Merry Christmas to all...

Christmas comes but once a year. It is a special time to celebrate with friends and family. This was a Christmas of firsts for both of us. It was the first year of my life that I did not celebrate with my parents. It was the first time that Andrea did not celebrate the holiday in the depths of winter. It was also our holiday together on Christmas day. It was foreign feeling for her to be standing on the beach in short pants and T-shirt knowing full well that all of Canada was covered in a blanket of snow for the first time since '71. As much as I hate to say it I do miss the cold and dark that accompanies the holiday season, but only for one day...I am already over it.

So how did we spend our Christmas day? Well with Andrea's extended family in New Zealand of course. Christmas eve was spend at our flat talking about traditions with our flatmate Gregg. Drinking beers, wrapping gifts and swapping stories. Both me and Andrea were quite tired because we had worked all day. I managed to get a great surf earlier in the evening as well, best so far! Off to bed for an early start!!!

Christmas morn started off with our stockings...stuff with goodies from Santos Claus...

We then left our place and headed over to John and Susans (Andrea's Cousins) place for gift openings and more cheer. We were joined by Bob and Elen -Andreas grandfathers sister - also joined us and gift extravaganza was on...

The kids (Phalen and Sara) were SUPER stoked for the day. We did our best to supply some fun for everyone by providing the great Mexican Christmas Pinata Tradition.

Everybody had a go at it!

In the end old Rudoplh met his fate and was split across the entire yard. Candies were everywhere and the kids went bezerk. With this the great Kiwi-Mexican-Canadian Christmas came to a close.

It was a great way to spend the day, different from what I am used to by all means, but it was spent with my sweetie and that is all that counts. We miss you all and wish you all a very merry Christmas and joyous holiday season in whatever corner of this world you may find yourself in.

Lots of Love,

Dion and Andrea

Christmas Haka

What happens when you get a bunch of boozed fueled boys at a company christmas party? The Haka of course. This is now the third haka we have had performed for us by boozed fueled locals, which is much better than the last time I was here when zero boozed fueled locals performed the haka for us...

Good Decisions

Calgary


Napier

Drunk Kids

So last night I went out for a sunset surf. It was sweet because I was all alone and it was nice and clean. Anyway just as I am gearing down a small car came flying into the car park and came to a screaching halt. Three somewhat wasted teenagers spilled out of the car and began to suit up for a night session in the surf. Immediately I realized that these kids were ripe for manipulation and I engaged in conversation. The banter went back and forth strewn with lots of Kiwi and Canadian slang. Then I went in for the kill...

Dion: Hey guys, can you do the Haka?

Drunk teens: AHHH YEEEEAH MATE....

The Drunk Kids.

Pretty much the best thing to ask drunk teens to do whenever you come across them. This is the second time we have had the haka performed for us by boozed teenagers, which is 100% better than my last trip here six years ago when zero drunk teenagers performed the haka for us. I will do my best to try and get a variety of hakas on video for your viewing pleasure. I do apologize for the lighting...it was dark after all.

Home Sweet Home!

The days of living out of our suitcases and carrying all our food in a box in the car boot are now over! Temporarily. We are going to setup in a small seaside resort town called Napier for the next couple of months. http://www.napier.nz.com/

Above is the beautiful view from the patio of our new home! We have managed to get into a swanky flat share on top of the bluff in town. Dion loves that he can check the waves from the window and go down the hill for a surf.

As of today we have both secured work here in town. Which makes Dion especially happy as I have been hanging around in cafes and at the beach waiting for the right job to call me back. Meanwhile, Dion is working his butt off as a labourer (carrier of heavy shit) for a construction company. I have been brought on as a barista in a busy downtown cafe. I am looking forward to unlimited coffee but will miss my unlimited free time :)

Everything seems to be going well just in time for Christmas! Uncle Bob and Auntie Ellen are coming down for the holidays and we will be here with Susan and her family. It just doesn't feel right that it is Christmas when everyone is getting geared up for the summer. We are missing our friends and family holiday season get togethers. Happy Holidays to Everyone!!

Great Gunnar News!!!

Probably the best photo I have seen in years...Congrats to Gunnar and Joanna!!!

Movember is Done

Well after a solid 30 days on the grow I can official say that Movember turned out well, as far a growing a moustache it was the best one I have evar put on my upper lip, as far as getting work I reckon it did nothing but hinder me. In fact it was not until I shaved the beautiful piece of man status that I managed to secure work. Note how good I look below:


Before I get into the work details I'd like to thank the five people who voted in the last poll. Upon retrival of the results we did exactly as stated, we went surfing. It was a medium day on the water, not that it mattered as I was alone on the coast and kinda got scared, so I was only in the water for a short period of time. Furthermore even though the results did not state to leave town we did. Gone like a fading image in our rearview mirror is Gisborne. Jaded we left the town with no work or even the potential. We are now in Napier http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Napier%20NZ&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&ie=utf8&oe=utf8&um=1&sa=N&tab=il.

Napier is wine country, with a climate that mimicks the summers of the Okanagan Valley. Known for the lazy summer days and Art Deco decor Napier is a quiant town on the East coast of New Zealand. It is here that I found a job as a labourer on a consturction site. I started off with the promise of three days work and by the time afternoon smoko (coffee break) rolled around I was asked to stay until christmas. It felt good to be making some money again. Andrea also has cousins here, they have been very welcoming to us. It is also nice to hear the Canadian accent again, germans tend to get on my nerves after a while.

Last weekend after arrival in the new town we did what any person should do in Napier...we left town for it's neighbor Hastings and went to SPLASH PLANET. A smaller second cousin to the waterparks of North America but no less refreshing. It was here that an incident occurred. This leads me to a:

FALL DOWN REPORT

Approximately 3:30 Pm on Sunday November 30th 2008. Andrea C. Forrest was walking briskly on the southern deck of the main splash pool of the 'TOOB SLIDE'. During a momentary laspe of thought Andrea step down off the deck and onto the first step that lead into the pool. During slack water this step would normally be covered in approximately 1/2 inch of water, however due to repeatative entry of jovulant youths at the northern end of the pool mild surges were clouding the actual depth of the step. With full commitment Andrea placed her right foot down towards the step, only to find that the step was actually much shallower than her perception had told her. The result, a hastened reaction to counteract and regain balance, it was an overreaction, much like a car in a skid, the overreaction always leads to shame. In this case that shame came in the form of a back leaning stiff upperbody that still had forward momentum. A chain reaction started with the right ankle, it buckled and folded under, then the knee, the left leeg continued straight out as if sliding into second base. Like a Jenga tower falling left due to an improperly balanced base, Andrea flopped into the splash pool. Instant shame fell over her. It was the first time in years that I never laugh instantly. It looked rough but she is ok, just a few braizes to her right foot. It wasn't till she was walking again that I really let the giggles loose...

New Zealand Pre-Work Album

Here are the photos from our first month in New Zealand... There are lots to see in the four albums...hope you got a coffee!!!

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Tongan Photo Album

I will continue to state that Tonga screwed us, here are a few photos of the place you should not let your guard down at...

Still some neat beach huts...

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Samoa Photo Album

Here are the photos we took during our stay in Samoa...a few more than Tonga, we liked it here...

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San Francisco Photo Album

Simple enough, just push play...

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