Ho ho ho Mo Fo's!

So we have managed to finally get away from Whangarei. That sounds horrible as it was bliss being at Danny and Catherines with their huge comfy bed, sky TV and big bath tub. Biff is sorted. He went in for his rust repairs and Danny and myself tidied up the body work after he had been welded. Seems I’m a bit of an amateur panel beater. We bogged (filled) in all the rough edges, sanded him down then spray painted him and coined the phrase "bog and blend" which we have been saying to everything (Kate saw a burnt out car the other day and reckoned it’d be fine after a bit of bog and blend!). We were up until midnight to get it all done before Catherines parents arrived for Christmas but it was worth it. So originally we got quoted $2500 to get him fixed but in the end it cost us just $250! Really made up as he now has his WOF (warrant of fitness) for another 6 months and after we sell him he is someone else’s problem.

Best thing though about being in Whangarei was that they have the best Dominos pizza in NZ. They won some award so we had to give it a go. We ordered 4 pizzas online plus some little pastries for pudding. When they delivered them they had forgotten Kates pizza and hadn’t given us any extra cheese on them. Kate rang to complain so they sent us the whole order again! We sat down to 7 pizzas and 2 boxes of pastries. Danny somehow crammed in both his pizzas while the rest of us had them for breakfast and lunch the next day. Result eh?

Kate will probably argue that the best thing about Whangarei was the fact that she got asked for I.D when we bought some thank you beers for Danny. It totally made her day as you can imagine. I remember the last time I got I.D’d and it does make you feel very special for that split second until you give them your I.D and they realise that you are actually over 30!

We left Whangarei then headed north to Kerikeri, so good they named it twice. Totally true as well as the town was beautiful. Quite modern looking too. The far north of NZ is quite long and thin with the land between the Tasman sea and the Pacific ocean sometimes only 10km away from each other. It is also a very spiritual place for it is believed that Cape Reinga at the northern tip is where Maori spirits depart for the underworld. In Maori legend their spirits walk up 90 mile beach on the west coast, past through Matapia, which is a huge hole in the rock of an off shore island. Then to an ancient Pohutakowa tree at Cape Reinga where they pass through the roots of the tree into the sea and travel back to Hawikie, which is the Polynesian island that the Maori people originate from. Amazingly, the pohutakowa tree is still there and spookily has never ever flowered. We got a bus tour up 90 mile beach (which is actually about 60 miles long) and saw the hole in the rock too. As we got to the northern tip of the beach we all got out and climbed these enormous sand dunes with boogie boards to go dune surfing. I made it to the top of one dune and nearly collapsed! I don’t know what happened. I thought I was having an asthma attack and a hypoglycaemic episode all at once. I waited for it to pass but it never so I crawled over to the edge of the dune and threw myself off on my board. I got to the bottom and staggered over to the bus feeling very faint. Kate kept an eye on me as I slumped against the coach. I felt a little better after a banana and some water but it was a good hour before I was right again. It was bizarre! I joked that it was because I was so unfit but I don’t know what it was and don’t care to experience it again.

On the bus route we stopped at the ancient Kauri kingdom workshop. Basically the Kauri tree is the second largest tree in the world. Thousands of years ago, before all the deforestation that the europeans carried out, loads of Kauri trees were mysteriously felled. They’re not sure why but think it may have been some sort of huge tsunami. These felled trees were absorbed into the ground as they were so heavy and some were covered in swamps. These trees are still being found totally preserved even though they are around 30-45,000 years old! They make furniture out of them so I had high hopes of getting a box for my brother. Alas, the biggest box was a cigar box made from 45,000 year old wood. It would’ve been an awesome final resting place for my brother but I guess I’ll have to keep looking. Sigh.

So we left Kerikeri yesterday and drove back south to the Coramandel peninsula. It was a massive 400km trek and brought our 2-day total of travelling to 1000km! We drove along the Pohutakowa coast and numerous blooming trees before arriving in the town of Coramandel. We are right next to the beach and the sunsets have been stunning so far.

