Movement, and Anti-Movement

Windboarding?



Yep, this is for children.




Honestly, I just asked her for a photo in the rose garden, and I get this.

You can't stay in NZ for very long without thoughts of recreation, exercise, and general movement. There is so much of it here, mostly outdoors. Well, there are a few indoor rock walls for training. Recently, we passed the bridge where the famous first Bungi jump took place (in Queenstown), and it was fascinating even to me, a woman who would never fling herself off of anything, much less a bridge.

Indeedy, I go down to the basement every morning to the exercise room. I made this decision to exercise, not only for general health, but because of my intense love for Cadbury chocolate, TimTams, and all other forms of chocolate. In short, I love to eat. I love to cook. I love to eat what I cook.

So, my measly little work-out prepares me for my day of walking to wherever it is I need to go. So, why walk in the basement? I just don't know. I can sweat with my iPod and hope that it makes a dent in the day's caloric intake. Often I am not alone. There is one girl I call "Exercise Freak" who must go on and on for at least an hour, from the bicycle to the the stair-master thingy to the rower to the weights....and never once breaks her concentration or makes eye contact. I used to call her "exercise Nazi", but that wasn't very nice, was it?

Anyhow, she cannot be from NZ. No way. No self-respecting New Zealander would be in the gym for (gasp!) exercise. They burn calories the natural way, like on a board in the ocean fighting the wind, or rollerblading dangerously close to the edge of water with rocks below on lunch break, or kayaking home from work (I made that up). I mean, are there any New Zealanders who do not play cricket or rugby? Exercise freak, I have decided, is from Germany.

Yes, the children are primed pretty early for extreme sports. I mean, take a look at that playground contraption above. It reeks of spinal injury. You may remember previous pictures of kiddy zip-lines on playgrounds as well. Kids are encouraged to recreate, and I am not referring to teenage pregnancy.

So, my attempts to move are countered by frequent spells of anti-movement, when the god of ibuprophen is called upon to have mercy. Maybe Susie's picture attempt above is just a statement of exhaustion. She has to walk uphill (and I do mean UP a big HILL) to school. Well, she could take a bus, but that would deflate the whole fun thing.

So, I am off to take her food UPHILL, for a picnic. God bless my bones.

The Scorching Bay Day

After church at St. Andrews this morning (they had the most beautiful bagpipes in honor of it being St. Andrew's Day...it brought tears to our eyes), we were picked up for a day with Desmond and Lorna. As you may recall, they are a lovely couple who live close by. Desmond is from England, but moved here in the 60's. Lorna is a real NZ lady.

It was wonderful to visit with the two of them again in their home. They had prepared fish pie and salad for lunch, with chocolate and strawberries for dessert. (Note: yes, more chocolate after fish) We laughed and enjoyed talking about language and culture. I discovered New Zealand spinach, which is a bit rough in texture but has a deep flavor....I would like to buy some seeds to take back home!

We went out to some beaches nearby and had ice cream at Scorching Bay, where lots of folks were out having fun....a few crazies were in the water snorkeling and kite-boarding! (The water seems to cold for that to me....) We then went to a "Mediterranean Warehouse", where Susie and I stocked up on some of the essentials: crushed tomatoes, jars of peppers, proscioutto, taralle, and artichokes. It was delightful to be in such a big place full of Italian food! I wish we had one in Nashville.

Back at Desmond and Lorna's home, I tried to explain the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus phenomenon. (How do you do this when it is unfathomable in this culture?) We got into this discussion after seeing an article mentioning her in the local NZ paper that talked about tiny and tweenie kids who "want to be famous". It makes me sad that children aspire to be famous, because it seems to me they want to give their lives away. I wish it wasn't quite so alluring to be on television or to show off your talent in front of millions....fame is an illusion, not an aspiration that is worthy of pursuit. Children, of course, do not know this, and I am worried that no one ever actually tells them.

Anyhoo, there you have it. I am doing laundry again and need to settle in with a book. Cheers!

The End of the Rainbow....

.....may be here.

The above photo was taken by a waterfall in Milford Sound. It took us over 5 hours to get there by bus from Queenstown, then hopped onto an "Encounter" cruise boat for glimpses of beauty. I will fill you in more a bit later on this feast of the senses.

I am so behind on my tales and photos, because I took too many megabytes this past week downloading podcasts in Buddhist Psychology. Not too smart, but boy, am I ever enlightened. You know I have a bit of difficulty meditating, but I figure that if I cannot accomplish it here in this beautiful place then I am forever doomed.

I have, however, had success, thanks to the byte-stealing psychology lessons and one of my new books, "Positive Energy", which explores energy psychiatry. Yummy!

We are well; so well, in fact, that we bought a second load of groceries today at Thorndon's New World. I love the grocery store, as it houses foods that we just don't have at home. Like, say, ROCKET. The world's perfect green.

I think Rocket is a cousin to our collard, but it is delicious in salads. I am now on my third bag after one week. The meat tastes different here....maybe a little "gamey". I do think that it makes a difference when a cow gets grass and not grain. And no hormones. And no antibiotics....

But, alas, all is not perfect. That DANG washing machine with combo dryer is a THORN IN MY SIDE. It takes all day to wash a load, and dry it twice, and pull it out STILL wet, and hang it up, and put it away THE NEXT DAY! Lord have mercy on me. I do still have to consult the dummy guide to the machine, as it it fraught with international symbols that mean zilcho to me. I am just not a symbol person. Give me a word.

Speaking of words, my game plan is to retrace my steps for you, beginning with Larnach Castle (scandalous!) and onto the railroad track from Dunedin to Queenstown. I will be sure to intersperse daily affairs with these travel tales, because that is just how I am.

