Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Well hello again!  It has been a very long time since I last wrote. Oops.

Spring has sprung and things are looking more promising for this summer weather-wise.  I seem to always comment on the weather but it is because it plays such a huge part in our lives up here.  From whether we have enough grass to how animals will cope (especially with Dino who seems to be allergic to rain!) and whether we have enough water.

So, Mum and I went to Europe for a month.  I tried to post regularly on http://slothhunt.blogspot.com but it all got so crazy busy that I managed to get up to the 5th day or something and then it was abandoned.  Poor effort, sorry.  So here are a few more photos.  And I will go back and caption the ones on the other blog.  It was an incredible trip!


Cap Formentor, the lighthouse on Mallorca with spectacular views over the Mediterranean!


We stayed at Mary and Simon's picturesque house in the Loire Valley and visited quaint little towns and a very weird modern art gallery Chateaux D'Oiron.


Angles sur L'Anglin - forgive me if I have spelled that wrong.  it sounds like "Onglongslonglon'


In the tiny town of Santa Maria Maggiore, Italy, they have the annual Convention of Chimney Sweeps.  Awesome. 


Our first night in Ghiffa, Lake Maggiore.  An antipasti overlooking the lake.  Holy christ the Italians know how to do cheese! And fresh vegetables.  Drooool.


Isola Bella.  Insane.  Supposedly the neighbouring islands all tried to out-do each other with extravagance.  You can imagine what it turned into.


Our brief stay in Bellano, Lake Como, was slightly odd but this was the view from our bedroom window.


Ahhh... Venice.  Yes.


Venice wouldn't be complete without the Film Festival.  Above and below we see Robert Redford and Shia le Bouf 



Ljubljana was wonderful and great to see Gasper who was a fantastic host.  Thank god he knew where we were going because we would have been lost on our bicycles!


In Novo Mesto we encountered Ludvik and Dragica, friends of Sandi and Vesna, Eva's parents.  They have a cute little vineyard and treated us to a night of stupendous wine and impromptu singing... and much of both!  Definitely one of the highlights of the trip.


Lake Bled, Slovenia, was incredibly beautiful and the stunning day just added to the beauty of it.  

I have some others from Trieste, Rome and Hong Kong but my USB stick had a tantrum so I need to transfer them again.  Will do in the near future.

So needless to say when we got home we were pretty knackered.  Jet lag followed me the whole way through Europe and plagued me long after we got back.  I am finally over it now though!

More recenlty we had Jen. Em, Andy, Rach, Pete, Rowan and Greg here for the weekend as well as a random hitch hiker Greg and Marty picked up in Waipuk.  It was so good to have everyone here.  We made so much amazing food and generally just had a good time.  I managed to sneak in a ride on the Saturday morning before everyone got up.  First time I'd ridden Dino in a while.  We have a show coming up this weekend and he has been such a sweetie recently.  Will update on the results... definitely not holding out much hope for best presented!


Oh lovely Dino.


Happy as a pig in shit.


One morning Pete inadvertently dressed Rowan in exactly the same outfit as Marty. Complete with pants tucked in to socks.  Hilarious.


Pete vented some pent up rage.


River outing/dam-building


Fence-sitter


Rowan, as usual, channeling Pete.


Marty and Greg made a bbq out of half a 44-gallon drum and we joyfully sat around it and drank bubbles.  What a great way to start summer!

Computer is going to run out of battery and I need to go to bed.  

Will update about the show!