robin and i bought a car! so now you can all come visit and we can pick you up! and you can have a history lesson while you are at it by sitting in a 1988 toyota corona and playing music on a tape deck. AND you can have an automotive death threat while we learn to drive on the left hand side of the road! doesn't that sound like a lot of half way scary fun?

so far here is what we know about driving cars in NZ:
1. whoa - where are the road signs? it is easy to get confused on the motorways.
2. in a similar fashion to american vehicles, these cars also require a monetary exchange for petrol. bummer.
3. when three out of the four windows in your car work, it's better than kincaid's.

i am still so happy. i can't believe that this gets to be my life right now. gilly and greg are still wonderful and so generous. EXUBERANCE AND LIFE are all balled up into everything i understand new zealand to be. even when west auckland is terribly foggy (which it has been for the past few days), it is still unusually beautiful, as it simply looks as if the world has caught on green grass fire and the smoke is hovering about the trees.

love,
maggie