN?

We drove down to Rotaroa which one can smell miles before actually arriving in the city proper. The aromas of hot sulfur springs greet your nose. This is where Karl decided he should break me into camping. Not cool. If I wanted to live like a refugee I would do aide work in Africa. I'm sure I sound like a princess but COME ON. What part of sleeping on the ground in a mummy bag listening to the rain and wind try to rip the tent out from under me was I supposed to enjoy? Perhaps the joyful part was supposed to be brushing my teeth with a bunch of strangers in the freezing cold before a cup of coffee? Needless to say, we booked a hotel for the next night. I object to the princess argument. Do princesses shovel their own coal?
Karl and I toured a Maori living village with a third generation Maori guide. We treated ourselves to a traditional Hangi meal. The encased food is lowered into the hot springs or placed over a geothermal heat vent and left to slow cook. The end result is very tender poultry and root vegetables.


Our decision to take the scenic route through the Te Urewera National Park to Napier is a decision of which we are still considering the merits. We are both still alive and the rental car company is not suing. State Road 38 winds through several small charming villages before it turns into a one lane, unpaved hell ride with no shoulders. It makes the road up to Rocky Mountain National Park look spacious and straightforward. What we estimated to take three scenic hours turned into six hours of, "are we going to make it?", "where the hell are we", and "That wasn't on the map."
The next day we walked out into the Napier and took a look at the glorious mountains we had driven through, they were covered in snow.

An earthquake destroyed the city of Napier in 1931. The town was rebuilt nearly entirely in the Art Deco style. There is Art Nouveau and American Arts and Crafts Movement mixed in, which is fine with me. The effort of the town to maintain the architecture and history is endearing. I'll admit that I'm a sucker for an old building with a story,
but to see a whole town recognizing the social movement behind their bank, and their main streets is amazing. Even the manholes in Napier are molded with Art Deco designs. We took a boat load of photos, check them out.

We took a wine tour around Hawkes Bay. Our next stop was Gisborne which is not really that nice. We high tailed it out of there first thing the next morning and discovered Ohope. Ohope is the perfect place for a vacation from your vacation. There is nothing to do there except relax and walk the beach, which is exactly what we did. This is also where we watched our very first and hopefully only, bootlegged movie, Ocean's 13 or 46 or whatever they are up to now. At first I thought the film was grainy for stylistic effect. Our next clue was the German and Thai subtitles and overdubbing. That is the last time we borrow a video from a 12 year old.

That was fun...we are sick of writing. (are you sick of reading? are you just looking at pictures?) See photos. North Island Photos

Coal paranioa and why I hate canaries

Karl and I returned from our whirlwind tour of the North Island and have moved into the Vercoe house, which we love. However, there are challenges and chores of the sort I have not been previously responsible. For example there is a coal range in the kitchen which is not only for cooking, it also heats the water and the floors. Heated floors are nice but I am paranoid of burning the entire house down. Constant coal fetching, fire stoking, and temperature controlling lend themselves to pyromania. I am only slightly embarrassed to admit that I had never actually seen coal before. Let me tell you something about coal, it shatters like glass when dropped on tile. Take my advice, keep your gas and electric ranges. Maybe give your stove a little kiss today for being there for you when you push start or bake or whatever.

Here at the Vercoes' we also have Louis and Neko, the cats, around 30 white doves, and Alfie and Baxter, the canaries to look after. Baxter thinks he is Frank Sinatra. I think he may make a good snack for Neko. Neko brought me a gift this morning letting me know that he may indeed be interested in helping me with the Baxter situation.
Karl and I have been reprieved from tending the sheep which is good thing. A ewe and her lamb escaped yesterday into the front yard. After chasing them in circles for around 10 minutes I decided to just lock them in the yard. Karl managed to heard them back into their proper paddock (or "field" to you city-folk). Of course the sheep in that paddock were also interested in getting out at the same time, making it a bit challenging for him. (The grass is always greener...I know.) He got the two renegade sheep in without any further escapees just in the nick of time. Perhaps we should get a sheep dog.
While I've been indoors plotting the end of Baxter and maintaining my barely healthy level of obsession with the coal stove. Karl has been trying to get to work and back again alive. There have been tropical storm strength winds, hail and rain. Lots of rain. Three large trees fell across our driveway Monday night. Karl had to take an ax to them and drag them away before we could get a car through. Did I mention it is about 4 degrees Celsius in the afternoons. We won't mention how beautiful the weather is at 7:00 am.

