Second Day Lake Tekapo

Last night I passed on a beautiful piece of freshly caught salmon and I knew I must still be ill. After dinner, we walked back up the hill and viewed the sunset over the mountains and lake and it was stunning. The area is a lot like Bend--high alpine lakes and mountains and the terrain is brown with spots of green and stands of pines that are incredibly fragrant. We are between 2700 and 3000 ft up and very little grows up here--gardening is quite a challenge for the locals. (I certainly understand this!) A few drops of rain began to fall and by the time we got back to the cottage it was raining. We slept well to the sounds of the rain falling and woke to the sun streaming in. We opened the curtains to see snow all around the surrounding hills and mountains that had only hours before been quite dry. We placed a chair on the grassy hill and I trimmed Joel's hair with a pair of manicure scissors. I am still a little queezy and so we are going to scout out some fishing places on the canals south of here and check on accommodations closer to Mt Cook. I feel a little like trekkies waiting to climb Mt Everest. We watch the weather conditions and talk with the locals frequently to find a window in which we can drive the road up to the mountain village.
(I am quite irritated by a very loud German speaking woman who is skyping and using wild hand signals as well . ..)
Things I have observed about Kiwis and NZ--this is pure stream of consciousness here: they are the original recyclers. They conserve everything and find use for all items. It is not uncommon to see old crockery, wire mesh, old gates, machinery, driftwood and anything else you can think of in the garden living new lives. The gray water from the kitchen and bathroom sinks flow directly from the pipes to the outdoors in open lines that lead to irrigation systems for the yards. They are quite loquacious. Their need to help knows no bounds. (Recently when we had a small question in the grocery, every single employee in the store descended upon us one by one and each with a different suggestion. No matter how much we begged off and tried to politely dismiss them, they wanted desperately to find an answer to our problem.) The Kiwis always wave to you when they pass you in a car, whether you are walking or in another car . ..if they don't, then they are generally transplants from the UK or the US. They have long ago worked out an incredible system of cooperation that is admirable. Neighbors allow each other to drive through paddocks and cross property with vehicles. They watch one another's property. They greet each other and talk about their activities. They are wonderfully optimistic and amazingly strong and resourceful. They are polite and require that their children learn the same. I think the world would be a better place if we just let them run the world. They love to individualize their postboxes and I wish that I'd started photographing them from the start of the trip. Antlers on mailboxes, old microwaves, old breadboxes, every color imaginable, on top of tree stumps, on top of old pipes, in the middle of bushes, in pots--it is hilarious and such an expression of creativity and individuality.
I have to go now, the girl next door in the stall is reciting some silly school cheer in German and it is driving me freaking nuts. Will report more later . Much Love, Linny