(Sorry for the inordinate delay following up to your message. We had some problems which I'll describe later.)

But I am THRILLED to see that my in-laws and their friends touched down safely in Auckland, and got to see BRUNNEN-G the same day! Yay!


> Wolfspirit's in-laws and another couple are visiting NZ and they came around to our place on arrival from the airport. They were adamant that the 26-hour trip hadn't left them tired at all,

Well, then they've got more stamina than Dave and I would've had, heh.


> so we took a drive up to Goat Island Marine Reserve with the aim of going snorkelling. The snorkelling didn't happen, according to the universal law of bad weather which starts the day you arrive. (Also according to this law, I said several times throughout the day, "I don't BELIEVE this! The weather has been AMAZING all week up until today!")
>
> [I should add that, ALSO in accordance with this law, they left Auckland today and the weather here instantly went back to being perfect again.]

Oh, too bad. I think it must go something like this: Everyone knows that serving coffee on airplanes causes turbulence. Similarly, one could suspect that foreign tourists coming to NZ on charter jets probably cause the rainy season and foul weather, right? Y'know, like all those jetplane contrails -- high in the atmosphere -- would precipitate as tiny seed ice crystals, which in turn nucleate condensation to form rainstorms. Riiiight? So, to test this Law of Bad Weather, we'll have to see if Sam, Leen, and Dave cause rain whenever *they* go to NZ. :)


> However, the rain wasn't bad enough to make the scenery disappear, and they seemed to enjoy it all. We stopped in Warkworth for lunch and fed a one-legged duck down by the river in a cool green haze of misty rain and tree-ferns. After taking a look at Goat Island, we looked at the fishing boats in Leigh harbour, and stopped at Tawharanui Regional Park on the way back. They picked up a bagful of free maps and guidebooks from the AA in Orewa, and I filled in all the spaces on the map with "must-see" things along the routes they were taking.
>

That day trip you took sounds breathtakingly beautiful. Did I mention how envious I am that you live with all that in driving distance of your 'backyard'? Misty mist, tropical tree-ferns, and one-legged ducks on one end... Rocky shores, ice and penguins on another... Sulphorous mudholes and active volcanoes elsewhere. Wow.


> If it's supposed to be scary meeting people you only know online, it ought to be much worse meeting their unknown relatives! I'm happy to say this was not the case.
>

Glad their visit with you went swimmingly, if not snorkellingly.


> Wolfspirit, you have lovely in-laws, and thank you soooooooo much for the picture of Franconia Notch. It's beautiful! I've got something for them to take back to you, too, but you'll just have to wait in suspense. :-)
>

As I mentioned, I regret that it was not a similar picture of the scenic heights of Montreal. I was trying to find something that my relatives could carry over that you wouldn't find 'corny.' Now you've got me thinking and wondering!


> Brunnen-"and they turned out to be wrong about not being tired ;-)"G

It's a bit exhausting just thinking of how they were up for 37 hours straight. Wow. *Thunk*

Thank you for taking care of them, B-G. You RULE.

Wolfspirit