A Bittersweet Farewell

Today was our last full day in NZ. We made it a memorable one, though. We had planned to take a ferry from Auckland out to Waiheke Island. The ferry left at either 8:30 am or 12:30pm, so we planned on the later departure. That left us the morning to do some last bits of shopping. Anne was on the hunt for some NZ wool and for a really cool thing that we've seen in all the coffee shops here. And we've been to a lot of coffee shops. It is a sugar dispenser with a spout on top, and when you turn it over, rather than just dumping a continuous stream of sugar into your drink, it pours out a measured amount and then stops. Brilliant. But, apparently, no one sells them anywhere. We got a tip and some directions for places that might carry them, and so we set out. And we struck out. Three times. We did find some wool at one store, but it was mostly from Turkey and Italy. They had some from Australia, but it was expensive, so we passed. Finally, we were running out of time, and we tried our last lead. It was a store called Living and Giving. As a cool side note, at one of the stores, the clerk had told us to "try Living and Giving, over in Botany" and I actually knew where she was talking about and how to get there. A good feeling.

So we went there and they had them! Ironically, the ones they had were made by Bodum, so we realized we probably could have ordered them off the Internet. But, the hunt was fun. And, we'll never OD on real sugar again.

After that, we grabbed a quick lunch, caught a bit more UKTV on the Telly, and headed out. The ferry took us and our car to the Island, home of several wineries and sheep. After an hour and a half ride we needed to use a restroom, so we found that first. Anne pulled over, illegally parking, and ran inside. The parking police person told her, "You need to move your car, Love," and then proceeded to recommend a particular winery/cafe to us. Folks here are so much more casual here than in the US. We've heard people say, "No worries" about a thousand times, and even in a few situations in which worrying was very warranted!

The recommended place was on the far side of the island, and so we set out. The roads here are narrow, and truth be told the drive was a bit harrowing, but the views were literally breathtaking. Our photos will not do it justice. Without a doubt, the most gorgeous scenery we've seen, and that is really saying something. I'm really at a loss to describe this place. Even Lord of the Rings doesn't do it justice. Simply amazing.

On the way, we stopped at a beach to look at some shells. We have three generations of seashell collectors in the car, so even cold wind and a light rain didn't stop us. I've been to my share of beaches in my time, but nothing beat this place for the shells. We found a tide pool that was teeming with life, and picked up some huge and exotic shells to take home. I only hope they survive the plane ride. We even found a starfish, but decided to choose life and we put him back in the water.

Back on the harrowing but lovely road, we literally got to the end of our map. Our police fellow had warned us about that, but it was still a bit nerve racking. The fact that we had such a great shell find and the fact that it is lambing season (which means we get to see lots of tiny, frolicking, nursing future scarves and roasts) kept us going. Only one problem. When we left the map, we left civilization. We saw no one for quite a while on the road. And, by this time we had forgotten the name of the winery we were looking for. To our credit, much of the roads, etc. here have either Scottish or Maori names. So when you hear something like Pakuranga or Te Irirangi, it's a little hard to locate on a map or keep in your head.

But we did finally see a sign for a B&B advertising crepes and coffee. We snaked our way down the soggy, mountainous, mud path to the door. Anne got out to scope the place, only to find fresh bread and veges on the table, cheeses on the counter, but no people. She walked around the whole place calling, "Hello," but no one emerged. Perhaps the sound of Americans frightened them away. So, we were forced to keep moving.

After a bit more driving, we quite literally came to the end of the road. The road stopped and the ocean began. Fortunately, there was a nice portable toilet (I never thought I'd type that phrase) so we took advantage, snapped some photos, and headed back. We knew the time to get the ferry back was approaching, and didn't want to miss it. We drove back quietly, savoring the views, and silently praying on the curvy road. We caught the last ferry of the day, and came home to a lovely lamb roast dinner prepared by our hosts. They roast pumpkins here just like a potato, which Anne and I agreed we wanted to start doing when we get home. Also, they have something called Kumara, which is a native sweet potato, except whitish. Yummy. A delicious, very Kiwi meal, topped off by a traditional dessert of Pavlova, a meringue dish invented here, and Hokey Pokey ice cream, another NZ institution.

A good way to end our Kiwi Adventure. We fly out to Sydney tomorrow. I'm not sure what wi fi access we'll have over the next leg, so it may be a while before you hear from us again. Hopefully, we can keep up. Cheers!