Big Week for Yankee fans

Hello all!

Can you see the smile on my face from there? Yes, that is right the Yankees have won their 27th title-More than any other professional team in any sport, in the US at least. I had game cast going at work since the games were on mid day for us. The title would have been more satisfying if the Yanks could have knocked out the Red Sox on the way, but what can you do? We will take it! I know, richest team, lots of stars, blah, blah, blah, Yankees are the Champs and the world is back as it should be.

Amie and I have a late entry this week. Busy weekend and a dinner at friends' house last night. Also, we realised we did not have much to say. Things are good and we are settling in. We stayed around the home this weekend, except for one night at the beach. But nothing we have not spoken of in the past.

Let me digress. I will touch on one of my favorite things about New Zealand, actually two. No Police and lots of bathrooms. You may be asking, Why those two things? Ok, here goes.

Saturday we pulled up to our favorite beach, lots of wind, surf was not good. So we waited. We did not pay meters. We did not worry about neighbors complaining. There were no houses on this beach. We have never seen the police patrol the beach. Finally, the wind switched. We jumped in and surfed for about an hour or two. That night, we pulled out the new camp stove and cooked up some steaks. We had wine right there next to the beach. We walked out to look at the surf in the night light. Three different fires on the beach-just people hanging out. Still no police. This is not a camp ground- just a beach. No one needed fire permits. When they were done, they put out the fires and placed trash in the can near the exit road.

The next morning we awoke right next to the beach, changed into our wet suits and surfed for another two hours.. Then it happened, the stomach started to rumble and the coffee was kicking in. That steak had moved through my system, time to go... but where. Here in New Zealand I just went(ran) to the bathroom that is tucked into the woods. The toilets (or as the New Zealanders say 'The Lu")is always clean and has TP. Again, we did not pay to be here. This is just what is at every beach. Actually, here there are two sets of lu's about .5 km apart. The bathrooms don't stand out but instead they are tucked away amongst beautiful trees and shrubs.

We could learn something from the Kiwis. If you relax and have lots of bathrooms you don't need as many police.

I would like to take a second to send out another Hello to my cousin Rick and his three amazing children. I love you guys and I wish I could help. Come to New Zealand if you need a break.