I was about to go to the grocery store, but the hail has picked up again, so I am sitting in my coal heated kitchen having a glass of wine. Hey, Baxter don't you know any other songs?!!
Oh I forgot to tell you about the grocery store! It's called "Count Down." Count down to what, I'm not sure. Perhaps it's count down to better prices. Produce prices and quality vary and are not related in any way that I can detect. Last month Parmesan cheese was $3.00, this week it's $8.80. Why? Asparagus was $3.89 for around 6 pieces bound when I arrived at the market which, of course I did not select (highway robbery!). At the end of my shopping I realized I had forgotten to get olives, so I went back to the produce department only to see that the price had changed to $1.89. Interesting.
Checking out was interesting too. The cashier inspected all my produce individually and then gave me discounted rates based on her personal opinion of their quality. You start to question yourself. Do I really want these limes at all? Are they as bad as she says? Why is she making that disgusted face? What does she know?

See more pictures of: The Vercoe House

Rugby can be a sad sport & Medicine in New Zealand

I think the suicide rate may have increased dramatically since the New Zealand rugby team, The All Blacks, lost their chance at winning the World Cup. They lost their match Sunday morning to France in the finals. Life as Kiwis know it is over. Nothing else may be spoken of on television, radio, or in any office or public place on either the North or South Island. The mood is so grave, so solemn that it reminds me of the day Bush, the boy king, won the 2004 election. Very very sad. So sad indeed, that one of the big radio stations took the audio commentary and highlights (or is it lowlights?) from the game and createt a montage to the music of a very sad Coldplay song...I nearly peeded in my pants on the way to work.
Karl and I are not commenting on the match or mentioning that we didn't even watch. I'm hoping people include us in the category of people to emotionally effected to speak of the match.


Karl & I went to Dunedin for the weekend, which is an awesome college town with gobs of art deco architecture. We went out for cocktails in the city square and watched the insane university students running around in flipflops and miniskirts. I was wearing 4 shirts, a scarf, my overcoat, a hat, and pants with long underwear. Clearly, there is something wrong with these Southland people. Either that or Karl is right and I need to get my thyroid checked.

See the rest of our Dunedin pictures here: Dunedin Pics

Interesting new fact.

1. It is illegal to spank your children here, at all, ever ever ever. I was informed of this by a co-worker while discussing different laws. He looked at me like I had three heads when I asked him quite seriously, "But what if they deserve it?"

2. Interesting new phrases and words

• Gutted. "The kiwis are gutted they lost the rugby World Cup" "Karl and Katie will be gutted if it is cold and rainy in Auckland for their holiday this weekend."
• Jandals. Jandals are flipflops, or thongs, or slaps. "I wish it was actually warm enough to wear my Reef jandals."

Vercoe Brown & Associates Clinic

Well I've been working as a doctor in NZ now for about six weeks. I will say that the health care here is similar to the way it's done in the US in more ways than I thought it would be. I guess there is no perfect national medical environment, but I think that NZ has a good system in place. Probably better than our own.

Some of the things that are the same are as follows. Any time money is involved there will inevitably by a beurocracy. There is still a vast amount of paperwork. I figured that a national health care plan would streamline things. It doesn't. For the most part people see me under the national health plan, unless there was a specific event that caused there illness or injury, then it would be covered under the ACC (the Accident Compensation Commission), which is a different entity. There is also a way of decreasing the expense to elderly patients that come in at least four times a year through the local health council. This of course is another complication in the paperwork. Then there's private insurance. The only time I see it is with foreigners because I'm a GP. Specialists (for the most part) have national health care hours at the hospital and then have private hours in their own private clinic (where they see private insurance, ACC and out of pocket patients). Guess where they make most of their money.

I was suprized to see that it's not completely free (unless you apply to the government for disability, then they will reimburse you for your expenses, I've seen this for patients with lifelong rashes). But generally private GP's set there own price for service and are also payed by the national health insurance (sort of a rebate that may or may not be passed on to the customer). At the clinic where I currently work, Vercoe Brown and Associates, they charge $10 for children less than six years old, and $30 for everyone else. You have a ten minute appointment for this fee. You can go to the ER for free, but this generally takes more time. Also, all of your specialist appointments are free. You just have to wait one to six months to see them, depending on how urgent your referral is.

