Holidays with Chris's Parents.... or how i dropped 10lbs in 2 hours

We are well into the heat of the summer now. Sunrise is at 6:28 am and it is setting around 9:04pm. I know this without ever having to glance outside you know. And NO! I'm not reading from the weather channel either... what fun would that be? How I know this actually is when the clock hits 6:28 am we are hit by the ALL CONSUMING jungle song of the Cicada bug. They live in our trees you see? They start the day and continue on (without a break) until nightfall. I actually don't know how many there are out there, I am guessing hundreds because frankly if I stop and think in the thousands I get a little queasy. For the most part you can hear them but don't actually get many sightings. The biggest bit of excitement of an encounter so far is my Father in Laws. He decided to do a bit of reading in his bed with the lights on and the windows open. One friendly little fella was attracted to the light and landed in his bed playing his ever so loud wing song. Dad won't cop to doing the actual pee pee dance but he did manage to catch it and release it outside (um, well that probably was my Mother in Law that did that) and so the Cicada left only to return seconds later - repeat... repeat again... finally close window!

So YES! We have Chris's parents here for a three week visit! It's been lovely so far and we have managed to take them out and about to see a bit of the New Zealand sites. A scant two hours after their arrival Chris decided a "walk" around the neighbourhood and down to the beach would be nice for them. I was a bit iffy on the idea as they had been traveling for 14 hours to get here but everyone was game. So, out into the backyard we go and into the bush. Kinda had to make our own path thru the trees and cobwebs... sorta a half walk and sliding on your bum thing down the embankments but we ended up on an actual path a few minutes later. Everyone was chatty and in high spirits as we ended up at our rocky beach 15 minutes later... looked at the waves and started along the coastline.... over rocks, er... mud.... a wee bit of water... and on and on.... I finally caught up to our fearless leader after carrying Ronin thru the water at one point and asked Himself if he knew where we were actually going. There didn't seem to be any clear path that would lead us up back into the houses that were looming above us on cliffs. "Oh yes, just around the bend here" was the reply. Uh huh... ok maybe not that bend but the next one... or is it the one bend 1 km down the beach i see? Really kinda like one of those desert mirages everything seems closer than it really is. I have to say at this point the chit chat started to peter out and everyone was kinda doing the glance thing at the tide that was coming in and gaging the rocks for scaling. No matter, we found an entry back into the forest that would (hopefully) lead us back up to civilization. Another km or so and we were out of the forest and into a neighborhood that I have never seen. The sun was making it's presence known and the heat hit us like a wall as there was no wind to be had. This was becoming ridiculous! Where the hell are we Chris? Well, at the bottom of a very steep hill lined with houses and so began our climb up, up, up! At one point I just *had* to stop! We found a bit of shade and I assessed the troops. No sun hats, no water.... no idea where i was. I am thinking (as I try to work up enough spit to swallow) that this is a fine way to kill your parents. Finally I see the cemetery and I *know* we live on the other side of it. What i didn't know was how humungous the land was to house the dead... and wow, maybe we should just pick a plot in the sun here and all lay down and save someone the trouble of transporting us back there. So I point across the valley and say to my Mother in Law, "we live over there! On the other side of this!" The reply was, "You want me to walk ALL the way down there and ALL the way back up !" Um yes, and probably another couple of Km to the house... we have beer... Well, that was enough to keep them moving. So after our little jaunt and a beer the folks greatfully went to their room and passed out. I am giving Himself the ole Stink Eye and hissed at him, "So, trying to kill them are you? I hope that you, Mr. Cruise Director of this *holiday* they are supposed to be having has something a little less daunting on the agenda tomorrow!" "Of course! he replies stoutly. I have it all under control." God Save us.... I know there will be more to write.