Auckland is awesome!

Seriously awesome! Long journey to get here but loving our holiday! Met mom and ray here yesterday. Today we are in rotorua. Who knew there were redwood trees here!

we're aussies!

yay! we're australian residents as of today!  so excited we now have healthcare! we celebrated with one of the special wines we bought in Perth last year.

we decorated our office and are planning to win the prize of best decorated department...and we really got into it!  we hung snowflakes, lights, wrapped most of the boards on the wall, hung hand made decorations and I painted the back window which was SO fun!  hope we win!   Exciting update...............WE WON!!!! 

new car!

yay!  we finally got ourselves a proper 4 wheel drive....after over a year over here with suv envy.  very excited about getting to take it out camping and fishing and all kinds of adventures :)  my favorite part though has to be the fact that the car name (pajero) actually means wanker in spanish.  hilarious! 5 more days until new zealand!!!

hospital christmas party

had a great time at the hospital christmas party this year - held at the boab inn.  all of our department came and we had a blast. it was SO hot though.  bonus was the fact that it was a full moon and a lunar eclipse too!

fishing and seafood

talk about yum. jose went fishing a week ago or so and got some catfish. then this week he got his first barramundi!  so exciting.  we've been eating way more fish and other seafood lately which has been a nice treat.

we went to the local art auction the other night - something i've been waiting a year for also.  we managed to pick up the two prints shown above (one by mark norvall and one by tina higgins).  They are such good finds.  also got the bottom print from the mowanjum art centre. i've been coveting these prints for ages.  a few more pieces we've picked up here

december boab flowers

i've waited an entire year to see these beautiful, fragrant flowers.  they are all over the boab trees already and are absolutely stunning.  more photos here

stunning sunset - looked like jupiter

what an amazing sunset.  to me it looked like jupiter.  i just loved this sunset and it was easy to get lost in the sky.  more photos here 

sunsets and full moons

getting some better sunsets lately but no real storms which is sad. beautiful full moon recently and a lunar eclipse too! didn't get a snap of the eclipse but it was beautiful and orange. on the same night as our hospital xmas party!  that was very fun :)  pics to come later

the varied skies of derby wet

such pretty skies! just can't stop snapping photos. i probably should or i'll need a million terabyte drive soon. wish it would rain! anyway getting ready to go to new zealand for christmas  - meeting mom and ray there! we are so excited!  hard to leave miski behind though :( but we'll be happy to leave the heat behind that's for sure. today was well over 100 degrees!  yuck more photos here 

thanksgiving derby style!

well one year without thanksgiving was enough for me to put my foot down. decided to host it this year at my house. regretted it a bit as it got closer because i was worried about pulling it all together and also had a tupperware party at my house two days prior...but it all went great! had 15 people there and everyone brought a dish. everything tasted just as it does back home pretty much which was really exciting.  i think everyone here enjoyed it too. it was jose's first thanksgiving and he loved it!  it also poured that evening, an extra bonus, because the rain here is so beautiful. more photos here

lazy sunday

had a very lazy sunday last weekend - lounged around with the dog, cleaned house, went for bike rides, made seafood pesto pasta that was pretty awesome, and discovered that when miski is ready for bed she'll just help herself to whatever cushy corner she can find...even if that is our bed.  naughty thing.

more beautiful skies!

a few of the incredible skies again.  getting a bit old I suppose but i just cannot get enough of the immense, 360 views we've got here.  the second one makes me think of jupiter.  more here

funny little bird and beautiful skies

and more beautiful skies!  we had a rash of them a while back...and now nothing.  oh well.  it's the build up season so that's kind of normal but i'd expect more clouds at this point. here's hoping for some soon.  got a snap of the bizarre, clumsy bird that lives above our house. they are so weird.  more photos here

finally a storm in derby

yay! some storms have started. sunsets have not been as great this year for some reason.  but this stormy day was great and i got a lot of good shots.  took miski out and we walked up and down the jetty walk and enjoyed the very strong winds.  it was so beautiful. one of those days you feel happy to be alive. more photos here

halloween derby style!

hell yeah we went as teenage mutant ninja turtles - thanks to bec's great idea and awesome craft skills!  i was raphael and jose was leonardo.  it was seriously awesome. went decked out to the hospital halloween party and may have had a bit too much fun. well at least i did. the next monday i was surprised to find my office had been completely decorated for halloween!  such a great surprise! see more scary photos here

neap tide in derby

yeah - our jetty here is usually full of water.  well not during neap tide.  there was nothing left!  you could see the old jetty posts, old anchors, little mullet fish swimming in puddles. so cool!  usually, at highest tide, the jetty is full to the brim.  more photos here