Losing Viewers

A typical shot of the New Zealand scenery near Arthur's Pass, S. Island.

What's the quickest way to lose readers of a blog? Don't put up any new content.

Sorry for that guys and gals but Lora and I have been on vacation. You may be wondering how I convinced Lora to take time out from her very busy schedule to travel to New Zealand with me. Well at first I tried telling her about the amazing kayaking there. Interest of course but no go. Then I told her about the friends we would see there. More interest but still she was way too busy with her work to take time off. Then Frank and Jennifer said they would pay for a 16 day cruise from Australia to New Zealand with the two of them and our youngest brother, William. Well of course she found the time. Of course I'm only kidding about all that. We do have to again say a big thank you to Frank and Ginger for a great time.

We did go on the cruise though. The five of us met up in Sydney on the 20th of December and spent the next 16 days sailing the high seas. Yes, they were high, with swells up to 10 meters at times. This made the Tasman Sea crossing quite exciting. Luckily for me I don't get sea sick. Unlucky for Lora she was not able to take any medications due to the fact that she is pregnant. Yes readers of our blog, LORA IS PREGNANT! You heard it here first... well some of you we actually called first but only if your last name begins with an R or in one case a P. This made for a slightly different cruise experience than we had both hoped for but it was really fun telling my parents the news on board. It was difficult for Lora because she's not able to enjoy red wine and boy did the rest of us have some for her. I'm not sure how many bottles of sparkling wine we went through but let's just say we were seriously concerned they would run out.

How could this not get your kayaking juices flowing?
The put in for the ultra classic Arahura river.
This is the view after the helicopter drops you off in paradise.

After the cruise we headed back to the South Island for some whitewater kayaking. I'll put up another blog with those details and a little video soon. We love you all and can't wait to see you all soon.

By the way, the current plan is that I will be coming home to Cali in May or so, trying to secure a teaching job. I'll then head back here to Oz for the birth of our son\daughter sometime in the middle of August. Then all three of us will be living in Sacramento for at least a year while Lora works on analyzing the mounds of data she collected and writes it all up into the opus that it will become. Look out Nature here comes Dr. R.

Tim