beautiful people

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the longer i am in this country the more i think everyone here is simply prone to gift giving. i don't mean gift giving in a material sense....i mean they are consistently imparting little life gifts. after melissa left i flew from auckland to nelson (on the south island) to meet up with michelle again, but had to wait for a few days before she could make it to nelson. at any rate, i have spent the past 2 nights with an great family!! marcus, jane, and 'wee' annabelle, oh an profit (the dog). remember rhondda and john....marcus is rhondda's son. he has the same sort of enthusiam for life that rhondda has. jane and marcus are both teachers....incredibly welcoming and warm....it's encouraging that they are teaching this country's young people. 'wee' annabelle is their new baby....i think she'll have the same zest that her dad has....with the warmth of her mom.

marcus and jane live in a secluded farmhouse with tons of land on all sides and their home overlooks a beautiful valley. i helped marcus build a railing around their porch for part of my visit. it was quite a comical venture because marcus is not exactly a builder by trade....but we did our best figuring out angles and measurements. i think we measured everything 4 times and we only made 4 'boo boos,' which jane let go. i also borrowed jane's mountain bike and went for a ride accompanied by profit....who i didn't invite, but he insisted so i let him lead the way. we also went swimming in the river together. a quality day with the dog.... :o)

my last night in their house marcus pulled out the telescope he'd borrowed from the school. he put the moon in the lense and just let me look. he pointed out some neat constellations. here they call orion 'the pot' because he looks like an upside down pot. fun fact for ya.

all was good there....beautiful people. mk came to pick me up and we were off to abel tasman!! our first trip out!!

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Photos

mountain biking
view from the trail i bike up....

profit
the dog....he was waiting for me....i'm too slow.

progress
this is the railing....and the view from the deck....not bad.

Comments

[Katieee]

it's about time...
I guess this will have to do for now! Love you, cait.