gearing up

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here are some photos of my last few days in picton. all together rather uneventful. i finished up cleaning work and driving work yesterday. all paid up and ready to party....to bring in the new year with style!! well, maybe not so much style, but fun in a city at least!!

today i drove from picton to christchurch....it took most of the day. the drive was beautiful. i have come to expect nothing less. i saw a few snow covered peaks descending to black sand beaches. much of the drive i spent on roads carved into moutnain sides looking out onto the water. the roads doubled back and forth around the mountains and through them with scary dark tunnels. i rounded on corner and was looking out onto a small bay....i saw something move above the water. i looked more closely and it was a pod of dolphins playing along the shore. they were small, hector dolphins, native to new zealand waters apparently. i pulled off the road and watched them play for a few minutes. a neat performance to say the very least.

now i'm at my hostel in christchurch awaiting the arrival of melissa. she's due in at 9:10 tomorrow morning!! we're going paragliding weather permitting (this she does not know yet....but because she's on a plan and will be for the next 10 hours or so it's ok for me to tell). michelle is coming out to christchurch tomorrow and we'll all party hard for the new year....i hope. a whole day before most of you....heh.

so, for the next two weeks my entries will be of melissa and my adventures together....and we'll have lots.

:o)

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Photos

sunset at sequoia
an unusually vibrant sunset from behind the hills

megumi and me
with our stylish homemade hemp

the gang
these are my people....

sebastian
he kept me company on christmas day

my garden
the garden i've been caring for since i've been at sequoia....suprise suprise it's still alive!!

yumi and me
in front of the sequoia tree outside the hostel....my final goodbye