Connected!

We have internet at home!  We are so excited to be connected via the big screen rather than our phones.

So we love the country we have seen.  Most noteworthy - the people!  So kind and smiling all the time.  "No worries" is the standard here.  Gotta love that!



We went to the Sale yards yesterday and saw sheep and cattle being auctioned to farmers.  Afterwards we went to the local diner for lunch - hot mince pie and coffee.  There were no open tables but an elderly man, younger man and son were leaving and offered us their table.  The father of the youngest boy, upon interrogation by yours truly, is a farmer and was selling cattle at the auction.  We chatted a bit and have been invited to his 3,000 acre ranch just on the other side of town.  They are just like that here.

My kind of place!

It is rainy and even though summer here, we had jackets on last evening for our walk to the playground.  This has become part of our day - the school has a nice playground and is a short walk away so after dinner that is where we go.  We all burn off a little energy and then home for games, reading, bath and bed.

We have been for some drives through the mountains and the countryside is spectacular.  We stopped on the road to watch sheep sheering and we have seen birds and trees and flowers that we are not at all familiar with.  We saw a red stag deer farm - really big stags being fattened for some rich hunter to come and kill, we think.  Needless to say we have lots of questions to ask and the people here seem willing to provide answers.

We walk to the grocery and to the market across the street for our daily newspaper.  We have not yet been here a week but have found our way around town and have run into Di, the woman from the hospital, twice!  Gotta love a small town.

We went to the local beach one day and played in the black sand.  The Pacific Ocean lapped at the beach and sun was shining - we all got too much sun so now we lather up with sunscreen before leaving home.  The beach was nice although very different than the white sands of the Gulf.  There was a bus from the "old folks home" parked on the sand.  After the elderlies reloaded into the bus the young woman driver became very stuck in the sand.  We tried to help push and dig the sand out and all the little old men were smiling and laughing and trying to push - I was a little worried about them making it through the exertion!  Eventually a little tow truck - mini-Tonka it said on the side - came and hooked a strap to the van and pulled them right out - the old folks will be talking about that adventure for some time to come!

A day or two prior to that beach day, we found Bethell's Beach - we drove and drove on windy, mountainous roads with no sign of water anywhere.  Gorgeous drive! But again no water in sight.  We followed some signs and parked in a parking area that was small and there was a path between two large hills, still no water in sight.  Then what to our eyes should appear - no, not reindeer - but a misty beach and rolling, crashing waves.  Gorgeous! Astonishing! Magical! Not to be overly dramatic - hard for me - but really we still cannot get over the wonder of that place on the Tasman Sea.

Adrian starts work on Monday at 8:30.  We will both be a little nervous about that as he will find out if it will be what he hopes it will be and I will find out if I can manage on my own while he is at work.  I have driven for two days and have navigated the roundabouts with only flipping on the windshield wipers instead of the blinker. Will soon need new blades with all the use!  Surely I will get used to that. We have decided on an automatic shift car because who can manage all that and find the blinker!

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