New Zealand Golf Open

You most likely thought the we gave up the blog. We didn't. We just have not updated it. Now that we have started homeschooling we will post a lot more blogs. This blog is about the NZ Golf Open.

A few weekends ago Pop and I went to the New Zealand Golf Open which has been held in Queenstown the past 2 years. Both years it was played on a course owned by Michael Hill, owner of the jewelry store chain named Michael Hill.

We arrived on the grounds at around 11:00 AM. After eating a small snack we went and looked around the golf course. It was as well kept as the year before, which meant tons of spectacular water features. Also the grass was mowed so low it was like a well made carpet.

In 2008, Pop and I had discovered a spot were we where able to, with only walking a few feet, watch the golfers hit the ball in the hole and then we would watch the same golfers tee off on the the next hole. As well a having great views of the golf, we were able to collect a few golfballs. On that day alone I got 4 balls from the golfers Fisher of England, and Curtain, Bowdich and Jeffres from Australia.

This year, after wandering around the extensive golf course we ended up in the same place we had been at the previous year. This year I only had half the luck of the last year and I only collected 2 balls. However I was excited because Joe Daley, a U.S., golfer signed his ball before he gave it to me. An Australian named McKenzie gave me my second ball.

After the golf ball episode we wandered over the fresh grass-smelling course back to the food area and had lunch. We decided to have sushi, which was not the best but it was OK. After lunch we headed back out onto the course.

While we were watching a golfer hit a ball, behind us a loud roar erupted, as loud as if a jumbo jet had flown overhead. When I turned around I saw a crowd of people by a hole who seemed very excited. Later we discovered that a golfer from Wales had hit a hole in one on a par 4 course. Wow!

At that point we decided to go home because the heat of the sun on our face and shoulders was getting slightly uncomfortable. I am looking forward to next year and I hope to get more golfballs.

Now that my blog on the Golf Open is done I have a important reminder: keep posted for more blog entries.

Liam Kirkpatrick

Sunrises and Sunsets

In this blog I will tell you what the view is like waking up and going to bed from our station in New Zealand. I think you will like this because there are some good-looking sunrises and sunsets. I did this blog so you could see what it feels like to be in New Zealand.

This morning I woke up to see dark gray clouds right above our house, and heard the heavy tipper-tapper of rain on the roof. Tonight I looked up to see one billion stars shining bright above my head.

This morning I looked out my window to see clouds being made orange by the blazing sun over the Remarkables. Tonight I looked outside the kitchen window to see a line of pink clouds across the Remarkables.

This morning I looked out my window and saw white clouds covering the peaks of every mountain and the lake almost glowing blue under the clouds.
Tonight I felt like I could see all the stars in the whole Milky Way.

This morning I had an early breakfast I looked outside and saw a faint orange glow behind the jagged Remarkables. Tonight I looked outside I felt I was looking a painting because the view seemed to have a faint gray glow around everything.

This morning when I woke up and saw a dim yellow light that seemed to be a liquid. Fluffy white clouds everywhere. This night the mice in the roof woke me up. I looked out the window and saw so many stars that it looked like it was day because there was so much light.

This morning I saw nothing but a dim blue light and no clouds. Last night I looked outside and saw no stars because there where dark black clouds everywhere.

This morning we went to the cattle yards. As we past Lake Kirkpatrick (my favorite lake), we saw lots of steam rising from the lake. Tonight I looked up and saw 400,000,000,000,000,614,568,073,570 stars.

The end.

100% By Colin Kirkpatrick

Sailing - Lake Wakatipu

I clicked on our blog link and was stunned. We haven't blogged since 16 December.

Well we're back - This post about spring sailing was written 17 December and I found it today sitting in my "List of posts." I guess I never posted it.

Colin and Liam are taking sailing lessons at the Wakatipu Yacht Club.



The pictures are from the first lesson. Liam seemed to catch on immediately zooming around the bay. Colin and his mate traveled with the water current more than they sailed with the wind. They were so far away with no signs of returning that the rescue boat went to retrieve them and towed them back to the dock. Luckily Colin found the wind in subsequent lessons. Both boys can capsize and right their boats. In fact, capsizing is the highlight at the end of each lesson. The water is freezing, almost literally. All the kids wear wetsuits!

Spring is here! Sunshine, long days and warmth - finally. My condolences to the northern hemisphere that is freezing right now. Not much you can do about it, except head south, way south!

(Reading the last couple of lines of this entry, I realize one reason the blog went on hiatus. Summer is fleeting. Our first Queenstown summer I didn't understand the frenetic panic to play in the summer's warmth and sunshine. When our second summer began, I understood the urgency. Summer here is short and elusive. Warm days are precious. I couldn't get myself to stay inside the house and sit at the computer. Every warm summer night I headed outside to walk, ride, weed the veggie garden or just sit and watch night arrive late. Now in May, frost already dusts the paddocks in the morning and the mountains have first coat of snow. It is dark early and getting colder outside.)

