Well, the less said about Saturday night's game, the better. Apparently there was a bit of jet-lag, that nobody across the entire operation envisaged. And Alun Wyn-Jones had a sore tummy and a split nail. Well for us Lions tonight it's The Blues at Eden Park. An altogether different proposition. So we will go back to our bar and face further abuse from the chef - "It took them 55 minutes to get ahead of our 'D' team! No answer, sadly, to that.
Now we have been here some three weeks, it has become increasingly apparent that we are, in fact, in a time-warp. Remember that series 'Life On Mars'? The man (cop) who wakes up in 1973? It makes me feel like I am ..er... 4 again. We have been driving around in our rather state-of-the-art 2006 Audi A4 (recently purchased) following such beauties as a Mk 1 Ford Escort, infinitesimal numbers of classic/ramshackle Bedford/VW caravanettes - sorry, Bill, and best of all a Nissan Bluebird yesterday. All buzzing along happily and doubtless tuned in to Radio Wanaka (no typo there - Ed) on their Clarion (self-fitted) radios listening to such classics as 'Live and Let Live' by Wings, 'Take The Money And Run' (Steve Miller Band) or Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours'. Often, they also play 'Stuck In The Middle With You', but that always takes me off to a completely different time zone altogether with 'Reservoir Dogs'. But I digress...
And if you have tired of 70s guitar based rock, mate, you can always catch up in the local 'Messenger' with the Crimewatch column - Shaw Taylor (remember him? "Keep 'em peeled") never had it so good. It is a very law-abiding place and people are trustworthy and friendly, but woe betide anyone who wrongs in any form. This week the ne'er-do-wells have been cited and publicly humiliated;
"On Wednesday of last week a male tourist was spoken to in relation to camping on private land occupied by a horse-trekking business. The writing on the 'No Camping' signs on the premises was clearly in English. His camping gear was retained at the police station.
On Thursday night a male was arrested as a result of a verbal assault on Ardmore Street after two groups were being un-necessarily vocal to one another.
On Friday a male driver swerved to avoid colliding with a rabbit and rolled his car on Mount Aspiring Road. He suffered minor injuries but this crash could have been very serious especially as the vehicle careered across the road.
We had a petrol drive-off at Makarora where a male was arrested at his next port of call. Not very smart."
And, please, answers on a postcard what this all means...
"A male was arrested after taking out his emotions on two letterboxes in the early hours of Saturday morning." Hmmmm.
Our new wheels move like a dream. Unfortunately even when the brakes are applied. Thuds a bit on the way down hills but I'm usually more concerned with keeping the wheels straight from running into the kerbside. Various bits jus don't switch on. Or switch off, but Ulrika...Ka...Ka.... KAR 196 was a bargain. I've filled the tank with gas, so now she's worth double.
The only problem is that my i-Phone is now stuck in a slot in the fascia of the dashboard. Allegedly, that was designed for a cassette tape. Oops.
We went so far back in time yesterday that we finished up in Middle Earth. A drive to Glenorchy, north of Queenstown on Lake Wakatipo took us to to some of the sites where they filmed The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Trilogies. It was a glorious day, clear but with starting temperatures at around -4.5C, a pretty chilly one. The sights were quite amazing, an area sparsely furnished with human settlement and those who live in this remote region committed to sheep farming. It was no surprise to read that when the Hollywood bandwagon rolled in, jobs as extras were snapped up by locals earning $300 per day. I expected to see an orc awaiting me around each corner...
Further down a dusty and gravelled track we came across ... Paradise! (and not the one in the East End of Glasgow)
Of course, all this excitement and enterprise had to be followed by a flat white and chocolate brownie (GF of course), back in Glenorchy at The Sugar Loaf Cafe.
Apart from travelling, more important matters focus on the very healthy Otis Boyes (and his fur brother, Oban). He got out for his first outside walk this week. Oban threw himself madly into the frozen waters of the lake, again.
Oh, and last, but not least, how about the Southern Lights? The Aurora Australis make an appearance on clear nights and provide a spectacular light show. Not bad to wrap up this missive eh?