As I write this it is Christmas day and it feels so strange being in the sunshine listening to Xmas songs on the laptop and being so far away from my family. I got a text from my little sister who reminded me that this is her first Christmas without seeing me. It made me quite sad but I have made this choice to travel and although the things I have seen and done this past year will never make up for missing a family Christmas, I am still content. I’ll ring my family tonight and wish them all a merry Christmas but words can not purvey just how much I am missing them. Christmas is such a family time and I can honestly say I don’t intend to spend another one away from them in the near future. It is scorching today here and by 9.30am it was already 25 degrees. There is not a cloud in the sky either but I’m a winter kind of guy so give me cold and snow at Christmas any day. The fact that the UK has had loads of snow too is sitting rather ill with me and I am supremely jealous! That said, in a few weeks I will be up to my waist in sweet fluffy powder. Oh yeah!

We have finally booked the finishing touches to our homeward travels too this week. We leave NZ on my mums birthday which is less than a month away now. From here we head to Los Angeles. L.A. is not my most favourite American city so when we arrive we head straight to San Diego for 5 days. It’ll be nice to relax and scout out the city and maybe go on a whale watching cruise or something. From there we bus it to Las Vegas in Nevada for a week. Quite a long time to spend in sin city but we hope to go to the Grand canyon too. I wonder if they have any poker in Vegas? I’m sure we will see how we do. From Vegas we head to Salt Lake city in Utah. Salt lake city has some of the best skiing in the states and a ton of resorts so we are there for 10 days. I have a lot of friends working there too which I used to work with at Coronet so might see if we can meet. From Utah we head off to Reno for some more gambling then onto San Francisco which is one of my favourite places. We are there for a week before heading up the coast to Seattle for a few days. After that we head into Canada and to Vancouver Island for a while. We are going for more skiing and more whale watching before heading back over to Vancouver for our wedding Anniversary. From there we have a car which we’ll drive through the rockies to something like 10 ski resorts before getting to Calgary. We finally fly home in April from Edmonton and that will be that. In all I think we are in North America for nearly 3 months. I am so looking forward to it too. I can’t wait to get back on my skis but also want to show Kate so many of my favourite places.

Anyway, Kate is cooking our Christmas dinner of Moroccan chicken and cous cous. We thought about a BBQ but it just seems such a cliched thing to do while we are here, plus we had so many BBQ’s in Whangarei. Thank you all for your messages of encouragement for Biff, he is back in our good books, hopefully for the rest of our time here.

Merry Christmas to you all from the sun kissed beaches of New Zealand. I would swap it for the cold and snow of home in a heartbeat though. I miss you all so much. HO HO HO MO FO’s!!

Peace

D

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Biff issues

So, another eventful week has passed here. We are currently back up with Danny and Catherine in Whangarei. It is so nice to be in a proper bed, have a nice bath and be with our friends again. Rotorua was fun, once you got over the stench of eggs, or "iggs" as they are pronounced here. The campsite we stayed in had a cool swimming pool which, for once wasn't over run by annoying squealing children which meant we could have a relaxing swim in the summer sun. Kate of course got burnt, but managed to even up the sun burn on her chest so she no longer has just one burnt boob. We did quite a lot in our few days we spent in Rotorua. We went to Te Puia which is a large Moari run geothermal park. It was huge and we traipsed around the boiling mudpools and geysers in the hot sun. They also had a wood carving studio there and i was hopeful of finally getting a nice carved box for my brother to settle into. However the boxes were all too small. I have seen one i like but it's way too small. We have looked all over NZ and have seen some amazingly intricately carved tribal style boxes, but every single one is only jewellery box sized. The hunt continues.

We went zorbing too as Rotorua is the only place in NZ that does it. For the uneducated, a zorb is a huge inflatable ball within an even bigger inflatable ball. Basically you climb ino the inner ball and they roll you down the side of a hill. It was awesome. We hydro zorbed which meant they filled the inner ball with a bit of warm water, then rolled you down the hill. We did the zig zag track too just to proper mess ourselves up. Kate went first and i could hear her squeals and laughs as she hurtled down the track. When it came to my try i of course embarrassed myself. The way you get into a zorb is through a little porthole which you have to run then dive into. On doing this i managed to dive into the zorb in one swift movement but managed to hook my swimming shorts as i dived in. This meant that as i landed in the inner ball of the zorb my shorts were around my ankles! Very graceful but unfortunately quite nude. I apologised to the poor maori dude who was helping but he was already running off clutching his face in pain and screaming something about how his eyes felt like they now had herpes! Oops. So i jumped up and like some sort of huge hamster, rolled my ball onto the track before being thrown around and drenched as it rolled off down the hillside. I imagine it is similar to a cross between a bouncy castle and being in a washing machine. I made it to the bottom were you are ceremoniously "birthed" out of the zorb. They unzip the porthole and you slide out of with all the water. It totally looked like the zorb has just given birth to a wet, disorientated 6 foot baby! Awesome fun though and quite cheap by NZ standards. Definitely something i recommend.

