The Window on the West

Dear family, dear friends, dear other persons,

I now begin my New Zealand tales, told as though they were happening in real time (and not last week...though it seems already years ago *sigh*).

Just for the curious, here's a link to a ridiculously fun interactive map of New Zealand, so you can follow along with me in your mind's eye (I don't know about you, but I have to see maps before I can really get into a story. This is one reason I so adore Clive Staples and J.R.R.-- they always included maps of their imaginary kingdoms)

http://www.newzealand.com/travel/destinations/new-zealand-map/interactive_map_home.cfm

Also: I made all my pictures of Sydney and New Zealand (well, most of my pictures) into albums on my facebook page, with captions and everything. So for those of you who are on facebook (even if you're not my friend), you ought to be able to see these images. If you aren't a facebook conformist, then I can email you the photo albums I think. If you aren't on facebook and you haven't received an email link to these albums from me, then let me know and I'll fix things for ya, pronto.

Without further ado...