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Three months in New Zealand have flown by faster than I imagined and this week BJ and I decided to submit our applications to stay in the country a little longer than planned. We filled out the lengthy application to extend our permit to the end of July and were pleasantly surprised to receive a call a DAY later from the immigration office saying our passports were ready to be picked up. That was easy! We are definitely looking forward to some more time down here, and possibly some time on the north island during the NZ winter. BJ has also been scheming with his brother Brandon, who has been living and working in Shanghai for the last two years, about meeting up in China once we leave New Zealand. Brandon and his wife Jen are flying back to Idaho at the end of August and have a little bit of time off before they leave. We will be missing out on Australia, which we figure we can always come back to on our own, but REALLY excited to see some parts of China with someone who knows it well. Some ideas are brewing for a trip to Lhasa as well. If anyone has been, we are all ears for suggestions and advice on entering and visiting Tibet.

This week my volunteer job at the winery turned into actual work. No, I’m not getting paid (although I count the many bottles of wine they have sent me home with as more than enough payment) but it wasn’t a typical tasting and testing week at the winery. My roommates could no longer give me crap for just drinking wine all day. I actually came home dirty, tired, and sore. My job for the week was moving and washing empty pinot noir barrels, which were damn heavy and my little weak arms were tired after a while. I know I know . . . waaaaa. I’m really not complaining. It was fun to be moving around and practicing my wine barrel roll and lift, something I didn’t realize would actually take some skill.

We’ve become quite the homebodies down here, cooking dinner, watching movies or reading at night, and not spending too many nights out on the town. But last night we made an exception and rode our bikes to town for an evening out. Nothing fancy . . . some okay food at Pog Mahones, a drink at Barmuda where we sat by ourselves in front of this HUGE outdoor fireplace, and some strange music at Dux-d-Lux . . . but a fun time none-the-less in downtown Queenstown.

On another note, my mom and stepdad flew in to the country this morning. They are going to spend a while on the north of the south island and then make their way down to see us by next weekend. We are looking forward . . . Kia Ora!