...and finally some pictures!

Here are pictures from the wedding and the beach of Piha outside of Auckland, one of Danielle in front of some very dirty vulcanic water outside the town of Roterua, and one of our friends Hana and Jake from when we walked the Milford track. After about six weeks in New Zealand we're flying to Melbourne April 8th and then to Japan on the 15th. All is well, except for a very annoying mosquito bite on my index finger.

hello, an apology and updates

All is well, except that we haven't gotten this blog going yet. Stay posted though, our digicams are so full they have pictures coming out of the little cracks around their bottons. If it is true that one thing leads to another, this blog will be bursting of pictures and snappy comments before too long.

As for now, we've been in New Zealand for a couple of days. Flew in to Queenstown and did the four-day Milford Track hike, staying in cabins along the way. From there we drove north on the east cost, stopping by Dunedin, Christchurch and Golden Bay.

South Island Highlights:
1. Milford Track
2. Being done with the Milford Track
3. Staying inn the house of the guy working at the corner store in Dunedin. (All other options were closed at 10 PM! The house, by the way, was the worst piece of crap I've ever seen.)
4. Quite possibly the greatest bar we've ever been to.

Now we've been in Auckland for a bit more than a week, staying at our friend Mayana's house. She went to Lewis & Clark with us, came here to visit Hana (whose wedding we're here for), and *BAM!* got pregnant and as of today also married. That's right, she got married to native New Zealander and woodsman Keirin today, this morning. Pictures coming soon...

Danielle's parents get here tomorrow, and then we'll be hanging out with them for the next ten days. That means North Island sight-seeing, wine-tasting, and a much much higher level of comfort than we've had until now. Grown ups sure are great!