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Meghan's Trip
Hey everyone, this might be a long journal entry. I have been fairly busy over the past few days. The rugby game was great! Those guys are massive. I went with Stewart's sister-in-law and her little boys (Mitchell 5 & Mathew 8). They explained to me how the game worked, I caught right on and was yelling out with crowd at bad calls by the end. Saturday morning I had to leave Mrs. Hay's house. I sure do miss how well she took care of me. She kept me well fed and washed my clothes. Kiwis sure do take good care of their guests. Dodgie 1, you will appreciate this, I ran into some ladies in the Botanical Gardens in Christchurch the other day. They asked me to take a picture of them and then we got talking while they had their picnic in the park. Anyway, one of the ladies is a teacher at Bond Univerisity in Australia! Too funny, it seems like such a small world sometimes.
I drove on down the east coast on Saturday reminding myself everytime I got back into my car to stay left! I decided to take a detour to the Alps for a day. I drove to Lake Tekapo. It was beautiful! The lake itself is a bright blue color and the backdrop is the snow capped Southern Alps. It was a nice day at first but then it began to rain late in the afternoon. Not goode since I was camping for the first time and I had developed a bad cold in Christchurch. Lake Tekapo is known for having some of the darkest skys in New Zealand and they have night tours of the observatory on the top of the mountains. I really wanted to go because that sort of stuff interests me, however it rained all night. My tent didn't hold up too well, I got a bit of water in it because I picked a bad spot to put it up. So, at 5 in the morning I jumped into the back of my car. Of course at that time of the night it was finally clear out so I did get to see the stars briefly. Not a great first night of camping, but i guess that is all part of the experience. Woke up early and headed down the coast again. It was a wonderful drive. I saw such beautiful scenery. The ocean on my left and the Southern Alps on my right. I wanted to stop every 5 minutes to take pictures. I went through some quaint little coastal towns along the way. Then I arrived at Moeraki. The Moeraki boulders were amazing. These huge stones that are round shaped washed up on the shorline. There is some ancient stories about them told by the Maories. I found a great camping ground in the Moeraki Village and put up my tent to dry out from the night before. The grounds even had a hair dryer in the restroom, made me real happy this morning. Anyway, I drove out to Shag point and saw the seals. Then to the lighthouse where I hiked around and saw the yellow-eyed penguins. They were so cute. There was a funny sign hanging up at the viewing area that I thought I would share with you.
YELLOW EYED PENGUINS
SWEET PEA (OLD LADY OF THE COLONY) AND DIESEL d*** HAVE BEEN TOGETHER FOR 16 YEARS AND HAVE 31 CHILDREN- NEW ZEALAND'S SUPER PENGUINS
Well, afterwards I was going to head to the only pub in town for some food and a beer with Inch. Oh, I forgot to mention that I stopped on the way down for some fish & chips at the place that had award-winning fish & chips. It was great! I met a farmer from Moeraki there who invited me to the pub to meet some of the locals. Nice man. However, I didnt make it because I met Eric and Jean a lovely elderly couple at the campgrounds. We got to talking and they invited me over for tea (dinner) at their campervan. I ended up staying for 5 hours and had such great conversations. Eric and Jean are 73 and have travelled the world many times over. They had such wonderful stories. We also discussed world issues, sports, our families, etc. We talked and talked all night. At the end I head straight to sleep in my tent. It was a great day. Now I am sitting in an internet cafe in Dunedin on the east coast. Not sure what I will do today. I woke up late and had coffee with Eric and Jean before I left Moeraki. I really enjoyed that village, it reminded me so much of the small coastal towns in Maine.
Thanks everyone for my messages on the website. I love hearing from you. It has been a great few days, but I have had a horrible cold and it makes it difficult traveling. I appreciate your love and support. I miss everyone.
Last note, I was driving around yesterday and heard this great song by a lady named Corrin Bailey Ray (I think, the NZ accent was a bit strong). The lyrics were great background music for the trip.
Girl put your records on
tell me your favorite song.
Go ahead and let your hair down.
Sapphire and faded jeans,
I hope your get your dreams.
Go ahead and let your hair down.
When are you going to realize you don't have to try so hard.
You're going to find your self somewhere, somehow.
(I am trying to get my photos up for everyone to see but I have had a lot of trouble getting them downloaded. I am really frustrated right now, but hopefully i can get it worked out.)
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