Said goodbye to Kate and drove to Wellington with a stop at the Pukaha Wildlife Center at Mt Bruce.  Rendezvous with McInerneys and cooked the trout from Tongariro River.

David climbed all three peaks, returned to the Dawsons’ to load up on Breville espresso, and loaded the car with our bags. We drove roughly down the center of the country for a few hours to the Pukaha Mt. Bruce Wildlife Centre bird preserve where we saw our first brown kiwi in a darkened sanctuary room: about the size of a basketball but darker brown with a long slightly curved bill it uses to dig in the ground and into rotten tree trunks. We also got up close and very personal with the bird in the photo, who was imprinted to humans and has NO interest in finding a mate, marking its territory with a special song, or having chicks.

We drove further south for a few hours, stopping in a small town in the middle of erehwon when David spotted a sign saying “Cheese.” We walked in the small store — C’est Cheese in Featherston — and found a display of international cheeses worthy of a shop on Paris. Incredible selection. What a surprise. We loaded up with some medium soft blue and a nice Epoisse for cocktails later this evening, got back in the car and drove up, down and around a mountain range on roads that make West Virginia’s switchbacks look like airplane runway … David kept the speedometer below 15kph for almost a half hour as we meandered into the clouds and down to the sea.

Wellington traffic was a rush-hour parking lot but we finally stopped at a small grocery/general store a few blocks from our house when David spotted John McInerney walking by. Lovely reunion.

David made G&Ts with the last of our Tanqueray 10, and Roberta and Cynthia baked the trout from Turangi (lemon and red onion slices, a bit of salt and pepper and enough olive oil that it would not stick to its tin foil wrap). Best trout David has ever had.