This charming young man is turning 14 today and while we cannot celebrate with him, we shall fete him nonetheless. Hip hip hooray. It was such a treat having him around and we had a blast together with a few days off back in December before we sent him on his merry way back to the USA. We went all the around the bottom half of the bottom island of NZ, and even took a ferry to Stewart Island, the southernmost point on the planet any of us had been. We saw sea lions, albatross, kia, tui, yellow-eyed penguins (alas, it's hard to remember a camera at 5am) and countless other birds and wildlife. We also had long discussions in the car about the merits of wine gums and how they might just beat out gummy bears for texture and ageing potential. We miss you, Jules.
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| Too cool for school? I think not, Mr. Malcolm. |
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| Pretty happy on the beach |
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| Somehow, New Zealand makes getting out of the car to stretch look real good. |
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| Killer picnic spot |
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| Gem beach, but those aren't gems in Julian's hands. |
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| Kiwi crossing |
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| The point where the Pacific, Arctic and Tasman Sea meet: Stewart Island |
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| Moeraki Boulders: the earth's amazingly beautiful pimples |
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| Ziplinin' away |
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| The best fish and chips |
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| Doing their best petanque arguing by the beach at out bungalow for New Year's Eve |
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| Stewart Island, home to the best fish and chips |
