Everyone was in better spirits this morning, so after breakfast (one-eyed Egyptians) we pulled down our tents, packed ourselves in the car, + drove into town. The time had finally come for parting, so we went in to a fairly dingy coffee-house to bid each other farewell. Well, only Kirsten was going in fact, but that was reason enough. Val + I wandered off tactfully to allow them their goodbyes… + then we were 3! With, I’ll confess, definite feelings of relief on our part.
We drove then on to the mountain road to Arrowtown, passing by many old gold workings. Arrowtown, especially when seen from above, was beautiful, with the golds and yellows of autumn on the trees. People had told us the South Island is pretty in Autumn, + I think this is what they had in mind. Wanaka had been lovely too, + tho’ it was still to come, so was Queenstown, but Arrowtown really summed it up. We didn’t stop tho’, + drove right thro’, on to Queenstown. Again, it was pretty, + had lots of interesting shops – perhaps even too many. We checked things out – accommodation etc – + then Andy drove us up to the Municipal Motor Camp. We indulged in a little subterfuge here, checking in as only 1 person, + hence only paying half as much. (My conscience about such activities is only slightly clouded.) And the second farewell of the day, to Andy. Andy has been good, on much of a par with other good buddies of the past 2 years.
It was still surprisingly early, only about 3 in the afternoon, so Val + I wandered around the shops. Only, after a little while, we ran into Andy again – his hopes of a possible bed with a Q’town acquaintance had been squashed – only coffee. So, he was to be at the camp-site too. And in the expectation of meeting us again, he had bought 3 chops – stout fellow! When we returned to cook our meal, these formed the basis for a huge feast, with what I christened the Queenstown special. The chops to represent the lamb industry in the area, the cauliflower as the trees, onion sauce as the lake, peas as… well, peas, + a veritable mountain of mashed potato.
Afterwards, we retired to the TV room, a bleak + barren hall, to watch the Oscar presentation. The Hollywood razzamatazz was tedious, of course, but there were some good moments. And to my huge surprise + delight, “Gandhi” virtually swept the board. I couldn’t believe they’d allow a British film to win 2 years running, plus allow a virtually unknown British actor, Ben Kingsley, take top actor award. But they did! Plus 6 other awards.
“One-eyed Egyptians” refers to a sort of breakfast, I believe, something to do with eggs (or more likely egg, I suppose) but can’t recall more detail than that. Perhaps Andy can enlighten us (if he can get past Recaptcha – ha!)
Apologies for using a post-card as the best photo – we do have our own equivalent, but is so washed out in comparison. And the post-card really does reflect more accurately the actual colours.
And splendid to have one more night (presumably) with Andy, especially when he had been so thoughtful re the chops. I did enjoy the description of the meal – whimsical, silly, fun. And tasty, of course.
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