Happy New Year from Wellington New Zealand! Val, Scott and I spent an enjoyable New Year's Eve with a few thousand locals at the Wellington Civic Square watching a free concert by several local bands. It was a very enjoyable New Years, but we certainly missed spending it with many of our closest friends. New Year's Eve has always been a special evening to me. A time to be with close friends and celebrate life together. It was great to have our friend Scott here to share it with us. This was our fifth year in a row with Scott. Next year we intend to continue the tradition.

Tomorrow we are catching the ferry to the South Island and heading to a small town in the Abel Tasman area called Takaka (ta-ka-ka) for something called the Kiwi Burn. For anyone who has experienced the Burning Man celebration in Nevada, this is a regional burn done in New Zealand. This will be the third year they ahve done it, and it will be interesting to see how the Kiwis go about this. We'll take lots of photos and post a journal entry after we get back.

Happy Trails,

Eric & Val