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We say our farewell to New Zealand with a sumptuous meal at the Hermitage, Mt. Cook and next morning journey on to Christchurch airport, 250 miles away. As we drive along the winding roads through many valleys and over countless mountains and pass the sheep stations, we can't leave the country without mentioning the possum. Yes, we mean the furry little creature like a stoat or a ferret. They are everywhere on North and South Island—both alive and dead (on the roads). We have learned that in this country, possums are vilified and regarded as an extreme pest (along with rabbits, stoats, ferrets and feral cats). The story goes that one of New Zealand's Victorian European forefathers had the smart idea of introducing possums from Australia to encourage the fur trade. Little did they anticipate what followed. Up to that time, New Zealand had no four legged mammals (other than introduced sheep and cows), just many species of flightless birds, which of course are by definition ground nesting. The possum was in heaven - eggs for breakfast every day! So today they have a population of an estimated 17 million possums and virtually no flightless birds, with the exception of the kiwi, who can now only be found in zoos and sanctuaries, and on remote islands (eg Stewart Island).
The New Zealander, however, being inventive and practical, has developed another industry to take advantage of the immense supply of these varmints. It appears that possum fur, when combined with merino wool, produces an incredibly soft and warm product to be found nowhere else in the world. Glenna availed herself of several possum/merino garments when we happened to pass a shop. Full disclosure, I also made a few purchases. We'll be nice and warm next winter…
We got to Christchurch well in time to catch our flight, having fortunately observed very little evidence of an earthquake in the airport area which is to the west of Christchurch, so that side of the city was mercifully spared.
Farewell New Zealand……………..we will return…….someday!
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