Arrival

These posts are all pretty out of order, but I guess that doesn't really matter. I made it to New Zealand! The plane ride was amazing. First of all, it was a double decker, which I didn't think actually existed. Secondly, I had my own TV screen, with dozens of movies to choose from. I also might have been the only person lucky enough to sleep for 7 hours...that's what mixing your mom's prescription Ativan and the free alcohol on international flights can do for you. (The future nurse in me cringes at such behavior.)

Here I am with my dad and stepmom, Kathy:



They are both great people. Just tonight I found out that my dad's favorite movie is The Sound of Music, and that Kathy confessess to being madly in love with Beyonce.


They have a dog, Ted, who is an adorable little trouble-maker. He is a Guide Dog puppy, which means that my folks have him until he's a year old, then he goes into a training program to become a guide dog for the blind. At least thats the theory. The program not only looks ar training, but personality traits in the dog as well. They accept about 65% of the dogs that they prep as puppies, and none of us are too sure if Ted is gonna have what it takes...but we do have out hopes up for him. He's a very sweet little guy.

A little glimpse of what my future might hold...

In New Zealand there is a woman named Caryl, and she is the most amazing massage therapist I have encountered. I was given an appointment with her as a gift after the 8 hours in LAX and 15 hours on a plane it took to get here. She told me about her land, where she lives with her partner, dog, and a bunch of farm animals. They have been in the process of building a strawbale house for about 5 years, are facing what seems like major loss of motivation, and have extended an invitation for Katie and I to come out and help with some construction. I recently spent an afternoon wandering around, nearly loosing an eye from both beaks and horns alike, admiring the outside bathroom where you have a lovely view of the sheep paddock from the tub, and taking a few pictures:

Chickens are called chooks down here, which is much more fun to say.
I was having fun harrassing these chooks through the wire fence, until they nearly started coming through it to kill me. Sorry, little guys.












A nice goat and a mean goat (the mean one is really just grumpy due to shedding):




The framework of the house-to-be:





The dogs playing (with some cow's gigantic femur) in front of the massage studio:

Lucky Number 13

Today I had the amazing chance to do something that I have never wanted to do--ride in a race car. I hate to drive fast, and I'm much more comfortable 200 feet up a tree then I am even going over 50 mph. But, a friend of my dad's is a hobby race car driver, and invited us to take turns being passengers in a race for the New Zealand version of NASCAR, and how could I refuse that? The course was a curvy stretch of an old state highway, closed to the public, and each driver had 6 chances to take a timed run, and the fastest of the day took home trophies. It was totally exhilarating. The outside of the car looks pretty normal, but that is deceiving...the inside is a stripped down cage of roll bars and welded steel, with these special metal seats that are about 8 inches deep. You get strapped into a serious harness that extends all the way to the back of the car, pretty much pinning you back in the seat. The helmet was awesome, like a motorcycle helmet with a built in radio to talk to the driver. I was so secured to the car I almost wanted to flip over, it would have been even more like a roller coaster the it already was. David ended up placing 5th out of 19, with an average speed of 160 km. The best parts were taking a hairpin turn at 110 kilometers per hour, and then spinning out in a complete donut while breaking after the finish line (which I'm pretty sure was all show...I had mentioned that I like a bit of an adrenaline rush).

Here are some pictures of life on the track with a New Zealand race car driver...


Getting strapped in...














Heading to the lineup...










Portrait with David, the driver: