Radfield House Blenheim

... comes to me while everything just flows by. The only difference between me and the ducks was that it apparently works for them; in the time it took me to cross the bridge, I saw several bob down then up, finding what they were waiting for, whereas I returned to the backpacker's empty handed.

Waiting has been an odd mix of excruciatingly boring and decently fun. I've hated spending day after day sitting in front of the TV or on the couch reading. I've had so much time to read ...

... was it's mouth where it was hooked and the hills around form the jawbones of the head of this fish. In Te Papa, the museum of New Zealand on the harbour front they have a giant squid that was recently pulled from the ocean. This is as big as a small boat, maybe 40ft long. They are busy trying to preserve it Damien Hurst style so they can suspend it in a tank of chemicals. Little is know about ...

... despised the US is for our actions the last 8 years and how naive we seem to be in our national attitudes. It was great though to see how jubilant the rest of the world is over Obama's election. Even small town newspapers had big news coverage about our elections and it was like a world wide cheer went out the day of the election. Mike spent a year traveling in OZ and NZ by bicycle 18 years ago. Coming back he has seen some changes. The roads are not quite as ...

... past the attendant as a 5.5m van (we are 6m) and a member of the NZ Camping and Caravaning association (to get a good discount) we were boarded by 7.30 and slipped by 7.45am. Rocking and Rolling was the theme for this crossing. The waves were enormous and the wind howling Alex estimated this to be at least Gale force 8 or 9, if not Storm force! People were being sick all around the ferry, but ...

... into. A day off hopefully in the next week or two will alleviate this negativity. Work here is supposed to be fun, but the pressure put on us on the crush deck I don't handle very well. The senior winemaker out wandering how things are going, asking if we can get this or that truck dumped doesn't help things. With some perspective I realize that in a way we're set up for these frustrations from the beginning with our equipment ...

... in Nelson, but there were a number of excellent items for sale. Monday I started work at Indevin. The first day was a little boring, the day was spent going over formalities, listening to people talk, but it was good to start doing something rather than meandering around Blenheim. Tuesday all of the new staff took a tour of the winery, which is huge by the way. On Wednesday Indevin gave the harvest ...

... br>We had no choice but to drop the car off with half a tank and wait for the punch in the guts on the credit card statement :(

Yet again we were unlucky with the weather (I know it's freezing at home but please give us some sympathy?!), so we ...