Well, last monday was my birthday and I got a special suprise along with my other presents!  In honor of his arrival a few of the locals threw a party.  After which Kazu wanted to check out some movies. Then on Wednesday he got to go to  Discovery lake with me for a class.  Hopefully Kazu will be able to accompany me to my next visit to the Wild Animal Park, or maybe the Zoo. Until then here are a few shots from my last trip to the WAP.

This is the new ride at the park. It is a helium balloon that takes you up over the park to get an awsome view of the surrounding valley.

Here is a mommy to  be. She might have given birth already not sure.  

One of the antelope (??) relaxing. I'm not sure exactly what he is, they name off the names so fast it's hard to keep track.  

Here is one of the Zebras being a sentinal, keeping an eye out for the rest of the heard.

Enjoy!

After what was a very pleasant trip to New Zealand, Kazu arrived in Texas in a snit of bad manners and worse mood.  He burst out of his box demanding entertainment.  Kazu ran around the house hysterically, jumping on top of the armoire and taking over the cat beds.

After a good night's sleep, he was in a better mood and I took him to work with me at Lake Fork and he was amazed at how low the lake is.  He did get to see the ducks that winter there though.

The next day we made a couple of different stops:  tractor shopping (why I don't know) and oil well shopping.  He had no money for either.

The next day we focused on salt.  He visited the only salt house in North America, the only salt mine in Texas (he wasn't allowed in the mine and could only see the above ground plant and elevator shaft) and licked a big rock salt crystal that is what eventually becomes table salt and other salt products.  After all that, he was tired and wanted to work on his look for the next leg of his trip.

Tonight, he has snuggled up with Boo and is resting up before his journey continues.

Newbies:  go to tags, click on "Daruma" and you'll get the backstory for this lunacy.

Today, Kazu meet Grandma and enjoyed sitting out in the sun.
Kazu had his photo taken with his cousins too. Kazu & James.

Kazu stayed at a farm in Waipiata in Central Otago overnight, he enjoyed some sheep shearing and a spot of gardening.
Later, a nice coffee & cake went down a treat.

Here is Kazu enjoying the fine sunshine of New Zealand.
Kazu also caught up with his great mate Nekobus  in Clyde, they had some Lemon & Paeroa (www.lp.co.nz), New Zealands World famous beverage.
Kazu also tatsted the fine wines of NZ but had to much.

Kia Ora everyone, I am in New Zealand, enjoying the sunshine and the sheep.
Here I am taking in the views. I got a little sunburnt.
I will be back soon with more pictures!

About 2 weeks ago, I came home from work to find a large package, with a return address in Japan! That's right, Tora had finally arrived at my doorstep! Unfortunately, business and personal obligations kept me from taking him out right away. Saturday September 10, Wendy (the girlfriend), Piper (the dog), Tora and I all went for a hike at Sleeping Giant State Park in Hamden, CT. Here are some pictures from our adventures...

Arnold Bana's Precipice
Observation Tower View 1
Observation Tower View 2 (City of New Haven, CT far off in the distance)
Observation Tower View 3 (Top of the World!)

I took a lot more pictures here, but that will be a separate post. Up next for Tora: Next weekend we will be heading to NYC!!

Enjoi,
Chris

For those who are wondering what this "Daruma Travels" thing is all about, here is an explanation. If you want to add your name to the list of volunteer hosts, send a PM to either austinspace (John) or codepoit (Chris), and we will add you to either Tora's list, or Hana's list...