Well it’s been a long month back in Southland. Didn’t realise how hard it would be to catch up with the many friends and family we missed over the previous 12 months. Thankful for Sam and Amanda for tolerating us up the drive for the duration of our stay. Being full time Moho’ers, we know how important it is to stay in touch with our families… a task that is not as easy as one would think. Unlike years of old there is the advantage of the techno-leash where the internet with all its benefits of real-time video such as Facebook, FaceTime, Snapchat, Instagram, texting and email etc etc to keep one well and truely in touch and up to date from “almost” anywhere on the planet, the only thing that you can’t do is a physical hug… but I’m sure someone will develop a virtual hug somehow. So I guess that there is something that no technology will be able to replace and that is physical contact. Because of all this techno stuff we were not surprised to see how much our grandchildren had grown as we were watching from afar anyway, but the pleasure of seeing them in person is so important as each and everyone of them has those little idiosyncrasies unique to that one child that the web can’t emulate. When we first made our way down we spend a few days in Dunedin as my grandson Aspen was having a major operation on his spine, opened up from nape of neck to lumber, breaking 6 ribs, collapsing his lungs so they could straighten his spine, 6hrs in theatre and 5hrs in recovery. I am proud of this young man as he has had an operation every six months for thepast 4 years, now 15 years old he has demonstrated how resilient he is… “Well done Aspo” It was good to see the return of Tom and Kimbo from their 18 month OE in Canada and it was obvious they were wrapped to be back. This visit turned out to be a special one for me as my youngest daughter Kasharnae (Sharnz) gave birth to a beautiful daughter a couple of days before we hit the road again. Now back on the road taking a couple of weeks heading for Motueka for the Christmas and New Year period, we were hoping to go via the West Coast however the weather has been horrendous with copious amounts of rain fall causing slips and washouts, so a trip up the middle track is a better option. At the moment we are at Lowburn in Cromwell with a cool north westerly but at least it’s not raining…. yet!