While in Twizel I decided to check to see how bankrupt we were, because with four days to kill I thought I might spring for another guided day on the river. I found that if we sold two children (we don't have any so they would have to be someone else's) I could afford it, so we headed off in that direction.
We decided to take a little detour up around Lake Pukaki and over to Lake Tekapo by a back road route. There is a pretty good Japanese restaurant in Tekapo (can you guess why?) that I can't pass up whenever we come through.
Lake Pukaki looking south
Lake Pukaki looking (can you guess?) north - Mt. Cook "peaking" out
Snippet of Mt. CookWe made it into Fairlie and checked into the Pinewoods Motel. Fairlie is a nice little town in a farming district. It's surrounded by green hills and rivers. And the best way that I could guarantee rain is to book an expensive fishing guide.
Bright and early Sunday morning we sat waiting for the guide (who was sitting in the parking lot of the wrong motel) to show up. We climbed in and headed off down the highway. I was a little skeptical because the rains that they had had for the last couple days had the river high and colored. However, as was later demonstrated, someone with 30 years of experience spotting trout in less than ideal conditions comes in quite handy.
Bright and early Sunday morning we sat waiting for the guide (who was sitting in the parking lot of the wrong motel) to show up. We climbed in and headed off down the highway. I was a little skeptical because the rains that they had had for the last couple days had the river high and colored. However, as was later demonstrated, someone with 30 years of experience spotting trout in less than ideal conditions comes in quite handy.
Beautiful day...just like home!
Here fish, fish, fish...
Nice water. Can you imagine spotting trout in this?
Round one
Round two
Fly! Be free!
Third grade school pictures pose
It would be nice to put my hood up...but then I can't hear the barked commands
Round three
Round four
Into the backing, running for the rapids. This one was foul hooked so lots of horsepower
Thanks to a tactical error (on the fishes part, zigged when he should have zagged) he comes to the net
Great care is taken to ensure that they are healthy and happy before turning them loose
Squall line
Round five
Go home now...so the guide can make some more money off of you tomorrow!After being dropped safely back at the motel we chose to go out to a combination Western, Pizza, Thai and Chinese restaurant. Our hopes were not high. We were looking at the menu (we wanted Thai) and had our mouths all slobbered up for some green curry.
I had to quiz the waitress about this because we have seen some pretty "creative" interpretations of curry. We were really surprised. All was excellent. In fact, we tried going there the next day but they are closed on Mondays. We opted instead for the "Flame Room" in one of the main street pubs.
I had the roasted chicken, she had some kind of chicken thing with girlie sauce. We had the great pleasure of being seated next to two married couples who had six boys (aged 8-10 I'm guessing) and one girl. The creatures began howling at the moon and tearing around the room. The entire coterie was adorned in flip-flops.
We were sitting eagerly awaiting our food when I looked up as the waitress came out of the Ladies room with our appetizer! Then a few minutes later out she comes again with our mains!
Whenever we mentioned going to Fairlie people would say "You've got to go to EAT's, they have the best breakfast!". Well, they are closed Mondays, so as soon as we checked out of the motel on Tuesday we trotted right over. Not sure what we were supposed to be looking for. The menu had exactly the same breakfast items as every other NZ restaurant. Maybe they're just better. Maybe by great they meant it in the proper context which is large, or extensive. Wrong again.
I ordered the pancakes with bananas, she had the eggs benedict. Mine was small and rubbery and tough, and at the same time doughy in the middle; hers had the only decent hollandaise sauce we've found here, but she had to use a knife to cut the bread. But the big bonus was when four women came in with ten children (boys) in the aggregate, ranging from about 5 to 10, who proceeded to run around like untrained animals shrieking at the top of their lungs. I'm beginning to see a pattern here in New Zealand child rearing practices. Half were bare foot, the other half left their gumboots outside so were stocking feet. All had the fledgling male kiwi attire: short shorts and rugby shirts.
It was like someone stuck an ice pick in my ear, or the smoke detector was going off and you couldn't find your big stick to shut it off. No big surprise, the women were completely numb to it. Made me feel like I was back in the good ol' USA. If I had behaved like that when I was growing up I would have been swiftly banished to the car to await a gruesome punishment when I got home. Can't wait to see what their kids will be like. Probably be whipped if they don't misbehave. It was one of the rare times when I ate faster than my wife and squirmed in my seat to get out. Next stop, Christchurch!
I had to quiz the waitress about this because we have seen some pretty "creative" interpretations of curry. We were really surprised. All was excellent. In fact, we tried going there the next day but they are closed on Mondays. We opted instead for the "Flame Room" in one of the main street pubs.
I had the roasted chicken, she had some kind of chicken thing with girlie sauce. We had the great pleasure of being seated next to two married couples who had six boys (aged 8-10 I'm guessing) and one girl. The creatures began howling at the moon and tearing around the room. The entire coterie was adorned in flip-flops.
We were sitting eagerly awaiting our food when I looked up as the waitress came out of the Ladies room with our appetizer! Then a few minutes later out she comes again with our mains!
Whenever we mentioned going to Fairlie people would say "You've got to go to EAT's, they have the best breakfast!". Well, they are closed Mondays, so as soon as we checked out of the motel on Tuesday we trotted right over. Not sure what we were supposed to be looking for. The menu had exactly the same breakfast items as every other NZ restaurant. Maybe they're just better. Maybe by great they meant it in the proper context which is large, or extensive. Wrong again.
I ordered the pancakes with bananas, she had the eggs benedict. Mine was small and rubbery and tough, and at the same time doughy in the middle; hers had the only decent hollandaise sauce we've found here, but she had to use a knife to cut the bread. But the big bonus was when four women came in with ten children (boys) in the aggregate, ranging from about 5 to 10, who proceeded to run around like untrained animals shrieking at the top of their lungs. I'm beginning to see a pattern here in New Zealand child rearing practices. Half were bare foot, the other half left their gumboots outside so were stocking feet. All had the fledgling male kiwi attire: short shorts and rugby shirts.
It was like someone stuck an ice pick in my ear, or the smoke detector was going off and you couldn't find your big stick to shut it off. No big surprise, the women were completely numb to it. Made me feel like I was back in the good ol' USA. If I had behaved like that when I was growing up I would have been swiftly banished to the car to await a gruesome punishment when I got home. Can't wait to see what their kids will be like. Probably be whipped if they don't misbehave. It was one of the rare times when I ate faster than my wife and squirmed in my seat to get out. Next stop, Christchurch!
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