worth much more than 1000 words.

the peacocks in shakespear park are incredible. any of you who know about my turkey incident back in high school (my car was chased) can understand my fear when i pulled up near a few peacocks who were milling about, only to have them approach my car. not just shuffle towards it, but make a bee-line for it, come right up to my window. i started to roll the window up as one stood there with its neck stretched upwards right outside of my door, eyelevel dangerously high- or so i would consider it. i didnt lock the doors but this one looked as if he could get inside my car if he had really wanted to.

the bird that you dont recognize with the blue feathers on its breast is called a pukeko (POO-kee-koh). they are very awkward, very afraid of people, and make the most miserable noises... but they are quite nifty to look at.

i spent a couple days in Auckland visiting my friend Julia this past weekend. i had a really good time walking around the city and being in the company of other Americans, though i havent really had any longings for people with my accent- it was just nice.

we went to a Belgian Brewery, where i had a Hoegaarden and didnt grimace the whole way through it. while we were sitting, two cops and a cameraman walk in and approach a man in a booth a few tables away. we joked about it being something crazy like a New Zealand-equivalent of the US's Cops... and how they would have to be pretty desperate to include a story on some guy who had been in a bar too long. we soon found out that it was, indeed, a live shooting of an episode of whatever the NZ "Cops" show is!! can you believe it?! it was lame, no struggle or even raised voices. the man settled his tab and eventually left, a bit disgruntled but definitely not tv-worthy. the people working at the brewery said it wasnt staged, that they had called the police on this guy who had been hanging around too long.



wow, earrings are SO cheap here. we went to a marketplace where vendors were selling beautiful carved-shell jewelry at, say, 3 pairs of earrings for $10NZD (about $6.64USD). these are NICE earrings. i mean, especially for the cost, but they're not the type you'd find in Claire's or at a teen girl store in the mall.
Julia is a great tour guide. i had a wonderful first time experience in Auckland and it was fantastic seeing someone i've known for so long in such a distant land.

i'm going to a "little league" rugby tourney on thursday! Josiah made the school team even though he's technically a grade too young, and i'm going to drive him and stay for the day. i'm pretty excited to learn about rugby and cricket.

dusk here is something to be cherished. morning is technically like dusk in many ways, but mornings are crisp, the light peeks over the horizon and blares at the lush green that is Whangaparaoa, and mornings are out of character with the laidback way of life here. dusk, on the other hand.. it has that worn-in-jeans feel to it: comfortable, breezy, dimmed, it makes me want to wear capris and a tanktop no matter what the temperature. the light fades and inevitably tints everything with its rich golden rays.