Whenever Karl & I cannot understand why the Kiwis have done something a certain way or built something differently than we are used to, we tell each other, "Don't ask questions, it's Kiwi ingenuity." This saves us from further confusion and pointless debate on the matter. It is not going to change and there may not be an answer. I have also invented a new stress relief programme, it is call "slap an engineer." I know this sounds mean spirited but it makes us feel better to visualize slapping the person who designed the winding road across a broad strait valley without obstacles, or a single car lane bridge, 100kph signs two meters in front of stopsigns, or exposed electrical wiring, etc.
An example of the silly side of Kiwi ingenuity. At the local bottle shop (liquor store) you can get beer on tap in large containers, a growler to us. We were inquiring about the prices when the shop keeper recommended joining their beer club.
Karl: "So after joining we'd get a better price each time we filled up, right?"
Teenage cashier: "Well actually, it's fifty cents more every time you fill up. But, after you buy 20, you get one for free."
Karl: "For free huh?"
TC: "Yeah."
Karl: "So I'm assuming it's free to join then?"
TC: "No there's an application fee"
Karl: "Really?"
TC: "Yeah."
Karl: "Um, we'll just take the wine thanks."
Why the hell would we pay to join a club to pay more for beer? Some things here just don't make any sense to us.
We have also found Kiwi's don't always understand us either. The week after Halloween, I made a pumpkin pie out of our white Kiwi pumpkin. (They are still orange on the inside and taste the same, but their white shell is harder than our American variety. You cannot carve them.) Karl & I were super excited about this pie, we were telling everyone about it. I had so much pumpkin left over I decided to make two more, one for Karl to bring to the office. Apparently, they do not eat pumpkin pie here. It's thought of more like we think of zuccini. After Karl left it for them, they pondered. Karl happened to call from the rest home he was visiting with a question on how to handle a situation with the hospital. After this serious discussion, a concerned question was posed, "Hey Karl, how do you eat pumkin pie? Is it served hot or cold? Do we serve it with yogurt or whipped cream?"
I was floored! Pie is a staple over here, mince pie, streak pie, kidney pie, egg pie, chicken pie and sausage rolls which are really just sausage pies with cut outs on the end. Oh well, I guess none of these examples are desert pies anyway. When I asked how they liked it, they said it was growing on them and they would have to try it again. As in, please don't let the strange Americans make us another zuccini pie for us to try. (This from the people who eat Vegemite)
I think I'll make pecan pie next to see what they make of that.
By the way, we are going to miss you all over Thanksgiving. We will celebrate English, religious fanatic, land pillagers and the start of the demise of the Native Americans over here with our American friends, Mary & John, who have been kind enough to invite us to share their turkey. This is a big deal. Turkey is hard to find in NZ. When you do find it, it is frozen, small, and expensive. (This bugs me. There are turkeys on the islands, I know, I tried t hit one with the car on the North Island, but then remembered how unpleasant plucking a dead bird is and I changed my mind.)
Mary & John @ Louie's, the wine bar which is open occasionally...
Te Anau
Karl and I drove up to Te Anau for the weekend which is about two hours to the northwest. It borders the fjords. We can see the mountains from the beach here in Invercargil, so it was nice to see them up close and personal. I think Karl wanted to get further into them, but more planning is required. Watch out Rosen family, Karl is planning a fjord adventure. We took a boat across the lake to the glow worm caves which is a very young cave, geologically speaking. There are no stalactites or stalagmites yet formed. The glow worms are an insect in their larval stage that have bioluminescence in their tails. They are actually nasty little carnivores but they sure look pretty and twinkly in the dark of the cave. I hope there are no entomologists reading this.
We also got a chance to take a short walk into the Fjordland. The Kepler Track is a well maintained hiking track that people generally spend three days walking from hut to hut and finishing off the circle back where they stated their trek. The area was beautiful, with a crystal clear rushing river, cable suspension bridges, birds singing everywhere and soft green vegetation everywhere. Katie was even talking about how she would like to do an overnight hike some day. I think the heat was getting to her.
See the rest our scenic and silly photos Te Anau
