New Year's Eve in Hawaii!

Happy New Year! On our way home to Australia and New Zealand we had a compulsory stopover in Honolulu. We ended up spending New Year's Eve on Waikiki Beach watching the fireworks! Well, someone's gotta do it! Here are a few pics from Hawaii on the way to and from our homelands.




On our return to the US we hired a car to drive around the island. Not the best weather but it was beautiful!

Christmas Day 2005 with the Kiwis!

We had a fabulous Christmas Day, hanging out with our Kiwi friends in Nashville. We had lunch with friends from 'The Lads' band and our friends John and Laura. We had a very Kiwi style meal with roast lamb and lots of yummy veges.








We had dinner with ANOTHER Kiwi, Kristee Mays, and her husband Tim. They gave us 'Lord of the Rings' RISK and the game was on! We played until the wee hours of the morning until the ring reached Mount Doom... brilliant game!

Brooke's Dad - Mt Cook

Brooke's Dad (the unstoppable Leigh Briars) scaled Mt Kithener and Mt Sealy (2600+ m) and Mt Oliva beside Mt Aoraki/Cook (highest peak in New Zealand). Here are some photos from the trip!




In the large photo below you can see the Tasman Glacier on the right hand side of the picture. The birds circling the crew are 'kea', our native mountain parrot. They are super-friendly, extremely cheeky characters that love to accompany mountain climbers!