While we were in New Zealand, we made the very difficult decision for Ben to accept a position with a junior mining company out of Vancouver, Canada. This would mean moving back to the US by June, and setting up in a new town, closer to family and friends, but not really near any, by North America standards. Diana had been taking, and really ejoying swimming lessons, and we had just won a third consecutive Trivia Night, so we certainly had mixed feelings about leaving. Em and the girls took a trip to Jakarta with Tati to try to get her a VISA so she could travel with us for one last vacation. The trip was emotionally draining as we spent hours sitting at the embassy hoping, and didn’t get it. Poor Tati was devastated. But she got to bring a lot of things to Java for her family, and we got her a very nice flat screen TV while we were there (and picked up a bunch of teak furniture for ourselves).
We had a nice going-away lunch at our cafe and had a tearful farewell at the helipad before heading off on our new adventure, with a stop in Hawaii on the way. More on that soon…
