Towards the end of the trip up the west coast we had to make a stop off at "Porky's" where Mike and I had our first fish n' chips together....ahhhhhhh. The trip on the west coast is sort of our "road of love" as we drove it the first time I came to NZ and how appropriate that it was on our 2nd wedding anniversary. We had glorious weather from Q-town all the way to this last pass over the mountains where these clouds are rolling over. It was like driving into another world with near to zero visibility...Fun trip. 

My good friend, Mim, came to visit us recently and even though she was only here a week, we jammed in the fun, including introductions to all the favorite Kiwi treats. On her first night, we got Souvalakis (you know Greek pita breads with yumminess inside...I think they are Gyros in the states) and ended the night with the purchase of classic Kiwi icecream flavours "Goodie Goodie Gumdrops" with Cadbury Chocolate Sauce. I know Mike would hate me posting this picture of him but its kind of funny. 

Some ChCh landscapes on Mim's first night. There you can see the whole city of ChCh from up on the hills. 

After Souvalakis we headed up into the Port Hills behind ChCh so we could give Mim a little perspective. Lyttleton harbour is on the other side of the hills which you can see there behind Mike. That is our flatmate Thomas with us and our other flatmate, Luke, posing as Churchill. Then we have Mim, probably completely jet lagged, but looking cool. It was a fun lil flat trip up the hills. 

Mim and Chris at Sumner Beach, Christchurch. It was fantastic to have a visitor! 

Happy Holidays!

Well I have now celebrated my first Christmas and New Years down under in New Zealand. Mike and I were very busy with work up until a few days before Christmas but we mandaged to get a tree. I think it has much more personality than the trees back home. I must admit, it didn't feel like Christmas at all, but I really enjoyed myself and being with Mike's family and some of their tradtions. We headed down to Queenstown for the holiday week and celebrated with our friends Ben, Ashley and Sasha. It was a fantastic trip and I found it very relaxing. It was fun to be with a family on Christmas and I was able to zip up the computer and talk to some of mine back home as well. It was great weather down there and beautiful surroundings. Many people don't like QT because its too expensive and touristy but we had Ben to stay with and I found the bussle of people fun to be around. Its always sad to come home after such fun times away but it was time and now we are back to ChCh with lots of laundry to do and all those lil projects we left behind. Mike went to a big cricket game today and here I am getting the photos up to share so those lil projects will continue to sit there until I am forced back into it. HAPPY NEW YEAR 2006!!!!! Until next post and pic. 

Packed in and ready to go. We crammed presents, food, bags, bikes, and people into the two cars and headed for Queenstown on Christmas Eve. Its about a 5 hour drive down there and here we see Alice and Mike ready for the drive down. The weather was warm and sunny and it was fun getting out and heading to a holiday destination. 

The drive down to Queenstown was very clear and for the first time ever (for me) Mt. Cook was clear to see. This is the tallest mountain in New Zealand. 

Chris, Mt. Cook, and the miraculous turquoise water. 

The Tradition continues in New Zealand

Soon after we got to Queenstown Mike, Ashley, and I got the Hamburgers underway. As it is a Larson tradition that I have taken part in every Christmas Eve of my life, we all joined in here. For the first time ever, it actually felt normal to have hamburgers because its summer here and we could BBQ and eat outside where as it always felt a little unusual to have it in the winter. It was great and we even got some NZ rootbeer to finish off the tradition. This is a picture of the Christmas crew, Ben, Liz, Mackenzie, Luke (hidden), Sasha, Alice, Ashley, Mike, Pete, and me. 

After we went to church, the presenting began. Ash and Sash had cut down this very cool tree somewhere on the side of the road and since there were 10 of us, the presents were many. Here's Mackenzie and Sasha in the background. Mack gave Mike and I the entire series of "the office" which is unable to be seen due to the reflection but as you can see Mike is elated. Here Pete looks to one of his new books as Alice peaks over and Liz is there in the back. We also had Ben (our host) and Luke (our flatmate) not to mention Ashley so it was a present extravaganza. 

Look at Ben's face behind me. Funny funny. And here Mike opens his Buddha candle that Ash and Sash gave him. 

New Knives, Hooray!

Mike and I desperatley needed some knives for our kitchen and here they are in all of these photos. Chris and Mike with knives, Knives displayed with other Christmas booty, Chris poses with knives, and Chris leans on Knives while looking cross-eyed at the beautiful ornament Liz gave her. It was a Merry Christmas. 

After the presents and festivities brought food prep and the puzzle came out. The food was so good: lamb, turkey, new potatoes, greek salad, fresh green salad Larson potato salad( and it tasted nearly spot on), and endless yummy baked things and berries. 

Every face is different. Awaiting Christmas dessert. Mike Sasha, Ashley, Ben, and Alice. 

Mike jumps the wake. Queenstown 2005 

Mike and Ashley used to Wake board all the time back in the day. When Mike got back on he was a little unsure but he seemed to pick up the hang of it pretty quickly. 

Day out on Ashley's boat. 

Here's Mack's air and on his next run he did this incredible face plant...I think his face serioulsly took all the weight of his crash. Yow. 

On one of our lazy afternoons, Ashley took Mike sailing for his first time. Ashley is a great sailor and boats are his thing. This is usually for one person but Ash was going to help Mike feel the rhythms of the wind. Feel it Mike, feel it. The wind was pretty tame when they went out but it picked up and at one point i could see the sail nearly bent back all the way to the water and thought for sure they would tip, but they both leaned as far back on one side as they could, and all was well. Its great to have friends who have boats and can sail. 

Sailing. 

Coming back in. Mike looks a wee bit scared. He told me later that it was actually pretty scary but he loved it. Ash was totally energized after they went out... its definitely his thing. 

Happy 2006!

Queenstown (being the hot tourist spot that it is) was packed on New Years Eve and had a big waterfront celebration. Its been a while since I have been to a New Years party but this was a pretty good one. After desperately trying to come up with our own ideas, we all met up in town, found the music, and danced until the fireworks. Summer for the holidays does add a bit more flare to the whole event. We got to dancing right away and when others were sufficiently drunk to lose inhibition, they joined us until it was borderline mosh bit to "Hey Mickey" and "Mony Mony"...good times. The fireworks were lit from the water and they were pretty cool. We didn't linger long, but headed home to watch an all time classic, "Top Gun". What's New Years without some sort of random movie viewing. Anyway we left our camera in the car for all the dancing and fun (which I do regret) so this is the only picture we have. That's Lake Wakatipu that Queenstown is built around The Remarkables behind the Lake. It was beautiful. 

We did our best to finish the puzzle before we left but it was a hard puzzle because you didn't have a picture to look at. I was sure there must be pieces missing but I think that was just my puzzle paranoia from my family because somebody (usually Nate) always took a piece. We are going to finish it when we go back down this next weekend. 

On the road back to Christchurch. It was quite the holiday week down in Queenstown but time to go home. I am so glad we have a friend down there we can always visit. Thanks Ben!