Taste the Rainbow – 07 January 2008

Wow! What a surprising morning today was. The first surprise was Hayley got up before me which rarely happens. Second, when I opened the drapes to check the weather conditions outside over what portrayed the “Plains of Rohan” there was a faint rainbow. The third surprise came when we went upstairs for breakfast and finally met our host. The stairwell was lined with framed photos of people in their Lord of the Rings costumes. Over breakfast our host told us how her husband Lester, her son Paul, her daughter-in-law Penny (Paul’s wife), and five of their horses all acted in the LOTR trilogy. Lester and Paul were Riders of Rohan while Penny was an Orc. Lester, being tall and having been a rodeo rider in the past, also was a stand-in for some of the taller actors. And finally, the last big surprise to the LOTR fans, particularly Hayley, was to find out that Gandalf could not ride a horse. Hayley was saddened by this news. Our host continued to tell us more LOTR stories, including how some of the 30,000 acres they used to own just over the rise in their backyard a kilometer away was used for the Battle of Rohan.
Following our morning of wonderful inside scoop on LOTR we hit the road for Methven, our next LOTR adventure. Stopping just a few kilometers up the road from Twizel we checked out the would-be view of Mt. Cook/Aoraki at the other end of Lake Pukaki in the gift shop on a postcard because our real view was clouded over at the other end of the lake. In fact, if you did not know Mt. Cook/Aoraki was there you would not know it existed. Fortunately for us, the icy blue glacial water of Lake Pukaki was highlighted by the sun in the foreground. Before we departed we satisfied a sweet tooth craving with a raspberry ice slushy for Hayley and a cola one for me.
Back on the road for about an hour Hayley dosed back off to sleep while I checked off kilometer after kilometer of more beautiful scenery; traversing over mountain passes, through tree lined farm land and along lake and river shores. I woke Hayley when I parked at a place called The Tin Shed, home to natural New Zealand products. We did a little bit of browsing and shopping here with a five percent discount voucher we received from our host this morning. One thing we picked up was a bag of some delicious jelly beans in support of the Children’s Cancer Association. As we continued on our way our taste buds danced to the delightful flavors of the jelly beans.
Crossing the bridge into Ashburton we stopped to visit some friends of our Queenstown hosts at the Bernina Sewing Center. Here we picked up some fabric and scrapbooking materials. We mentioned we were sent by Neil at the Coronet View in Queenstown. She was happy to hear he and his wife were doing well and said she needed to make a trip up to visit them.
After having a quick bite to eat we set out again. With a slight wrong turn and twenty kilometers out of the way and back we were on track for Methven. Arriving at the Bendale Farm Bed & Breakfast we unloaded the car and relaxed. Our hosts, Jean and Michael, provided us with a bottle of Sparkling Rose on ice to congratulate us on our honeymoon. Jean also corresponded for us with our homestay family for tomorrow night, confirming our estimated arrival time and directions to their location. While discussing the beautiful weather we had been having I joked how the thirty-plus degrees we had been having the past three days was far different than the thirty-plus degrees back home in the States. Talking with Jean reminded me of my Grammy Gee, except Jean is not a Red Sox fan, she’s a big rugby fan.
With an early dinner we retired to our room, drank the Sparkling Rose and watched some television before journaling, reading and ipoding. In other words, we have been taking it easy.
Cheers,
Bob and Hayley