Winter is...leaving?

It's been a while since I posted a blog. Life got in the way, as it always does. So here's a little update from Middle Earth....

It's August, which means while the States are baking in 95 degrees and 158% humidity, we're enjoying what the Kiwis call "winter", which is just so laughable to us because most of these people don't know what a real winter is. Winter for North Island Kiwis involves eight weeks of not being able to go swimming. But kite surfing, sailing, hiking....no problem. Just throw on a wind breaker and you're good to go. And snow? What's that? Don't get me wrong, I am LOVING it. I just laugh when a North Island Kiwi complains about the weather here. It's like someone who's never lived in L.A. complaining about the "traffic" in Cleveland. Puh-lease.  ;-)

When we weren't thawing our butts off, we did some hiking to Kaiate Falls, the most quintessential waterfall swimming and jumping hole you've ever seen, and we hiked out to the point at Mt. Maunganui to watch the surfers on a beautiful day. Check out the fun little video we made here.

By the looks of this, you might think we never work. But, we do, I promise. Lately my hula hooping has completely blown up. I have two (soon to be three) classes at a local gym for women, a private rhythmic gymnastic student, and by November I plan to have a DVD made. Matt meanwhile has been slaving away at work trying to get their product launched, with many interesting twists and turns in the process.

We're gunning to buy a little rowboat soon, and our resolve to get a good deal on TradeMe has been bolstered by the fact that we just learned that ORCAS (killer whales) frequent the harbor and bay where we live. They literally swim in our back yard!!!!!!  Oh yeah and there are sting rays, octopus, sharks, and seals. Click here to watch the AMAZING VIDEO shot by my new friend Nathan of his close encounters with Orcas where we live! (You need to be logged into Facebook to watch the video)

In other news, my ornithological photography interest continues. Here are some shots I got recently:

Wild Pukeko

Tui

We still miss all of our friends and family greatly, and we're really hoping to see some of you this Thanksgiving or over Christmas/New Years. Come on over!

Till next time....

Melissa and Matt