We also went to a Maori evening with the local Mitai tribe. They show you life in an old Maori village and some of their customs, before being greeted by a huge war canoe full of kitted out warriors. You then have a big meal that is cooked in the ground called a 'hangi' When we went outside to see the hangi being unveiled our guide asked us what it was. We all shouted back "hangi!" She then asked if we could smell it? To which one dumb American tourist behind me smugly shouted "H-A-N-G-I" I of course turned and informed her that she said smell, not spell. Her partner also told her this and she then went on to admit that she had never been so embarrassed. I of course found it all hilarious. Our guide, who was this huge tattooed Maori women then led us into a big hall and we had dinner. It was well nice and i stuffed my face with lamb, chicken, kumara and stuffing. I decided that it was gonna be the closest thing we are going to have to a Christmas dinner this year.

I also noticed the similarities between the big tattooed Maori lady and my mum. Maybe there is some Maori blood in us mum? I mean, you are pretty big (tall not fat), you cook an awesome roast and you have tattoos. Hmmm , something to ponder. Any good with a spear?

We also spent some time in the Polynesian spa that they have down by the lake. All the geothermal phenomenon around make it an awesome setting for spas and the Polynesian spa is rated among the top ten in the world. I just sat in the various eggy hot pools while Kate when for a mud polish or something like that. Basically we left very relaxed but stunk of eggs for a few days as it had permeated our skin.

We then headed north and stayed the night in Takapuna beach which is just north of Auckland. It felt very weird driving back through Auckland. I initially liked the place but on further travels around NZ you get to see just how everyone else here loathes it and the people who live there. They are affectionaltely called JAFFAs which stands for "Just another fucking friendly Aucklander" and relates to how Aucklanders are very demanding and unfriendly. Well, only by NZ standards. I guess it's the same with every big city in the world though but you don't want to be a JAFFA in New Zealand. Same as back home really were the term means you are unable to produce children.

Takapuna beach was nice though and we strolled along the golden sand, explored rock pools and i sat in the shade of the pehoutakowa (not sure on that spelling) trees and played my guitar to the waves. It was extremely relaxing. Pehoutakowa trees are also called Christmas trees as they bloom around now and have very vibrant red flowers. I guess that from a distance and with a little imagination, they kinda look like baubles too i guess.

So we are now in Whangarei again. We got here the other day and took Biff to get his WOF. He of course failed. He has a rough wheel bearing which isn't a big deal to sort but also has a lot of new rust from our days at the sea side. The rust failed him big time so we are having to get that sorted. Danny has hooked us up with some dodgy panel beater who reckons he can do it on the cheap for us. So we are without Biff for the weekend but Danny and Catherine have lent us one of their 3 cars. We went to the park the other day to kill a bit of time and i ended up saving a stranded dachshund from a stream! We were walking back to the car park when we heard this man cry out. I went to investigate and saw this elderly gent on his knees trying to get into the stream. I asked him if he was alright but he was clearly distressed. I went over and noticed his tubby little sausage dog had fallen into the stream and due to the steep banks was stuck. I jumped over the stream and crouched down to lift the poor wet dog out for the old guy. He was very appreciative and said he had a dodgy heart and feared he'd have lost his dog. I watched him for a while just to make sure he didn't keel over from the stress but he was fine and i walked back over to Kate. She was more interested in laughing at how i had jumped off a little ledge to go help the old guy and had slipped over and fell. She can be so immature sometimes! I saved a bloody dog! I felt a bit better about myself and even forgot about Biff for a split second. I'm sure he will be fine but it is just a huge pain in the arse for us. It means our 3 days stopover with Danny and Cat is now looking more like a week. They are cool about it all but i don't want to put them out. Danny has already spent time taking Biff apart to see if we could get away with just cleaning up and re greasing his dodgy bearing. They seem to be fine with it though.

