South-Bound

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So now we start our road trip south. We have a few specific locations nailed down with reservations at hostels in Wellington and some vague ideas for when we’ll arrive in Christchurch but other than that we’re figuring it out as we go which is exactly the way I like it.

On one of our stops as we traveled southbound we stumbled across a farmers market. We got lucky with this one and scored a grocery bag full of fresh fruit and veggies for about 8 bucks! On my way meandering through the multitude of tents set up I stopped to admire some neatly hung traditional bone carvings in front of one of the tables. Not many people were around this particular tent and I could see a father and his son sitting in their family van with the doors wide open in the back. The father gave his son a nudge as if to encourage him to go help their potential customer and the little boy who was probably about 8 years old hesitantly walked up to me. He didn’t say anything, just stared and stood completely still. I could tell he was trying to think of something to say so I told him the pendants were very pretty and asked him which one was his favorite. He pointed to one of the fish hooks. I told him I was thinking of getting some for my sisters back home and that I thought they’d like that one too. He then seamed to get a bearing on his young salesman capabilities and I told him I’d have to think about it and I’d come back in a bit. When I came back he looked so excited and even helped me pick out just the right ones for my sisters. I handed him the money and he grinned as his dad prompted him to say thank you. The ‘buy two for the price of one’ deal got even sweeter when his dad then told me I could pick out one more! This was perfect as I had one more person I really wanted to get one for but was having trouble justifying the purchase.

Most of the drive to Wellington was windy and the road wrapped itself around steep cliffs. Fern drives and I attempt to navigate. On long stretches of road I bring out my computer and hack away at the never ending task of recording our journey so far. My tolerance for car-typing without the onset of carsickness is improving but still not great. I find it takes me five times longer to write about and describe something as it takes to experience it. But I’m finding writing about it is almost as much fun. It makes me feel like I’m preserving this trip.

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