It was really slow travels today...

Friday, September 9, 2022

Woke up to the passing of Queen Elizabeth the second. 96 years old. Mom LOVES keeping up with the royals. I gotta get mom to watch The Crown on Netflix. She'd really enjoy it. 

We decided to take the back country sealed (paved) road and drive the Manawatu Scenic Route up towards Taupo. Easy, slow drive where we could take in the vast green field and mountains. Lots of happy sheep, cows, and horses. 

We stopped at a short hike up to an overlook and experienced a most gorgeous view. Perfect spot to chill. 

Mom is sharing that these are all items that a senior citizen needs: a hot water bottle to keep you warm, a wool hat, also to keep you warm, and a walking stick to help you balance when you're on a hike. She actually picked up the stick for me because I hurt my ankle a couple of months ago and am still recovering. Corinne and I couldn't stop laughing at what mom was sharing. 

I love this pic of Corinne and me. 

(Darn, I'm really having trouble with uploading video and am Googling to find solutions)

On the way down, Corinne coached mom to walk down sideways. Mom said that's what they were taught to do on the Great Wall of China too! haha

 

We were hoping to check out how cheese is made at Cartwheel Creamery or buy some cheese. But when we got to the spot, there was no one there. (or maybe they were hiding from us...too busy to talk to visitors?)

At the Totara Reserve where we took a walk and played and laughed some. 

We stopped at Apiti for lunch. New Zealand does chips (fries) really well. I love my fries with tomato sauce (ketchup) and pepper. Kevin taught me how to eat fries that way at McDonald's!  We've been sharing our dishes. I ordered the beef brisket burger. Tender and juicy meat. Melted in our mouths. 

Mom asked Corinne if she colors in her eyebrows. She doesn't. Here's mom telling Corinne to never pluck her brows because she has good, thick eyebrows. 

These moa and kiwi structures were outside the tavern where we ate. We were being silly.

Mom was pretty nervous about me having to drive in a new country on the other side of the road, etc. She opted to put on a mask so that she couldn't see when we were driving on windy roads, etc. We asked her to take off her mask during the "calm" parts. 

It was pretty rainy and I drove slowly. There were times when there were 2-3 cars behind me, but I pulled over when I could to let cars pass me. Or there were passing lanes on the road. I wasn't stressed in the rain because I drove slowly. Glad were we're safe. 

We arrived in Taupo!

Had Vietnamese for dinner...but honestly, we were still stuffed from lunch.

But not too full for dessert! FRIED apple pie from Taupo's McDonald's!

We slowly traveled in so many ways today: drove slowly to take in the views, drove slowly because of the rain, took a two hour lunch stop because we could, slow is good. Slow is needed. Slow is necessary.