So This Is Christmas

Rob: Again the internet at our work has not been working. Now it is though, but we can't upload pictures, we'll get some up as soon as we can.

Merry Christmas! It's finally summer here; just as Boston gets hit with a huge snow storm, the temperature plunges in Indiana and Alaska was, well, was just cold.
We had last Thursday and Friday off and spent it in beautiful Blenheim. We did our Secret Santa shopping, went to see Avatar (unfortunately not in 3D) and went to the Blenheim Christmas festival. Something that we noticed here is, itäs  always Merry Christmas not Seasons Greetings, different from the US. On our drive back to catch the boat back to work on Friday we went cherry picking and rewarded our 15 minutes of hard labor with some wine tastings. I'm glad we're not picking fruit for 10 hours a day, it's very boring.

We perfomred meanial tasks all day Saturday and Sunday and had another day off on Monday. Much to my chagrin I did not get to sleep in and Jenna and I got up early and took a boat to the tip of the Marlborough Sounds to Ship's Cove. This is the place that Capt. James Cook (the non-native discoverer of  New Zealand) spent over a 100 days while circling the world a few times in the 1700s. We did an 11 km walk and had a picnic lunch along the ocean. After a few hours of playing cards we caught a boat back to The Bay of Many Coves. Just as we got in a few dolphins were spotted so we jumped in the tender boat, a small inflatable raft really with an engine to look for them. We found the dolphins and they played along side and with the boat. We got close enough to touch them. They were really friendly and one even did some jumps out of the water for us. We headed back to shore and met up with the local boat guide Gordon again. He took us out for a great cruize around the bays and we did some more skeet shooting. I won agian, 4 for 4 this time for a chocolate prize. Jenna tried really hard but didn't get one. We'll have to put some quality time in at the Akron, IN farm when we get back.
On Tuesday, the mates on the 3Ö45 pm cargo ship told me they saw some Orcaäs (killer whales) in the next bay north. I ran to get Jenna and a few of us headed out in the managers speed boat. After about an hour of searching I spied them and we headed over. They were amazing! I canät believe how close we got to them. We were almost close enough to touch them and they didnät seem bothered by us at all. It was a fantastic experience.
We both worked Christmas Eve, Day and Boxing Day. Our french neighbors and part of the restaurant staff, Marceau and Natalie, are having a baby and found out the sex (a boy) on Christmas Eve. We had a little party for them and did our Secret Santa exchange then as well. We had a champagne toast, well quite a few of them and enjoyed some wine and beer while relaxing and enjoying a beautiful, star filled night. After the boss came down at 3 am we decided to call it quits.

Christmas day was a little rough on account of the 5 hours of sleep, our massive headaches and it being the hottest day since weäve been here: 28 degrees celsius (83 deg. Fahrenheit). Jenna did housekeeping and I finished building my stairs and drug kayaks in and out of the water. When we were parolled at 5 we exchanged gifts, a pipe for me and some sweet sunnies (sunglasses) for Jenna. Jenna's parents and my dad added money to our adventure fund and my mom sent me a tiny video camera. I think it's a hint to put some videos up on the page. For Christmas dinner we had the kiwi staple of fush and chups as they say. The guests had a prix fixe menu and chefs "accidentially" made enough servings of the main course for each of the staff to have one. Turkey Confit (turkey slow cooked in duck fat). It was delicious!

We've got another day off today so we're headed back to Blenheim for some grocery shopping.