riverECHO

Home bound by work and a little rain over the last couple days we got to a point where we needed to stock up on a few staples . . . milk, eggs, bread, and a bag of gummy candy. We drove into Greymouth this afternoon, making a point to combine our trip with a meal out and a photography exhibit opening. The rain had picked up by the time we reached Greymouth, so for some reason we parked on the edge of downtown, and spent a majority of our time in town running from one overhang to the next and jumping over puddles. No one else seemed to be walking and I’m sure we looked pretty ridiculous to everyone who was warm and dry in their cars. We spotted a pizzeria and jumped inside for an early dinner. It was shining with “clessic” New Zealand décor and 50s music, although the radio station kept saying the best from the 60s and 70s. We really thought we found Greymouth’s little gem. But in the end the pizza was just-okay and our “Chocolate Bomb” dessert left much to be desired. We made a quick swing through the gallery, displaying landscape photography from the area, and then set out on our grocery shopping mission. We are going to try to make it two weeks before going back to the store and from the looks of our fridge and cupboards I think we might make it a month . . . we may have gone a little overboard. As we left the grocery store it started raining buckets, possibly bath tubs. For a few moments we thought we may have to pull over and wait it out, but the minute we left the city limit, it stopped almost immediately and opened up so the stars twinkled during the rest of our winding drive home.

We don’t have any photos from this morning but I woke up to the moon shining in our bedroom window. BJ was already upstairs with coffee in front of his computer watching the sky barely begin to lighten up on the eastern horizon. This house has a ton of windows and it was a pretty cool experience to watch the moon set over the ocean out of one window and the sun rise through another. Here are a few shots from earlier this week. BJ attempted kiting his wing on the beach but the wind just wasn’t cooperating. Further up that same beach we found a sweet cave but we actually didn’t realize there was a way through the cave until we explored the other side and saw light shining through.

We had a very social week and weekend . . . which, as it may be obvious, is a bit unusual for us down here. We first said goodbye to our roommate Ali and 2-month-old Tyler last week who are flying back to the UK for two months so that the rest of Ali’s family can meet her new little boy. If we don’t see them again up in Punakaiki we hope to return to Ali and Steve’s wedding within the next couple of years. Then it was off to dinner . . . and breakfast and second breakfast . . . at our friends Brendan and Jess’ house in Gibbston. Over my last four months at the winery, I have spent a majority of my time following and helping Brendan. It has, of course, taken all of us up until our last month in the area to actually hang out outside of work. We had hoped to spend Sunday either hiking or kayaking with them as well but 18 hours of straight rain persisted and refused to let us get outside. We spent the day indoors before meeting up with another friend Nik, who we know from Alaska. Nik spent a handful of years as Points North’s primary heli-ski pilot before he and his partner moved to Queenstown. He still flies for a living, whether it’s doing tours over Milford Sound or heli-skiing around the Southern Lakes area or doing his share of med evac flights, but he definitely misses his time and the lifestyle up in Alaska. It was so nice to finally reconnect with him, especially since we have been living in the same town for the last five months.

The rain and clouds finally broke at around noon today. BJ thinks Mother Nature was trying to give New Zealand an end of the summer wash down in preparation for winter. There is a thick layer of snow on all of the surrounding mountain tops, the rivers are completely blown out and Lake Wakatipu has risen considerably. Biking was out of the question and with a fresh coat of snow we thought we could see the best views on a drive up to Glenorchy, a small small town at the head of Lake Wakatipu. We attempted a short stroll through Glenorchy’s Lagoon but the track and wooden walkways were completely under water. So we settled for a hike along higher ground, leading to some old mines and beautiful views overlooking Lake Wakatipu and the Rees and Dart Rivers. You could actually see a very distinct line of muddy river water dumping into the lake’s clearer waters. The rainfall has also refreshed the farm fields which, despite it being the middle of fall, were glowing bright green. The contrast of the green fields, the aqua blue lake waters, a few lingering leaves on deciduous trees and the snow covered mountains was spectacular.

This week was all about planning and preparing.

At the winery, we’ve been spending the afternoons making space and cleaning huge tanks to get ready for the delivery of grapes that we are expecting this coming week. The grapes will go through a de-stemmer and then a press. The juice will then sit in a huge tank with the skins until it is ready to be put into barrel. It’s been a learning process and I still don’t understand all of the steps but it’s been a fun way to spend my afternoons. I am genuinely excited for the fruit to show up this week.

At the home office, we went through a time change . . . the southern hemisphere’s “fall back.” Our normal 20 hour difference, which in my mind I think of as a 4 hour difference but a day ahead, has become a 6 hour difference. This means that our normal wake up time of about 7am is no longer 11am in Wyoming but now 1pm. So, we’ve been trying to wean ourselves off the long nights of sleep and get up just a little bit earlier each day. We’ve also been wondering how a work day will work once we are in China or even further west when the time difference is even closer. One thing is for sure . . . as the time change has come so have the turning of the leaves. It is fall in Queenstown.

Another area of planning has been Jean’s upcoming visit. With her help, we have been researching places to stay and go and see all over the South Island. She was a little shocked at the first itinerary we sent her which had us relocating every day. There is just so much to see on the South Island but we are embracing the idea of an actual vacation for Jean and staying for a little bit longer in a few places like Dunedin, Queenstown, and the West Coast.

One area that we haven’t been planning is in our travels and, therefore, are still unable to answer the question “When are you coming home?” We received a wedding invitation today from our good friends, Clay and Steph. They’ve known that we won’t be able to come to their wedding in Montana in June, but they took the time to take a photo of their wedding invitation and email it to us just so we could feel like we received one. We love you guys and will definitely be there in spirit.

We’ve been spending the weekend somewhat battling the rain and were able to escape yesterday afternoon for a short ride, a solid session of BJ’s hacky sack lessons in a park, and dinner and a movie in Arrowtown. Today’s outlook for rain isn’t much better but I am sure we will be able to keep ourselves entertained . . . even if it is a trip to the local pool or a café.