The Road

The posted speed limit in New Zealand most places is 100 kmph.  The about the equivalent of the standard US 65 mph, but rarely have we been able to maintain such a speed.  Here are the things that slow us down.

1)  Elevation and curves.  I've been grateful for my training at Chicago Indoor Racing for the hairpin turns we frequently find ourselves careening around.  I swear some of them are tighter than the switchbacks going up the McKinnon Pass on the Milford Track.

2)  Azaleas.  A few days ago we kept marveling at the brilliant pink and red flowers we were seeing.  We pulled over to photograph one such bush.  I was startled out of the viewfinder by a friendly gentleman.  I asked him what the beautiful bush was that we were looking at.  His response:  "It's an Azalea.  We've got 142 of them back in our garden.  Do you want to have a look?"  He and his wife walked us around their magnificent little paradise with flowering trees and bushes everywhere.  Three fish ponds, one with a bridge that he built, but she won't walk on, round out the garden.  They had no sign or anthing else to attract visitors, but when we signed the guestbook there had been a steady stream of 5-10 people a week who go through their garden.  Drawn only by the flora itself.

3)  Greenstone.  We pulled off in Ross the other day just to stretch our legs and get a drink.  We stepped into the little studio of a jade craftsman.  (We had to ring the bell to get in).  We browsed his shop as he worked, then he brought out some of his masterpieces for us of have a look.  The chef d'overe of this master's work was a piece he called the tree of life.  It was a garden of Eden inspired 3 dimensional carving with multiple layers of work.  We bought a bit of smaller Jade pieces from him.  When it came time to pay, he couldn't take a credit card directly, but instead handed me a deposit slip.  We stopped at the next major town, got cash from an ATM and deposited in his account.  This still baffles me.  I don't even think the guy ever got our name.  He just trusted us to make the payment at our leisure.

4) Seals.  This morning we came across a big orange sign with picture of a sea lion on it.  Sea Lions, in the road?   Sure enough all along the next couple of miles of pacific coast road sea lion were hauled out on the rocks or swimming around just offshore.  I never actually saw one ON the road, but we had to pull off so that I would stop running off the road looking at them.

It is these unexpected little things that really make a trip memorable.  I'm so thankful for them when they pop up on us!