Paradise Found!

Hey gang!

We hope all is well (and not too cold) on the other side of the world. We are certainly doing fine (and dandy if I do say so myself) and it is not too cold here. It is actually rather warm and sunny most of the time. Don't be jealous, its bad for your complexion.

We have been a couple of busy sand flies, we have. If you don't know what sand flies are, then count yourself as one of the lucky ones. They're a cross between gnats (they're little), mosquitoes (they bite), rabbits (there's heaps) and anger.

We have recently found ourselves in Glenorchy, aka "The Gateway to Paradise." Obviously, John Milton didn't look very hard for it, because it's right up the street. Nobody likes a quitter Mr. Milton. Get your act together!

Glenorchy is the most beautiful place we've been to so far, and could turn out to be the most beautiful by the time we leave. Here's a glimpse:

This is Lake Sylvan, and you need to check out the other pics from this walk, cause it was pretty sweet. We also did a little overnight hike up to a glacier which was unbelievable. It is called the Earnslaw Glacier and was huge. We stayed in this little bivy, which was basically a rock overhang. There were some sweet digs though. Take a looksie:

There were pots and pans already there, but we were too posh to use them. The aforementioned sand flies were having a field day with our skin, but we managed to get away with enough blood left for the hike out.

There's also a picture of the glacier below the one of the beautiful lady on the dodgy mattresses. We loved it.

We've been staying with a family and hiking in between days with their two kids. It has been pretty awesome because we are both pretty comfortable hanging out with them

and taking them to the pool and such. It has been a welcomed change from the farm. The mom has been out of town so it is usually us and the kids, or em with the kids and josh with the pile of firewood to be chopped.

He owns a canyoning business here in town (which we got to do in exchange for some extra work around the house) and she has developed some child raising tools for parents of toddlers. They're both pretty inventive and fun.

We've mostly been responsible for looking after the two youngens. Like their parents, they're pretty wild, and tons of fun. Here is a picture so you can see just what we are up against:
There are also tons more new pics there with more scenery and more hikes and some amazing views and such.

That's all the internet cafe time we can afford. Later.

You been eatin garlic...

Ok, so garlic farming only lasted one week. It was a pretty interesting experience, and we have been properly indoctrinated into the health power of that stinky little bulb. It wasn't all bad. We got to watch Lord of the Rings. Yes, all of it. All 9+ hours of hobbits and wizards and orcs and yawning and sleeping. 9 hours is too long for one story, I don't care how many DVD's Peter Jackson can put it on. However, now we can say that we have seen it, especuially since everyone we will stay with in this country will want us to watch it if we say we haven't. Anyway, Kutash Gardens (click here to see the bossman) was fun, but we moved on to a bigger and better place: Queenstown.

They call Queenstown the adventure sports capital of the world. It's true. We know that it is true because you can do everything from bungee jumping to skydiving to river-boarding. We participated in the river-boarding adventure which basically is just like white water rafting, minus the raft and the oars plus a boogie board and some flippers and a strange bowlegged gait afterwards. We basically swam down the river on a hobie for 45 minutes. The exciting part was trying to climb up the hill afterwards. Here's the proof:

Actually, this is only proof that we look stunning in wetsuits, and a little bit slow in helmets. No my head is not that big.

So we are off in the northerly direction to Glenorchy where we will be doing much more relaxed jobs, and taking care of a couple of kids. We are very excited about the lack of farm implements or blister treatments that await us.

As always, there are more pictures on the Flickr site. We don't have time to post anymore because the sun is actually shining, but will probably spite us once again when we go outside. Stay in touch if you want to. If you don't, then don't. You people are selfish.

P.S. - We came across this in Time Magazine. It's just further proof supporting what we already know in our hearts about our hippie "friends" from the Chapeled Hole.
Click here for the acticle.