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Published: January 7th 2015
OK, the wireless is neck & neck with the pony express this morning and is finally delivering photos across the ether from Coromandel to the blog - YES! Below are some random thoughts we've had as we traverse this beautiful country as well as a few photos from the last several days:
Only saw two cops in 7 days on the South Island, which is about half as many as I see on my morning commute each day. I assume that must say something about life down there. Up here on the North Island, we've been in some larger cities and towns and have seen a more robust contingent of Johnny Law. Even saw a trooper writing up a speeding ticket yesterday. Ahhh, I'm no longer homesick!
Spent a day and a half on a bucolic sheep farm a couple nights ago. It was 350 acres of green grass, towering pines, blue skies, baa-ing sheep and pure beauty. The farm literally stretched as far as the eye could see, and Scott/Kate were determined to run and explore every inch of it. The minute we got there, they took off running with the owner's little dog, Puck, leading the way.
I'm guessing they ran about 6 miles while were there. Dad ran about 1 1/2 miles with them and then retired to the veranda with a glass of wine. Not that I couldn't have kept up with them, but someone had to track their progress for the blog, right?
The stunning beauty of this country is absolutely amazing, and even while driving from town to town the views are incredible. As I've become accustomed to round-a-bouts and driving on the other side of the road, "keep left" has been replaced with "wow, look at that" as the most repeated phrase in the car. The incredibly windy roads continue unabated, and many state highways here are about equal to the width of your standard golf cart path. Oh, and for those of you who are wondering, the barf bags are still tucked neatly away in the seatbacks!
In addition to the beauty of the country, the diversity of the landscape continues to amaze us. On the two hour drive up to the Coromandel yesterday, we counted five different types - often with several in view at one time. CA rolling ranchlands, Rocky Mountain alpine vistas, South American rainforests, Hawaiian
tropics and African veld are all visible as you make your way around the country. Oh, and one more note on the roads - while they are in great shape, there is no shoulder - you are either on the road, or teetering on the edge of the ditch. With very few spots to pull over, please excuse the side view mirror in some of the photos.
Ok, enough of my blathering . . . . for now. Here are some pics.
Cheers!
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Betty Riegel
non-member comment
Wow again!
Enjoying each day Chris. I think my UK passport would entitle me to immigrate to NZ!!