Whats been happening

I know it has been a while but I find using blogger

difficult. But thanks to those of you who gave me

some tips, I think I might have the hang of it. Bev has

given up on blogger and has gone to facebook as it

is easier to use. It has been a few months since my

last blog so here are a few photos of what we have

been doing. Bev had her 50th in June and I organised

a surprise party for her. She didn't want one but

there you go, what comes around goes around.

Any way we had a good time.

In July we took the Transalpine train from Christchurch

to Greymouth with some friends. As you can see there was

plenty of snow about and the 20 minute stop at Arthurs

Pass ended up in a big snow fight. We stayed the night at

Greymouth and back to ChCh the next day on the

train again. It was great for me for as a teenager I

travelled on the railcar to Arthurs Pass many times

to go tramping so it was really good to see it all again.

In August we flew to Singapore with a group of our

friends. We had a couple of days seeing the sights

then we boarded the Star cruises ship Virgo.

I was a bit worried about being jammed in with 2000

other people on a boat but was pleasantly surprised.

There seemed to be heaps of room  and at times

wondered where every one was. It was probably good

that there was a casino down in the belly of the ship

and a fair number of passegers spent most of their time

down there.

About to board.

The pool area with 4 spas and hydroslide looking down

from the bar. A bad combination.

The boat cruised at night and pulled into a port in the

morning. Our first stop was Penang where the highlight

 was riding elephants and for some getting up close to

monkeys. Don't be fooled by the smile on my face, I hate 

the little sh!ts as I was bitten by one in Bali a few years

ago. I don't trust them. Bev was in her element.

The next day we turned up at Phuket where again we

hired a man with a van to show us around.

KL was next.

We had 6 days on the boat and really enjoyed it.

I'm sure we will cruise again. Back in Singapore

we said goodbye to our friends for a couple of days

and stayed with Blake, Adrianne and Flynn.

They have a really nice appartment in a complex that has

all that you need.

Blake showed us some of his watering holes

Flynn posed with the tourists. No not us, A group

of Japanese almost kidnapped him and fought each

other to have their photos with him. He enjoyed it

though. A bit like his father maybe.

Adrianne and Flynn showed us the gardens .

On our last day we had a Singapore sling in the long

bar at Raffles hotel. We only had one,they were

$26 each . Ouch .Should have asked first!!!!

We havn't done a lot since our Singapore trip.

Just getting through the last of the winter.

I'm about to start work next week down in

Canterbury inseminating cows. Looking forward

to having some regular work again but the down side is I'm

away for about 6 weeks.

Who knows maybe my next blog might have some

action shots of me at work.

Watch this space.

HELP !!!!!!
I need help with my blog.  I have been trying to write a blog for weeks now but I am getting more frustrated
by the minute. I am trying to change the format of my blog to a layout the same as Julie's , Bec's etc. where the photos are all vetical (one under the other) with a space under each to write something about it. No matter what I do it all turns to shit (frustation showing).
Can anyone out there help me please. I promise to write flattering things about you and not publish terrible photos of all  those that help.
Dave

Catchup

Hi. Time again for another catchup. Now that winter is here we seem to have a lot more time on our hands. It has been 12 months since we moved off of the farm , but has gone by really quickly. It is weird but neither of us give farming a thought any more, it's like something that happened in another lifetime. Having a year off has been great but we are starting to get a bit restless again and need something to get into (as in part time work or some sort of business) .

Tim is still working for Toyota in Blenheim , but I think he will be away soon. He has just come back from Surfers with a lady friend (casual travelling companion only). I think he will try to wear his snowboard out this winter and then head to Aussie to meet up with some mates. Kelly is living with us again as she is between flats and boyfriends . I have to pick her up from the airport tonight as she is returning from Sydney. She has been there with her work mates and boss from the hair salon she works at. That girl never has much luck. She just text ed me, she is still sitting on the plane at Ch Ch and isn't allowed off yet as another passenger has swine flu like symptoms and they can't move until a doctor has given the OK.

Hayley is flatting in Blenheim still. She is working at a hotel housemaiding in the morning and has some part time work cleaning at the hospital at night. Last years coarse in travel and tourism has only produced a large student loan so far. She is still young though, plenty of time to increase the debt !!!!.

Over the summer we have been on a few trips mainly around the top of the south island. This one was on the coast above Westport at a place called Mokihinui. We biked along where an old bush railway used to be from Seddonville to Ngakawau. The ride was about 4 hours through typical west coast bush with some amazing scenery. Of coarse a bonus with riding on the coast is that there is normally a great pub right there at the end of your ride. Doesn't get much better then that.

In all we spent 4 days there biking and exploring and will definitly head back there again.

Fishing with our neighbour

Another adventure I went on recently was down to southwest Fiordland where I have a mate that has a commercial white bait business on the Cascade river. The only way in is by Jet boat or flying. That is another amazing part of the country that is worth a trip to. I spent a few days exploring, fishing ,and doing what comes naturally on the coast ( you know what), then flew out in their whitebait plane. The photo above was taken the day we flew out, you will notice that the water falls are are actually going up . Not good flying weather. Also notice in the next shot that the only seat in the plane is for the pilot. So I spent most of the flight somewhere between the ceiling and floor.

I have trouble with this blog layout so I hope it turns out all right.

Dave