An entry in the TFS Travel Journal
Libby cooked up a nice breakfast spread, and then we got on the road for our early departure to get to our lunch date in Auckland.
The drive was pleasant enough, but curvy and on these single-lane roads it doesn’t take much traffic to slow you down. As we approached the big city, we phoned from the car and learned that Norman, our lunch date, wasn’t feeling up to it, so we continued on Route 1.
We rolled into Cambridge around 2:30 and went to Fran’s for lunch. Aside from having the dimmest waitress/cashier, the meal was pleasant enough, though barely. We then strolled the town, which was alleged to be a quaint crafts center. Maybe compared to the industrial areas we’d just driven through nearby it is considered quaint, but this country can certainly do much better! The main crafts building (in a cute old, red wood church) did have some lovely local offerings -lots of wood and wool, but we just sampled some delectable treats, picked up some more cassettes for all our driving (finally finding the long-sought “How Bizarre”), and got back on the road.
The final 90 minutes or so of today’s drive was through some really beautiful scenery. All of the sudden, we were back in Norway, as we passed through small rolling mountains of thick pine forests, all the while appreciating the lengthening shadows of late day and the wonderfully clear air. We arrived here in the geothermal district, seeing steam rising up from several spots in the hillsides, and taking a quick gander at a large geothermal field (over 5% of New Zealand’s energy comes from geothermal). This lodge is fabulous, clearly one of the superlative sport/country lodges in the country and probably the world, just like their literature tells us. It is situated right on the Waikoto river, just above the 40 foot high Huka Falls, with 17 rooms (though only 7 are occupied tonight), all nestled in the thick woods.
We relaxed in the room, then went to the communal dinner. We had some delicious oysters and cocktails, then were seated at a table in a private room with three other couples, all of whom were American and Jewish. One couple is from Washington and Palm Springs, retired, and with an interesting story as his parents escaped Germany in 1941, ended up in Longview, Washington and built an enormous recycling company that they’ve recently sold. Another couple is recently married, he’s the retired general counsel of a Wall St. Investment Bank and she’s a lawyer who’s 16 years younger. The other couple is in their early 60s, he’s in life insurance, and judging from their conversation, we think they were both tripping on something this evening.
The dinner was five courses: a good mushroom soup, a cervena celebration (three types of the local venison specialty, which Milton loved and Wendy donated to Milton), a papaya sorbet, duck with kumquats (which Wendy loved and Milton gave 1/2 to Wendy), and grilled fruit with casava pearls, which was interesting. Then it was into the anteroom for after dinner drinks and cookies; we made some small talk then retired to our room for the evening.