It was Catherines birthday the other day so we went up toward Tutukaka and to a nice secluded beach called Sandy bay. It was awesome to be on the beach but sheltered by the huge pehoutakowa trees. Kate didn't even get burnt! I amused myself by making a sand sculpture of a stingray and a dolphin which both came out better than i expected. We then went to Woolleys bay again, the site of our body boarding exploits from our previous visit. We decided to stay in the car this time though as it was getting cold. Danny and Catherine braved the sea while we watched from the warmth of the car. I got involved in my ipod while Kate got distracted by a dog which meant we failed to notice both Danny and Catherine get caught in a riptide and dragged out to sea! They weren't dragged out too far and made it back OK so no harm done eh? Oops.

So we are here for a few more days then might head to the northern tip of NZ before heading back to the Coromendal peninsula for new year. We want to be in close proximity to Auckland so we can try and sell Biff. That is unless he fails his WOF again and i drive him off a bloody cliff!

Peace

D

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Te moko

So we are back "up north" albeit a very different kind of "up north" than we are used to back home. Our ferry crossing to Wellington was pretty uneventful but seemed to take forever. No pod of 300 dolphins this time though. We bypassed Wellington deciding to stay in Upper Hutt, which is a town just north of the NZ capital. It was purely a place to break up the drive so first thing in the morning we got back on the road and headed up to Napier. Napier is famous for a few things. It was destroyed by an earthquake in the 1930s and rebuilt in the art deco styling of that era. In fact it is the one of the biggest collections of art deco buildings in the world. I was expecting South beach in Miami but it was thoroughly disappointing. Near enough every town we have visited in NZ conforms to the same dull architecture. Square shops with a huge awning style porch that protrudes out over the sidewalk. Napier was no different except the art deco stores had fancy window frames and a few elaborate coving style features. Not exactly south beach in any respect of the word. It was however an extremely beautiful drive in. The main tree lined parade runs along the sea front and in the hot summer sun it looked so refreshing and welcoming. We only really stopped in Napier to stock up on supplies and figure out our next route though.

We decided to head further along the coast to Gisborne. Gisborne is a place that is rarely visited by tourists as it’s only famous for the spot where Captain Cook and his crew first landed in NZ. They met with a local Maori tribe and misinterpreted the tribes welcome ritual and ended up killing most of them! Maori welcome greetings are pretty scary though. We saw one at the official opening to the NZ winter games back in Qtown. On the drive up we stopped at the Morere hot springs for a quick dip to soothe our aching arses (long road trips aren’t great for the gluteus maximus). A coach load of seniors had arrived literally minutes before us and we feared we’d have to share the springs with lots of wrinkly oldies. They were actually really nice. Their cruise ship had been quarantined in Gisborne so they had a free day. When I asked where they were cruising to they told me they were on a natural history cruise to the Antarctic! Kate preceded to give them all the stink eye from then on as it has long been a dream of hers to go there.

We also drove past the Tui brewery. Tui is one of my favourite beers here. It’s a dark ale that, at 4% leaves you feeling pretty fresh in the morning. I jokingly texted Dicks and told him that we had driven past the brewery and that they had a huge banner on the outside that read "Thank you Darrell and Dickon for a record breaking winter." Me and Dicks nearly drunk Qtown dry after all.

As we neared Gisborne though all the electrics in Biff decided to cut out. The radio cut off and the window wipers stopped working. Luckily it was 25 degrees and sunny but we were obviously concerned. We made it to our campsite right on the beach where I stupidly turned the engine off. That was it, Biff died on us. He wouldn’t start. It felt like a flat battery but we had just driven for 4 hours so it should’ve been well charged. We called the AA who sent a little dude to save us. He charged the battery but said it looked like our alternator was fucked. I followed him to his workshop and he had a proper look. He said we’d need to leave Biff with him overnight and he’d get it fixed in the morning. Only problem with that was that we had no where to sleep and had already paid for the campsite for the night. The little dude came up with a solution. He changed the battery in Biff for free so we could use him overnight and then bring him back in the morning. This was a life saver. We took Biff in the next morning and by lunchtime he was ready to go again. He didn’t need a new alternator after all, just the brushes changed?! It worked out as pretty cheap too which was a result.