The biggest problem that faces NZ health care is that they can't keep their doctors here, they aren't paid as much as they are in other areas. It's not like any of the doctor's that Katie and I have met aren't making ends meet. For instance, Australia reciprocates NZ medical license, and you make two to four times as much for the time you spend treating patients. Guess were most NZ trained doctors are practicing...

All that being said. If you have a heart attack you'll be seen right away at the ER. If you have cancer, you will not go bankrupt from you're bills, and you're family wont be homeless after your treatment. If you have a chronic disease, most (if not all) of your medication will be covered, and you can ask the government to reimburse your GP expenses if you end up seeing them frequently. It may take a while, but if your illness calls for it, you will be seen by a specialist. Overall I think that NZ heath care is much better for the average person.

Sheering Sheep & Stewart Island

Karl Had the opportunity to partake in a New Zealand tradition. He also found out that John Vercoe has mastered the subtle art of getting people over to his house in order to get some work out of them. I think he went to the same school as Al Rosen. Anyway, we ended up having a great time with the Vercoes despite the unexpected chores. To see more of the sheering pictures click the following link: Sheering Sheep

The Vercoe family invited us to join them at their Stewart Island retreat, the Hove To. Stewart Island is largely a nature preserve with a quaint wharf settlement of 300 people. Hove to is nestled into the hills around the main bay, surrounded by gum and eucalyptus trees which are populated by Kaka birds and wood pigeon (the fattest pigeons in the world, making NYC pigeons look scrawny.)

Kaka birds

Karl spent a portion of the weekend playing lumber jack with John and John. They took down a tree, dragged in way up hill and prepared and stored enough fire wood to burn the village down to ash. They feel very accomplished, especially in their masterful use of the chainsaw. I spent the day with Susan, Laura and Anne who showed me the local artisan shops and went for a short "tramp" (that's hiking to you Yanks.) On our walk we ran into the one police officer and the single nurse/EMT/ambulance driver (I hope she doesn't get sick.)


To see more of our pictures from Stuart Island among other candid shots, please use the following link:
Stuart Island photos

Taxes and the Spa

Karl and I are having a challenging week. Neither of us can get paid until we get fancy Kiwi tax numbers. Apparently the trick is to be an obnoxious American until they give you your number (which they already have, you just have to either guess, or harass.) We choose harassment. Anyway, now they can trim all our hard earned Kiwi dollars. Karl gets two tax numbers, an IRD and a GST as he is self employed, lucky devil! The beauty part of all these taxes in great paid vacation, free and/or affordable health care, no homelessness, and, best of all, no potholes! (Karl did get stuck by a heard of sheep in the road and there is a duck that likes to waddle in front of my "spacious wee" car in the morning)


Our other challenge has been The SPA. That is what they call the hot tub. Karl has taken maintaining the pH to a zen level. At night I read a novel...and Karl re-reads the manual to the hot tub. The hot tub has been drained and refilled twice. It is actually quite nice when Karl lets me get in.



Things that we like:

1. The Curry Guru. takeaway only, best Indian food in NZ.
2. When the spa does not produce chemical burn.
3. Kiwi slang, i.e. "taking the piss out of one" which is to make fun of one. As in, "The Gators sure take the piss out of those crappy Seminoles."

Things that we do not like:

1. Spending $100.00 to fill the gas tank of the station wagon, which Karl thinks may be a Peugeot in disguise (which means that it sucks)
2. Working with able minded adults who do not know how to TYPE. (wtf?)

First week in New Zealand

Our new home...
















The WC...













The view!













And the local market.

Actually, our real accommodations are quite nice. We are staying at the Brown house while they are away in America. Their daughter Ruth is staying with us and educating us regarding the local culture.

Here are some pictures of some of the views we had. It doesn't do it justice. You'll have to come and see it for yourself...

Well that does it for us, it's the end of the road for this blog...

See all of this weeks photos by clicking:
http://picasaweb.google.com/dr.karlrosen/FirstTwoWeeksInNewZealand?authkey=c54foF6HRrQ

Cheers!