Croquet anyone?

Memorial weekend, 2008, Thousand Island Park...

It's true. Most folks go looking for at least a parade to commemorate the weekend. We on the other hand are always just a little different. We load up our rototiller and head north in search of a 100 year old roque croquet court in need of some tender loving care. Let's face it. Have you ever seen one? There just aren't many left. Our friend Terry, John & I decided it was time to either "put out" and restore the court in the Thousand Island Park or quit talking about it. (Believe me, it was awfully tempting after the first hour of working on it to change our minds and choose the second option...)

I took a LOT of photos (a good excuse to take a LOT of breaks) so you'd see what was involved. In the set to the right...
1) John breaks ground (notice the small pile of dirt at the far end)
2) John breaks more ground
3) The pile of dirt that will eventually go over the court looks bigger when you're closer...
4) Terry breaks ground
5) John & Bill celebrate finishing the hand edging of the court (notice the muscles on Bill and his youth - this will prove to be VERY important the next day!)
6) John continues to break ground
7) Terry breaks up more ground (did I not mention how wet the ground was when we started so the sod was very clumpy?)
8) Terry continues to break ground
9) 6 hours from the time we started, John takes one more pass before calling it a day.

Day 2 of our project the sun is still shining and the ground has dried out just enough to allow us to continue. After waiting for church to be over (Thousand Island Park is an old Methodist Church camp after all) and taking time for an energy building lunch, it's back to the court.
1) The big dig starts. The dirt from the pile (it now looks GIGANTIC) has to be distributed across the court.
2) With their wheelbarrows full are Terry, Bill & John (you might note that because of his youth, Bill was allowed to use the largest wheelbarrow...)
3) Break time (let's see... there was only two-thirds yet to go)
4) And lest you think I did nothing but take photos, that's me on the left. I had the task of spreading and leveling the dirt the guys dumped (and I kept up with them!)
5) We had one small pile too much (those are my feet - I just couldn't deal with standing any longer!)
6) The extra gets shoveled into the truck, taken away & we called it a day. (By the way, that's Fred on the left. In the next two weeks he's going to play a MAJOR role... read on.)
7) Day 3 - John drug the court to level it (I forgot to take a photo) but this is the finished product.
8) I'm spreading the grass seed & Terry is raking it in and doing an excellent job.
9) American Gothic and the Idaho Waterer.

Day 4 - One final check of the court. Looks pretty good doesn't it? Two weeks from now if Fred & Ruby remember to water it every day it should be nice and green. Two months from now we expect to see croquet and even roque croquet being played in the park again.

PS - Roque croquet is similar to croquet except you can also play off the sides of the court like you would in billards. (Oh dear! That probably means it requires more skill than our backyard game of croquet!) It was popular in the early 1900's and we hope it will soon be popular again, at least in the Thousand Island Park. If you see Fred & Ruby, remind them to keep watering....

Goodbye blue belt...

Today Sarah went on her walk without her blue belt (used to hang onto her in case she felt weak). She set a new record for herself in distance walking - 345 feet! I'm sure those of you who were even out here as little as a month ago will find that fairly amazing. Just another testament to the strong will and determination Sarah has always had.

Featured in today's photo op are Sarah, stage center; yours truly on the left behind the mask but, trust me, I'm smiling; and Uncle John, stage right trying out for the part of Doctor John (what is that white thing coming out of the middle of his head?!)

We leave tomorrow for NY but know when we see Sarah next (which hopefully will be sooner rather than later), she'll be skipping down the aisle, happy to be free of the hospital at last!

And she's off....

Sarah continues to improve... YES!!! While just two weeks ago, things seemed pretty low, now things are definitely going in the other direction. First the Occupational Therapist came to help Sarah start practicing deep (okay they weren't deep yet but they will be) knee bends (it seems some "old" forms of torture never go away!). Then they moved on to balance with Sarah holding on to the OT's shoulders. It looked as though they were teaching Sarah to dance again starting with the good old-fashioned box step. It was Sarah's "first date" so admittedly she was a bit shaky (sorry, the angle wasn't good for a photo opt).

A bit later the nurse came to take Sarah for her daily walk. For this outing, Sarah, too, has to suit up in one of those lovely yellow gowns (buy stock everyone - John & I alone have used half a case already). Sarah, however, got to accessorize her gown with that lovely blue belt (actually the nurse holds onto the belt just in case Sarah begins to feel unstable). Last week it took 3 nurses, one on each side and one behind with a chair to walk Sarah down the hall. Today she did a lap in each direction with only the nurse holding onto her belt for security purposes.

