Scones, slices, pies and pancakes

At every eatery stop so far, the dessert case is the first thing in the cafeteria line! Scones of every kind - except plain, heaven forbid! and slices - that could mean anything from a slice of banana bread to a slice of cake or cheescake. Pancakes are served all day at the pancake rocks cafe, of course. Along the western side of the south island near, well, nowhere, erosion has carved the high rocks along the shore into what looks like stacks of pancakes tens of feet high. The 'pancakes' are thin and wide and the surf spills on them like syrup out of a bottle that has lost its pour hole. Very cool site. The Magic bus took the scenic route from Nelson to Greymouth and 'pancakes' was one of two stops along the coast. We stopped to see Possum Pete too. Pete is well known for his skills in killing the pest of NZ, the possum. He also helped to relocate thousands of wild deer onto deer farms to domesticate them so venison would be easy to come by for 'tea' (dinner). He would sit outside the helicopter, jump off onto the deer and wrestle it to the ground! The movie showing this was crazy or maybe you just needed to be crazy to do it and the music playing during the documentary was "Highway to the Danger Zone"! At the gift shop - and there's always a gift shop when we stop- they sold possum skins for different body parts like belly button warmers and other unmentionables.  The cafe 'sold' possum pies. It's illegal to sell possum meat , so some of the passengers gave a 'donation' and got the pie. They liked it -? Speaking of pies, they are the English sort here. Meat pies, mince pies (ground up hamburger), chicken pies... you get the idea - a meal all in one with vegees and meat in a little pie with a crust. Nothing sweet about it.
At Franz Josef, the glacier awaited us. We could heli-hike to it, walk on it or, do as I did, walk to it absolutely free! In all the places we stop, there is always a free way to do - or almost do- (we didn't walk on the glacier, just get really close to it) the fun stuff for the area. Our bus driver took us to the start of the trail, we walked a hour into and out of the glacier field and then started to walk the 4 KM back. Well... the guy I was walking with wanted to hitchhike back! Now, if you know me, you know I have a history of hitchhiking, so it didn't take much convincing! After three thumbs, we got a ride with two guys from Poland in their rental car which was blasting New Zealand polka music! Too funny! My Thanksgiving dinner was fish and chips (fries) at the Blue Ice Cafe. Blue ice describes glacial ice if you haven't seen it before.
Friday, today, we rode on the bus all day - with 'comfort' stops - and got into Queenstown late afternoon. Along the way, we also stopped at Lake Matheson and a little beach town that looked just like it belonged in the Swiss Alps. Before reaching Q'town, we stopped at one of AJ Hackett's (inventor of ) bungy jumping places and watched a couple jump together and another guy go solo. Just looking down from the height of the jump bridge made me sick! No one on the bus jumped. : )

Photos 1 and 2 - pancake rocks; photos 3 and 4 - bridge that is a car bridge AND a railroad bridge! yikes!;
photos 5, 6 and 8 - the Franz Glacier; photo 7 - a view from the bus along the road;  photo 8 - bungy jumper falling. Sorry for the sideways photos - I don't know how to rotate them!

I LOST MY BAG!!!

My bus mates, Sara and her friend Jasper, are from Sweden. They walked up, up, up the high hill here in Nelson with me to get to the official geographical middle of NZ. (see photo) On the way back down, Jasper said to me, " I tink dat yoo are amazeeng dooing all dese tings by yoorselv. I am eemprezzed by yoo." How cool! Although I also heard that voice in my head say, "what he means is that you're amazing for an OLD person!" haha!

