NZ Land Logs 5, Year 2: Ready, Set, Go . . .
Date: Friday, February 23, 2007
Weather in Whangarei: Beautiful Day, 75-80 degrees F
Location: Whangarei, New Zealand

Okay. We are as ready as we are going to be for taking off for our land trek around New Zealand. At 10 AM we picked up the van we are renting, did the grocery shopping, and came home and packed the van. For the most part, we will be spending the night in hostels, motels, or B & B’s where linens are provided, but sometimes they are not, so all of the extra linens are packed. We will eat out much of the time, but in order to try and save some money, we are taking basic foods and hoping to cook some of our own dinners, and provide our own breakfasts and lunches most of the time. We keep an igloo cooler on our back deck, and that is now packed in the van ready to be filled with goodies for the trip. In mid-afternoon, we began to feel like we were provisioning for a major ocean crossing, and actually we are provisioning for a 25 day period which is about the same as our crossing from the Galapagos to the Marquesas. Provisioning like that used to seem like an almost impossible job, but now it is just routine. I guess we have learned something in the last 16 months!

We called our children this afternoon, their evening, to touch bases before leaving. First we talked with our daughter Heather. Sam’s one month check-up was today and he got a superstar report. As his mom says, “He has been growing like a champ.” He is now in the 50th percentile in weight, up from the 25th percentile in week one, and he is holding steady at the 75th percentile in height. He is now a 9 pound 11 ounce bundle of joy. Mom and dad were a little disappointed that the doctor did not have many suggestions for his digestive problems, but they are hanging in there in hopes that soon he will begin sleeping just a little more.

Next we talked to our son who is making his way slowly to California. He left New Orleans after Mardi Gras and went to Memphis. Not exactly on the way to California, but he and his traveling companion, Jo, decided that they just had to make a stop at Graceland. Justin somehow was able to sneak our dog Freckles into the Heartbreak Hotel and he has great pictures of Freckles in sunglasses posing as Elvis. Freckles is almost 17 years old, not young for a dog, but she must be in heaven on her trip west. First she was decorated with beads in New Orleans, and now she has been to see Elvis land. What more can an old dog ask for?

We are going to try something new on the website tonight. We are going to try and post our favorite pictures of Sam’s first month at the end of this log. If it works, you will see one picture. You click on that and it will take you to the album of Sam’s first month. If it works, we will be using this technique for posting our pictures from our land trek of New Zealand. If you see no picture, then it didn’t work and we will continue trying to use the new technology.

Tomorrow at 5 AM we head to Auckland. The next log will be posted when we reach an internet site, so talk to you then . . .

070217 Best of Sam Month One