Goodbye.

It's time to shut down Edgar's PC - time to finish packing - time to sleep before the 36 hour journey home (no overnight stops on this trip). We've had a very full day, which we began with a visit to a gathering of Cursillistas from the Dunedin diocese and ended with a wonderful family party.

We've made friends here - one aspect which makes me think life could be good in this part of the world. We've had a wonderful holiday - our kind of holiday, where we could walk for hours and see no-one and where no-one stared if we were dressed like tramps - or at least a pair of eccentrics. People have been unfailingly kind and welcoming, generous with invitations and absurd things like a car for the duration. In fact, so enamoured am I of the Bighorn that I fear I shall never again want to drive around in an ordinary car.

And now we've made our farewells and are about to head back to the snow. Tonight the stars are amazing - and I think I've at last seen the Southern Cross. The Milky way is right over the garden, and Orion is still upside-down.

And the water runs down the plughole anti-clockwise. What way does it go at home?

I've never checked.