And, please, if you will, take special note of Sarah's GREAT smile. Sarah was born with a double dose of liking folks and they her. I am very happy to report this must have been the first thing she recovered as everyone around her obviously likes her. Her wit, too, is back in full force. Sarah has challenged us to a game of Scrabble - somehow I think we don't stand any more of a chance of winning than we ever did...

Great news in Boulder!

To those of you who don't know the whole story, this photo may not look too extraordinary. However, when you know that our wonderful niece Sarah, stage center, was as close to death as you can get in February and was just released to a regular hospital room after 9 weeks in ICU, you realize what an incredible thing it is that she's smiling and standing and recuperating nicely. It's also incredible that John has now doubled the amount of the time he has ever willingly spent visiting someone in a hospital and the week has just begun. By the way, the other guy modeling the latest in yellow gowns is Sarah's husband, Kenny, from North Dakota don't ya know. I was behind the camera, robed, gloved but with the added feature of a face mask to protect everyone from my horrible cold. Have you ever tried blowing your nose with a face mask on? It isn't easy!!!

More of New Zealand...

The older blogs now have photos added just in case words weren't enough... As always, I've ended up with a few extra. If you're interested, read on...

1. Instead of Good Humor we saw "Mr. Whippy" and "Mr. Cool" (we found their ice cream to be a bit "airier" than what we're used to). 2. It seems to be norm rather than the exception for a town of any size to have bowling (lawn) and/or croquet clubs. 3. A dairy barn on the south island - one would assume the climate must be milder than upstate NY! 4. A backpacker lodge (it looked neat but just think of all that snoring, let alone being the unfortunate person who has to stash their stuff on the top bunk!) These accommodations are all over NZ - affordable & clean. 5. Perhaps more our style (it also had a neat little porch on the back). 6. We saw these camper vans from Wicked Rentals everywhere and each one was painted differently. Our favorite was one that read on the back - "Bring back Monica Lewinski". 7. Flowers, flowers everywhere. When was the last time you saw a heather that big?! 8. A poor little penguin hiding under a camper. 9. Sand flies! - "art" at the dock in Melbourne Sound.

1. The John's inspecting what NZ calls a fuse box. NZ is wired 220. 2. A pretty house. 3. The longest suspension bridge in NZ - no longer in service. 4. Proper croquet form (I think) We'll have to start working on this technique. 5. Pretty mushrooms. 6. In case there was any doubt why John chose NOT to take up sheep shearing as a profession. 7. More flowers... 8 & 9. We just happened upon NZ's wooden boat show one rainy day.

1. The Mussel Pot in Havelock, the green lipped mussel capital of the world (is there a competition?). John & I had mussels. The less adventuresome had fish. 2. That is a REAL car covered in old corrugated metal roofing to fix a rust problem - art depicting New Zealander's ingenuity. 3. Sheep are everywhere although there are now just over 30 million (that probably varies somewhat this time of year with leg of lamb on many Easter dinner tables...) 4. If you invested in fencing in NZ you are now a VERY wealthy person. They say there's enough fencing there to circle the world 20 times. 5. Eggs (when not purchased at the farmer's market) are found in the market on standard shelving - not in the cooler section. You can get "barn eggs" or "free range eggs" and one assumes both are very fresh. 6. New Zealander's love their coffee and it is good, strong, expensive and everywhere makes it to order by the cup with espresso machines. Note the NZ "fern" on the froth in this "flat white" cup of coffee. 7. A pizza delivery truck. 8. A pukeko bird - the babies hatch with what look like full grown feet. 9. "Hound logs" - every grocery store and butcher shop have loads of pet logs for sale for your favorite pet.

1. There are plenty of public toilets everywhere in all shapes and sizes. And they're all clean, no graffiti. This one even had a small sink with running water so appearances aren't everything. 2. Fish & chips is the "fast food" of choice. It's cooked to order and they tell you what type of fresh fish they're using that day. 3. Burt Monroe that the movie "The World's Fastest Indian" was based on was from Invercargil. These are some of his bikes at one of the world's best hardware stores. 4. The motels all offer washer & dryers but encourage everyone to hang out their laundry. This is some of our laundry. 5. The train station in Dunedin. 6. One of the neat old cars we saw touring around. 7. Penguin crossing sign. 8. Train crossing sign. 9. Check your brakes sign (they should have also added the need to rope up!)

And just a few assorted things without photos...

- Doorknobs are generally at the 4 foot level - I can't tell you why...

- Most roofs are metal, a few tile...

