January 21, Feilding: Cathy Black welcomed us with open arms. Max is away skiing in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Today is for laundry, labeling photos, and repacking before we leave tomorrow for Wellington. On the wy herre yesterday, we were passed by an unfamiliar vehicle and then flagged down by its occupasnts. It turned out to be Maria Black and her husband, Frank. They were on their way back to Auckland after visiting with Cathy. they had been looking out for us along the way and recognized us driving past them!! We had a nice chat on the roadside. It turns out they live at Avondale in Auckland where Buzz and I walked through the reserve one day. January 23, Feilding: We had two nice days getting ourselves sorted out in Feilding before heading south to Wellington for about a week. On Monday morning we called home to speak eith all of the kids who were gathred at our house to celebrate kate and laura's birthday. After an hour on the phone, both of us had spoken to each of them!! Late Monday morning, we packed up the car and had a leisurely drive south through Levin and along the Kapiti Coast stopping at the usual antique and second hand shops along the way and at Pukerua Beach for our customary picnic lunch of fresh ripe (not rock like as we get at home)avacodo, tomato, cheese, crackers, a cup of tea and a piece of fruit. What could be better. We arrived at our friends Ngaire and Geoff Sommerville's home mid afternoon. January 24, Wellington: It is easy to settle in with the Sommervilles...kind of like visiting our parents. This morning we went to the Te Papa Tongorewa museum which has a huge Maori Culture department to see if we could get some information about our Maori figurines we bought in 1973. Although they couldn't identify them for us, the eperience was very interesting. In the afternoon we went to the movies to see "Goodnight and Good Luck" It was excellent...a parable for America today. The theatre is as interesting as the movie. it is furnished in Art Deco style, has a cafe off the lobby, and even has a snall (20 seat) theatre called the Vogue Suite that can be rented for private parties. Altogether thoroughly enjoyable. After the movie we had a lovely dinner at the local Thai restaurant. January 25, Wellington: The rains have come. We have only had one rainy day since we arrived in NZ, and the farmers can really use the rain. This morning we took a drive with Geoff and Ngaire around the Welington Bays. The city sits on the coast, and there is a coastal road which meanders for miles around the bays. Although it was a gray overcst morning, the sea scape was beautiful. We saw the ferry on its way to the South Island. We'll be on it in about three weeks. Home for lunch, it looked as if the sun might show itself; so we set out for the Wellington Botannical Gardens. Instead of sun we got a deluge! We sat in the car for a while and then made a dash for the greenhouse for shelter. The array of begonias, coleus, orchids, water lillies was quite overwhelming. I have never seen begonias with such huge blossoms. Home again, and I think we'll stay in for a quiet evening. I had high hopes of connecting my computer into Geoff's broad band connection, but it doesn't work. With luck, I will find a place in town to upload my photos to this journal. January 27, Silverstream: We had a good day in Wellington yesterday. Met Scot Harris at Parliament and went to lunch with him. it was a brief but good visit. We had a little tiki tour around the city and then back to the Sommerville's for dinner. I stayed up late to finish a bo9ok i was reading. this morning, after breafast, we packe dup and headed to our friends Darcy and Phyllis ross wo live at Silverstream...about an hour north of Wellington. we'll have a couple of days with them before we return to Feilding. January 28, Silverstream: Had a little tour around the town this morning and then went to the open market at Hutt. I saw some vegetables I had never seen beore, and others that were just much larger than those we see at home. I bought something called a bitter melon. it is pale green, shaped like a cucumber but with a nobbly skin. The guy at the veggie stand said to slice it and fry it...sort of stir fry...we'll see.