Today we walked…. and walked…..

The retired travel and lifestyle adventures continue……  Today was the last of our three days in  Queenstown;  after having explored a lot of the shops yesterday we decided to get out of town and go for a hike.  As it turns out, a long hike….. almost 20 km, exposed to the sun and heat with very little shade and a dismally dwindled water supply.  But, we had delicious sandwiches, met some interesting people (including a couple who were re-dating after marrying and divorcing over 30 years ago- isn’t that wild??) and a three generation cycling family of 7 (with a grandma terrified to go over a suspension bridge and wouldn’t even step on it until everyone else cleared off).  We passed by an alpaca (or llamas??) pasture where we stopped to interact and then later a group of goats where we could conveniently buy food to feed them.  Probably the best fed goats on the Island as it seemed all the hikers and cyclists stopped to do the same thing.  And we paused to watch people bungee jumping into a beautiful, small river.  And seriously, who thinks this Is fun??  And who pays to do it??  It really defies my comprehension that people pay to strap a band to their ankle and jump off a platform.  Like watching a wreck I was mesmerized and stood watching several people take flight before moving on…..

There’s a big outdoor market here on Saturday mornings so our mission is to be there when it opens at 9 and do a good browse to see what we can’t live without before moving on to the mountains.  I won’t have any internet service the 3 nights we are there but heads up, I am working on the next installment of dating stories- The Mine Captain.  😊

Best newly discovered food is the Cadbury mint bar- tastes a lot like a peppermint patty which I happen to like.  And there’s something about the mint that can make one think it’s sort of medicinal and therefore good for you.  See how easily I can justify sugar consumption??

There’s a rugby game on here tonight.  It is quite a thing in this culture; it seems like the whole town has come out to watch.  And many people were quite dressed up to attend which I found surprising.  The chain link fence is blocked off all the way around so there is no way to sneak a free peak to see what is going on.  I think it would have been fun to attend as a cultural experience but we were just too late in finding out about the match to get ourselves organized to go.   Getting showered and scrubbing off the layers of sunscreen and imbedded dust and washing all our clothes somehow took priority.

Hope this finds everyone enjoying a good weekend, a long weekend for many of my Canadian Friends.  Extra special.  I always really looked forward to the extra day off when I was working, even when I really enjoyed work. 

From a sweet little house in Queenstown, xo