Adventures with Neighbors

Exciting things happened this week!







One: I didn't become overwhelmed by the fact that I am jobless and friendless!

Two: This could be because the week was full of oddball activities and events

Our neighbor Thomas, who lives on the floor above, is a hippy. He doesn't know it, and neither would you if you saw him cruise past you on his BMW motorcycle or in his shiny red imported sports car from Italy.

Thomas is German. His son his German as well, but sounds like a kiwi in true form.

Anyway...through haggling prices at his garage sale, we discovered that he too brews beer BUT he gets his water from a spring shooting out from the road in the hillsides not too far from town. We were intrigued. Is there still a place in the world where one can quench his/her thirst from the gurgling creeks of the earth? And it doen't have to come from here and won't give you Beaver Fever? Of course there is...in New Zealand! Where water flows fresh and everything smells like daisies!

Thomas invites Darren and I to accompany him to fill up his water jugs. We are thinking that there will be a trek through mud and thick bush to get this pure water. And to our surprise, we pull the red roadster to the side of the road, cross the traffic and there she is...a beautiful crisp, clear stream shooting out into a horse trough.

After filling up the 18 jugs and two water tanks, Thomas continues down the road to get his milk. Not from the store--but from the udder side of a cow! It's like going back into time. The three of us there, buying milk from a cheery cheeked farmer whose eyebrows hang low and unkempt. I feel nostalgia. I feel like I am straying off the beaten path. I feel like I am meeting the locals (who are transplants from America btw).  I feel comfortable. And then I realize this path has been blazed--it's only how people for centuries have done things! I'm just catching onto the trend!

We also picked up some fresh churned icecream and maybe next time some freshly butchered meat...if we really want to be hardcore.

So now we have water from the hills, milk from the cow and...

Next stop: a bee farmer who gave us a wicked deal on 6kilos of honey. Now, if you're like me. You haven't a clue what 6kilos is. Here you go. That's a lot of honey! But it was such an awesome deal and we were still burning on nostalgia  in hippy land, so why not eh?

So now we have water from the hills, milk and icecream form the cow, honey from the bee farmer and...

Next stop: the local pub--Thomas's fav and old haunt. It's a building that's been around over a hundred years and all the patrons tease and jab at eachother in between sips of tasty brew. It's the first place in all of New Zealand where we find some good, quality brew and with Thomas, I at least feel like I can be looked at as a transient local, and not some dang Merican who don't belong in the local pub! The new friends we meet are older yes, but are welcoming and happy to meet newbies. One man especially stood out. Magnus, a true Kiwi and South Islander who is in his 70s, a bit on the cranky side, but with a humor that makes him agreeable. Just the fact that his name is Magnus makes him cool. But, add that he has thick accent and looks like a sailor fresh off the boat makes it hard not to ask him to take a photo with me. I refrain. I have manners after all!

So now we have water from the hills, milk and icecream form the cow, honey from the bee farmer and are sitting back and relaxing with the locals and Thomas. Our new German friend who is moving out and away in just a few months.

Yes. It was a good day.