2017 Return to New Zealand

Home in Ashburton, with the Ashfords Exodus 35:25-26; Proverbs 31:19-20 How is it that you come upon some people along the journey of life that you know will be friends for the rest of life.  How is it that you can come to know some folk so well and yet not see them but once every few years. I have pondered these many days how to write this blog, on the eve of our penultimate day here in New Zealand. Perhaps it was good that we planned to end our journey here with dear, dear friends. A friendship that was forged in the late 80s, has deepened and grown through the years and the miles. Richard and Elizabeth greeted us with open hearts and open arms.  Five days of recounting times together, family joys, and laughter about spinning, wood working, boating, and life in general. On the way from Moeraki to Ashburton a stop off in Omaru. A lot or their buildings are Victorian architecture. Of course we had to stop at a wool storage warehouse weather changed from cl...

#8  Invercagill to Moeraki: retracing steps Four years ago we drove the east coast of the south island from north to south, now it's time to go south to north.  Patsy has decided to haunt some second hand shops for NZ wool sweaters, and we scored at two different places.  Also about ten days ago Patsy had read a really interesting article in an older (1999) New Zealand Geographic magazine on NZ flax known as harakeke.  It is quite unlike our flax.  It comes from the leaves of a lilly like plant that grows about 5-7 foot.  The fibers in the leaves are scrapped, processed and spun or woven.  The harakeke was a critical staple for the Maori, providing them with shelter, rope, and clothing.  Throughout the trip Patsy has been working with the fibre. If you remember back in one of the first blogs, Patsy's friend had an exhibition of a ceremonial cape she made with harakeke.  As we drove out of Dunedin, I noticed a second hand book store, and s...

#7 Te Anau to Invercargill:   Ah, the southern coast of the southern island.  Tip of the south. As we have posted our blog and other photos on Facebook, a few friends have remarked "Where are the Sheep?!"  We have seen so many sheep, they are so prevalent that we forget to take a photo.  If we took a photo of every time we saw sheep, we would never make it to our next destination.  But for those longing to see some, here you go: We stopped for lunch at an old suspension bridge. Once cars drove over it.  Seeing the coastline again was a comfort for me. Patsy and I realized she prefers the mountains and I prefer the sea.  So our trip to the fjord yesterday was a perfect match.   As we moved along the coast we noticed dramatic affects of the constant winds: trees bent away from the wind.  We really are good traveling partners.  We actually went to the ends of the earth with one another...well, end of...