Howdy

It rained just a little in the night - not enough to break the drought but more is expected starting Sunday. Sure hope so. It is really dry here and plants are starting to show the effects. We had a good trip to a Quaker family camp over Easter. It was in Wanganui - about 4 hours south of here. Mornings were workshop and meeting for worship time - afternoons play with one day at a lake where the kids could kayak - Emily dropped her paddle into the water numerous times and finally tipped over and fell in (thank goodness she was wearing her life vest) when reaching for it. I don't seem to be quite coordinated enough to steer a kayak but will try again when the next opportunity arises. Our economy seems to be struggling with many of the same issues as the US - rising gas prices, falling value of the dollar relative to the New Zealand dollar - house values going down, etc. but we soldier along. I thought you might be interested in some of the place names of towns we went through or near on our way to Wanganui and back since we returned a different way: Taupiri, Hopuhopu, Te Kowhai, Ngaruawahia, Horotiu, Te Rapa, Rotokauri, Mystery Creek, Ohaupo, Te Rahu, Ngaroto, Te Awamutu, Kihikihi, Tokanui, Te Kawa, Kiokio, Otorohanga, Te Kumi, Te Kuiti (where they annually have the running of the sheep, like a mini running of the bulls in Pamplona), Tangitu, Tapuiwahine, Mangatupoto, Piriaka, National Park (Near a fantastic volcano mountain, Mount Ruapehu), Oreore, Kakatahi, Kai Iwi, Maxwell, Waverly, Patea, Normandy, Te Rati, New Plymouth (where we stayed the night on the way home), and so on. In Wanganui when we went to the nearby beach it was most covered in dead tree trunks and limbs - reportedly these are washed down rivers to the ocean which then casts them out onto the beach - I have never seen the like before - seemed to go on for milels. Emily did some body surfacing in the gently sloping bottom when waves came in and seemed to have a great time - Joseph stayed back at the Quaker Settlement where we were staying and dad waded in the water up to his knees and mom looked on and stayed dry. On the way back we passed near Mount Taranaki, a dormant volcano that apparently has a 52% chance of erupting within the next 50 years. It was featured in Tom Cruise's movie The Last Samuri. Thanks for reading this and I hope all is well for each of you. Manford