the holidays!

well, we finished most of the crazy animal farm work. now it's time for the relaxation on the farm (we're not doing much until after the holidays... so in our free time, we've been doing a lot of hunting (and fencing... i'm pretty cut up from rolling up barbed wire and netting and all kinds of rusty shit). but back to the hunting. i've been killing rabbits and goats. the boys even got a deer. my best shot was a goat from 200 meters away... i think piers was proud. but the hunting includes fishing... we've been adventure fishing by setting out nets off the coast of the farm... getting pummelled by waves (well the boys did, not me... i'm smarter than that... for now). our most glorious 48 hours was when we caught 3 sharks off coast of the farm (yeah we ate one for dinner tonight) and in the morning, we caught 45 crayfish (these are huge... lobster size) and some butterfish. mmm. anyway, it was awesome and i've never seen the boys more excited.

so besides hunting and fencing, i've also been eating lots of plums that are everywhere... holy crap they're so good. oh and christmas here was nice. it was a hot sunny day and i got to drink for all of it and the food was great and the presents were adorable and the company was really nice. all in all, a great christmas. hopefully new years eve will be sweet, also. i'm not worried.

anyway, i finally got around to putting up some photos from ages ago... so they are, but better late then never, right?

here's back to the trip to stewart island with sean:






sean managed to get a seal to attack him... which was a bit scary, but he was faster than it...



then we went to ulva island... which is like a mini stewart island where there are lots of crazy birds and no animals




even though it looks warm, it was cold on ulva island:








the ocean was too rough to take the ferry back to the south island of new zealand, so we had to fly out on this scary 10 person (including pilot) airplane... which almost crashed as we watched it land from the insane winds... but it was really cool:


then we hitched up to lake tekapo and saw this (day 1):

day 2 (here's that snow i was talking about):

day 3 (still freezing, but looks better):





here's some photos from when we watched joanie's triathalon...
here's joanie and piers:

toby (yeah he's 16):

me angry that my picture is being taken:

toby and ben showing off their guns (which is all they talk about):

me doing what i do best... eating:


now here's photos of bunny (i know you remember that story):






here's a random shot of toby in the yards when we were doing weening (they're probably about 1000 sheep in the yards at that minute... but obviously you can't see the whole area...)


here's the campus board i keep talking about:


toby after he shot and carried back his first deer:


piers and ben looking for deer and goats and pigs to shoot:


mike (this kid visiting from england), piers, and ben hunting on the king's farm looking at parikawa:



still more shooting:


nasty, but artsy shot of a bunny ben shot with a gun meant for bigger animals:


hunting night sunset:


and finally, a photo of me about 1.5 or 2 weeks ago... i'm a bit fat but oh well, but you can really see my sweet hair... and by sweet i mean fugly...


anyway, i'm exhausted. time for bed. probably some fencing work tomorrow... and i have our modified workout to look forward to... yesterday i did 40 pullups (not in a row obviously) and 70 pushups... sweet. too bad ben did 50 pull ups and 75 pushups... we'll see how i do tomorrow.

love you.

replies:
emily: i miss you oodles. i have my address on here somewhere in a past blog... but it's just parikawa private bag, blenheim new zealand... same as last time i was here ;) i wish i could do cozy winter things with you too. i can't wait to see you when i get home... and p.s. i saw this shirt with skulls on it in a shop and really missed you.

caitlin: i hope things are going well in peru... can't wait to hear stories and see pictures. i love you oodles. muah!

jessi: you are amazing. i miss you and it hurts. for some reason i want to make scrap books with you when i get home... are you in? (i'll make you cookies... eh, eh?)

nan-c: you are one crazy slut, but i can't wait to see you... i'm counting down the days. p.s. you made me laugh so hard on christmas, thanks for that...

phil: you are insanely awesome! great plan to hide in nancy cleavage... they'll never find you... but watch out for the adorable beagle dogs they have at the airport to sniff your stuff... i always forget and start to pet them... then i look up and notice that there is a security person attached to the other end of the leash...