27 March, Thames, New Zealand: The time has flown since we returned to NZ from Australia. We stayed in Feilding from the 14th to the 24th of March trying to get in one more visit with old friends. Cathy and I went to Palmerston North one evening to see the Russian Ballet Company dance Romeo and Juliet. It wasa lovely performance. After two and a half months of almost perfectg weather, the rains came last week. NZ and its farmers really need the rain, we would have loiked it to hold off for a while longer!! We arrived in Thames at the base of the coromandel Peninsula on Saturday afternoon and will stay here until we leave for home on Friday evening. Our motel is right on the sea. Last night there was a fierce storm...supposedly the remnant of a cyclone which casme this way after just missing Australia. The wind was howling, the sea was raging. The sea and the sky were almost the same color - slate gray. Then, in the middle of the night, I awoke realizing the wind had stopped. I lookedout the window, and the sky was filled with stars. There are no lights around here at night; so the star show was spectacular. Today was warm but overcast. We don't care whatg the weather is, we ae just enjoying each other. I will send one more entry after we have returned home.