The weather for the ferry today was fab-u-lous! I spent time out on the top deck feeling the gentle rocking and the viewing the unbelievable islands out in the Cook Strait traveling from the North island to the South island. It didn't hurt that I took a motion sickness pill, either! Just after we left the dock at Wellington, though, I realized that I didn't have my bag with my new, just broken in mid- calf hiking shoes, my running shoes and my sandals in it! I'd left it on the shuttle bus from the hostel! My heart did a few flip flops and I spent a bit of time telling myself that I was indeed travelling with an idiot!! What was I going to wear to hike the four day 33 mile tramp on the Milford Track out of Queenstown? AAAAHHHH! Then suddenly... I calmed down and told myself what will be, will be. God is in charge. If I can find them, I'll live (not happily, but I'll live). Strangely, I just relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the ferry ride.  I walked down to the second deck  and talked to the on board Interislander rep, but she said her cell phone wasn't working. So when the ferry arrived in Picton, I told the rep behind the Interislander window bout my bag dilemma.  She made a phone call. I awaited my fate. When she put down the receiver, she gave me a serious look... and then told me that the shuttle driver had found the bag, put in on the ferry and I should see it coming through on the baggage carousel! It was on the ferry with me the whole time! I couldn't believe it, but then I thought again, and yes, I could believe it. Kiwis are known for going out of their way for travellers and here was another miracle example!

After dinner, I put on my swimsuit and headed for the hot tub here at the hostel. My mind and body needed the soothing heat after the baggage scenario and uphill hike. A German guy was already in it and then we were joined by Jasper and an Ozzie guy. Me in a hot tub with three guys? LOL! Toooo funny! So, I got three blessings in one day! The shuttle driver and the younger people I run into on the Magic Bus and at the hostels who are so nice to me and accept me.

Enter Enthusiastically!

Photos: An angora rabbit being sheared (or tortured?)

Rabbit on a rotisseriere! Dinner? No. This was one of the strangest things I've ever seen! The rabbit's back legs were first tied and stretched to the back posts and then the same done with the front legs to the front poles. The lady started shearing the rabbit's back and then rotated it over to do the stomach. Although the rabbit wasn't in pain and it would be almost impossible to shear by just holding it because it was very squiggly, it was still very hard to watch.

"Enter Enthusiastically"  sign at the entrance to a B & B along the road. Must visitors drive in with a smile on their face? Are they supposed to look really happy to be staying in this particular place when they arrive at the reception desk? No.... I looked at the very steep driveway leading to the establishment and realized that "Enter Enthusiastically" meant, "Gun it or your car won't make it up this hill and you won't get a room for the night!"

Glow worms: The bus stopped at a glow worm cave today and some of the passengers took an inner tube float through a cave with glow worms lighting the way. Glow worms are really a kind of fly in the larvae stage and because of some chemical reaction are bioluminescent. The Maori word for them means "stars in the water". I went through the free museum that explained the phenomenon instead of taking this tour today because I had already seen glow worms at Rainbow Springs in Rotorua with the Friendship Force group.

A road blessing: yesterday's hostel in Taupo had NEW washers AND dryers! Many people and hostels use clotheslines to dry clothes here, so I got my week's laundry washed AND dried yesterday afternoon!

Taupo's lake, appropriately called Lake Taupo, is larger than Singapore!

FAKE GEYSER!!! On the way to Taupo, we stopped to watch a geyser erupt. Rows of wooden seats were set up for this daily occurence, which goes off at exactly 10:15 every morning. Why exactly at 10:15? Because some guy walks over to it, gives a lecture and then pours a chemical compound into the hole which makes it start foaming and erupting!! This geyser is on a natural cycle of 48 to 72 hours between eruptions, but that doesn't make regular money for the owners, so they "fake it to make it" erupt. We got in free, but I still felt ripped off. I told the bus driver that "Old Faithful" in Yellowstone Nat'l Park was a REAL geyser and Americans wouldn't stand for that fake eruption stuff! And, by the way, they kept calling it a "geezer", so actually that name fits because it really is just an old fart!

The bus stopped at "Hobbiton", one of the places where 'Lord of the Rings' was filmed here in NZ. We got to see a sheep shearing and - best of all - got to feed lambs! What a hoot! You could even just stick out your finger and the lambs would suck and the hold they got on it was strong!

