A mid-winter visit

With relatively little notice Eli and Beth showed up in Dunedin as part of an around the world trip after the World Cup in South Africa. To be fair I did have ample warning that they were coming, but I never quite believed they were actually going to show up. Not because I distrust them, more that I didn't want to get too excited before I knew they actually had purchased tickets (which turns out was about 4 or 5 days before they arrived).

We had a blast while they were here, so much fun that Kate and I both ending up getting sick while they were here, recovered, and kept rocking it.

While I was busy slaving away at work Kate managed to take Eli and Beth out for a Harbour cruise, luckily the provided spray coats kept everyone dry as well as fashionable.

The weather was very cooperative, albeit a bit nippy, but the sunshine allowed us to take a drive into the mountains and meet this cheeky fellow who was very playful until he started pecking at the rubber around our car windows. He then turned slightly hostile and I feared a Hitchcock 'The Birds' scenario was starting so we high tailed it out of there as the Kea hopped along after the car.

Eli also managed to fit this ridiculous lion hat into his suitcase. Those of you privy to justin and jayne'ss wedding last year will remember a similar affair regarding the lion hat.

A group shot of us in a wine cave.

Don't let the blue skies fool you this water was very cold.

We've been trying to lay low and recover in the week or so since they left, it was awesome to have some visitors to break up the winter hibernation.

Boston!

On our way down the coast to Boston we stopped at the lighthouse that is featured on the back of Maine's quarter.

Then..... 2 days in Boston! Visited Eli and walked the Freedom Trail, which is a trail around the city highlighting many of the revolutionary war sights. A lot of the old buildings are still in use, Boston has a policy of building reuse instead of just turning old stuff into museums. For example the old meeting hall where the declaration of independence was read out to the people of Boston still exists but now it is a subway station.

Here is a photo of the 3 of use pre-freedom, look at our sad confused faces.

On the trail we saw:
an old gravestone

Eli & donkey

The oldest pub in America, the Bell in Hand Tavern, opened 1795.



That night we ate some good Italian food in Boston's North End. Then the next day we walked around the Harvard campus for a bit. We also met up with one of Kate's former co-workers from the Adelaide Institute of Sleep Health (aka AISH) who is now a Post-Doc at the Harvard Medical School.

Here is a photo of some Harvard buildings.