Day 55: The Mount

Monday, January 23

I woke up early and helped Gail put her horses in the float (she did pretty much all of it but I tried to help as much as I could). One had a vet appointment tomorrow so she was taking both so he would be less nervous and have a friend.

Once they were loaded we hit the road to drop them off at her friend Sue's house near Cambridge. She lives near the vet and on the way to the Mount, where Gail's sister Jo lives.

Soon we arrived at Jo's home. She was so nice and her and her husband's house was beautiful. When we got there she showed us around and made delicious coffee with this little machine. New Zealand has really high coffee standards, and I have yet to have a bad coffee here. It took me awhile to figure out what to order at the coffee shops, but long blacks are the closest thing I've found to a black coffee. They're so strong and delicious it'll be hard to get used to normal American coffee again. 

We arrived well before lunch and went to the dentist. Jo is a dental hygienist and Gail had an appointment. It was the nicest dentists office I've ever been in! There were nice widows in all the patient areas and there were little televisions on the ceilings above patients' heads so they could watch tv while they had their teeth looked at.

After that we got lunch at a cafe downtown and walked around some of the shops. It was a really neat town with lots of new home construction. People like to live and visit there for vacation because it's a peninsula with a calm side that's great for families and swimming and a side facing the ocean that's good for surfing. It also had a big enough port for cruise ships and we saw one there when we arrived.

Before heading back to Jo's we went to the grocery store to get nacho supplies for dinner. Between the store and dinner, Gail and I walked from Jo's house down some of the beach. On our way back we found a nice board walk with interesting information signs. It was built on a Maori site, so there was absolutely no digging or anything to construct it. We got sorbet bars on our way back to Jo's and she and Gail made delicious nachos for us all.

Then The Block was on again! Last night they had had their rooms scored, so I thought they remodeled a room every episode. It seems more like they remodel a room over the course of a week of episodes. I guess I'll never see how their living and dining areas turn out, but that's ok. After that we watched The Help. It was so good! I've been meaning to watch it and never got around to it, so I'm glad we were able to watch it.

When it was over it was nearly 11, so it was time for bed.

Gail and her beautiful horses

An old bug on the street at the Mount

The ocean side of the beach.