The other night in Rotorua before an early turn-in, one of the German guys traveling on my bus asked me, "Do you want to do the wee?" huh? Oh! Did I want to play Wii? (translating German English into American English takes some thought!) I told him I'd love to because I've never played it before. I proceeded to beat him 630 to 260 in dog catching frisbee, but then he slaughtered me in three other games!

Bits and Bits

Last night after midnight, I woke up hearing my lower bunk mate come to bed so I took the chance to tell her that  I hoped I wouldn't disturb her in the morning since I was getting up early. Bunk mate said she was getting up early, too. When asked what time, she responded, "9 AM"  I said that I was getting up at 6:15. Lower bunk and another upper bunk exploded with laughter saying, "That's not morning! That's the middle of the night!" Ah... youth!

Said good-bye to my fellow travelers with Friendship Force after the flight to Auckland. I'll miss them. So many of them were so much like me - actions, spoken thoughts, ideas. It was a little scary and... a little upsetting when I realized that what I didn't like about some of them is exactly what I don't like about myself. : /

Reminder to myself now that I'm back traveling on my own: ASK QUESTIONS, ASK QUESTIONS, ASK QUESTIONS! Even the most obvious situations may have a  different answer than the one I automatically think is is. Got my room at the hostel last night, went upstairs to find a guy walking out of the room! Yikes - she put me in a mixed room! Room changed!

Photos: 1.one of the Magic Buses I'm traveling on. It's a hop-on, hop-off type, so riders can stay as many days as they like at each stop. 2. hungry lambs!

On the Magic Bus today, we stopped at Hobbiton, one of the places Lord of the Rings was filmed. Got to feed some one and two week old lambs - fun!

Why did the kangaroo cross the road?

Photos: 1.Therese and me at one of many overlooks; 2. Allan, one of our FF hosts and a volunteer guide at the caves; 3. the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge; 4,5,6. A dingo, an emu and a wallaroo (kangaroo and wallabee mix) at the Secret Cove, a facility to help save endangared species 7. Wallabees resting on a lawn 8. The Blue Mountains 9. Lovely Therese!

The four days I've been here in the Blue Mountains in OZ , I can't help comparing them to the Blue Ridge Mountains I love in North Carolina. Both have a beautiful blue hue to them - light refraction (and from the ecalyptus trees, here), wonderful vistas for miles (kilometers, here), small quaint towns (called villages, here) along the ridge. Both 'blues' were formed by uplifted earth. Both also have friendly go out of their way for you people. My hostess Therese, pronounced Te-REEZ', is an example. She is a do-it-all strong woman, a retired principal who designed and sewed her daughter's wedding dress, makes intricate quilts and knitting garments, has driven and cooked me up a storm, and has become a dear friend in a very short time. The Friendship Force chapter here has also planned some fabulous days out for us. We went to the Jenolan (Jen-OH-lan) caves, to to the plains on the other side of the mountains, Scenic Mountain in Katoomba today and Sydney yesterday. I guess I'm a city mouse and a country mouse because I liked the pastoral vistas and viewing the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House in Sydney, too. Sydney has a HUGE harbour (ozzie spelling). We took a half hour ferry ride to Manley, a beach town, not unlike Fernandina. The weather was 'fine', as they say, and since it was Sunday, all of Sydney was headed to the Pacific Ocean! Very crowded, but as I was standing at the front of the ferry catching the wind hoping motion sickness wouldn't catch me, I asked one of the passengers if he would take my photo with the Opera House in the background and he graciously did so! At Manley, GiGi and I ate al fresco and watched two boys about 11 years old open up their instrument cases and play Band 1 songs for money. It was just too cute. We giggled our way through our fish and chips lunch and then dropped some coins in their case for their chutzpa! At the beach, ten or so teams of grade school children were in lifeguard competitions. I told GiGi (who was raised in Belgium) that the front crawl was called the Australian crawl when I learned to swim as a kid in Iowa. With the surf I saw that day, lifeguarding skills would come in handy!
OZ is a BIG continent to be sure! We've ridden in buses, cars, trains, ferries and catamarans. The bus ride on Friday went on and on and on and on until I was sure we were in the middle of nowhere because there'd been nothing except farmland to see for hours and then... we were at a little town for a lunch stop, or (after riding on and on again) at the caves in the middle of 'nowhere'. Graham, one of the FF club men here said that he thinks nothing of driving over 250 KM just to have lunch with a friend! It's all perspective, I guess, but sorry, my friends, I can't imagine driving that long or far to just have lunch with you as much as I love you all! 
So, why did the kangaroo cross the road? On the long, winding, uphill (read, 'I almost got sick again') road, our bus driver, Richard, called out, "Kangaroo!" and it crossed right in front of the bus! I figured that the hopping fur with the long tail just wanted to give some of us time to get our cameras out to get a picture to prove we'd actually seen one in the wild. And just after that, a wallabee, popped up out of the bush, too, and some of us got photos of that, also. So I now know why the wallabee crosses the road, too. I wasn't the camera Wizard of Oz, though. The 'why' photos will have to be posted later because another lucky passenger on the other side of the bus got the 'roo and 'bee pics. Other pics will be posted later, too.