- All lights are compact florescent

- All electrical outlets have on/off switches. It sometimes took a while to figure out the reason the stove wouldn't work was because the switch to it was turned off. New Zealander's are VERY consciencious about energy saving.

- Most homes are modest

- They are big on shared parks and hiking trails and they are all beautiful

- Homes have large windows, no screens

- Small cars (when is America going to catch on?)

- The people are extremely friendly

- No one speeds. The national speed limit is 100 km. and everyone obeys it. John saw an article in the paper about someone clocked at going 167 km. They expect to catch them & the fine will be $10,000. They are serious about the subject.

- Sheep is their biggest agricultural product. Dairy cows are next and then deer.

- No billboards except perhaps near Auckland. There will occasionally be a sign reminding folks to drive safely. "Drink, drive, die in a ditch" and "This road takes loved ones" are examples.

- Manure is referred to as "poo". For example I saw a sign at a farm for "Pony Poo, $1 a bag" and the stores sell "Sheep Poo" for your garden.

- Picnic coolers are referred to as "chilly bags"

New Zealand is a WONDERFUL place to visit! When you go, plan to stay a while to make the trip worthwhile.

Home all too soon...

After a relatively non-eventful flight from NZ (if you can call being shaken awake by turbulence whenever you started to doze uneventful) we landed in LA 8 hours "younger". Strange, but true, we left NZ at 7:35 p.m. on Tuesday and arrived in LA at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Yesterday we flew on to NJ and today drove on to NY to find that dreaded word SNOW! After enjoying warm weather for the last month, it was rather a shock to the system, 8 hours younger or not!

Just to entice you to check out past blogs early next week, I'm posting a couple of photos now...

South Island....

and not to be outdone, the North Island...


Fishing...

A kiwi orchard...

And a little competition for Tillie, the VW...

We're off... almost

It's hard to believe our time in NZ has gone by so quickly. We spent our last couple of days touring north of Auckland going from the east coast to the west coast and back again. Everytime we think we've seen all types of scenery we find something new... this time the giantic sand dunes north of the Bay of Islands on the east coast. Absolutely incredible! Then we drove on to the last forest of virgin kauri trees - enormous, amazing! They're only 1500 years old or so and still growing. John is hugging one of the babies. Then it was back to the west coast again...

This morning we packed up, then spent a few hours at the Auckland Botanical Gardens- a great place to while away a few hours (much better than the next 12 hours we expect to spend on the plane!). The only good thing about the trip back is that we're leaving at 7 at night, today which is Tuesday in NZ, and arriving before noon on the same Tuesday in LA. I'm sure we'll feel younger for the experience!

Next blog will be stateside...

Northland...

So was the fishing successful? Yes, in that the John's can now say they went fishing in New Zealand and saw fish. And even though they didn't catch anything (the minimum size to keep was over 2 feet) they had a good time trying and supported the local economy.

Moving on to kiwi country we took a fascinating tour of a kiwi orchard. Unfortunately, we're just before harvest season (or perhaps I such say fortunately for they might have commandeered us into helping with the harvest - 20,000 laborers are needed for the 10 week harvest season that starts in April). All along we thought the kiwis we'd been buying in the markets were from NZ when, in fact, we've been eating Italian kiwis. Take a closer look at the photo to the left. The tall shrubs are windbreaks that you see planted all over NZ - it must be a VERY windy country! We never did see the machine that keeps them trimmed. To the right is the kiwi orchard. The crates through the opening are only a tiny tiny part of the crates that will be used for harvest. And the round thing to the left is the "kiwi cart" that you ride in for the tour (Tourism is BIG business in NZ!) The kiwi season lasts until the beginning of June and kiwis can be kept in cold storage for up to 8 months. NZ has the equivalent to a patent on golden kiwis so if you find those in the market you can rest assured they came from NZ.

We also visited Goat Island where NZ has one of its oldest marine reserves. Even from the rocky shore you can see scores of fish. If you have a wet suit and snorkel you can swim with the fish. It was beautiful and great fun.

A note to John & Judy's staff... we've found a new name for their collision repair business -- "Twinkle Tow Panelbeaters" (much more memorable than Red's Body Shop!)

Only two more days in NZ... the time has flown!

Casting practice...

