Life has been busy.

First: the miata was totalled in April, as detailed in my build thread. Salvaged parts are in my garage awaiting build 2.0, coming winter 2016/17. Plans are laid.

RIP #104




Then, in June, I moved to New Zealand for a year. But it can't be that simple, so we went to Hawaii for two weeks on the way.

The luggage:



Hawaii was what it's supposed to be:





Then, on to New Zealand! Had to stop in Hobbiton:







New Zealand is rediculously beautiful:



We got here and started doing New Zealand things. Realizing I was in the Mountain Biking capital of the World (no joke), I visited a bike shop, and got seduced by Carbon Fiber and dropped a bundle on a real bike, and took it places it deserved to be taken to:

2015 Specialized Epic Carbon Comp





Notice the snow, proof it's winter in the Southern Hemisphere:



My wife pondered and pondered, and ended up getting an even more "Sweet As!" bike: 2014 Specialized Camber Expert Evo Carbon, gently pre-owned by the bike shop mechanic:




That pretty much brings us to today. The local mountain got over a meter of fresh snow over the weekend, so we took the kids out of school on Monday and hit the snow.

 

Hi from over the pond.

 

Looks like you're taking good advantage of your time! I've never been to a more amazing place.

 

Studied for a semester in Wellington. Had a friggen great time. Hanging out with no "American's" for 3.5 months was one of the most refreshing experiences of my life. That and all the mountaineering and beer...and girls with accents...all so good I went back two years later for a month for more.

Have a blast!

 

I think everyone should try living (as opposed to just taking a brief holiday) in another country at least once in their life, it changes your perspectives on everything, you really appreciate the good stuff in your own country and recognise its shortcomings when you're exposed to different viewpoints.

You also learn to recognise news BS/sensationalism/bias too rather than accepting it as fact since you're more likely to consider both sides of the story.
- as an Aussie that lived in the US for 3.5 years, I was appalled by US TV news, BBC News on cable was my savior.

You're going to enjoy the rain-free days in "The Land of the Twisted Vowels", I think they have about 3 every year :P