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Featherstone, New Zealand
On Sunday, we began the day by
catching up on the photos and preparing them for the web site.
On the way to the airport for our flight to Wellington, New
Zealand, we had a pleasant conversation with our driver. We
expressed our condolences to all of the people of New Zealand
for the loss of their national hero, Sir Peter Blake. Our
driver said it was equivalent to England losing Princess Diana.
He reminded us that there are only 3.7 million people in the
country and that they don't have that many heroes. There are
almost that many people in the Phoenix area.
After fighting a head wind for
two hours, we arrived in Wellington. It is on the extreme
southern tip of the North Island and is notorious for its
strong winds with this day being no exception. The South Island
that we have just left has sixty per cent of the land and
only 400,000 people. The rest live on the North Island. Wellington
is a beautiful city worthy of more time than we had to spend
there. Our ride was waiting for us upon arrival for our short
journey to catch the helicopter to the Wharekauhau (Far-e-coe-hoe)
Lodge. As had been our plight for over a week, it was heavily
overcast and raining with high wind for our ride to the lodge.
Because of the weather, our pilot did not go directly over
the mountains but instead took us around by the coast, a flight
of about fifteen minutes.
Wharekauhau is a sheep and cattle
station with over 5,000 acres of land. It also has 5,000 sheep
and something less than 1,000 head of cattle. The lodge has
separate cottages for the guests that are clustered together
in groups of three to a building. They were built in 1998
and are beautifully appointed. The lodge has accommodations
for about twenty-four couples.
Palliser Bay was clearly visible
from the French doors of our cottage even in the grayness
of the weather. With a roaring fire in the fireplace, we were
as cozy as two bugs in a rug. We were told that cocktails
would be served in the living room of the lodge at 7:00 PM
and dinner would be at 8:00 PM.
After a short walk under an umbrella,
we arrived at the lodge to discover that there were only two
other couples in residence that evening. One was a Jewish
couple from Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the other was a Japanese
couple on their honeymoon. By the time we were seated for
dinner, Herb and I were in a lively discussion about the Middle
East that ended when the Japanese man who was sitting between
us said, "We are here to relax and enjoy ourselves".
The menu for the evening started
with a smoked eel salad followed by a main course of pigeon.
You can imagine how excited I was. The chef was very accommodating
and switched me to a green salad and beefsteak.
The next morning we were taken
on a four-wheel drive tour of the sheep station. James Shaw
was our guide and did a terrific job. He took us to a field
where one of their dogs, Roxie, was moving the sheep to another
pasture. It is amazing to watch the control the dog has over
so many animals. James' family had previously owned the property
but had sold the majority interest to an outside firm. He
and his brother still managed the station but not the lodge.
We then proceeded on a ride in the Land Cruiser that defined
the term, off-road. We forded flooded rivers that Ashley and
I were certain we would never be able to cross. We went through
dense forest and then down the beach of black volcanic sand
covered with driftwood before returning to the lodge.
That afternoon, we again sat
in front of the fire, had a toddy, and listened to CD's that
we had brought with us including "Midnight in the Garden of
Good and Evil". The evening meal began with pumpkin soup followed
by a wonderful lamb dish. There were four other couples including
the Japanese referee and his young bride. The other three
couples were Americans, two from New Canaan, Connetticut,
and one from Southern California. The couple from California
had a sister-in-law that was in the World Trade Center building
that was hit by the first airplane. She was fortunately in
a floor below the impact and was able to escape. Greg, one
of the men from New Canaan was on the 32nd floor of the other
tower and, obviously, also was able to get out. He told of
watching people jump from the building. We also had a very
stimulating discussion of politics without the need of mediation.
Tuesday morning, we toured the
grounds and took pictures and then packed for our departure.
Our return helicopter ride to the airport was cancelled due
to the winds in Wellington that were gusting to 46 knots.
It turned out to be our good fortune because we were treated
to a two-hour automobile ride with Susie Shaw, James' wife.
Susie who is expecting their first child in February was very
entertaining and the time went quickly. We stopped and picked
up some Kentucky Fried Chicken for the flight to Auckland,
quite a treat after all of the fancy meals. The trick at the
airport was to get from the car to the airplane without blowing
away.
Till next time,
Pat
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