Yesterday we drove the "Forgotten Highway" from Stratford to Turangi. Those folks who think the south island is the more beautiful of the two have probably not taken this route. The terrain is very different from other places in NZ with very steep but relatively short mountains ridged in circles with paths made by the sheep over years and years and years. (If you look close at those little white spots - those are sheep.) Lots and lots of sheep but very few people.
We stopped in Whangamomona - it declared itself an independent republic a few years ago - something about a feud between districts as to who got to claim them, so they just declared themselves independent. If you choose you can even buy a passport from them. Other than a cup of coffee and perhaps a meal at the hotel, there's really nothing else except scenery for a couple of hours in either direction. It's probably not more than 40 miles either way but the road is so narrow, windy, steep that it takes a looooong time to get any where. If you're looking for peace and quiet this is definitely a part of world you should consider!

Last night and tonight we're in Turangi, the "trout fishing capital of the world". We did have one the biggest rainbow trout I've ever seen for dinner last night. Over two feet long - I even had to cut off the head so it would fit on the grill. (Sorry to report that the John's did NOT catch him... it was a gift from our motel owner.) However, the men have been out plying the waters and have SEEN some fish thanks to the loan of some waders and proper outfitting by the shop across the road. Dry fly fishing is not really done here. Instead they use some sort of two fly system where one fly drops to the bottom and the other floats on top dragging the other along. They have 3 more hours left on this fishing license so we'll see what happens. WAIT! Is that Judy in the photo? Did she catch a fish?! I'll never tell...

The motels here are interesting - much different than we have in the states. We've been staying almost exclusively in what they call "2 bedroom units" that are like small apartments. Really very convenient for us. The shopping sections of towns are nice as well - what our downtowns were like 30 or more years ago before the US developed a love for malls. The buildings are interesting (a mix of styles) and the shops are locally owned although most things are expensive by our standards. Judy was just reading an ad this a.m. for a Kitchen Aid mixer - $899 NZ but that's still at least twice as much as we'd pay. Luckily we aren't in the market for such a mixer...

Underneath a volcano...

We have now arrived on the north island and spent yesterday in Wellington, the nation's capital. Took the train in from our motel as the stop was just behind our motel which made it very convenient (although a bit noisy at times in our room - okay it was a lot noisy at times in our rooms!) However, the motel was neat in that it was named for the "Bucket Tree" in the yard - one of New Zealand's protected, historic trees. This one, even though it looks like one tree, was at one time multiple cypress trees planted together. The result now is a gigantic tree and the "officials" keep the tree pruned so it looks like a giant inverted bucket. There were three cars, including ours, parked under it with room for more. A really magnificent tree.

Anyway, windy Wellington (very windy!) is charming. We spent most of the day in the Te Papa Museum, the country's national museum. Very unique both in terms of the building and the exhibits. They make an effort to display and educate on all things uniquely New Zealand. We were won over immediately by the sculpture display on the 6th floor which included a 1962 VW van (steering wheel on the right side of course) pulling a Westphalia camper. It wasn't Tillie's yellow but the nice green you see.

Today we've been traveling north to spend the night in Strafford underneath a volcano that hasn't erupted in 350 years which means it's long overdue to blow again. No one seems concerned so we aren't either. It does put us in easy driving distance of where the John's want to go fishing tomorrow. Judy & I have already decided we'd rather do laundry!

On to the north island...

For the first time since the first day we arrived we had rain which is good for NZ as many parts of the country are under a drought. The two John's once again came up with no fish so we relied once again on lamb for dinner. Judy & I went with them to take pictures but ended up never leaving the car and even then, we killed hundreds of sand flies that managed to enter with the doors were open. Sand flies are a bit like black flies and are AWFUL and bite!!! If you heard about two women going crazy in NZ in a car, that might have been us. We were semi-hysterical by the time the guys returned (they took the bug repellent with them...) Okay, I did find one photo of the guys (or should I say blokes) leaving the river they were fishing on after we left the lake. For some reason all the sand flies seem to have been at the lake and we weren't bothered by them here. (Of course the fish weren't bothered by the John's flies either...)

This morning we went to a wonderful farmer's market before coming to the ferry terminal. Fresh organic omelets, fresh fruit crepes, breakfast sandwiches with great bacon & veggies. And we loaded up on fresh fruits & veggies for the trip north. The produce down here has been
GREAT!!!

Still moving north...

You will be relieved to know we can now eat a kiwi properly... slice it in half around the middle (not stem to end), then scoop out pieces with a small spoon and eat it. Much, much easier and neater than peeling it.

