Queenstown

Sunday, March 4, 2000:  Queenstown

We joined Gerald and Mary for a late breakfast in their home.  Mary and Margaret reminisced about the old days around this farm.  Mary confided in me that she had been diagnosed with cancer.  I told her I was a cancer survivor and she will be, too.

I asked Mary what their farm produced.  She answered hesitantly, “We make….products.”

“What kind of products?”

“We take the oils from the wool (lanolin) and sell it for beauty products like lotions.”

“Do you have any here for sale?”

“No, it’s sold in town, at Marina Wool. I’ll call them to tell them you’ll stop by and I’ll tell them to give you a discount.”

After much hugs and thanks, we left for Queenstown.

Marina Wool is a store in the little town of Tarras, found on our way to Queenstown.  We stopped to buy some lanolin products.  We were given a 10% discount.

We also stopped in Cromwell because it had a cool sign with giant fruit.  We stopped at the Cromwell Shopping Center for award-winning fish and chips and found sheepskin on sale for $50 NZ  per fleece.  We each bought one for our homes.

Once in Queenstown, we visited the Kiwi Bird Life Park to see kiwis.  The park is very small.  The main draw is the kiwi exhibit.  It’s a separate building with “natural” habitat display.  Two of the four walls were ceiling to near floor glass.  You have to get dark adapted to the black lighting before you can see the nocturnal kiwis.  I couldn’t see a kiwi.  There were signs that read not to tap the glass.  A man walked in while I was struggling to see something in the exhibit.  He asked me, “Do you want to see a kiwi?”  “Yes.” I replied with a smile and nodding.  He walked towards the back, and before I knew it, he’s in the habitat shooing the kiwis.  I think there were two or three, running around the habitat.  He looks up at me saying “Did you see ‘em?”  I smiled, nodded and replied, “Yes.”  He gave me a thumbs up and left the habitat.  And I was getting ready to tap the glass…

Upon arrival at The Stables, Isabel hands Doug his package, containing his lost jacket.  Everything is there.  We unpack our clothes and began to run a load of our laundry.  We quickly changed and were helped by Tony Wallace and his wife Ann of Jackson Hole, Wyoming (they own an Italian Restaurant named Avante) by giving us a ride to the dock after we dropped off our National Rental car.

We returned to Walter Peak via Steamboat for dinner.  On the ferry ride, Doug stepped away to get us a drink, returning with 2 glasses of wine and a smile.

After dinner, we watched the sunset and, after a brief nap on the grass, boarded the steamboat for our return.

From the dock, we walked through a park back to The Stables.

We were given a special private room above the garage.  There was a slanted ceiling beam over the bed.  I usually don’t have a problem with low ceilings, but when I approached the bed in the dark, I banged the right side of my forehead on the low slanted ceiling.  I laughed from embarrassment.  Unforgettable.