Australia

Too much or not enough

/ one2travelfar / 1 Comment

I’m not sure if we over or under-packed. Tim can never find anything but the airlines keep losing our bags. At least we didn’t have to carry them to our hotels. On our last flight, they had to fly standby and missed the plane. We’ve been reunited once again. I’m not used to hearing remarks about how much stuff I have because I pride myself on packing light.

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We are settled in for a few days in a hotel which used to be a hospital. Apparently we are staying on the surgical floor. We’ve begun scoping out food items. The one thing we packed was whole fat powdered milk because it is never in grocery stores in the states and we ordered it online from REI. Well they sell it here for a quarter the price in the grocery stores. I won’t be packing any vegemite though. It’s not for me.

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Most importantly, I met a couple who raise merino sheep and promised me a fleece and a glass of chardonnay. I’m set. I want to spin it on the island and bring it home as yarn or maybe even a sweater!!! I’ll use a turkish drop spindle which will keep me busy for a while.

Thanksgiving Pigeon?

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We are on the west coast of New Zealand.  Yesterday we toured the Franz Joseph Glacier in the mist and then it poured rain and presented the classic views of the clouds over the mountains.  I woke up today, Thanksgiving, to see Mount Cook,  shrouded in clouds, outside my bedroom window.  Now the sun is coming up and I hope the clouds burn off.

I asked about the likelihood of finding a traditional US dinner and was told the best they could do was shoot us a pigeon for dinner.  I’ll pass because all the meals throughout the country have been outstanding.  Today we’ll take a long drive south along the west coast and arrive at the alpine town of  Queenstown where Chelsea hopes to get her yayas out.  I’ll be contentedly knitting and taking photos.

We visited Ashford, need I say more for the spinners out there and I bought a loom!!  This will round out my foray in the fiber world but I have to make a quilt for our new home first…or at least get it underway.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Skinny or full fat?

/ one2travelfar / 3 Comments

Full fat of course!!  Chelsea and I are traveling through New Zealand and I was surprised when I checked into our  first motel and that question was posed to me.  Every suite has a hot pot for tea – coffee is definitely second choice here – and you get a container of milk for tea upon check in.  It’s funny to be in a country where English is the language yet you still don’t understand what is going on.  I think I have figured out how to order coffee – flat white thank you very much.

Chelsea showed me a great time in Sydney, which is probably the most beautiful city in the world.   Now we are winging our way through the South Island of New Zealand.  Yesterday we crossed the Cook Strait in gale conditions and noone blinked an eye.  Then I got into what I consider a backwards car and drove off.  My two biggest challenges are to get in the driver’s side of the car and to think very carefully before making right turns.   I’ve only bought a little wool so far but tomorrow we’re going to visit the Ashford spinning wheel company south of Christchurch.  I’m still marvelling at all the sheep and countryside.