Alive and Well!

As with Ian there are just a few things to update you on ….. starting with the most fun.

Sam and I had five days of winter holiday down in Queenstown.  It was my first trip there ever and I have to say, Sam and I had a great time.  The town itself could be canmore, banff, tahoe ect but the environs were very very nice We flew down, the approach being made up a river valley.  Its not often in a 737 that you can see the people on the hill tops above you only a couple hundred metres away.  We rented a ford “Territory” an Australian made and design AWD crossover thingy.  Other than the fuel consumption (HUGE) its was great, as there no road feel or skill needed … just point it and go.  We skied about four times, for me the skills came back fast, but the fitness well … that was the weak link.  I generally skied half days and Sam skied full days.  We got a ride in on the Shotover jet (google it)  and spend the rest of the time exploring before driving up to Christchurch and then flying home.  I found that as long as I handed someone a hundred dollars every few hours, we had a good time.  Sam had to work like a demented squirrel the rest of the holiday. 

Oh … we’ve changed our coins this month.  Gone are the big clunky coins replaced with a 10 cent piece that is copper, a 20 cent piece that is about the size of a quarter and a fifty cent piece that is just a little bigger than that.  The same one and two dollar coins as before.  If anyone wants a few, please let me know. 

Spring is coming fast with the warmer weather, the lambs and daffodils!  Lots of daffs.  My bees are looking very strong right now with the colonies building fast and spring nector flowing.  I’m a bit worried about swarming but I think I’ll be okay.  I’ve started mowing and spraying and generally knocking back the weeds, grass and trees.  Oh yah I had a guy in to help me top the row of lawson cypress alsong the drive.  We took about 5 m off the 15 m height.  We even saw a few very early ducklings! 

Lastly I have had some sucess flying my radio controlled gliders.  I’ve built and been testing a slope soarer as well as my floater. Its been fun and the group of guys who fly are very nice. 

 Anyway …. thats it from here ……