Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Our New Zealand Vacation: Day Nine

Day Nine:  29 December 2013


We slept in!  We signed up for breakfast at 08:30 this morning, so we each got about half an hour more than usual.  Whoopee!

When we got to the table (a wee bit tardy), there were already two other couples at the table and it was drizzling a bit.  But we were all under an umbrella and you couldn't feel a drop.  We had ordered our breakfast the night before, so no surprises there.  Kees offered quite a variety of offerings.

I want to comment on the cultural differences here.  On the menu, he had listed "pancakes or crepes." Mr. Smith and I decided that we would order the same thing to keep it simple.  We decided on plain pancakes with maple syrup and ham or bacon, whichever they were already preparing.  I went to the kitchen to let Kees know what we had decided.  I was quickly informed that he does not make "American pancakes that are all thick."  He only makes crepes.  And when I mentioned the ham/bacon, he says, "Oh, so you want savoury crepes?"  Okay.  Never mind.  Just plain crepes.  LOL!  Believe me, this is not poking fun at either him or me.  It's just interesting to me how different people can be just by where they grew up and the things they grew up with.  (By the way, the crepes were delish!)

On the table, there was a lazy susan full of at least 5 different kinds of fruit, two flavours of yogurt (lemon and rhubarb), cereal and homemade muesli, toast, butter, various jams and coffee and tea.  It was all quite wonderful!

We left by 09:15 and drove to Picton.  We took the Queen Charlotte Road short cut.  This road was the worst one ever.  Very narrow lanes and continuous switchbacks.  Mr. Smith made the comment that the roads in New Zealand were too much of a good thing.  Motorcyclists like twisty roads, but it turned into quite a workout.  Almost sweating by the time we got to the bottom.

Like the time we went to the Ben & Jerry's headquarters in Vermont.  There was an ice cream eating challenge where they give you a bucket with a ridiculous amount of ice cream, like 58 scoops.  Then they throw in a bunch of bananas, brownies, whipped cream, cherries and sprinkles.

See?  Too much of a good thing.

We went home on Monday, 30 December 2013.  Just in time for the fireworks on Sydney Harbour.


Various photos that I couldn't place, but you may enjoy:


There were so many sheep on the mountains.  I think that all these sheep have lil stubby legs on one side and big long legs on the other.  Otherwise, wouldn't they fall over?

I rarely saw a sheep that wasn't eating.



These flowers grow WILD in New Zealand.
If I wanted to grow these in my yard, it would never work out.

Lily has another new friend!







So we stopped off at Mirror Lake, but there was so much wind
that the pictures didn't turn out as they are supposed to.

The vineyard at Mt Rosa Lodge

Our favourite road sign

The glow worm grotto during the day.


1 comment:

  1. too cute photos of the 'wild' life in NZ, it is an amazing place to visit

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