continuing on 3/23
observation:  Kiwis are hearty.  Whatever the weather, they wear T-shirts, flip-flops, and shorts (I'll be wearing a fleece).  We don't think any of you would be impressed with the fashion sense in the provincial towns here.
expression of the day:  let me have a wee look and check for you,  just a wee bit
words:  rubbish for trash, chemist for pharmacist
dinner at Nero's for Rich's bd;  remember that one if you come to visit (excellent)
Kathy, please tell Mr. Benjamin that I'm using the book that he gave me; and I want to thank him again.
You can give him the blog site if you would like.
Sat. 3/24
no airport security on the PN domestic flight
whenever I see and hear Kia Ora (welcome), I hear "what time is it" in Spanish in my head
Air NZ safety briefing is a crazy entertaining Richard Simmons video
arrived in Queenstown and the most notable feeling of the day was carrying just one bag after a week of organizing and moving all the gear we had
Walked in the rain, tried to figure out the internet gigabyte system
Sun 3/25
more walking in the rain, of course we met a man in the hotel that was off to play golf
still adapting to no free wifi/limited wifi when we did get it.  you even have to pay at Starbucks
I'm now over my i phone/pad/cloud withdrawal
tourist weekend; great french breakfast, WARM new Merino and possum sweaters (buy one if you come here!), steamboat and farm
pics for Queenstown are at  https://picasaweb.google.com/115133267095590644390/Queenstown02?authuser=0&feat=directlink
watch a short clip of sheep shearing (I should have deleted all but one, but just uploaded all the pics)
This was a tourist demonstration, but I'm told that professional shearers complete a sheep in less than a minute.  The Haka show seemed touristy.  We saw a better one in the Auckland museum when we were here in 2008.   Great exhibits there as well.
Went to the briefing for our "tramp" and visited the Kiwi Birdlife park and learned about NZ birds and kiwi conservation programs.