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| Entering Nelson/Richmond district |
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| Tasman Bay |
Randi and I traversed the wilds of New Zealand, going from Blenheim to where she and Jim used to live, Mapua, a village on what is call the sunshine coast...it was, sunshiny, that is. But first there were 110 km of steep, windy, precipicey(is that even a word?) road to travel. Good news, Randi did not get carsick, but then again, she was driving.
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| Pohutukawa |
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A tui--the spot on his shoulder is sun.
Those are feathers on his neck |
After stopping in Nelson (for quilting material), then Richmond for lunch, we visited the village of Mapua. Very pretty site, on an estuary, with wonderfully colored water all around. Visited the wharf, went for a short walk to see tui, a very large honeyeater endemic to New Zealand, as well as, finally, a puhutukawa, the New Zealand Christmas Tree, a member of the myrtle family.
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| Yes, I fed an eel |
From there we went a little further down the road west and ended up at a restaurant/pub named The Jester. The reason for this was a Kiwi "experience," feeding eels. Interesting, as I had never seen an
eel alive before--they are as slimy feeling as everyone thinks a snake is. Now I can say "I fed an eel."
Finally, before the trek back over the mountains, we went to a museum named WOW. This stands for World of Wearable art, and has costumes made of about anything you can make art out of. Interesting use of fibers.
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THE Ring
At the WOW Museum |
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| More art at The Jester |
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| Art at The Jester |
Sorry everything is so messed up tonight, but I couldn't get the pictures to move around properly, plus I'm tired.
Now you can cross "feeding eels" off your list - if it was on your list anyway. Really enjoying your travels.
ReplyDeleteSo... that's one of the 15 rings made as props for the LOTR movies?? It looks gigantic.
ReplyDeleteIt is VERY large, and they put the writing in using tech stuff, and did other stuff so it would appear small. I took a pic of the info that was presented with it which you can see when I get home. How did you like the "Big Bang"
ReplyDeleteLooks like hwy 6 you drove over the hills is placed on tops of all ridges...car sick indeed!
ReplyDelete