Christopher is traveling with the USA Falcons in South America right now. The team took fourth place in Argentina last weekend and based the account below, Chris did quite well.
Two guys making their case in Mar del Plata were Chris Turori and Pat Blair. Turori is a San Diego based player who’s spent a lot of time at the OTC the last couple of years and Blair is a former OTC resident who’s been in and out of the Series. Will Holder went down with an injury on day one, and Blair took over the captain duties the rest of the tournament.
“Chris Turori. He’s come a long way since first joining us. His contact skills were up there. We were really, really happy with his mongrelness. We asked him to bring intent and sort of a bit more aggression toward the contact piece of his game and he brought it,†said [Paul] Golding.
– Rugby Today
Now the team is in Chile for the second and final tournament of the trip, Sevens de Viña del Mar.
didn’t get back until about 12AM. The next night we visited with dad’s old army buddy Fred, and his family. It reminded me of home because Fred’s kids are homeschooled, and they were playing with legos all over the floor. Sound familiar? Didn’t get back to the room until about 11:30PM that night. 
Poi and Phillip. Before splitting up we all went up to One Tree Hill, which is missing its lone tree because of some lunatic. Prior to going up, I couldn’t understand why that tree was the only one that would grow on the top of that hill, when plenty were growing not too far below the crest. When you feel the way the icy wind whips around the top in huge gusts, you understand. It’s way too cold for anything to want to grow there except grass! Once our shopping was completed, we went up Auckland’s Sky Tower. The view is breathtaking. Auckland has a lovely skyline, and to see it from above as daylight was fading to dark, was a real treat. 
All Blacks play Ireland in their first test of the season. Dale was ecstatic, and dad got to hang with Jamie, Phillip, and Junior. I’m not a particular fan of rugby, but I do enjoy sports so I had a good time. The atmosphere was pretty good, and the beer was flowing freely. I imagine it was similar to attending an NFL match. That night we 
didn’t get to bed until 12:40AM. We then had to get up at 5:30AM to be at the airport by 7AM. 
outside downtown Wellington. Luckily, we caught the manager as he was closing up for the night and he was nice enough to book us a room at the Aotea Lodge. We took quick stock of the living area, kitchenette, bedroom and bathroom before hitting the sack. Our spacious accommodations turned out to be just a few minutes away from dad’s cousin and her family, as well as his best friend Peter. 
Sunday was spent in a similar fashion. First we went to church with Peter’s family. It’s the first time we’d been to church during our trip, and I really enjoyed it. It’s actually the thing that made me start missing certain things about home. The service itself was different from what we’re used to at home. It was communion Sunday, but instead of having the little “communion wafers†there was real bread, and the cups were made of glass instead of plastic. The size of the church was also much smaller, one service of about 200 people, instead of our church which has around 4 services on Sunday. Dale and I did a little shopping with Peter & Heather’s kids, proving ourselves to be the most boring Americans. Not only did we only buy a couple postcards, but we managed to finish “shopping†in about 10 minutes and were forced to occupy ourselves for a couple hours since we had all been dropped off. Oh well, we amused ourselves anyway. From there it was off to dinner with Auntie and Uncle at Dennys. I had a tasty hamburger – possibly my first taste of American food since we left the States – yum! We had a very nice time, and discovered that Uncle Louie is learning bone carving. He gave dad his first carving, a beautiful carving of a fishhook with a paua shell eye, and for me a mother of pearl shell necklace. They are gorgeous! 
the motel through Monday night. So we went off to Te Papa museum in downtown Wellington. Its design is more modern than Auckland, and with 6 levels it’s also much larger. The displays were created with a more youthful audience in mind. Exhibits were full of bright colors, funky lights, and plenty of buttons and other gadgets that create an interactive learning environment. My favorite part was the Lord of the Rings exhibit with props, costumes, and concept sketches. I already knew a lot about how much work went into creating LOTR, but seeing everything in person makes it doubly impressive. All the costumes are beautifully designed with layers of different fabrics and meticulous attention
to the smallest of beads and stitches. The props and accessories look like artifacts you could find in any other part of the museum. The concept designs and sketches were equally impressive. All these artists had to go on was a book’s descriptions, and they were able to create detailed images from pictures concocted within their own minds. I walked out of that exhibit inspired, and wishing I’d brought my sketchbook and pencils with me. 
to visit the Army Museum that dad helped build when he was in the first division, very cool! For some reason, the museum had a moat around it. Wednesday we went through Waitomo caves to see the limestone formations and the glowworm
s. We’d seen a few worms on a bush walk the night before, but in the caves there are thousands! Their tiny blue lights illuminate the cavern ceiling until it looks like a sky full of stars. It was truly amazing to see. After the caves we made a beeline back to Auckland, where we are now. 
wouldn’t allow the camera to function at all. I’ve also had the hardest time finding a CR2 battery for my Minolta film camera. I mistakenly bought only one battery when I needed two. I have been searching everywhere for a second, and didn’t find one until we tried a camera store in Auckland. The last place I bought one of these batteries was Aitutaki in the Cook Islands. Go figure.
