And Then There Was One...

Well... for those of you that haven't heard, I am back in New Zealand!

We all left Otautau in mid-September, said our painful goodbyes, and went back home to Missouri to see all our family and friends.  Cole is starting his new job in Bowling Green in November.  Rebecca and I had a house to buy, and I had to find a job (both of which are going very well).  Anyways, my next job wasn't going to start until February or March, and the clinic down here in Otautau still had a need so I agreed to come back down for 8 more weeks.  I will go back home in mid-December so don't worry, I will be home for the holidays.  Unfortunately, Rebecca didn't come with because she is starting her job soon as well...  we Skype everyday.  So for now, it looks like I'm the last man standing...

It was 30 hours of straight travel down here, with only a minimum amount of sleep.  I worked the very next day on Tuesday and had a full week.  I'm on call this weekend too, so I haven't left Otautau since being back, I haven't even gotten to Invercargil yet for any grocery shopping.  It's labor day weekend down here though so my first day off is Monday!  Can't wait to see some countryside again.

Otautau hasn't changed (surprised?), in a good way. It is peaceful, and I had a warm reception from all my friends in the community.  Spring has finally rolled back around down here, it is staying light until 8:30PM at the moment (and will get later and later to around 10PM).  All the flowers and trees are in bloom.

With the jet lag, I've been waking up early in the morning and going to bed early at night.  My first day off the plan I was awake 2 hours before I started clinic, so I took a little extra time commuting to Night Caps clinic, and took a few pictures around the neighborhood for everyone.

It's been a little cloudy and windy this week, but not much rain.  Everyone's flowers are blooming, and the cherry trees are beginning to shed their petals...  Longwood forest is off in the distance hiding in the mist.

Right across the street from our clinic is the old joinery (woodworking) building.  There are several more cherry trees down along main...

The road to Night Caps, the Takitimu's are still covered in snow...  Awww it's good to be back....

All the lambs are out and starting to grow up already... They are already past that "bouncy" lamb stage and are fattening up and getting a thicker coat.  These were the few lazy sheep next to me, watching me take pictures of the mountains.

I'll be down here for 8 weeks, and I promise to get some blogging in.  It will be another 2 weeks before I get a nice 3 day weekend to have some new adventures (I plan to get back up to Tekapo and get some more spring pictures of the lupins).  In the meantime I'll keep putting up posts from all the visitors we had.

Hope all is well wherever this is read, if we haven't talked in a while drop me an email!