Last night's hotel was bucolic to say the least. Ocean about 100 yards one direction with a pasture of 12 sheep right outside our balcony. Mountains to the left. Town and penisula to the right. What we failed to notice, and the front desk failed to mention, was the coastal railroad tracks on the other side of the sheep fence.
I can tell you loud and clear, I heard the train at 12:12, 2:16, 4:13 and 6:10. As in AM. But we had to get up early to make the three hour drive back to ChristChurch. We were amazed that on this major highway (Highway 1) it is still just two lane and still one lane bridges. We saw more trucks today between 7 am and 10 am but they always pull over as soon as they can. Made the trip in good time and almost drove back to Hanmer Springs when we say the sign come up twice. I'm sure we could find some kind of jobs there. If nothing else, I could go into the advertising business for the cookie names!
Turned the rental car back in and high fived each other that we had survived with no near misses, no dents, no hit and runs with sheep or cattle or the dreaded mountain clown, the kia!
Returned to the ChristChurch airport and in true Moffitt style, we had made a picnic lunch of our last remaining scraps of picnic. Four pieces of bread left for the remaining peanut butter and jelly. Six Toffee Ta Ta's, one orange, one apple and a V-8. It made for a nice lunch on the airport chairs. Larry used the last of our NZ money for a coffee, one more postcard and some lanolin hand cream.
We flew Qantas back to Sydney and caught a shuttle into town. Tonight we just walked down to the harbor, saw the opera house, the harbor bridge and enjoyed a lager at a local pub. The city streets are packed for a Wednesday night and we both noticed the large number of smokers.
We did get a chance to call Lauren. She says when she sees the odd number on her cell phone, she now figures it's us calling from some strange place. She ignored us the first time we called thinking we were telemarketers. It's always nice to talk to the kids, touch base, see how they are and tell them about your travels.
Lauren admitted that her dad had spoiled her as far as travel. He has taken us on so many adventures and does 100% of the planning. It almost always works out for the best, we have transportation, places to stay, food and we see so many things. Lauren is going to have to learn to be the travel planner for herself I guess.
WE've decided that we would definitly come back to the South Island of New Zealand and possibly explore the north island as well. It would be fun to linger longer in the small towns, do more and longer treks, enjoy the friendly people and not feel rushed to pack it all in. We didn't get to the top of the south with Blenheim, Picton and Nelson. That will give us something to look forward to.
Larry thinks the New Zealanders like to do "just enough". A road that hugs the coast and takes up no more room than it needs to. Bridges that encourage patience and manners. Signs that encourage people to use their common sense. A country that truly supports its natural wonders and is working hard to preserve them.
I did get my two packs of Mint Treats thru customs. I was a bit worried when I was escorted to the Quarantine Line when I claimed I had brought food in to the country. I decided it wasn't worth the risk of saying no. I saw people with their huge suitcases opened, flinging out clothes, showing what they had. When I gave my customs claim form to the uniformed security personnel, he said "What type of food have you got there?" I answered "Two packages of unopened Mint Treat cookies". And he said, I hope you enjoy them, and let me go on my way. If he had made me leave them I would have eaten every single one before moving on.
When we get home we will try to load the best of the pictures on here. We have a lot. Just remember the pictures won't do justice to the depth and majesty of the mountains and how many shades of green there was and how the air smelled and how you could smell snow, ocean, sheep and fir trees all at once.
I would highly recommend a visit here. It's a long trip and I hear the return is even harder on the body but I'm sure we'll manage just fine. We leave in the morning so we won't be tired at all. I wonder how many movies I can actually watch in one sitting?
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