Had a lovely sunny day running errands, cleaning up the house, saying goodbye to uni people. Tidied up the house, packed, had a visit with various family on iChat (that's Jim with Erin), and returned all the borrowed bits and pieces to Gill. Had a last walk on St. Clair beach. Jim gassed up the car for drop off in the morning at the airport and a last go at the zip line. So many new friends and a precious reconnection with Gill. Two months have flown by and we've had a wonderful, unique experience in Dunedin; people and places we'll always remember. We've made a lot of the variable weather while we've been here, and most of the locals are complaining, but we have to say it has been brilliant.
One of our favourite things, and a bit of a philosophy we've adopted, is to visit places for long enough to get to know them well. We don't enjoy quick visits as much as extended stays in places, and it has resulted in a level of intimacy with places and people you can't get on a quick trip. Dunedin is the latest on our growing list of places we call home. Another, sadly, was Christchurch, and with the intimacy we gain comes the pain when the places we love are ravaged the way that beautiful city was last week. Please do keep Christchurch in your thoughts and prayers...the media coverage will end long before the recovery and reconstruction has even begun. As a song written for 9-11 but playing constantly for the city pleads -- "Rise Up". We know our Kiwi friends will.
North to Hamilton and Raglan! While we are in the air, the country has requested 3 minutes of silence to mark the moment one week ago and remember the victims of the quake (12:51 pm Tuesday, NZ time). Join us.
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