OKOKOKOKOKOK. Guess what?! Katherine comes in 2 days!!!!! WHOA! That'll just be a ball and a half. Then, as though it could get more fun, Jodi comes in 9 days. Rockstar.

Maggie and I completed our hike through paradise only slightly worse for the wear because it rained most days. But it was beautiful, nonetheless, and pictures from it are posted, if you are more of a visual person. My favorite thing was making friends with people in the campsites each night and then all sort of moving through the hike as a group. We met this guy, Gerald, who is from Germany and is riding his bicycle around the whole of New Zealand. He is doing it because he feels like biking is the perfect speed to watch the world go by. Since NZ is the tiniest, a few days later we passed a couple from our camp grounds hitchhiking near Carolyn's house, so we drove them an hour toward their destination for good traveler's karma. Being the hardcore backpackers that we are, Maggie and I left for the trip equipped with 6 christmas mince pies, which had to be eaten quickly given their considerable weight. Speaking of christmas mince pies, how gross do those sound?? Very. But in truth they are marvelous, like a fig newton on steroids, in a pie, without the pretense of "healthy eating."

Since the hike we have been back at Carolyn's. I swear we'll get around to seeing more of NZ soon. But we are still here because it rules. For example, here was yesterday:

I woke up to Sweet Maggie Smile, we ate a leisurely breakfast in our little mountain cottage. There has been a mysterious white thing on the only bare patch of rock on the facing mountain that we have noticed for a month now, only on sunny days. We refer to this white thing as "White Thing" and finally our fear that it was a creepy white-robed man staring at us everyday drove us to pull out the binoculars that dad forced me to bring (thanks, daddy) and learn that White Thing is a mountain goat!! Not only is White Thing a mountain goat, but he has a Brown Thing friend that we never noticed! So now we can wake up in the morning and say hello to White Thing instead of yelling about his eerie mystery.

Anyway, post breakfast we received a Lentz Family package and gleefully put together the christmas tree they sent and ate Reese's Cups. Thank you so much, Lentzes, you made our day!!Then we worked in the garden for a few hours. Carolyn has started referring to her garden as her "grounds" because they are starting to look posh and polished. The transformation has been so fun to take part in. We actually feel proud of our work when we look at her garden. Then we all drove to town for Christmas shopping. Got pizzas, ate dinner, then made christmas mince pies from scratch! Then we had hot pie and red wine while we watched a movie. It was cold and rainy, which is all wrong for summer, but all right for Christmas. On the drive home a hedgehog ran in front of our car! I've only ever seen one in a cage in Hunter's room! So that was great.

We've decorated the tree at their house, and Carolyn and her family invited us to spend Christmas with them, which is too kind an offer to resist. In the meantime, we'll go grab Katherine and climb a glacier, before coming back to Carolyn's on Christmas Eve.

I miss you for Christmas, family! It still isn't right to be wearing shorts and sunscreen while Santas ring bells on the street. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Allow me to profile the stellar old men who we've encountered thus far on our kiwi adventure. I will list in order of acquaintance.

Ron, 82: jumps fences, drives his house around in a bus, builds sheds in his free time, carries things for us that are too heavy for us. He's 60 years stronger than us, not 60 years older.

John, 76: knows how to operate dvd players and weed eaters, maintains a manicured lawn, gives away soft toys

Jack, 80: walked us to our car from his room in the hospital for those with terminal illness and taught us a cool handshake on the way out

Gordon, 90: stood up to shake hands with us when we walked in the room, worked in a carpentry shed all day, only stopping to fix his daughter's lawn mower when she overworked it that day

These are only the most remarkable. But can you understand why I'm so impressed? Who needs the fountain of youth when being elderly can still be so fun?

Bud rubbing, for those of you who have been waiting on the edge of your seat, is neither fun, nor sexy. A little fun. Therapeutic in its banality. Good ipod time. It's just rubbing the buds off the bottom of the plant below the desirable vines. That's all. But it is one of many little things we learned about grapes at the Speedy's! They were great. They have vineyards of sauv blanc and pino grig grapes (as they say in the biz, ha) plus sheep and cattle and forests for timber. Plus they have full time jobs as a teacher and a social worker. Now as we drive past vineyards we say know-it-all things like, "goodness those vines need thinning" or "wow, they need to get to singling." Cool, huh?

Our week was highlighted by the World's Friendliest Cat, Dragon, who slept under the covers and purred the whole night through, and a pathetically sweet sheep dog, Meg. Dragon, we later learned was a donation from Pam's sister. He cost $1000. He was bred to be sweet. So he is really more of an amiable, furry robot than a cat. Meg is sweet, but unemployed and stunted because she was ruined on all the electric fences as a puppy. Poor thing.

Next adventure: Abel Tasman Coast Track. Then Carolyn's3 - The Remix. Then Katherine and Jodi! Nothin' but net (as they say in another biz.)