Goodbye Thames

At the end of each Friendship Force exchange, the clubs get together for dinner and fun. In Thames, the fun was a hilarious exchange of song and theatre. Wanda, of Wanda and Roy, my hosts, was in charge of entertainment, so it was spectacular! Their chapter sang the NZ national anthem in English and Maori, other songs and did a new version of "Cinderella" with an ending that none of us had ever heard before! We sang "Chicago" (I did the 'watermelon, watermelon' version)  and "My Country 'tis of thee".
Thames is a wonderful memory for me. I'll especially remember the teasing talk from Roy which made me feel like a part of the family and Wanda's energy which made me feel
that growing older doesn't need to mean growing up!  

A day in Auckland

at Eden Park

Auckland skyline with the sky tower taken from the ferry

Wanda and me on top of Mt. Eden

Auckland is to Thames as Fernandina Beach is to Jacksonville. Small town close enough to a big city to visit, to shop and take in big cultural events. The bus took us though the plains, up to Bombay (farming land of Eastern Indians), up the hills and to the ferry ride across Half Moon Bay to Auckland. The sky tower, a casino/restaurant/viewing point presides over the city. It reminded me of the West Jerusalem YMCA tower in that, I thought if I got lost I'd just start walking toward the tower and find my way back. Of course, this group isn't going to let me out loose on my own, so I wouldn't have to think about that! Calm waters made for a non-upset tummy trip and we were off to the maritime museum for a self guided tour of dug out canoes, yachts, boats, boats, boats and more yachts. The three ladies I walked through with were as interested in the America's Cup full size yacht and canoes as I was. It was like a very sweet treat - a little goes a long way - but an hour and a half was making a cavity in my brain. Then we were off to lunch and a walk around Eden Park, which is a reclaimed quarry. What a great idea! I could feel the circular cuts the machinery had made walking down down the curving walkways. Family could pay for a tree or whatever and have their cremated loved one buried there. Another great idea! Make cemeteries place where everyone could visit as a park/garden, so the departed didn't get all the good views from up high on a hill or 'resting' taking up green space. The Museum of Auckland was next. I should say I liked the Maori displays and extinct birds, but I enjoyed seeing the live geckos (from Geiko)! Then we went up, up, up to Mt. Eden, one of the dormant volcanos surrounding Auckland. A huge crater, now greened up, with a walking track around it, gave us a chance to get our blood moving. My legs said, "RUN!", so I did. I joined in the other runners (who had run all the way UP the mountain, were running AROUND it several times and then DOWN it).
OH - I felt like a runner again! I hadn't consulted my lungs, though, and I coughed and wheezed all the way back to Thames - darn allergies and asthma! Wanda, ever to the rescue, gave me one of her inhalers when we got back. (I wishfully had left mine at home)
We then were off to a wonderful dinner at another FF couple's home and, for me, straight to bed with my - getting to be a nuisance- Tylenol PM, to sleep through the coughing spells.