Koromakawa - Days 4 and 5

I can't believe a whole month has passed since my last post.

Since we are on the road for the holidays in four days, I don't have time to write a full description of the rest of our Koromakawa adventure right now. I thought I would at least get the rest of the pictures uploaded.

Day 4:



Day 5:



It was a blissful stay with the most generous, truly friendly people.

Koromakawa - Day 3

We were land bound on Day 3 with high winds on the sea. We had a relaxing day of reading and games - Yahtzee, Monopoly and horseshoes. Doug and I even had an afternoon nap. The boys, who have been resistant to napping since birth, quietly read while we dozed. Waking up from a lazy afternoon nap, listening to the wind and water was absolutely delicious.

After we returned home, we read a news story in The Southland Times that a New Zealand woman was shipwrecked during the storm, not far from where we we staying on Ono Island.

We voted as Kiwis and Americans this week

Wow! I won't attempt to articulate the feelings of elation and hope we feel with Barack Obama's victory. I have spent lots of time reading to myself and to Colin and Liam much more eloquent accounts that express feelings being experienced by myself and by people all around the world.

Far away in NZ, the Kirkpatricks are feeling proud to be Americans. I read this article posted in the New Zealand Herald and it definitely resonated:

Suddenly, it may be cool to be American again - 06 Nov 2008 - NZ Herald: International and World News

The day after the U.S. election, Liam got off the bus beaming. He has felt, on some level, under a dark American cloud at school. The comments have been off-handed, but even Liam at 10 can understand that they are definitely not pro-American. He has sensed the frustration and anger that people here have felt towards many of the current US policies. We have explained to Liam that his friends and classmates mimic what they hear at home and that these comments are about U.S. politics and policies and are not directed at him or us personally. In class this week, he was called on to share his understanding of the significance of Obama as president-elect of the US. Liam told us during dinner that he explained to his class about the Civil War and slavery, then went on to describe the civil rights struggle. He also tried to explain the U.S. presidential election process. His class spent part of two consecutive days discussing the U.S. election. I would say they were the happiest two school days in the last year for Liam. He felt proud to be an American for the first time in his New Zealand classroom. I never expected this profound reaction from Liam at age 10.

I've been asked if New Zealanders are interested in the US election. Kiwis avidly followed the campaign and election day. People ALL over our world as well as New Zealand, celebrated Barack Obama's election as the 44th president of the United States. All of our local papers as well as the NZ Herald carried front page stories and pictures of President-elect Obama. As soon as the race was called Kiwi friends started to call and congratulate us. Here's another article in the NZ Herald:

Paul Holmes: Lincoln's legacy continues - 09 Nov 2008 - NZ Herald: International and World News

Crazily, we also just voted in our first NZ election. Yesterday NZ elected a new prime minister, Mr. John Key of the National Party. We just became eligible to vote on our one year anniversary in NZ at the end of October. We have been following election campaigns in two countries.

Our family toast at dinner on Wednesday, 5 November (NZ time), after watching Barack Obama's speech

- Here's to hope, change, and peace...

Day Two - Snorkeling with Manta Rays

On Day 2 we all had a first-in-a-lifetime experience - swimming with manta rays! It was absolutely amazing and overwhelming. They were huge with a wingspan of two meters. They looked almost prehistoric, but also graceful. They seemed to fly by us in the water with wings flapping in slow motion.

The mantas and coral reefs reawakened my awe of the natural world. Underwater, the creations and creatures are more fantastical and vibrant than my wildest imaginings. Unfortunately we didn't have an underwater camera and I am stuck sharing my limited verbal descriptions, instead. I had been disappointed with the reefs we visited on the Blue Lagoon Cruise, but the reef off Koromakawa was truly the best snorkeling I have ever experienced. We were just inside the Great Astrolabe Reef.

I saw a reef shark glide by and tried to follow it from above as it wound silently along the reef until it turned and disappeared into the deep blue depths beyond the reef. Glide, however, is not the correct word to describe its movement. The shark is powerful and purposeful, dark and streamlined. I want to say sinister because of its dark profile and scary movie personality. I wasn't scared though. I was captivated and awed.

The boys did great. Colin stayed in the water until his little body couldn't stop shaking with cold and his lips were blue. Liam followed everywhere. I had explained to them that reefs and coral are fragile, that we could watch and observe but that we couldn't touch. I also threw in that coral cuts are VERY painful and heal slowly. I told them the story of being dragged over the reef crest in rough conditions doing research years ago. I had hung onto a brain coral (Diploria sp.) waiting for the tidal surge to ease to escape without scraping across the fire coral (Millepora sp.). I had cuts from armpits to hands, which scabbed like a delicate, intricate tattoo. With my warnings in mind, the boys carefully paddled the reef without mishap.

We floated above witnessing the magical coral garden. We observed that the fish only venture a short distance from the safe hideout in the reef. The reef is a city with many small neighborhoods and most creatures stay in their own neighborhoods, like people.