November
4, Sunday
Just outside Dunedin, a nice divided highway
that quickly changed to a regular road, but the beautiful rolling hills provided miles of vistas.
And it was a beautiful sunny day, with all shades of green and blue
Arriving in Gore, must be famous for its fishing.
Since it was Sunday and I hadn’t eaten a good meal in quite while, I decided to stop in the small town of Gore where I found a nice restaurant open and filled with locals. I was hoping to get some nice roast beef, but the specials for the day were roast pork or roast….. lamb !
I felt like I was the BIG BAD WOLF, but I ordered the lamb…. And it was SO GOOD; the most tender meat I’ve eaten in ages... Maybe ever!
The road continued to provide beautiful changing sights.
And the snow capped mountains got closer and closer
It was only about one hour more to Te Anau on highway 94 and the fields were still filled with sheep, cows and deer.
Yes, deer. I found out that they raise them and sell the meat to Asia and, of all places, Germany.
Living room
Main beedroom
and kitchenette. That little blue cooler has helped me keep beverages and butter nice and cool with the ice packs.
My room at the motel is actually a small two bedroom apartment (one with a queen size bed and the other with two bunk beds. The living room has two small sofa beds as well as a tiny table with two chairs. The kitchenette was also tiny, but functional.
Drove from Dunedin to Te Anau, only about 290 km, but a
beautiful drive first along Highway 1 to Balclutha and then west across the tip
of the South Island to the town of Gore.
It is a beautiful sunny day. A
lot of sheep in the fields and since it is spring A LOT OF LITTLE LAMBS. They are so cute. I even saw some jumping straight up into the
air, just like in the cartoons. Some were tiny new born babies but
others were almost the size of their mothers.
Lots of twins and even some triplets; they are easy to spot since they
stick close to mama and don’t wander off very far.
that quickly changed to a regular road, but the beautiful rolling hills provided miles of vistas.
And it was a beautiful sunny day, with all shades of green and blue
Arriving in Gore, must be famous for its fishing.
Since it was Sunday and I hadn’t eaten a good meal in quite while, I decided to stop in the small town of Gore where I found a nice restaurant open and filled with locals. I was hoping to get some nice roast beef, but the specials for the day were roast pork or roast….. lamb !
I felt like I was the BIG BAD WOLF, but I ordered the lamb…. And it was SO GOOD; the most tender meat I’ve eaten in ages... Maybe ever!
The road continued to provide beautiful changing sights.
And the snow capped mountains got closer and closer
It was only about one hour more to Te Anau on highway 94 and the fields were still filled with sheep, cows and deer.
Yes, deer. I found out that they raise them and sell the meat to Asia and, of all places, Germany.
Listened to the radio a lot today and can’t help but
laugh at the Kiwi accent, but I have to hurry and say it’s not all kiwis who
use this pronunciation. It’s not a
bedroom, it’s a beed-room. It’s not
seven, it’s see-ven. There were a few other words I’ll try to remember and add in my
notes. I do take pictures while I drive,
but you will be happy to know that I don’t try to jot down notes.
As I near Te Anau and the surrounding mountains, the
clouds get heavier and darker.
I found the Anchorage Motel very easily since Te Anau is
just a small town. The manager at the
motel wasn’t the most talkative and seemed a bit dour, but he did help me with
my tourist tours, explaining about a few things I could do the next day on my
own and arrange for my tour to Milford Sound the following day. 
Living room
Main beedroom
and kitchenette. That little blue cooler has helped me keep beverages and butter nice and cool with the ice packs.
My room at the motel is actually a small two bedroom apartment (one with a queen size bed and the other with two bunk beds. The living room has two small sofa beds as well as a tiny table with two chairs. The kitchenette was also tiny, but functional.
During the evening I heard fireworks. Turns out it is Guy Fawkes day. Who was Guy Fawkes? All bomb techs know. He is the man who tried to blow up the London
Parliament Buildings in 1605. When I
worked at the Canadian Police College, I found out about him because the bomb
guys used his identity as a kind of mascot.
“Guy Fawkes was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder
Plot of 1605. They planned
to assassinate King James I and restore a Catholic monarch to the throne. The
plotters secured the lease to an undercroft beneath the House
of Lords, and Fawkes was
placed in charge of the gunpowder they stockpiled there. Prompted by the receipt of an
anonymous letter, the authorities searched Westminster Palace during the early hours of 5 November, and found Fawkes
guarding the explosives. Over the next few days, he was questioned and
tortured, and eventually he broke. Immediately before his execution on 31
January, Fawkes jumped from the scaffold where he was to be hanged and broke
his neck, thus avoiding the agony of the mutilation that followed. Fawkes became synonymous with the
Gunpowder Plot, the failure of which has been commemorated in England since 5
November 1605. His effigy is traditionally burned on a bonfire, commonly
accompanied by a firework display.”
It was a Church of England thing to begin with, now it’s
just an excuse to party and have a great big bonfire. And yes, I know, it’s only November 4rth, but
tomorrow is a Monday so I guess they celebrate on the nearest weekend night.
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