Post XI: Final Morning in New Zealand

 Wednesday, Oct 20^th: On our final morning in New Zealand, we woke up early to head over to this little place called Arrowtown. Before leaving for Arrowtown we packed up our room for the last time. The room was set up so there was a living area and kitchenette upstairs and bedrooms downstairs. Now my mom’s neck is, shall we say, a bit fragile so I was insistent that she not carry any suitcases or bags throughout the trip. I was looking at some photos upstairs and told my mom, “Don’t lift anything, okay!? I’ll be right down!” I guess the stubborn gene runs in the Tempelsman family because often my mom tries lifting things by herself when I am more than eager to help. So when I heard a thumping on the stairs and a woman’s voice behind me, I immediately assumed it was my mom trying to lug the bag up the stairs.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!” I shouted without bothering to turn around. Really screamed this with some venom because I just didn’t want her to hurt her neck again. When I turned around I saw a most terrified cleaning lady,

“I … I … am so sorry! I thought you had already left! I’ll go now…”

“Ahhh!! Oh no! Don’t worry! I thought you were my mom!” (Oh that’s much better… you know, that’s just how I usually talk to my mom… screaming.) Haha it was a pretty awkward situation, I tried explaining that I was trying to stop her from carrying the suitcase, but not really sure she got what I was saying. Oh boy. Hard to capture the moment in writing. Silly silly. Here is the final view from our hotel room.

Arrowtown ended up being this cute little mining town situated in the mountains. We found a bakery that made this delicious fudge and a store that sold these pretty cool leather jackets. Only problem was that the jackets cost 2,000$ Say what!? Needless to say we passed on the jacket, but treated ourselves to some fudge.

Tiramisu flavored fudge!

 After seeing the mining town we looked at the Chinese Settlement where the Chinese miners lived. 

This little settlement was separate from the rest of the town and consisted of these tiny primitive huts. 

With our plane leaving in a few hours we went to this winery called Amisfield Bistro.

We treated ourselves to a delicious glass of dessert wine (my favorite!) and an unbelievable lunch. For appetizers we got this Spanish ham with fennel and pear and Zuchinni and goat cheese bruschetta on fresh sour dough bread. 

The main course was just as good – risotto with Italian sausage and perfectly cooked lamb (hopefully not any of the ones we saw yesterday!) By the time the main courses came I was too hungry too keep taking pictures of the food, but believe me, it was quite delicious. We decided to try and get to the airport a little earlier than we needed to in case being a customs criminal meant a cavity search … luckily it did not. We took a plane from Queenstown to Auckland and then from Auckland to Sydney. The ride from Auckland to Sydney was especially enjoyable because it was on an Airbus-380 (not that I knew what that was before). But after riding on one, I definitely know it now, for this thing is huge. It is a double-decker plane with close to 100 rows on the first floor (the rows were 3 seats, 4 seats and another 3 seats across). Apparently upstairs, where first class is, there are showers and individual rooms. Definitely wouldn’t mind flying like that. After a smooth flight I was welcomed back to Australia. It was really great getting back there. I actually have missed it during our time in New Zealand. It’s a nice feeling missing a place after only being away for a couple days. Really starting to feel like a home away from home.