Ok let’s get on with it before I forget what’s happened.
On the 9th of Feb our van had its lock fixed by a
very friendly mechanic who charged a mere $20 for the repair which we were very
happy with. So Maggi only had to go 5 days with a chopping board wedged in the
door panel and the bottom of a coke can glued to the door to prevent wandering
hands popping the lock open. (This was my way of securing the van but it’s very
hard to describe in a blog so I’ll explain more when I’m home and have props
and things)
A few days later Lauren was attacked in a moment of sheer
terror, her attacker… a praying mantis. Not so terrifying I thought. She also got roped into playing a game of touch rugby for the orchard team, I've never seen someone try to avoid the ball so much, although when she was given the ball she did a pretty good job, and she didn't let any of the other team get past her so I thought it was a very good effort. I have video evidence for people to see when we get back.
On the weekend of the 11th we had picked all the
fruit that was ripe and had nothing to do by lunchtime on Saturday so had the
rest of the day off. We went to Queenstown and had a nice afternoon going to
the cinema and having a ridiculously huge meal at a pub right on the wharf. I
had a pork belly and Lauren had a full rack of ribs (which I ate half of). And
there was premier league football on in the pub, which Lauren made me sit with
my back to. It’s hard watching tv in the back of a spoon. After dinner we drove
a few miles out of Queenstown to a campsite on the banks of the Lake and
settled down for the night. In the morning we checked the price of the
campsite, $7 each, reasonable we thought. I looked in my wallet $10, ahh slight
problem there. I came up with all sorts of elaborate plans of how to get around
the problem, and still maintain that me hiding in the back under the duvet
would have been the best way to deal with the situation. But Lauren opted for
the ‘honesty is the best policy route’ and it turned out we could pay by card.
Unfortunate, I was quite looking forward to saving $7.
That day we drove to Arrowtown and wandered the old Chinese
settlement, tiny stone huts that the chinese miners lived in. Afterwards we ate
a ludicrously big ice cream and paddled in the River Arrow, I tried to catch a
trout with the sophisticated technique of throwing a stone at them but to no
avail. Then it was back to the orchard for another 2 weeks work before
finishing for good. The last week of which Lauren got to work in the packing
shed which she enjoyed because she didn’t have to climb ladders any more. I got
two involuntary days off because of rain which gave me time to plan the next
portion of our trip.
Yesterday we drove south, past Queenstown beside the beautiful
Lake Wakatipu and alongside The
Remarkables mountain range, to Lauren’s auntie and uncle’s house in Winton. Only 100km from Te Anau (gateway to
Fiordland) it seems like a good jumping off point for our trip into the Fiordland
National Park and up towards Milford Sound.
When we arrived in Te Anau we let spontaneity get the better
of us and booked a trip across Lake Te Anau to the famous glow worm caves,
which we have just finished as I write this. It was fantastic, 2 and a ½ hours
including a nice boat trip around the lake and walking tour of the cave system,
and finished off with a boat tour of glow worm grotto, an underground lake with
a ceiling full of tiny points of blue light. We also booked a nature cruise of
Milford Sound for tomorrow so we will let you know how that went when we have done
it.
Lots to do must dash!
Bye x x x
No comments:
Post a Comment