Maree of Maree and Stuart (managers here), has given me access to her bookshelf! With no television, I am reading to the point of neck pain and eye strain, and I LOVE IT. Of course, you walk endlessly here, and so there is a good balance between physical activity and reading. And cooking. And photographing.

And, of course, eating.....CHOCOLATE.

Dancing With The Penguins

The happiest penguin in the Southern Hemisphere!



This was the most incredible six hours of our lives....we went on a wildlife tour on the Otago Peninsula, where the Royal Albatross center resides, and saw these very large birds with six foot wing spans....fur seals on the rocks.....yellow-eyed penguins (quite rare).....sea lions......and blue penguins.

What a hike! The view was spectacular as we drove along the low road on the peninsula. After viewing the albatross and getting our picture made by the lighthouse, we drove to a private farm by the ocean. Yes, a sheep farm by the ocean. Incredible. The lambs and sheep were not surprised we were there, although I really didn't chase them. We divided into two groups, and our group first climbed down to an overhang close to the rocks that the fur seals love....With binoculars it was not too hard to see the families of seals. Sometimes the babes lay on the rocks for days waiting for a parent to come back with food. The wind was gusty, and it was cold, but we didn't mind; besides, by the time we climbed back up that hill we were very hot and quite breathless.

Next, we travelled down to the beach, another steep trek. We saw the rare yellow-eyed penguins, who mate for life and live in the same place always (the only penguins to live this way). We sat in look-outs with binoculars and camera, waiting for them to come out of the ocean, but they were shy, as the sea lions make them supper. There was one nest housing a blue penguin, and we saw babies on camera in other nests.

The sea lions were huge, and sometimes they chase people, so we all stuck together. I couldn't imagine those lethargic looking creatures going fast, but they evidently can! One picture I got looked like the sea lion was part gorilla.

Ok, then it was back up that dern hill. Thank God I had a sandwich at the penguin look-out, or I would have needed air-lifting.

What an incredible day. What amazing pictures (I promise to get them up soon)....and what wonderful long days these are!

Next, as I have time, I will fill you in on the Larnach Castle scandal! (That was my Tuesday morning excursion!)
Delicious!
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Note: It may be a few days before I blog again, since we are leaving tomorrow on a train trip to Queenstown, then the next day to Milford Sound. Friday will be LUGE day for us in Queenstown, then Saturday we will head up to Wellington to stay. I will get internet connection then on the weekend, and will catch up in order!

A million photos to sort! Best work in the world!

Love to all.....

The Chocolate Inspector

Monday morning started out cold and wet. We walked in the rain to the University of Otago, where Susie is in a conference, and I started out to explore Dunedin.
Of course, my first stop was a chocolate factory, CADBURY WORLD. Heaven! Free Candy!
And, sadly, the above hat. For sanitary reasons, I had to put my hair in the net as we watched candy BEING MADE. It smelled so good, and free candy was everywhere. I was so taken by all of the candy that the tour started without me, and I had to be escorted to my group in the theater.

Chocolate is complicated. What fascinates me most is the cocoa butter, which is extracted and then placed back in strategically for melting magic. I inspected A LOT of chocolate, and I bought my fair share.

Between June and January they produce 40 million eggs, which is just what New Zealand alone consumes the week of Easter. That is 10 eggs per person. They hire extra staff those six months just to make enough Cadbury eggs.

A new thing for me was chocolate buttons. They look like bigger size chips, but they are smaller than Hershey's kisses. All of the milk that goes into this NZ chocolate comes from the cows in Otago (the surrounding area here),

After OD'ing on chocolate, I rolled over to the rail station to explore. We take the train Wednesday through a scenic gorge, and I am already excited about that. I waddled past the prison, then onto Otago Settlers Museum, where I took more photos. The Scots really decided to come here to Dunedin to get in on the European settler action in the mid 1800's. I was fascinated reading diaries and looking at old photos. Ah, history.

After waiting two years, I finally had those green-lipped mussels again.....most delicious and delectible thing I have EVER had!
Off to rest next for the exciting part two of this day.....

We're Here (and where did Saturday go?)

After 30+ hours (I stopped counting) we arrived here in the middle of a field of cows and sheep. That last and fifth flight was on a prop plane, and needless to say there was no security and I worried about it carrying the weight of our bags. It was lovely when we arrived, in the sixties, and the day before it was in the 80's.....today is less lovely, with rain and 50's, lows in 40's.

I am getting used to the New Zealand accent again. It is pretty with lots of the short "i" sounds that make it distinctive. I try to imitate it, but is just not the same.

All of the flights were really good...I even slept on the long one. Amazing! The food was so good for an airplane (thanks to Gate Gourmet), and the man on our row didn't even get up to go to the bathroom until THE END of the flight! He was a camel. I was amazed.

Where did Saturday go? We left on Friday, arrived on Sunday, and spent no time on Saturday....or did we? Having the time to ponder this is luxurious. The conversation went along in my head like this:

"Where did Saturday go?"

"It disappeared."

"Disappeared to where?"

"Into thin air." (This was Susie's contribution to the conversation in my head.)

"Where is thin air?"

"It is in the International Date Line, evidently."

"Well, that is where Saturday went."

Are you bored yet?

We slept for 12 hours after dining in a cafe on the Octagon in city centre. Luxurious.

Today we are walking to Susie's school (she has a conference), and will meet for lunch after I explore all the local landmarks! The highlight of the day will be the WILDLIFE TOUR on the Otago peninsula....I want to see yellow-eyed penguins and albatrosses, although I think they are laying eggs. I pray for the rain to stop!

I will post pix on flickr soon (maybe tomorrow) of our adventures!