While Biff was in repair we took it upon ourselves to explore the town and to be honest it was lovely. Yes, there wasn’t a lot to do from a tourists point of view but it was very chilled out and we spent time wandering the town and sea front. On our little jaunt along the coast we noticed a dolphin just in the surf, not more than 75 metres out to sea. It was frolicking and playing with surfers. We watched it for a while before going to pick up Biff. When we got back to the campsite we could see the dolphin still playing with people in the surf. The local paper ran a story about it and the potential dangers of dolphins. They get quite frisky with the ladies apparently. We decided to stay another day just to enjoy a relaxed day on the beach so this morning I woke up and talked Kate into coming for a paddle with me. It helped that the dolphin was still hanging around.

So we waded out to waist deep water and watched in awe as the dolphin (called Moko – which is a Maori tattoo) brought us little sticks for us to threw. It was an enormous bottlenose and you felt it’s strength as it brushed past you and clipped you with it’s tail. We threw the stick for ages and it retrieved it every time. After a while a few more people headed over and Moko let us stroke him. He did freak out though at one guy and chased him out of the water! Apparently he had done the same thing the previous day and the guy wondered if it had anything to do with his false knee. Maybe, dolphins do have a sixth sense. Maybe it messed with it’s finely tuned magnetic field, or maybe that’s sharks. LOL. I reckon the dolphin sensed that the guy had a dodgy leg and didn’t want him to get hurt. Either way I found it quite amusing to see a dude getting chased by a 2.5 metre long dolphin.

It was the perfect way to start the day in my eyes and the drive from Gisborne to Rotorua went past in a smile induced haze. So that’s where we are now. Rotorua is the thermo geological centre of NZ. It is on a huge lake but has lots of bubbling mud pools and geysers and the air is tinged with the smell of eggy trumps. Luckily I’m used to it with Kates ability to make every digested food smell like eggs and the fact that my family patented the eggy whipton fart back in the 60’s.

We are gonna stay here for a few days as there is a shed load of stuff to do. It is a popular tourist destination for many reasons but the geothermal parks and spas are the main reason we are here.

So a few other things of note. Christmas in the middle of a god damn heat wave is just wrong! The day we left Picton they had their Christmas parade. It was a gorgeous day but I felt so sorry for the dude in the santa costume. I have mentioned before that it seems weird having Christmas in the middle of summer but I am really having a problem with it. Yes, I quite like the bikini clad beauties in the santa hats but I crave the cold and the potential of a near impossible white Christmas. A Christmas tree with tinsel and lights doesn’t quite look right next to palm tree either.

I have seen quite a few of my old work mates too. In Nelson I saw one of the lifties and in Picton I saw another lifty and a girl who used to work in F&B. I know NZ is small but it was nice to see some familiar faces. Unfortunately they were all doosh bags at Coronet so I never spoke to them. I just hid under my cap. I was a fairly recognisable guy at Coronet, what with the huge bright orange beanie, but luckily I have my anonymity back just by wearing a boring cap.

Something that made me near wet myself the other day was something I misheard Kate say. JC and Laura very kindly gave us the rest of a bottle of captain morgans spiced rum when they left for the bush and their jobs on the Milford track. I’m not really a rum fan but Kate has been dipping into it on occasion. We keep the rum stowed away in a box at the back of Biff with some of our wash stuff. Kate picked up the bottle the other day and thought it had leaked as it had liquid on the outside. She licked it off to find it was in fact shower gel! I laughed at that but then asked her what it tasted it like. She replied that it tasted like "semen rules." I double took and looked at her with quite a shocked look on my face. She stopped and asked me "what?" I asked her again what it tasted like and she then pointed out that the shower gel that had leaked on the bottle was actually "sea minerals" I was in bits for ages and hadn’t laughed that hard since I saw a toddler fall head first down a sand dune at the beach the other day.

So that is all for this week folks. We are still slowly meandering our way north and the imminent departure date is now only 6 weeks away. Sigh. Mustn’t dwell on that though as still have tons to look forward to. Including our epic trip home, which I will mention more about in a later blog I think.

So I strongly recommend a morning swim with a dolphin to put in a good mood and set you up for an awesome day. Hopefully Biff won’t get jealous and misbehave again, especially since he is due his MOT next week. Gulp.

Peace

D

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Abel Tasman to Picton....

