I slept in a little...I'm still having problems with restless legs at night. Ron made boiled eggs and soldiers for breakfast. I had to admit I'd never actually had a boiled egg in an egg cup before and vaguely wondered if there was a knack to it. Happily by egg #2 I was able to cleanly decapitate and cheerfully dip my toast into the gooey golden goodness within. I felt just like a little kid, and I loved it.
Betty had a meeting of her circle to go to so Ron and I had a good chat over tea before he took me round to meet JD and Paula, the Kilamanjaro-conquering woman I'd spoken to briefly on the phone yesterday. They have a wonderful house that they have designed and built themselves--complete with a reclaimed stained glass window! (Mum, you'd have especially loved the kitchen!). The house overlooks lush green pasture and scattered trees, beneath which several of their 46 pet sheep were resting or grazing. Nearer the house three large black Orpington chooks foraged, and sneakily tried to get in the door.
The four of us sat over glasses of juice at the kitchen table (real unsweetened black currant juice...which absolutely puts cordial in its place: as lolly water). Paula was very interested in my experiences of the trail, although apparently she's been following my blog so she was fairly up to date. I in turn asked her about her various outdoor adventures, here in NZ and around the world...inspiring ideas for a post-Te Araroa expedition perhaps?! She told me all about her 100km walk around Taupo. Apparently she had to change socks every hour, and after 22 hours when she finished, she was do in the zone she just wanted to keep walking. Incredible. At the end of each day all I want to do is immediately take my pack off and sit down, preferably with my feet up! But as Paula pointed out, having or not having a pack makes a hell of a difference. It was great chatting, but similar to the guys at the Dome lookout, it was weird having someone so active so intrigued by something couch potato me is doing! Paula is keen to walk a section of the trail with me so I'll try to coordinate with her to do something between here and the harbour bridge.
Back at Ron and Betty's we waited for Betty to come home before all three of us headed out to lunch with the people from Betty's circle. A short drive later we arrived at Brick Bay Vineyard. As with all vineyards it's impressive to look at, this one complete with a sculpture walk (I passed...it's my day off after all, and no one else went either). The restaurant is in a long tall glass conservatory that overlooks the carpark and grounds on one side and a huge lily pond on the other (with a mother duck and two ducklings paddling amongst the lily pads). The large doors at one end of the building were open, and the light breeze gave the impression you were eating out of doors.
We were 12 for lunch and though I didn't get to speak to everybody I did get to chat to John, who memorably accidentally smashed an entire glasshouse's worth of glass window panes as a boy, James, who recebtly spent a year working in Japan at an English-style hotel serving high tea, and Mr Aisaki, a Japanese man who has settled in New Zealand and is friends with Jan, a renowned Kiwi acrylic/water colourist. It was she that instigated a change of seating arrangements between mains and desert so that I might have a chat to Mr Aisaki, since I've applied to go teach English in Japan and all. It was very interesting to hear all his and Jame's recommendations of places to go if I get to go there again. Mr Aisaki gave me his email address and told me to contact him if I ever have any questions about or problems in Japan--how kind!
After a main of lamb meatballs and Harissa sauce with a side of roast cauliflower and pumpkin salad, I ordered pecan pie for desert but oh horror! Three of us ordered the pecan pie and they only had two serves left. I'd been on the fence anyway so offered to have the dark chocolate and orange gelato sundae instead...oh the hardship.
It turns out that poor Jan is being kicked out of her gallery due to some disagreement with the family of her late partner in art. She gave away loads of hers and partner Bryan's gift cards at the table and then put out a plea for help packing some of her furniture into a van. Being the youngest and strongest present, James and I were volunteered. Before I knew it at the end of the meal we'd been whisked away to Jan's gallery where began a game of teris involving a van, three trestle tables, and outdoor 4-seat and table setting plus umbrella and an adjustable (though not especially collapsible) draftsmen's desk. Then there was the painting...we'd thought to slide it in on top, but once we actually saw which painting we new we'd have to start from scratch. It was an enormous canvas mounted in an equally enormous and ornate wooden frame; beautiful and previous...and how were we ever to get it safely in the van? Jan's student Richard took charge as we unloaded everything then put the painting in first, standing up against one side of the van then padded and lashed into place. It only just fit. Then we very carefully put everything back in beside it, lashing it down so nothing would have a chance to damage the canvas.
During a dull moment Jan got Bryan's reclusive brother to show James and I his "trains"...low and behold there was an entire room of the house devoted to a model miniature railway, with tracks criss-crossing around tables, along shelves and across the floor. A few flicks of some switches and the whole thing came to life with little trains zipping round and round. There was even a train made entirely of paper that had been released as a series of component parts in a magazine series back in (I think) the 1940's. I'd never seen a room like it (except perhaps in an episode of Morse once). It was at the sand time fascinating and a little unnerving...was I getting a glimpse of what a future equivalent room of mine might look like if my semi-obsession with LOTR ever gets out of control? Only time will tell I guess.
A few more things were still being added into the back of the van when we left. Back at Ron and Betty's I attempted to catch up on my blog but instead got distracted by in depth online research about lightweight tent options...having a lighter pack yesterday has got me to thinking (helped by Ron finding a lighteeight tent for sale locally and showing me). Maybe, just maybe it might be worth investing in some lighter gear...?
After dinner I was too tired to blog so instead cuddled Puss and enjoyed a cup of tea and watched 'Call The Midwife' with Ron and Betty. It seems an absolute age since I last watched television!
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