Brian, Clare, Laura, and Checkers are off to New Zealand for the holidays this year. The trip will begin on December 20 with a flight to San Francisco, which connects to a rather long flight to Auckland arriving in the morning of December 22. The map shows many of the cities that we will be visiting. Of course, there are many interesting things to see and do there; Lord of the Rings/Hobbit filming locations, hot springs, volcanoes, beaches, mountains, glaciers, kayaking, caves, Maori villages, and just tramping around and thinking about the geologic circumstances of the places. Postings will begin around December 20-22 and continue until our departure on January 12.

*****Written by Brian*****