Haloranch

Kilometres travelled in New Zealand: 4,040 Kilometres travelled to and from Vancouver to visit old friends: 2,400 Friends visited along the way: 6 New friends made in New Zealand: too many to count Memories made: priceless

On the leg from L.A. to Vancouver, we were seated in the 2nd last row of the plane. Behind us was a matronly woman accompanying a 6 year old girl, and a young man in his mid 20's. The flight attendant came to the young man and asked, would he mind switching seats with another gentleman so the family could sit together? He agreed, and moments later she comes back leading a very handsome man to the back. He gratefully thanked the young man saying, amongst other things, "Boy, the stories I could tell you". He looked familiar. I noticed he didn't sit down in his newly assigned seat behind me, but remained standing, propping his right leg on the seat. It appeared to be injured. There was a cast visible between his runners and the hem of his slacks, and he had a black tensor bandage loosely slung around his ankles. At some point the flight attendant came to him and very politely said, we can't take off until you sit down, which he did. To make a 2 1/2 hour story...

I packed all the gifts we were bringing back into our carryon bag, so that nothing would get lost. We checked our many bags which have mysteriously multiplied over the last month. No problem leaving Christchurch for Auckland. In Auckland, a little red flag goes up when the carryon bag is x-rayed. They look at us, then run it through again. "Is this your bag?" "Yes", Hans replies. "Would you follow me please?" We follow to the end of the counter where he explains he needs to look inside. I packed it, so I know that in addition to the various little gifts there are 2 bottles of Minus 42 Vodka (a trendy new vodka made in NZ), 1 good bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and a fancy guacamole flavoured oil. I shrug and watch him unpack. Out come the bottles, a couple of Maori CDs, the cheeseboard I bought. He flips over the cheeseboard to reveal the cheese knife with its sharp edge, pretty double points on the end and the inlay of paua. I gasp and cover my eyes. ...

Another &*%$%$# beautiful city! Really, NZ has more than its share of beautiful cities and we loved it here too. Early European settlers built "the most English city outside Engand" on the Canterbury Plains and named it Christchurch. We strolled through Hagley Park, which is a sprawling central park where avenues f huge trees, shrubs and flowers meander alongside the Avon River. Tree shaded paths lead to a large fountain close to which is the museum. Amongst other things, inside the museum is the "Christchurch Street" display, a replica of a Victorian Street complete with authentic shops crammed full of fantastic period pieces. Interesting and fun to look at, and be gratful how much easier life is today than it was then. We had a glass of wine at the Art Gallery, which is a seriesof crescent shaped buildings of variousheights and curvatures, all in clear glass. Stunning. There was a small outdoor patio where we sat in the reflection of the glass and sipped ...

Middlemarch: This is a town west of Dunedin and Christchurch and about halfway between them. For the last few years at East time, the unmarried farmers of Middlemarch (coincidentally roughly the middle of March this year) host a parade of single women who stream into town by the trainload looking for romance and possibly a husband. Apparently, there's a dearth of women in Middlemarch. But the farmers there like their lifestyle and the area and so began advertising to have the women come to them. And they have. One young American woman who had been extolling the virtues of NZ men as being "manly men" when compared to their American counterparts was given a return ticket by her friends. Guess they didn't have high hopes for her. She said that the NZ men were everything she hoped for and that she, along with many other single women, had a fabulous time. But she's coming home as single as she left. Oamara: We drove through this town, whose main street is beautif...

I don't know how it's possible, but every place we visit in NZ is prettier than the last. Dunedin is now the jewel in the crown. We just love it here! It's picture postcard beautiful, with towering hills, the salty tang of the ocean air, and friendly people like everywhere in NZ. Walter and Jennifer, our friends in Dunedin whom we met 1 1/2 years ago in Beijing, took us on a tour of the city. We saw Baldwin Street which only in recent years was discovered to be the steepest street in the world. It has a gut busting 26.6% gradient. By no coincidence, this is also the name given to the annual race from bottom top. We didn't even attempt to drive up it. I was afraid the car would summersault backwards. Then on to a a tour of the Otago University campus. It is the premiere university in NZ for medicine and dentistry and a degree from here is respected throughout the world. We wandered past the train station, built from local cream and grey rock that looks a little li...

Queenstown was rockin' Friday night with hordes of tourists who came for the Easter weekend. After dinner, Hans and I went to a pub which featured a jazz quartet. The singer was a lady, those of you who know me will remember how little I know about jazz. But Hans said she was very good.