3. Heading North (but still, south NZ)

If you’ve missed the first installment, here it is
A link to the second.
And I’m just going to jump right in:

January 11th

Kathleen, the kiwi hitchhiker in front of a “famous” scene.

Followed (quickly) by Benedict, the french hitchhiker, who was boring.
And a Shot Over River jet boat, which was anticlimactic. Modern day gold miners, who we appreciated.  And Bungee jumpers, who were mesmorizing.  No ghost town for us, we needed a 4 wheel drive to get there.

And then, THE LAVENDER FARM.  Does this stop deserve it’s own post? Yes.  Will it get one? Nope. Resolutions, remember?  Here are some photos.

Not pictured: Lavender ice cream!

Knocking on heaven’s door.

The best my feet smelled all month.

I must pet you.

I was absolutely taken with this farm; it was the most beautiful one I’ve ever been on (that’s a note for myself, for the superlative blog).  There were farm animals, an al-blacka, bees to make honey, bees to accidentally step on, a shop with good smells, and a gorgeous lavender tractor. 

This farm was the GOAT.

After that, we headed to…

#thatwanakatree

Cinema Paradiso, which was sold out.  Thus, we went…

camping nearby.

January 12th

Pesky duck, but I do need friends.

Puzzle world, bringing us optical illusions, a maze, and this AWESOME challenge:  

Psychics — We challenge you to find two halves of a promissory note hidden within 100 meters of this point.  Follow the rules, find the two halves, and the $100,000 is yours! Since 1994 seven challengers (5 psychics, 1 Diviner, and 1 devout Christian) have tried and failed.

The Great Maze: It took us 44 minutes to complete, including, a period of frustration by the green tower.

Followed by this long, GORGEOUS drive.  Ever seen a beach with no penguins on it?  So have we. 

Not all lunch spots are created equal.

The hike to Fox Glacier got canceled, due to global warming. And our long hike tomorrow?  Because of that? It was also canceled.  (At this point, we weren’t bummed to miss a long hike, eh Rae?).

Our chef cooks dinner with each of our favorite tuna cans. Mine: Thai spicy chili, with an actual chill to toss.

Yes, we did have a “chilly” bin, but it was weather dependent.  For dessert, I had 2 bags of seaweed and dry oats, which wasn’t the weirdest combination of the night, that award went to spoonfuls of peanut butter followed by seaweed 🙂   It was a nice campsite.  There was an option to shower that we didn’t use.  At night, I counted the wakes until I saw Collin (20).

In sheep we trust,
‘mi