'Pictures without Words'
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Following a pleasant hike, we could feel the excitement begin to build. It usually happens like this although, not always. The feeling is triggered by the thought that tonight’s the night. Jenni always try to temper our emotions but her remedy does not often work. ‘Be patient’, she reminds us, ‘it will make it even more enjoyable. We completed the hike in a delightful area, headed into Queenstown to catch the atmosphere of this supposedly ‘hip’ town. Sure. We can be hip. We don’t like to boast but we are already on our third hip. Apparently, the action only begins in the evening in this town. With the sun setting after 10pm, and our wake-up call for business from 3:30am onwards, Queenstown will miss two of the ‘coolest squares’ in the city—maybe in the whole of New Zealand.
On Friday, we extended our stay for another two nights and yesterday, added a further five. You could say we are enjoying this area. What’s not to like in New Zealand. South Island is gorgeous, the people are genuine, the hiking is terrific, the size of the country is compact and the language is easily understandable, Mate. There are no snakes, bears or ‘muggers—our editor is in heaven. What is rather interesting is the concept of bridges. Most of the road bridges are not only narrow but are single, thus allowing for one car at a time. ‘Life is a narrow bridge in New Zealand'. Maybe they were designed that way to teach people respect and courtesy or maybe…not. Perhaps the solution is to marry-off these single bridges.
We arrived back at the lodge with great anticipation. Should we mention the exact sequence of events it would appear contrived. Therefore, we’ll get directly to the point. It is laundry night and nothing gets us keyed up like a big load of washing. The thought of clean clothes again is a wonderful feeling. Hell, it doesn’t take much to please us. We interrupted writing this narrative to fold the dry clothes. You should see the bundle. The colors are bright and shiny; the whites, unfortunately, are quite colorful, too. Always opportunity for improvement.
We do have a gripe against the authorities, mind you. On arriving in Auckland, we thought we were back in the army. How can that be you may ask? We are pleased you’re so inquisitive. “Take out your boots; we need to inspect them,” the environmental officer instructed. We had a full boot inspection not unlike those of our military days. We’re pleased they didn’t check to ensure we had shaved. New Zealand authorities are very concerned about foodstuffs and soil, inter alia, entering the country. There are harsh penalties for these ‘offences’. Perhaps in the near future, the ‘Green-Police’ are going to become a lot more personal. It will mean we might have to begin washing our underwear more frequently. Sorry…that’s terrible. Actually, it’s another opportunity to do the laundry; that’s wonderful. Poor editor—what she has to put up with.
Finally, in an interconnected world, one of the customs officers was an ex-South Africa. You just never know when and where you’re going to meet one of us.
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
The picture below is the Tiki track (hidden) to the commencement of Ben Lomond hike.
Point A Editor exclaims : Hiking up there? You're nuts!
Between points A & B : An awkward silence.
Point B : You're right—we're nuts.
Point C : Official commencement of next hike still
a little further up.
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