January 20: I haven't had internet access for almost a week. Now a connection, but dial up. sorry no photos with this entry...dial up is too slow. I'll find an ethernet connection nesxt week!! There is a bit of withdrawal associated with the situation, but I am managing. We have had a glorious time with our friend Audrey Bowyer. At 78 she is busy, vibrant, and has lavished all of her attention on us. We arrived in Tauranga on Saturday, January 14. It took us about seven hours to make the ordinarily 2.5 hour drive from Auckland to Tauranga because we had to stop in every antique shop and scenic overlook along the way! On Sunday we took a ride to Rotorua , the central North island city famouuse for thermal pools, Maori Culture and a terrible sulphur smell! Nerar Rotorua, we visited the Paradise Valley fish and wildlife reserve. It is a beautifully laid out area where one can view trout pools, and an assortment of NZ wildlife as well as take a short, walk into the native bush. You can buy food to feed th fish and they are very attuned to the presence of people. From there we drove towaard lake Tarawera with a stop to see the beautiful Blue and Green Lakes. Tarawera is a beautiful as we remember...just a bit more touristy! Audrey is a talented fibre crafter. She spins wool and knits beautifully. She actually taught me to spin 34 years ago. On Monday we went with her to the Tauranga Fibre craft guild workshop day. n it was at the farm of Gordon and Pat Old. Buzz spent the day with Gordon learning about baling those huge oval hay bales you see wrapped in plastic if you go to farm country these days. Each bale weighs 500kg. I went to the guild meeting. Pat gave a fabric dying demonstration and then several of the women showed and diacussed the various projects they were working on. So many talented people in one place! Tuesday we drove to Ohope, a lovely seaside town, for a visit with Anna Black Law and her children. Anna and Heather were best friends when they were three years old and got into lots of mischief together. Now, they are both parents...probably still getting into a bit of mischief. On the way back to Turanga, we took a short detour to the town of Maketu to have our evening meal at the Seaside Cafe and Takeaways...delicious battered (and fried) fresh snapper, chips (french fries) and salad consumed on the beachfront deck just before sunset. Wednesday was just for errands. Even on vacation, there are odds and ends to be taken care of. Today, we packed up and left in the early afternoon to take Audrey to Auckland to spend a few days with her son and daughter-in-law, Grant and Rosemary. They have a beautiful home with a view to the sea and Rangitoto Island. We haven't seen Grant in 30 years. tghey have welcomed us graciously into their home...and provided me with internet access. tomorrow we will see Andrew Lorrey again. He is giving Buzz some new Zealand wood to take home for carving. We head south tomorrow and plan to be in Feilding on Saturday. We had a lovely evening and overnight thursday to Friday with Grant and rosemary at their hojme at Kohi, Auckland. they have a wonderful home with a view of Rangitoto Island. On Friday morning, Andrew came by with a piece of 52,000 yer old Kauri wood for buzz to take home and carve. We drove as far a national park on Friday. the famous mountains of tongariro, Ngaruhoe and Ruapehu were covered in fog; so we stayed overnight in hopes of catching a glimpse in the morning. We did finally see most of Ruapehu this morning while on the road to Feilding. Our drive south brought us to familiar territory where buzz used to work. A picture around every bend in the road. nas Buzz says, "viewtiful". Now we are "home" in Feilding. We have unpacked all the bags, sorted out the stuff, and we'll have a few days to unwind before we head to Wellington next week.