Nelson

Flew to Nelson Monday afternoon but Air NZ managed to leave my bags in AKL. Aunty Jan met me at the airport after a turbulent descent into Nelson. But of course it was sunny here when most of the country had clouds!! Everything seems so green and lush here--beautiful. Its like living in a glasshouse. My bags arrived by shuttle this morning in time for me to have some chocolate chip cookie cereal for breakfast (I brought it from USA). It also meant I had clothes to wear today! Got a new bank account and a haircut--the mall (centre of it all) has definitely changed and improved. The Body Shop is already there unfortunately but I dont see a donut shop yet so I still have something to work on. Lunch with Cam, Clint and Darryl, saw Jenna, Hayley and Sebina. Then off to Monterey House, Gardens and Cafe. This is where I used to work in Orinoco. The cafe opens wednesday 8 December. It is very very nice and I suggest you all go out there and sample it. Now I need to find some work for 3 weeks before xmas. Nearly finished DaVinci Code--getting better! So was Jesus married to Mary Magdalene? It certainly wasn't normal for a Jewish man to have any standing if he wasnt married was it?

Aotearoa!

Arrived in Auckland yesterday morning after long but good flights first across the USA and then to NZ. Mum and Dad met me at the airport and took me to a cousins place for a shower and then straight to church. Thats when i met Johanna (my youngest niece) for the first time. Priscilla just dumped her in my arms!! A few minutes later Nikki, and Melanie were giving me hugs and then Joanna was dumping Benji(my only nephew--making him my favourite nephew!)in my arms. Had a fun day with the family--Jon and Rufus were there also. Watched the All Blacks smash France, and played Pictionary.


At Atlanta airport I looked for Richard Bransons book but they didnt have it. So I bought The DaVinci Code. I had had discussions with Kate Robinson about this book as she was reading it when I was in Canada. I can't put it down!! I'm over halfway through already. The historical details in it are very interesting and all the symbology and crptyology is fascinating. So now I know what the Holy Grail is, What the Mona Lisa means among other things. A great read for any thinking mind!! May just challenge the way you think about your faith and how/why we believe what we do. What is truth??

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hope everyone has a great day being thankful!! I'm thankful especially today to Earl & Corrie Fore for hosting me here in South Carolina. I have had a great time here and will remember it fondly. Also thankful to Charity for putting up with me and taking me around and being a cool mate. Looking forward to thanksgiving dinner at your parents place!! And of course I'm thankful to my family and friends all around the world-gonna be great to see a bunch of you again in a few days--esp. Jo & Frank, Nikki, Melanie and Benji!! A big thanks to any of you that have hosted me on this 4 month adventure around USA, Canada and England. I've had a blast! And a special thanks to Shellz for being you. And most of all I'm thankful to God for loving me and the way He has shown that love to me in 2004. He has taught me a lot and brought me a long way this year. I'm excited about that and what He has for me next! Bring on the Turkey and Pumpkin Pie!!

Roast dinner

I found a whole leg of lamb in the supermarket today!! It cost $37 US! It was the only piece of lamb i could see in the whole supermarket so i snatched it up quick. I had a little fun with the oven during the cooking of the Pavlova which of course messed the Pavlova up a little but the cream and kiwifruit soon hid the mistakes!! Then the lamb got put in the oven with potatoes, kumara, and pumpkin. Peas and gravy and mint sauce made it perfect!! That lamb was so nice!!!

On another note: lessons i learnt today while taking trash to the dump:

• Americans dont bother too much with tying loads on
• If the back of the ute tray dont shut then slam it until it does!! ( it didnt so i had to calmly fiddle with the latch and had it fixed in 2 seconds.)

Also tonite I went to the hospital to pick someone up (lady I am staying with went into hospital tonite) and as I had been in a rush I was in barefeet. Now I know shops have a sign that says No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service but this was a hospital!! Some guy at the door was goin to get me some boots to wear but I told him I was from NZ and didn't care too much about what might be on the floor. Those floors were shiny and looked cleaner than any floor in any house!

Today I also christened the new jacuzzi bathtub here and watched the proposal on the Bachelor.

Rebel Billionaire

A new reality show has just started called Rebel Billionaire. Maybe you have heard of it. As an addict of reality tv myself , this one is probably the one I wish most that I was on. It's a similar idea to the Aprentice but this one is hosted by Richard Branson of Virgin. Richard is a much more down to earth type of guy than that idiot Trump. He also started his company with nothing--none of his Dads money like Trump. Anyway the winner of this one gets 1 billion $US, plus Richards job!! The winner becomes president of Virgin Worldwide, a position currently held by Richard himself. I can'f figure out why all 16 of the final contestants are Americans--not what i would have thought would be a logical choice for a worldwide company based in Britain. Most Bristish employees pick Kiwis or Australians as their first choice employees. I actually had an Australian businessman tell me the other day that us Kiwis were harder working than Australians!! (He also offered me a job here in the USA!) Check the show out--it has some amazing stunts in it that the contestants have to do--as you probably know Richard is an adventurer himself. Seems i missed the opportunity to run Virgin so maybe I will follow Richards example and start my own company from nothing.

check this out!

heres a test post for my new blog site. only 2 days until thanksgiving!! tomorrow is my last day here at Hawk Haven farm so I am cooking a Roast Lamb dinner! All the trimmings as any Kiwi would eat it and then I'm making Pavlova for desert, they love it over here!!

I'm going shopping tomorrow for candy and stuff that you cant get in NZ to take home. Anyone want anything?

That'll do for now donkey.