Let's meet our Hosts


Boarding the buses and driving to town, we were amazed at the beauty of the hillsides. Everything is so lush and green. We loved the beautiful yellow vegatation covering the hillside that we found out was Gorse - a  noxious highly invasive species of plant destroying the native plants imported from England a century ago. Much of their colorful vegataion has been exported from Scotland a century ago - therefore, invasives.

Our Hosts

We drove a pensionaire's compound downtown to meet our hosts at the community center. 14 hosts greeted us with tons of homemade food, desserts, tea/coffee, and NZ wine. I am not one for drinking wine in the middle of the day as it puts me asleep, but how could I resist such good hospitality. Plus it would be great for an afternoon nap. Everyone was so nice and engaging. we made intoductions all around and ate hearty. From here everyone would go home with their hosts. Our hosts need to clean up so Zosia and I wondered the streets for a bit. We were sitting next to the parking lot when some elderly people drove by and asked if any flats were available in the community. We said that we were fresh off the plane from the states. They asked who we were voting for - Barak Obama we said and they cheered us on. They were quite opionated about our election as were most everone we encountered. Apparently Obama is quite popular here and there is a great deal of suspicion regarding his opponent.

Our Group of Ambassadors

We dropped across the street to the local mom and pop store for ice cream. And engagend in discussion with the Chinese owner and her son. We had heard that New Zealand had very restricted immigration. One must have a specialized trade to be able to come. Apparently NZ has the same limitations as US - one must be Asian in order to run a momandpop store effectively. They too were so chatty and friendly. They, too, are for Obama. I think we are seeing a trend.

Our hosts Ian and Joan are really nice and make us feel right at home. We came back to the house, and it being Sunday, Joan's son, Doug and his wife Tong, dropped by and we chatted all afternoon sipping tea and snacks. Next, Joan's grandson who lives downstairs while he is looking for work, came home with his dog and girlfriend. We all got involved in Tong buying a used car. I feel like family already.

OK, nap time, and then for a walk.