(TTS). Basically, they give you a dive jumpsuit, a harness, skydiving cap, and gloves (it gets quite cold up there!). They have you watch a video and when your Tandem Master is ready for you, the two of you head towards the sleek, single engine, bottom wing skydiving plane that is idling in the runway.
about twenty years of skydiving experience. He sat behind me in the plane and during the flight he informed me of all relevant information about jumping and diving etiquette. It took us about half an hour to climb to our jump altitude of 15,000 feet.
the plane exit photo and then, see ya!
fight the feeling of falling, and since I wasn’t too terribly nervous, I followed his exact advice. And it worked. The first 2-3 seconds (not very long, I know) I tightened up. But after that I immediately relaxed and the very unnatural, thrilling feeling of falling reduced in severity quite a bit and I thoroughly enjoying every bit of my dive, I would do it again in a heartbeat.
manual for several years. That makes sitting in the back a fairly precarious position. We are arriving to our destinations just fine, but if you’re in the back you must make good use of your leg muscles to brace yourself and keep from rolling around. By the way, dad has officially named the van Gertrude. Dale has informed dad that this is the last time he gets to name anything. 🙂
second paragraph. =) For a description of the film set, see the film Fellowship of the Ring. The really nice part of the location is that 16 of the original “hobbit
holes†built for The Lord of the Rings are still there, including “Bag End.†Without going into too many geeky details, it was really cool! I loved being there. The set is on a 1250 acre sheep farm in Matamata. If you like Lord of the Rings, I definitely recommend this tour.
around since the 1930s, and dad wanted to bring us here to show us trout “the size of your leg!†The exhibits were very cool, but the best part was Kiwi Encounter. We got a tour of the kiwi bird conservation activities at Rainbow Springs, then we walked through a nocturnal enclosure where we got to stand right next to real live kiwis! The only thing separating you from the birds is a three-foot wall. We were so close to one that I could have reached down and touched it. That was worth the price of admission. Personally, I learned a lot about the kiwi bird – did you know that a kiwi lays an egg that’s half its body size?
Island. We left the wharf in Whakatane (pronounced falk-a-tawn-ay, say it fast!) and spent about 1.5 hours on the boat heading to the island, which is about 30 miles off shore. White Island isn’t actually an island; it’s the only active marine volcano in the world. Sweet! When we arrived in the bay we were all ferried to shore on an inflatable to go on a 2 hour hike around the interior of the volcano’s crater. The ground was steaming, there was a pool of bubbling mud, and the innermost part of the crater is a steaming lake about 2100 ft. deep. You know you’re in an active volcano when the first safety hazard they tell you about is an eruption (the last one was in 2000), and what to do in the case of such an event (hide on the far side of a mound). There are also mounds of bright yellow and white crystals (sulfur and gypsum). These mounds are very dangerous because they can’t hold weight, you would fall hundreds of feet into an extremely hot cavern. Nice. Very strangely, I was the one who almost
walked onto one of those mounds. Me! Safe, careful, by the book Melodie, was saved by risky, wild, Dale who pulled me back. He had asked me to take a photo of him, and I was maneuvering into a better position and inadvertently started stepping out towards one of those nasty mounds. Thanks Dale! After the tour we had lunch on the boat, and saw hundreds of skipping dolphins in the ocean.
in American suburbs. Downtown Auckland is busy hubbub of…Asians. Yes, Auckland has Asians the way all of Southern California has Mexicans. The architecture is wonderful; clearly Aucklanders love their history. Downtown is full of lovely old buildings that have been well preserved. Some are empty or beginning to look rundown, but they all add to the charm of the city. The churches are especially nice. Towering buildings of brick, some whitewashed, others in natural brick color. 
lso surprised his cousin Honi by showing up at his house completely unannounced. I missed the happy reunion, but I understand both were delighted to see each other again. 
exterior is very old, with large roman columns around the entrance. At three stories, the building can put on an impressive display of all things Kiwi. There were plenty of Maori, and pacific island artifacts from the various cultures, including a giant 100-man canoe. Then there was a neat exhibit detailing the history of NZ’s volcanoes, and what would happen if the Auckland one erupted again. The uppermost floor had several beautiful marble war memorials for Kiwis that have died in various wars. There were also two nicely designed exhibits detailing the life of a Kiwi soldier, and the lives of the folks at home during the NZ wars. My favorite part was a little section in the “modern wars†section, where former POW’s that have visited the museum signed a wall.
We saw a lot of cool fish, including a cute little tank set up like the aquarium in Finding Nemo, complete with two clown fish and one of whatever kind of fish Dory was. The coolest creature was a giant stingray that had to have been nearly 6 feet across. She was so big, we couldn’t get a proper picture of her! The trainer said she weighed in at about 250 kilos.
looked and tasted like potato salad, taro, and taro leaves. Scattered around the table were bottles of coconut sauce, and just to the side of the outdoor table was a large bunch of bananas. Dad was positively delighted to be eating taro in coconut sauce, with a banana on the side, not to mention all the other dishes. All I’m going to say is I don’t care for taro, or its leaves. 
lucky! On Aitutaki there’s only one channel). The houses seem to be more places to sleep and take shelter in, than places where you spend a great deal of your life. This observation is limited to my short stay and brief trips into several houses, so it may not be entirely accurate. 
the best way to tour an island. There’s no peering through windows trying to get the best view, it’s just there. Plus you have the wind in your face, and the island sun beating down on you. 