South Island Madness Part III "The End"

Hey All, Today we finally arrived back to Auckland. The last few days have been a little crazy but i will try and mention everything we did.

On Friday we were supposed to go to watch the Trotters at the Greymouth Horse Track, but the weather was sloppy. so we did not go. instead we ventured down south for some Possum Pie. it was delicious. the catch is with Possum pies is you have to beat the tourist rush. so that means getting there before 11. but who likes to eat lunch before 11, well we had no choice. we got down to the only place that serves these up just in time. we grabbed the last three pies. it was good thing we got there when we did, because after we got there three tourist coach buses rolled in and piled out and got in line for Possom Pie (little did they know they were all out) so they had to settle on something else. for the rest of the day leo and i bummed around Ross and such.

On Saturday, Leo's neices had Pony Club. so we tagged along. little did i know that i was going to be the only male there over the age of 5. o well i got ropped into a ton of things i was taking photos with some of the mothers cameras. then i helped move some of the horse jumps, and then at the end i cooked up a bbq. the bbq was fun because i had to do it with a pocket knife because one of the mothers forgot to bring the utensils to use. its alright it was only sausages, so that was too difficult. the pony club was good fun, because i got to see how competitive some of the mothers are. it was supposed to be just for fun, so some mothers were mellowed and others were intense. Leo's sister was one of the Mellow mothers. after pony club which lasted a good chunk of the day we went to the local pool and then packed up our stuff for travel to Christchurch.

On Sunday we had to head up to Greymouth to catch our tranzalpine train to Christchurch. the train was supposed to leave at 1340 but it left a little late, 1410. the train takes 6 hours as it travels from the west coast to the east coast of the south island. you go through the mountains and the plans. it is very beautiful trip. the train travels at a slow rate and you catch in the beauty. (I have photos that will go up soon.) we arrived in Christchurch and caught a shuttle to our motel which was located just outside the Centre Square of Christchurch. We went to a Thai resturaunt for dinner, it was delicious. Thai Resturants in Christchurch are a dime a dozen.

Monday we walked the Centre Square went into all the tourist shops and picked up a few little tourist souveniers. we also check out the historic aspects as well of the tourist hotspots, like human size chess and different sculptures. We called it an early night because we had to be to the airport early and we have to walk 20 minutes to the nearest shuttle pickup.

Tuesday(today) we flew back to Auckland, got in around noon and now am just relaxing, Leo has a 3k race later tonight that. Andy now wants me to pace her through the race so i will do that. and that is the rest of the day. Tomorrow Leo's brother Bart is having his NZ wedding ceremony. it is taking place in the backyard, so that ought to be nice. tomorrow will be doing laundry, bumming around and then wedding ceremony. sounds like a fun day. Hope all are well lots lof love Mike

PS- here are a few photos from the time away.

This is one of many from Pancake Rocks which is one of the 101 things to do in NZ. it was on the way up to our camping trip. the rocks are layered with striation and the loock like stacked pancakes.

This Photo is from our Hike in the Abel Tasmin National Park. It is one of many small waterfalls that you will come across as you hike along.

This is our Gold Panning experience, the old fashioned way. People used to make a living doing this. Leo and I both found two specs each, from sitting in this spot. the water was cold but after you went numb it was all good. we were out there for hours but the time flew by.

PPS. here is a link to the town at which i lived in for two weeks.

Ross NZ

http://www.ross.org.nz/