What I would give to have my Monday back!

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23 / 10 / 06 Monday

I woke up to the sound of swirling brushes and the scraping of metal on asphalt. It’s a holiday Monday morning yet the city work crews are out sweeping and cleaning the streets and sidewalks. Got a better night sleep in the tight back seat than what I did on the cross country Amtrak train ride this summer.

The next thing to hit me was the sulfur stench that hangs over Rotorua. At first I forgot where I was at and thought “MY GOD, What did I eat last night, I smell dreadful”. Then I remembered that I was sleeping near the hot springs and mud pots located in downtown Rotorua. That was a relief!

Went to the city park and checked out the hot springs. Next stop Auckland. On the way out of town I discovered that the NZ Forestry Department had established a test forest that included a large stand of Redwood trees. I took a 30 minute stroll in the shadow of the trees and enjoyed the reprieve from the rain, if only for a moment.

Great country all the way back to Auckland. I definitely will return to this part of the country for hiking, camping and rafting.

I arrived safely home after a good long 1200 km drive over a mater of two and a half days. Had a relaxing, enjoyable and restful afternoon and evening, until the email…..

If you happened to be up early Monday Pacific Standard Time and heard a whooshing zinger come out of your computer that may have been an odiferous email I sent in great haste. I officially joined the group of people that have written an email in haste and the instant after hitting send a are struck by a dreadful sinking feeling of what you’ve just done. No way to reach into cyber space and retrieve those. Then there’s the uncomfortable apologetic phone call the following day. Even if I could have thought up a good explanation (which there really never is) for the email I don’t think loosing ones cool is ever acceptable. Lesson to be learned: if you have access to email or any other spontaneous means of transmitting your thoughts (ie, blackberry, cell phone, text message, etc…) think long and hard before you hit that send button. The damage you do may linger for a long, long time. Too bad I can’t have Monday to do all over again. Live and Learn…..

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Photos

The wisteria made a valiant attempt to mask the sulfur odor but in the end failed miserably.
oRtorua hot springs.

Typical Rotorua Street
Note the width of the street.

Redwood Forest
Smelled just like the California redwood forest.

Still Raining
The rain has now chased me around NZ for the last .........

Pulled into the garage at 1201km's
I drove the car so hard all the lights came on. Good thing for full coverage.

Comments

[Jeanette]

Cheap scape?
How does a 6 ft man sleep in a 4 ft car? You are grown now and have a nice job. You no longer have to pinch pennies on vacation as we did while you were growing up. Splurge on a bed. The trip looked fun. Thanks for taking pictures of the trip along the way. Those taken from inside the car give me the feeling I was in there with you. I sent an email a couple of months ago I dreaded as soon as I pressed the send button so I could sympathize with your experience....what embarresment did yours cause you? Sure miss you....

[Uncle Cliff]

Left is NOT Wright
Ay, you're gonna git killed ya know drivin on the rong side of ye road don't ye know? Makes me sick just lookin at those bloody flippin flipped around pictures. Come back home to the good ole USA before one of those wrong side crazies kills ya mate. Bloody British Empire infected the whole bloomin world with weird ideas glad you are having fun Uncle Cliff get a woman and quit the potato skins and milk shakes