Our welcome to New Zealand was an hour and a half later than expected due to a delay of our take off in Sydney. Since then, however, nothing has been slow. We had one day of puttering around the Carr's house and then the next morning we hopped into the dinghy with Eloise in her bright yellow and red life jacket on. She was completely relaxed and snuggled into my lap all the way down the river to Nomad. Once on Nomad, I made her a nest under the galley table and laid her down for her nap. Her acceptance of new experiences with equanimity has been a wonder and a relief. She only woke up when Nomad's motor turned off after an hour and a half of motoring to the Warkworth Cement Works (there's a great view of this site on Google Earth if you want to see where we're berthed).
Eloise has seen sheep for the first time, been a bit curious about the accents of people around her but mostly pretty much her usual self with some extra snuggling required.
Her Christmas gift from mom and dad is early. We bought her a sheepskin of her very own yesterday. It will be her mattress on the boat. Annette made it a great slip cover. Tonight is the test run sleeping on the boat. We'll let you know how it goes.
I knew I was in another country this morning when John was sitting around sipping coffee with his two co-workers at the kitchen table. One of them, Phil, looked over at Eloise sitting on Annette's lap and said, "She's a bonnie wee lass, isn't she?" I glowed!
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