We love San Francisco! Had a great day of shopping. Then grabbed the cable car to fisherman's wharf (once it started running again after the anti-war protest moved on - how else would you fill in that time except by...... shopping?!). Dinner was clam chowder in a bread bowl for me, seafood in tomato sauce for mum. Sourdough on the side - SF on two plates, really! Then the trip home clinging for dear life to the pole on the outside of the cable car (well me only...

Playing scrabble by night light! Having an enjoyable flight - a spare seat between us (well, we wouldn't want to be too close...!), nice crew, good food. Now that I'm on my way, just itching to be there!!! Bring on the adventure!

Having so much fun at the snow!!! Hang on, that's not snow, that's indoor rock climbing... Looks like the snow fields will be closed both days we are here, due to poor weather. Such a shame..... Still having nice family time, kids are coping well with not skiing, monopoly for the afternoon. All in all, very cosy, just not snow!!

So, Andrew is the focus of the blog today. Why?? Because we are so grateful to have him. Andrew spent 2 hours in the freezing waters of Lake Rotorua today, swimming 3km in a desperate attempt to save his life.... His kayak sank underneath him. I pulled him out of the water, incoherent, disoriented, in shock, and with a body temperature of 33 degrees. The ambos took him to Rotorua hospital. Thankfully he warmed up, all the tests came back clear and he was able to...

Finally, Lucy got to see a volcano! Have had a great day walking up the sometimes steep path to get to the crater. Was amazing seeing the lava flows, with the rocks still seemingly frozen in time, in rivers down the side of the mountain. Sitting on the ferry now with 3 tired children, contentedly waiting for the next adventure!!