We have just spent a week with Jeff and Sheila and it was
been fabulous. Within the first twenty
four hours of chatting about their adventures it became very obvious that they definitely
need to write a blog! Perhaps one of my favourite
little snippets was the story of the mobile phones. Jeff and Sheila packed six mobile phones with
them to take to Sri Lanka. During their
first night in Singapore one of the six mobile phone’s alarms went off at 2am. Jeff managed to locate the suitcase inside
which was a carrier bag, inside the carrier bag there were six phones all
attached to their chargers- spaghetti junction! Jeff had to remove all the
batteries to stop the alarm, after which he duck taped the batteries to the
phones (duck tape is an essential when travelling). If this wasn’t hilarious enough Jeff then
explains how Sheila had also ‘planted’ her luggage bag directly in his path
back to bed nearly resulting in his
demise. Excellent! (I think we got the censored
version)
We stayed around Grey for the first weekend, visiting Pancake
Rocks at Punakaiki and generally drinking wine, swapping stories and enjoying
each other’s company. On Monday we set
off for Nelson. We had been telling Jeff
and Sheila how wonderful Grey is and how beautiful the weather had been since
we arrived in November. As if to prove
us wrong, Monday greeted us with torrential rain. The sort of rain where the drops are so big
that you are soaked in seconds and even with wipers on full speed you struggle
to see. Great. Perhaps I should mention
now that it was my job to book the first two nights’ accommodation at the edge
of the Abel Tasman National Park. I
thought I had been really clever booking The Hairy Hobbit Eco Cottage. A sweet little Bach high above the town with
incredible views..... and an outside toilet.
As the rain pounded our car on the journey toward the Hairy Hobbit House
it occurred to me that this was either going to be a great adventure, or an
epic fail! |
| Greymouth beach |
 |
| Blow holes at Pancake rocks |
To my relief the rain stopped just as we reached our
destination. Dan was feeling sick (lots
of windy roads and tired post nights) so I took over driving. The Hairy Hobbit Cottage directions took us
off the main road up a windy gravel track which ended with the steepest hundred
meter drive I have ever seen- not for the faint hearted. Dan drove the last bit.
The moment of truth came as we turned into the cottage
drive... Stunning, absolutely beautiful; views for miles
over the fruit fields and out to sea with a backdrop of mountains. This was a good start which was enhanced by the
discovery of a fabulous veranda with swinging chairs, a wonderful little
kitchen with log burner and a bedroom with an interesting, but comfortable,
sleeping arrangement.
That night we played yatzee and retired to bed early. Dan and I had to climb up a ladder in the bedroom
to sleep on mattresses mounted high on a platform. Despite there being two male Wattleys in the
room no one snored and the night went without a hitch.
The next day we caught a boat to Tonga Quary in The Abel Tasman
National Park where we all walked for the first two hours and then Sheila and I
left the boys to hike another four hours to their hut in the park where they
would spend the night. Meanwhile we went back to the Hairy Hobbit
house where we drank tea, then wine, ate avocado and chocolate and had baths in
the outside bath. The outside bath was
amazing! This was literally a hot bath,
with bubbles, under the stars looking out at the distant lights of Motueka and
Nelson. Sheila was a little unsure initially
but ended up the ultimate adventurer having a ‘proper’ outside bath (I had worn
a bikini). So proud of her!
The following day we met the boys as they walked out of the
national park. The meeting was faultless
in its timing. I was just showing Sheila
where the boys would exit the park as they came striding round the corner. Over the next day striding turned to limping
as they recovered from their 32km adventure.
We then set off towards the bed and breakfast we had booked
for the next two nights. Before we left
the UK we were put in contact with Buzz and Bebe, who had been at our church
but moved to Nelson two years ago to set up a bed and breakfast. As we arrived at their house all the aches
from the walking evaporated as we saw our incredible rooms, each beautifully
created and dressed with wonderful clean clear colours. The beauty inside the house was exceeded by
the views from the balcony, miles of glistening sea which flowed into an estuary
walled by a long spit creating an ever changing scenery as the tide moved in
and out and all this framed by the Able Tasman Park with its peaks in the background.
That evening we went for dinner in Nelson. I ordered a gluten free pizza (I am now being
very good with this diet) and Dan, Jeff and Sheila all ordered dinners which
required consumer participation in the cooking.
As their dinners were brought out
from the kitchen they sizzled as a hot rock, which was the plate for their
meat, cooked the raw hunks of meat which sat on top. The idea is that you cook your meat on the
rock to the exact specification you require.
Dan had beef, lamb... and chicken.
Those of you who know me well can probably imagine my feelings about the
raw chicken on his plate- EEEEEEEEK. I
was once nicknamed detox girl by my friend Rachel Maddock, after using half a
bottle of cleaning product in one raw chicken preparation session! Although
I am improving it still produces anxiety when I see raw chicken. My brother in law Ben was preparing a curry
for the family during their summer vacation at our house and I practically
followed him round the kitchen with detox making sure he didn’t contaminate anything,
especially my spices!! I nearly died
when he wanted to leave the chicken on the work top marinating all day because
the fridge was full. Needless to say I
made room in the fridge! The
psychiatrist in me has decided to name this condition ‘Aldous chicken fear’, as
it seems I have inherited this from my mum, yet somehow it has been magnified during
its inheritance to me. Anyway, I was distracted
from my Aldous chicken fear as I watched Dan trying to coordinate his
food. In front of him were three types
of meat, all cooking away, a bowl of chips to the right and salad to the left
not to mention a pot of béarnaise sauce.
Bringing this meal to fruition required intense concentration as Dan
turned his meat, removed the chicken so as not to overcook it, sliced the lamb,
passed chips across the plate and dropped salad onto the sizzling rock. The whole meal was a great success and I
consider the experience therapy for my Aldous chicken fear!
The following day was another day of culinary delights as we
wine tasted at a local winery whilst sharing a platter of scrummy food and then
went to the Boat Shed for dinner. This was
no ordinary dinner was we ordered ‘Trust the Chef’. This means you get multiple small dishes
allowing you a taste of all the wonders they are cooking. We had eight courses and the boys managed
deserts too! I will add a list of the
food we ate for those interested. The amazing thing was that we all felt we had
tasted amazing food, had a wonderful evening and none of us felt sick!
We returned from the north via Buller Gorge where Dan and I
did a tandem zip line across the river and spent the weekend relaxing.
Dan and I are now about to go back to work and Jeff and
Sheila continue on their adventures with another four weeks in NZ before they
fly home via America.
Hope everyone in the UK is doing well.
Much love
Sarah x
