So Long Aunt De Ann

Christchurch, New Zealand -- Day 2

Today we had to say goodbye to De Ann. It's been a ton of fun and we are so happy we could share a small part of the journey with her. We did have a minor panic this morning when she couldn't find her money belt -- credit card and passport inside. I'm pretty sure it was just a ploy to stay longer! Alas, after an hour of pulling apart the van plus checking at lost and found and calling the restaurant from last night, we found... it slid down behind the kitchen counter and side window. (Nice try, De Ann).

We had no other big plans for the day. We each stuffed things back in our backpacks and bequeathed dozens of little items to De Ann to take home -- things we were too tired of to carry but not so tired of that we would throw them away. The last remaining hours together we frittered away at the small Northland mall with a late breakfast and some time wandering around looking for a pair of pants for Kylie and shoes for Dex. De Ann also bought a new tube of anti itch cream to replace the expired one she's been using for days. With some luck, the dozens of sandfly bites will no longer be driving her crazy. We got De Ann safely to the airport and said our goodbyes joking that without her, there will be no one to help Kylie or Meg when they drop a stitch knitting.

With De Ann on her way, there was nothing left to do but drop off the van and return to the caravan park for a swim. In general, it seems the Kiwis (the people, not the birds) are much less uptight about rules and liability. As an example, in Queenstown, the hiking trail crisscrossed the downhill mountain bike path in a dozen locations. There were no signs, so If you don't pay attention when crossing the path, too bad for you. Perhaps it's that general attitude that got people jumping off bridges with springy ropes tied to their ankles in the first place.

Without the food storage space in the van, dinner was a hodgepodge at the mall food court. Despite what I had written about expenses in Australia, it's even worse here. I suspect the manufacturing base is pretty small. I just read in the newspaper that the Cadbury chocolate factory in Dunedin will be closing and production moved somewhere else. The article cited the fact that the vast majority of the factory’s production was consumed in Australia, where the population is more than five times as large.

Chicken tikka masala

On our walk back to the campground, we met an elderly man, Graham, out walking his little dog, Pearl. We had a delightful conversation. He told us about the devastation from the 2010 earthquake, the now housing-free section of town out towards the ocean, and the road and rail closures from the latest quake just six months ago. Perhaps even more than California, New Zealand is a very active seismic region.

Back at the same campground, we settled Into a cozy corner room, surprisingly with a total of seven beds. Many of the campgrounds we’ve come across here follow the European model mixing tent sites, cars, caravans and small bungalows or hotel rooms. The campgrounds are often in town and very compact but with lots of amenities: showers, kitchen, laundry, and playgrounds. It was somewhat apropos that tonight we reached the end of Little Women … and sadly our time with Aunt De Ann as well.