Z-ventures: I'VE BEEN DONGLED IN RUBY!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

I'VE BEEN DONGLED IN RUBY!

THURSDAY MORNING, JANUARY 13, 2011 - TAKAKA - I am laughing because Geoff said to me last nite "I wish I had never told you it was called a 'Dongle"!" That's the broadband "stick" I bought and he told me they call them that so you can imagine (being a Zukowski) that I have run that name into the ground and laughed my ass off!!!! p.s. "Ruby" is the name of our campervan in case you forgot!

So, here are the latest and greatest (haha):

MONDAY Later (January 10, 2011 – Nelson Kiwi Holiday Park –

Here are the "green lipped" mussels we ate for lunch today at the "Slip Inn" in Havelock...wonderful!

Just finished the dishes and we had wonderful Spaghetti Bolognese prepared by my personal chef, Chef Geoffrey, with Australian merlot! The usual YUM!

The funny thing was that while we were enjoying dinner, I reached for my wine glass (it was half full) and unconsciously (I swear) grabbed the wine bottle and took a swig!!! I started laughing and just about spit the wine all over especially when Geoff looks at me in disbelief (he thinks that I did it on purpose—who, me?) and says “you want me to go get you a brown paper bag and you can go sit on that bench by the street and I’ll get you a cardboard box to live in?”—I was laughing so hard! Just writing this makes me laugh again and he says to me “Whatcha laughing about? ” I tell him what I am writing about and he shakes his head and says “I can’t take ya anywhere!” Hope he isn’t worried about me meeting his friends tomorrow!!!! J I AM MY FATHER’S DAUGHTER! Hehehehehehe

Geoff also asked me if people will think all we do is eat and drink….well, duh……. J

The drive today to Nelson had its own interruptions—a few young rebel steers:

I woke up this morning and couldn’t stand my hair so found a place in Nelson to get a haircut—and it feels so much better!

That’s it from here for now…Love, Sue & Geoff xo

Tuesday, January 11, 2011- camped near Abel Tasman Natl Park – What a day we had!

· Got up and headed into town to buy a broadband stick for my laptop cuz I am sick of trying to find wi fi. We go to the Vodafone place (that’s where Geoff got the SIM card to use in the phone I use to call the US. They have one that works almost everywhere the phone works (the phone has been great) but were out of them so sent us down the street to the Noel Leeming store and we bought it there.

· Bought some giant bing cherries and apricots from a stand on the street—the best!

· Went back to campervan, installed it (very easy) and as soon as it said I was connected there was my sis, Jan, on Skype (it was still her birthday in AZ) so I got to chat with her for a few mins on her birthday which was fun. It was a pretty good connection, too.

· I love all the flowers and hanging baskets in downtown Nelson:

· We stopped at the beach in Nelson to check it out:

· Then went on to Geoff’s friends, Mike and Heather and had a great lunch with them. I can’t believe I forgot to take pics while there. They have a lovely house and beautiful yard with lots of flowers. They also had two lemon trees with lots of fruit and we took a couple with us along with 2 zucchini and 2 summer squash to eat! They were delightful hosts and had friends from Auckland staying with them that we friendly, too (Lillian and her 90 year old Dad, Nova). They invited us to stay but we wanted to get to Abel Tasman last night so we headed out.

· Made it to a camp that wasn’t full and near the head of the Abel Tasman National Park Trail (another of NZ’s great walks).

· Walked around the area rail for a few hours tomorrow to see the views. Weather is comfortable but cloudy. We have a beer (Geoff) and I have pear cider (Wicked Monkey—a local made cider—we passed the brewery on our way out of Nelson) in the first and last café near the camp! ^sign above

Headed back to camp and called it a day! Love, Sue & Geoff xo

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2011 – GOLDEN BAY – I have been trying to use the “DONGLE” to load my blog but it isn’t working—I don’t think the signal is strong enough here! Oh well, Geoff is asleep and lying on the bench across from me in the campervan and issuing farts every now and then—must be the 2 beers (White Heron Wheat Ale) and nachos we had at the Mussel Inn up the road. I had the “Freckled Frog” cider—very good!

· Left the camp earlier today and parked so we could walk part of the Abel Tasman National Park Track—it was great and in spite of the clouds, the temperature was perfect and the views were wonderful:

· Lunch along the trail ^above!

· The interesting wood carving (of Abel Tasman and many others) place next to the trail head:

· After a few hours walking the Abel Tasman, we headed up and over the Takaka Hill (it was a long uphill drive!) and arrived in Takaka then stayed in Golden Bay at a Kiwi Holiday Park—the beach had lots of beautiful rocks (and cool shells, too):