Temporarily Hinds

In eight days, I will cease to be Heather Hinds. My surname will change and I will be Heather Dunlap. That's what makes this photo so very timely and important:

I suppose we have to find a place called Dunlap next. 

This morning, Cas and I boarded a bus with our group and left Christchurch very early. We drove to Queenstown. Along the way, we stopped at a spot called The Tin Shed where we purchased a few wool items. It was a very cute little place along the road.

In addition to that, we stopped at Mrs. Jones' fruit stand. There was a table set up where we could taste some of the fruit, and after tasting it, we chose a few pieces to bring to the hotel with us.

As we drove along, we were looking at some beautiful scenery. We drove through or past a lot of the Southern Alps, and our bus driver Ethan had an awful lot to say about them. In fact, he had an awful lot to say about most things. By the end of the trip, we understood his views on guns, politics, cigarette smoking, good wines versus bad wines and the proper shearing of sheep, treatment of livestock, and irrigation of crops. 

The young man had an awful lot of opinions. He had a dry and slightly bitter sense of humor, but he was entertaining to listen to. 

From what I could tell by listening to Ethan, the rivalry between Australians and people from New Zealand is very similar to the way Texans view folks from Oklahoma. Sure, there is a lot of common ground, but that doesn't mean we don't mock one another.

Lucky for me, I don't have to take sides. I only have to appreciate this view: 

 

When we got to Queenstown, we took a quick bus tour of the city. It isn't very large, but the traffic was more than I think most folks from New Zealand can tolerate. 

We checked into our hotel, then Cas and I went for a walk. Along the way, we found a boat called Perky's that was permanently docked at the shore and operated as a fully functioning bar. Challenge accepted. We boarded the bar and each enjoyed a glass of hot mulled wine, vowing to return after dinner.

From there, we made it to an Irish pub that featured some pretty good food. There was a venison appetizer, the likes of which I had never eaten before. We followed that up with some hearty main courses. I had an Irish stew, and he had a seafood chowder. Of course, we had a few beers. Duh.

On the way back to the hotel, true to our word, we stopped at Perky's for a glass of mulled wine. That got us here just in time to do a little bit of laundry. We only packed enough clothing for half of the trip. We were hoping to find somewhere along the way to wash things. It has saved us the backbreaking trouble of carrying everything we own in addition to saving us an excess baggage fee.

Tomorrow, we are supposed to take a gondola, go to a wine tasting and take a lake dinner cruise in the evening. This vacation seems to feature something fantastic every day. Even today, we spent hours on a bus, but it was still interesting.

It's just about time to check on our laundry. That seems so dull after the time we've had thus far, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

I'm off to the dryer. Good night.