Wednesday, Mar 13th, Island Bay, New Zealand

Greetings!

Some days just don't go as well as you planned.  Yesterday was almost one of those.  Today definitely was.  It's hard for a travel writer, like me.  And Pat points out, "You're often too upbeat".  I do emphasize the highlights, and she reminds me that readers also want the low points.

So let's do a revision of yesterday.  First, the botanical garden was a long walk through an unspectacular venue.  Other than helping me identify from one balcony about eight different common NZ trees (mostly introduced), I could have skipped it.  With Pat's dependency on her walking stick, we need better results.  Secondly, one and a half floors of Te Papa were worth going back to get more from, but the rest was too little, and a lot of wasted empty space.  Sorry Seddon, probably not what made you proud.

Today, we spent a large part of the day driving in the hills and the coast of this tip of the South Island.  Last night, I used Google Earth, Maps, and Street Trek to plan long drives to a coastal lighthouse (the only one to ever have a female lighthouse keeper), and over two mountain roads to isolated valleys and small towns.

We almost made it to the lighthouse (road was washed out a half mile from it).  We got lost coming back from it, and inadvertently drove out one of the mountain roads we had not intended to reach.  I don't think I'll forget the puzzlement on the face of the school teacher, when she realized that we had driven sixty miles the wrong way to her community, and sweetly advised me to turn around and go back.

A couple of ice cream bars from a supermarket we found in the town we had hoped we were originally headed toward - partially brightened our day.  As did the pizza we ordered from Hell Pizza here in Island Bay.  Can't say as much for the 2016 Villa Maria Syrah we picked up on the way home. 

To see the remaining few photos we took today, click on: Wednesday, Mar 13th, Island Bay, New Zealand.