Back from NZ

Feeling pretty rusty at blogging, so I think I'm going to do this bit by bit: I'll show you one piccy every day until I'm back in the swing of things.

This shot is from one of my favourite days on our trip: we (Hayden, his sister Kirsten and I) took a little stroll on the base of Mt Taranaki. It was such a beautiful day.

I love it when I get to see new parts of New Zealand. I think I'm going to make a new rule that every time I go there I'll spend at least part of a day on one of their lovely tramping trails.

Absenteeism

Voting. I do enjoy it. Not just the thought of, you know, participating in our great democracy; I really like the actual act of voting. I like going down to our local school on a Saturday morning, waiting in line, putting all the numbers into the little squares and then posting my form into the big cardboard box. It always makes me hungry, so it's great when there's a sausage sizzle afterwards, too.

This week I got to learn a new pleasure: absentee voting, or voting at one's kitchen table. Townsville is electing its new mayor this weekend, but I'll be missing it because we're going to New Zealand. We're going for one last play down on Hayden's family farm, which is being sold on May 1st. I'll be sure to bring back some photos.