Congratulations (and good luck!) to Jayne and Glynn. Wow.

So on the 3rd of April Maaike and I head off to Europe. This is ‘cos Femke (Maaike’s sister) is getting married (Hurrah!)… I believe we’ve been invited – though the invite has yet to arrive ;) hehehe, ehem. Honestly – the Dutch have a good sense of humour – it’s ok to tease. Especially when you can moderate all the comments. Perfecto. I’m *loving* this new blog. **** blogger ;)

Anyways.. that map hopefully will change as the trip progresses. I’m loathe to use Google Maps – even if it is more powerful.

But in summary:

1. Leave NZ 1st April
2. Arrive Dublin 2nd April
3. Leave Ireland for The Netherlands 19th April
4. Leave The Netherlands for Norway (to see Guusje (yes, that is how they spell it – crazy I know))13th May
5. Leave Norway for London 18th May
6. Leave London to return to Aoteroa 21st May
7. Arrive 23rd (good old international dateline)

Will be trying to meet up with as many friends and family as possible – so if you’re reading this please keep these dates in mind (emails to follow!)

Two friends of Maaike’s from The Netherlands (Sander and Simone) came to NZ for a brief 4 week holiday. Now I realised some of you might be thinking ‘4 weeks is brief?!!‘ … but when you’re flying into ChCh, wanting to get down to Milford Sound and then up to Auckland (driving) 4 weeks really isn’t that long at all.

I am going to get round to putting up a tips-and-tricks page for NZ – but I suggest if you’ve got 4 weeks in NZ *don’t* try and see everything.. rather come for 6 and spend 4 on the South Island (if you like mountains) and 2 on the North (or vice-versa if you want more beachy stuff).

Speaking of mountains and coasts.. The wonderful Michelle McMillan (Shelly) was doing the coast to coast this year. It’s a one (or two) day event where you start on the West Coast of the South Island, and bike-run-kayak your way to Christchurch. Pretty savage really.

Maaike and I had been climbing (outside!! oooooo) and then headed over to Sumner to watch her come in. Must be quite the feeling to run over the finish line at last.

Next post will have details about the upcoming trip to Europe. Really can’t wait at this stage!

Here is some of his best advice: If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t; it’s not food if it arrived through the window of your car; it’s not food if it is called by the same name in every language (think Big Mac, Pringles); avoid food products with more than five ingredients; avoid foods you see advertised on television; don’t eat breakfast cereal that changes the colour of the milk; drink the spinach water; eat all the junk food you want, so long as you cook it yourself; have a glass of wine with dinner; stop eating before you are full; eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored; buy smaller plates and glasses; spend as much time enjoying the meal as you spent preparing it; eat meals.

(from today’s Irish Times)

So every year we have The Buskers Festival. It’s 2 weeks (or is it 3?) of comedy, juggling (and general circus arts) and other such things.

Anyway – this year I saw one of the most beautiful routines of contact juggling as a part of FlameOz’s routine. The guy in question is called Dimitri Ogden (aka The Fluid Druid) and you can see more at their youtube channel here.

Contact juggling is one of – if not the hardest forms of juggling you can do – and also the most elegant / beautiful. Dimitri has been doing it for a very, very long time.

So, here is a video which they’ve kindly given me permission to show – if you get the chance to see them .. do!