Pernel Hilarious

Yesterday we got out for a tour of the Pernel Fruit World, a fruit orchard here in New Zealand. We got a sampling of fruit before embarking on a journey through the orchard. The fruit was amazing. Plum, apple, Coconut Ice peach, and white flesh nectarine. The tour guide was hilarious and only took us down one dead end.




Halfway through the tour we stopped and fed some animals, and got to play on the tractor that was pulling our wagon.





This one orchard had a huge variety of fruit. Plums, pears, apricots, peaches, nectarines, kiwi fruit, and several varieties of apple.





Like most places, there was a gift shop. We also stopped to buy some fresh fruit, and to have an ice cream cone. Perfect for the 25° weather.




Sunset Begun

After the kids were in bed, I grabbed my gear and headed out for a walk. I was hoping to catch a nice sunset, but I soon realized I left our house way too early. Still, I didn’t want to squander my time, so I wandered about taking a few pictures here and there.

I ended up near a river estuary when the sun finally dipped below the horizon. The colors weren’t as grand as I was hoping for, but I captured a few scenes that I quite like. I got a little chilly in the wind, so I didn’t stick around too long. The vacation has barely begun, so I have lots of opportunities for sunsets.

Of course, 10 after getting back to the house, the colours really lit up the sky and clouds. Too bad I had put away my gear.







Tackling Peak

Wednesday (Jan 28 here), we headed out to Te Mata peak. It was an interesting drive, mainly on highway’s, but the last little bit was up a steep, narrow, windy road. I was glad I’d had some time behind the wheel before tackling that road. Still, I was nervous on the descent. Then we met another car at a very narrow spot and he refused to yield ( apparently I had the right of way). Once the other car inched past me, the rest was easy.

However, at the top was a pretty amazing view.








Left Driving

I can now cross off another item on my life’s to do list. I have driven on the left hand side of the road now. It was a little odd at first, but having other traffic around actually helps sort things out.

I haven’t found it difficult yet, but we haven’t driven far. I really just have to concentrate and think far in advance on what I have to do.

Local driving rules are slightly different than home. It is just little things like when making a left turn onto a road (like a right turn by North American standards), you have to wait for oncoming traffic that is turning right and crossing a lane of traffic.

Also, one thing that has really gotten me more than a few times is that the turn signal level is on the right side of the wheel. I keep turning on the wipers instead of the turn signal.

Thankfully everything here is totally laid back. Cruising along at 40 KM/h in our rented Toyota Estima is not seen as slow.