All the Time in the World.

Ah!

The Internet! So, we meet again.

I woke up at 4am this morning to the not so pleasant sounds of a truck  screeching down the rain soaked street and the frantic chirping of inconsiderate crickets.  Grrr. Grumble. Grrr. I then noticed several missed calls and texts ... went to my computer ... typed in the million digit internet password ... three failed attempts ... then tried Tim's computer ... and then saw some emails of concern and stuff like that.

Hey! Hey! We are a-okay. Safe and sound.

Tim and I are in Auckland [North Island] -- the only rumble we have felt is that of an industrial fan that sits outside our second story window at this less than glorious hostel. The fan is part of the ventilation system for the adjacent Chinese food restaurant that pumps the smell of greasy bacon directly into our window.

When I visited New Zealand at the end of last year, we were in Christchurch just a few weeks after the first big earthquake. It was Scaffold City. The damage was mostly superficial and the focus was on making the city safe. This time though, the earthquake was different: the epicenter was just a few km from the city center and the quake was closer to the surface. The front page of the New Zealand Herald today read "bodies everywhere" and the images we have seen on television show such unbelievable devastation. They don't hold back here; the pictures are somber ... but the outlook is hopeful.

New Zealand remains way way way behind the times when it comes to the internet.  I have lots of stories to tell about our adventures so far as soon as the internet catches up to 2011. 

We are apartment hunting. Apparently, no one wants to take our suitcase full of money. Who knew?

 Animals in Auckland - snapshots:

The Unicorn

 The Dragon

 The Smiling Panda

Oh! I have a NZ phone number, if you want.