Bits and Pieces

my 'sheep' alarm one morning!

one of the stars of the show - NOT me!

the dog is running over the backs of the sheep!

Aunty Bea and me

Maori warrior sticking out his tongue to show fierceness

hold up a camera and kids act the same all over the world!

Valerie and Alex - FF hosts in Rotorua wearing their Amelia Island ball caps

Wanda brought a rose to the pick-up place so Rose would know who her host was!

Mayor Glen Leach and me at FF's official greeting to Thames

* Rotorua - pronounced rolling the r's. At the Agrodome, we saw the 19 different kinds of
       sheep there are in NZ, a dog running on the backs of the sheep and I got
       to go on stage and milk a cow.
*  Ngongataha ( nong -rhymes with song - ga-tah-ha)is the town where I stayed with
     Valerie and Alex, wonderful hosts! Many town/place names here are in the
       Maori  language. Ngongataha is just outside Rotorua.
* Valerie and Alex live on a farm just outside Ngongataha with sheep mowing
          the grass in the front yard and cows making 'pies' in the back. I finally got
          the sheep to not run away from me by figuring out the 'baaah' sound they
          liked the best! Ann and Claire stayed there, too. Got a run in over and around
           the hills near their farm.
* Went to a school in Rotorua - our guide, Aunty Bea, taught us a song to 'sing' haha
       to them and they greeted us with the Haka - the Maori war cry that the All Blacks
        NZ rugby team starts each game with! Fierce! (If you saw the movie Invictus, you
         saw it before the game was played)We were the first group to ever
        visit the multicultural school. I held up a camera at the end and they posed like
        all kids anywhere would - making faces! The kids here don't have to wear shoes
         in school or on the playground. Saw a schoolgroup at the forest preserve near
          Thames - they had stayed a week camping out learning about the forest. As they
          were starting a hike, one of the girls was barefoot and I asked her if she was
         walking that way and she looked at me funny and said yes!
*   Aunty Bea showed us how to make a flower out of a long flax leaf. She took
       mine and made it, then said I had to make one on my own. I told her that I have
       no  craft talent - my talent is the "Tom Sawyer" one - getting others to do my work for me!
*  Rotorua used to be a spa center. The building is now a museum and we saw the
         bathtubs that were filled with the geothermal water that boils up from the
         ground there-and then- the attendants put an electrical wire in the tub! Health spa
          or torture chamber?
*  We went with the Rotorua club to the "Melbourne Race" big Ozzie race that
     we watched on TV. Patricia, the president had fancy hats for all of us to
      wear just like the Ozzie ladies at the real race.
* Saw a log truck going through Thames today! Just like being
         home in Fernandina!
*  Went to a Maori presentation and a springs close by and saw 3 KIWI'S!!!
      They are the size of chickens and very skittish and only come out at night.
* We were officially greeted by the mayor of Thames today! I guess it's a
         usual happening with Friendship Force clubs all over the world. Was
         a bit of a problem when the Russian club came to Chicago, though. They
         didn't understand why they couldn't meet with Mayor Daley!
*  My allergies are really acting up since it's spring here. Wanda made me a
         hot lemon, honey and brandy drink and I slept all night!
* Out of Wanda and Roy's picture window, I have an overlook of Thames - the town,
          the river and the mountains in the distance - beautiful!
*  Wanda was the women's champion in squash and golf in the same year
        when she was younger! She still has more energy than I do!