Oh hey, Internet! Long time no blog.

Dear readers,

Since the idea of updating you on the past month is overwhelming to both us and you (and the bandwidth at this incredibly slow cafe), we have instead decided to give a brief description of how we have spent beloved American holidays in New Zealand kiwi-style.

1. January 29th, 2012. The day in which to celebrate the birth of one Alexander "All-American" Taylor. Normally there are parades, autographs, and songs, oh no wait that's the party that Glens Falls is going to throw for Alex when he's back home (true story.) In New Zealand, we worked in the orchard in the morning and played frisbee at the beach. In the evening, we supped upon a feast of lamb steaks, mac&cheese (homemade, just like his mom always made for his birthday!), salad, and surprise birthday cake and ice cream. We also drank a lot of homemade pear cider and wine, while listening to the divine musical stylings of Eiffel 65's "Blue." For. 3. Hours. On. Repeat.

2. February 2nd. Some of you may know February 2nd as Groundhog Day. What many of you may not know is that February 2nd is celebrated in New Zealand as Shakira's Birthday. Welcome to the party. You'll never experience Groundhog Day the same again. We celebrated this holiday by digging a trench for the geodesic dome that we helped build. Mixing and pouring concrete, the gentlemen exuded their masculinity in a way that is only fit for Shakira (and Dal looked great, exuding femininity in a way only fit for Rafa Nadal). Tired and covered in concrete dust, we finished Shakira Day by sharing a six-pack with our host, Duncan, in the middle of our concrete foundation.

3. Superbowl Sunday. We were shocked to hear that this year's Super Bowl match up was between two teams, the New England "Patriots" and the New York Football Giants, that did not have star passer Rex Grossman as their starting quarterback. We were even more surprised to find that the team that DID have football legend Rex Grossman as the starting quarterback, the Washington Redskins,were not in the Superbowl...or the playoffs...or within 2 games of .500. Coupling this with the fact that we literally couldn't stomach the thought of rooting for either team, we decided to skip watching the game altogether. We ended up deciding it would be more enjoyable to climb a barren volcanic mountain that served as Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings, rather than look at close ups of Eli and Tom make pouty faces for 3 hours. You can judge for yourselves, but I think we made a good choice.

4. February 12th, 2012. This day shall forever go down in history as Ashley Day. Dallis' sister, Ashley, came to visit for a 10-day whirlwind sisterventure. We drove down from Napier, got an itrip and finally had music for our roadtripping, tasted wine and chocolate for free, and met Ashley in Wellington. We ate delicious Malaysian food and walked around the wharf at sunset. What a great day.

5. Valentine's Day. This more or less began Dallis and Ashley's "sisterventure," which coincided with the beginning of Bro Week (or Yes Week). What could be more romantic! In the states, we may have spent Valentine's Day buying roses for girls (cooties, amirite?), going out to dinner, or trying to meet the high expectations universally held by all women for this holiday. Instead, the three boys spent what is probably the most romantic Valentine's Day on record, consisting of: a daylong biking tour of Marlborough vineyards, free wine tasting, a picnic lunch of bread, cheese, veggies, and vineyard-bought wine, and a tipsy, giggly ride back to the hostel. Then? Kayaking along the river to watch the sunset, homemade dinner and more wine, and watching Lord of the Rings before bed...where we had to take care of our pukey Dutch roommate. Not exactly the end game we were hoping for.

6. President's Day. Nobody knows when this day actually is or how it's celebrated in the states. In New Zealand, we celebrated by reuniting our fearless foursome at the rainy Franz Josef Glacier, after our respective weeks of hiking, boating, and adventuring throughout the south island's many national parks. Result? Rainbows, unicorns, and this blog post.

We're back to wwoofing tomorrow, so enjoy this one and a few pictures of our travels! And look forward to a few more top 10 lists in the coming week or two.