Random thoughts....

I thought I'd write about just some random thoughts/observations that we've noticed in the time we've been here so far....
    *The toilets DO NOT flush the other direction!  I was disappointed in finding this out, but it seems that all toilets just have a huge blast of water and flush pretty much straight down.
    *Everyone here is very very polite.  New Zealanders ( "Kiwis" ) are all laid back and very friendly.
    *The roads are incredibly windy here due to having to pass through a lot of mountains.  It feels a lot like driving on a go-cart track....and going 50-60mph.....with the steering wheel on the right side of the car.....driving on the other side of the road.....and sometimes even having to drive through sheep and their shepherd coming down the road!  It's quite fun, but also a lot of work and concentration.
    *There does not seem to be any squirrels or gophers or other rodent type animals here.  Awesome!
    *It's very beautiful here.  You find yourself saying "That's very pretty" at least once a day.
    *Prices (after taking into consideration the good conversion rate) seem to be pretty much equal to prices back home.  Except for gas which seems ridiculously expensive.
    *There are sheep everywhere!
    *There are a number of one way bridges on the highways-which are pretty scary until you get used to using them
    *"No worries" and "cheers" are very common phrases here.  They take the place of "Not a problem" and "thanks"
    *Like the States, they call soccer soccer, not football like the rest of the world.  However they are now changing this and going to officially call it football.
    *The food here is quite good.  Rach and I have been very lucky in that everything we have eaten has been delish.  I think a lot of it has to do with it being fresh food and organic.  They are very green here and everything is very fresh. 
    *This is definitely the place that offers the perfect combination of adventure and relaxation!

That's all I've got for now.  Maybe I'll post some more random observations again later on.  Cheers!