January 23
Timaru
[We left the stormy weather behind in Dunedin and found beautiful weather in Timaru, just up the coast a bit.]
[Lest it’s not obvious, the port. Yup, it’s a port town.]
[Leaving the Maasdam behind . . . ]
[We hiked into the city.]
[Stopping to smell the roses . . . OK, maybe they’re not roses?]
[The Timaru “urban” area has a little less than 30,000 citizens – a lovely downtown.]
[And apparently one of the few (only?) towns that decorates for Christmas – like this! I guess they leave them up for a while.]
[And a photo op oceanside park . . . ]
[Hi, I’m having fun in Timaru!]
[And there’s our boat, again.]
[The park – at the end of our walking tour, we were going to come back here to walk along the beach back to the boat. At the end, however, we had hiked about 7 miles (according to Anne’s super-duper pedometer) around the city and were too pooped to come back here.]
[Hi, I’m still here!]
[And here’s here.]
[Well, I would have been dizzy going down the switchbacks anyway.]
[Probably missed another nude beach . . . ]
[OK, kids, where are we going next?]
[We discovered it’s difficult to read maps in the wind.]
[The Biddies seeks shade from the wind . . . OK, it was starting to warm up a bit.]
[Also not a rose.]
[And the Super chimed in with the next six photos from the piazza. A sure sign that it’s windy is holding onto one’s hat.]
[Hi, Mom!]
[Reetz, ISO a photo op.]
[OK, we’re getting close to decision time . . . ]
[So long Bay Hill Piazza!]
[See you later, Maasdam.]
[Then we walked downtown to the library – everybody wanted to catch up on their social media. Since all my social media devices reside in our house in Alex, I decided to meander the immediate area. Thought this an attractive church across the street from the library.]
[And the Super’s shot.]
[Thought this an attractive stout dispenser.]
[And yet another nearby church.]
[And the Super’s shot. Apparently you could climb the tower for a view, but church was in service . . . and it looked like a lot of stairs!]
[A major commercial street – with out boat visible in the distance.]
[“Give Way” or “Yield”? We’re conducting an very unscientific survey.]
[The Seafarers’ Monument . . . ]
[See, it says so on the sign.]
[An obviously important building.]
[Then we went on a long cross town hike to the Trevor Griffiths Rose Garden . . . ]
[With The Biddies, ambling through the garden’s nature area.]
[A really big tree]
[You have to be a Camp Brosius denizen to appreciate this. All the campers, for whatever reason, always visit the “Vinnies” in Plymouth, Wisconsin.]
[Back to the boat, pooped from our long walk.]
[Goodbye, Timaru! The locals all came out to bid us adieu . . . or are they saying “Yankee go home”?]
[Leaving port . . . ]
[With the aid of our “tug” friends.]
[The Southern Alps in the distance, the sea looks calm . . . ]
[But there must have been some serious swells – the tug was bouncing around like a bobber.]
[My guess – islands?]
[Nobody in the pool . . . I think the water was bouncing around like a bobber too.]
[Kinda looks like the south seas, eh?]
[Now this is the life!]
[Must be dinner or post-dinner time.]
[More beautiful landscapes as we’re hugging the shoreline.]
[As the sun begins to set . . . ]
[Say goodnight, Ruthie!]
Cars will soon have the Internet on the dashboard. I worry that this will distract me from my texting. ~ Andy Borowitz
