Busted flat in Cairns, waitin' for a hurricane

Okay, so that was a stretch.

Anyway, we're hoping that the hurricane (or 'Cyclone' as they delightfully call them in the Southern hemisphere) hits north Queensland after our flight to Auckland so we don't get delayed. It's hard to find any sort of information about it, though, and no one seems the least bit concerned that there's a cat 3 storm nearby. Maybe because 'cyclone' sounds so much less threatening than 'hurricane?' Anyway, I'm sure we'll be fine.

Here are some pictures I've been owing:

The winery in Marlborough that Meg and I stopped at on the way to Nelson.


This is looking across the mudflats at the south end of Abel Tasman national park in New Zealand. Those are are horses from a tour -- sort of a little Lord of the Rings moment.

What was that sound?

One of the beaches we pulled out on while kayaking. It looks tropical, but the water's only a bit warmer than that in Monterey.

Mountains near Arthur's Pass, which we took on the way back to Christchurch from the west coast.

It's a beautiful place, to be sure. Next up: Oz!