We spent yesterday in Hanmer (spelled correctly I might add) Springs, home of thermal springs for the south island. It also has, as does everyplace in NZ, any number of walks & trails to take. Judy & I had our picture taken at the top of the hill on the edge of town just as proof that we actually made it to the top (a walk steeper and longer than we had envisioned!). Of course a good walk also gives you an excuse to "take the baths" and, if you're like Judy, enjoy one of their massages (it's a wonder we were able to peel her off the table once it was over, she was so relaxed!) We are all, of course, completely rejuvenated!). The town runs the baths and they do a very good job of it with several different soaking pools of different temperatures and different levels of minerals. We did most of them and John even joined the kids in the water slide portion (now we know where to send him every few years for a "redo").

Today we stopped at New Zealand's longest swinging foot bridge. I'm the one that's afraid of heights but this didn't bother me at all, I guess because the wire rope hand holds on either side were plenty study. John, however, was petrified and almost didn't do it. He's such a card that the rest of us had a hard time taking him seriously. (It took a couple of beers at the local hotel to set him right again!) I was even up for taking the chair swing back across the gorge (look to the right of the bridge in the photo to see someone just starting across) but $20 for a 15 second ride was too steep for my blood plus there was a 50/50 chance we might have to carry John back across....

Back on terra firma the John's are gearing up to do a bit more trout fishing. We'll see if we eat tonight or not...

Traveling north...

Good news for Karol... haggis does exist in Dunedin (although we chose NOT to imbibe!). And one brewery makes a type of beer named Brewski ( KK thought he had dibs on that name....) And there's always the statue of Robert Burns ("head" pigeon is optional...)

We had hoped to see Royal Albatross (BIG birds - they stand almost 4 feet high with wing spans up to 9 or 10 feet) but the winds weren't blowing well and apparently they need a LOT of wind to get airborne. However, we did see plenty of sea lions, enjoyed the beautiful coastal drive shared with an antique Jaguar group, all driving their cars with the hoods down. The road is probably narrower than it looks, hugging the shore for several miles without guardrails (not for the faint of heart...)

Yesterday we stopped for lunch at the Criterion Hotel, a very old pub in Oamuri and wandered around their wool district. Most of NZ's wool goes to China (doesn't everything?). The photo shows one of their wool warehouses and you can just make out the bales of wool through the doorway.

Last night we were in Timaru, a large port city. We were not all that impressed until we went for our evening walk and happened upon their croquet club (one of 3 clubs they have). Two of their members were having a round of croquet golf and invited us to watch. Looked like fun so perhaps we need to do a bit of leveling to our lawn back home so we can "give it a go".

Our friends Paul & Inez had highly recommended we take in the Pegasus Bay Winery for lunch so, closing our eyes to the prices today, we munched our way though the most enjoyable lunch we've had so far sitting at a table on their lawn on a beautiful day and enjoying a bottle of wine.

Springing along...

One cannot go to Queenstown without at least going to look at where bungy jumping started and watch a few of those crazy folks continuing the tradition. If fear of heights doesn't stop you then perhaps the tariff ($160 per jump) will. We watched 3 people (all women, all young whatever that means) jump. Another young woman jumped holding as tight as anyone could to her male tour leader. And another young woman chickened out (she did more than I would have done just by standing up on that bridge on the ledge). It was exciting to watch I must say.

On to beautiful Te Anau where we stayed on a lake for two nights so we could take a day cruise on the fiords at Milford Sound. If you take the word spectacular and notch it up ten fold it doesn't begin to describe the beauty of the sound. We were lucky as they were in a drought (their 8th day without rain - it rains about 190 days out of the year) and just had a pleasant cloudy day. Straight ahead in the photo is the small town of Milford Sound with it's own small airport. We were in awe of the pilots who were able to fly between the mountains and land their planes!

Driving out of their rugged, rain forest area we went the scenic route (not that everything in this country isn't scenic!) to flat Invercargil (where we had tried to get on a Habitat build but they already had enough volunteers by the time we called). This is the house the volunteers worked on - good job!

The tourist books don't give very high marks to the city but we found it delightful. It's filled with parks and their Queens Park in the heart of the city is fantastic complete with all sorts of gardens (the roses are spectacular right now), an honest to goodness croquet court, and even a small animal park for children. The kids were quite impressed with how much John could sound like a pig.

Leaving there we again took the scenic route along the coast through the Caitland area. For this trip, it's as far south as we will go (or have ever gone in our lives). Many of the settlers here (there still aren't many) were from Scotland. And you can see why since it looks very much like Scotland with great hills and pastures filled with sheep going down to the sea. They seemed to have forgotten how to make haggis (perhaps a good thing) since it doesn't appear on any menus.

We're now in Dunedin for the day before heading north along the eastern coast. Again we seem to very lucky in avoiding the rain!