One Year On . . .

February 1 marked our one year annivarsary in New Zealand. It has gone by so fast, but we have accomplished so much! To celebrate the event, JB and I took a 6 day trip to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. We had a great time, caught up on sleep, read a few books, and thoroughly enjoyed the break.

Our good karma continues with our acquisition of our new house in Karaka Bay on the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland. Bibi, a friend I met at the American Women's Club, called the other day to let us know that her husband Mark has been transferred by Microsoft to Sydney. They had to give up their gorgeous beach house and wanted to know if we were interested. Yes! So, on February 23 we will be leaving Freeman's Bay for our new digs. See the photo album Rarotonga for a wee peek at the spectacular views. Not only is the house just our style, the property is teeming with every type of fruit you can imagine: bananas, passion fruit, lemons, peaches, apples, mandarins, you name it. We also have a beach with a boathouse. Now all we need is a few sea kayaks.

Plans continue for the Newmarket project. We take possession in May and plan on opening in July. Conor and JB are diligently working on the plans with the developer, while Tyler and I will spend the next month fine tuning our training and documentation to enable us to expand. 2006 promises to be another very busy year!