Can I change my mind?

I'd like to change my mind on the arrival of winter, if I could. Excessive fall and winter weather patterns have taken a sharp turn to the left and all that remains today is a warm, sunny sky = the perfect time for beers on the patio. Mylene and Brian and I met up at the local coffee shop/local beer hub to celebrate the good weather and drink a pint in honour of the warmth surrounding us all. I have to admit two things: First of all, I am wearing a tank top and shorts and sandles in the photo below, which is vastly different to the wool socks, toque and down jacket I wore on previous days here. Secondly, I managed to further convince myself that I was feeling good enough to ingest some more brew (it doesn't take much these days, I have to say)...The group I was lightly drinking with are shown below, and will be described in greater detail further down on this blog... Quite the group, shall we say. What fantastic weather! This next pic is my artistic take on our afternoon: Swirling in the warmth of the sun with golden glasses of yummy beer. Okay, so I'll give you my two cents on some of the folks I have been drinking with. The girl below, who appears to be chugging her beer, is Bee. Yeah, Bee, like Dee, but two letters behind. She's ultra cool, lives in Spain in the summer and seeks out equally warm places for the winter. She's grape picking this week before going to Melbourne to see her best friend, who she hasn't seen in three years. You bet she's excited, and she wears animal print everything. Super. Next up is Eli. This dude is a born and raised Wanakonian. His excuse for his behaviour is that he's been painting inside buildings all week, but I suspect there are other toxic substances floating around his system causing some general stupor and random rants about the lack of bread in a $7.00 garlic bread. And, Mylene. Sweet Mylene. She's so awesome. I wish Brian and I were staying around longer so we could have more good times. She's going to stay here in Wanaka for the winter, has already bought her seasons pass to Treble Cone (one of the local ski hills), and is currently looking to move out of the crummy motorcamp and into a room in a house. Anyone with connections in Wanaka, NZ, please email me and I'll get you in touch with my dear friend Mylene. She prefers a non-smoking home and makes good homemade lip goo (aka chapstick). It's time to stop farting about on the internet. Last week we bought a big-ticket card for multiple hours at this awesome and funky little internet place around the corner from the beer/coffee place, and have spent some serious time staring at computer screens in the past few days. It's been quite nice to be able to catch up so much on my blog and pretent to look for work. However, our bikes are missing the open road, so we'll get back on the saddle tomorrow and lug ourselves up a huge 30-km hill and then down into Queenstown. I'm hoping the ice cream place, Patagonia Chocolate Factory, is still open when we arrive into town.... Mmmm.... ICE CREAM.