Howdy everybody, I think the last time I blogged we had left Kaikoura and headed up to the Abel Tasman national park. It was awesome up there and we enjoyed exploring the sandy beaches and the little coves. We strolled along the beach and just enjoyed having the sun on our backs. It was dampened somewhat by Biff acting up. We were just cruising along one day when we heard this massive crash noise from the back. Kate noticed something had fallen off him and told me to pull over. I parked up and ran back down the road to find the cover of Biffs front roof vent. We headed back to the campsite with some araldite, borrowed a ladder and I stuck it back on. It seems Biff got upset with us and quite literally blew his top! Kate joked that he probably just needed to vent all the farts trapped inside him. We were a bit dubious about driving anywhere too far until we knew the vent would stick so only really went to the local Pupu (yes that was really what they were called) springs. They are a sacred Maori spring which produces the clearest water in Australaisa. Shame they were sacred as it would’ve been an awesome place to snorkel. Especially since the visibility of the water was something crazy like 60 metres which is about as clear as water gets!

Anyway, Biffs vent seemed to stay in place so we braved the next leg of our trip. As it was my birthday the other day we decided to head back to Nelson, as it was somewhere we knew we could have a nice meal and a few drinks. On the way we stopped at Kaiteriteri beach. Oh my god it is easily the most picturesque beach I have ever been to. We leapt out of Biff and explored all the little coves and inlets in the glorious sunshine before heading onward to Nelson. We stayed in the same place as before and got a nice little discount from the owner. On my birthday we sat out in the sun and had a few beers. It was very odd being so far away from everyone for my birthday. I mean I have had my birthday in other countries before and spoke to my family but couldn’t help but feel a bit lonely and distant. I am 34 now and starting to feel it! I have noticed a few white hairs in my beard and had a mysterious craving for werthers originals the other day! Nah man, I feel closer to 24 than 34! Kate reckons I’m closer to 14 but I think she might be trying to insult me with that one. Having a birthday here was good in a way though as it felt like I had a 2-day celebration. I got texts from my Qtown friends when it was my birthday here then got texts and facebook messages the following day when it was my birthday in the UK. Pretty cool.

So on my UK birthday we decided to head into town for a game of poker. It was at a pretty swish bar called 623. It was a welcome change from the dives we had played in since leaving Qtown. Most of the poker games were held in pretty nice bars there but we have also played in a few TABs, which are NZ betting bars. All the betting shops here have bars in them so you can get rid of a few vices at once. I joked that all they needed was a brothel upstairs and there would be no reason to ever leave! Brothels in NZ are legal by the way. They are government run so all the hookers pay taxes and stuff. They are still seen as taboo but it gives the working girls a clean safe place to work, they get a pension and contribute to the economy. The way forward perhaps?

Anyway, the poker game was in an upstairs bar and as soon as we got there I was feeling good. The 6 warm up beers probably helped. I won the first hand, which immediately relaxed me too. Always a good sign. Well, I ended up smashing everyone! I think I was playing so confidently that I intimidated a few of the players. I didn’t mean to it’s just that I felt so good. At heads up I ended up beating the other guy by hitting a pair of 3’s and smashing his “big chick” which is a hand of ace – queen (which is like one of the top hands). He took it well and the $70 bar tab was mine! Sweet! It was so nice to win again, especially since I played so well. The bar tab came in very handy too and we enjoyed a slap up meal and a few drinks the following night. So nice having the game in a nice venue as the food was pretty nice. I think we are going to consider looking for more poker games as we travel north. It is a great way to kill time, meet new people and maybe, just maybe win a bar tab or 2.

We left Nelson yesterday. Now it is supposed to be the sunniest place in NZ with around 300 days of sun a year but it has pissed down for the last couple. We left there under grey, cold gloom and headed to Picton. We drove the Queen Charlotte route from Havelock (which, apart from Qtown is the only place in NZ we have been to more than twice) along the Queen charlotte sound and were greeted with some stunning views. It was probably the windiest road I have ever driven and my arms where aching from the effort it took to keep Biff on the tarmac. So we are back in Picton now until tomorrow when we get the ferry back to the North island. I will be sad to leave what I consider the best of the 3 big islands that make up New Zealand. I have enjoyed pretty much all of this island and will always hold a spot in my heart for Qtown. A place I still consider my home. Getting back up north though will mean we get to do all the things we omitted on the trip down which will be good. It also means warmer weather as it being the Southern Hemisphere, you head north to get warmer weather. I just hope Biff decides to not blow his top!

Thank you so much everyone for all the birthday messages. They really meant a lot to me. Just keep hold of any presents until I get home. Ha ha.

Peace

D

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