South Island, New Zealand
Well, let’s just excuse the fact that I meant for this to be a daily or weekly journal, and then I will tell all about our adventures on the South Island of New Zealand.
PART 1 - THE HOSTS
While trying to remain outwardly optimistic, internally I was very much dreading meeting our hosts in Darfield (sort of a remote suburb of Christchurch) in case they might end up being ultra-religious or sophisticated child haters. Thankfully my fears were all allayed when we entered the house to find it not unbearably immaculate, and full of animals :-). Very cozy. Three cats and two dogs (the sheep stayed outside). Our hosts were a couple named Phillipa and Brendan, but if I’m being honest I would say our real host, and obvious ruler of the house, was named “Moose-Moose Moustachio”, a very furry, very friendly black and white cat with more personality than any cat should ever have. Technical or actual, our hosts were all fantastic and easy to get along with. I mean, they were even watching the same Netflix show as we were. The very same episode even! I know, whoa right?? Anyway :-) while everything was certainly clean enough I wasn’t afraid to let Conner eat inside the house which is a pretty big plus. Thank you hosts for not being super neat freaks. Conner made an instant friend out of Moose the cat. Moose let Conner tease and play with him in return for Conner, by means of his very existence in the house, making sure that the other two cats, Indie and Emily, stayed out of the house until after Conner went to bed. It was a winning relationship. Our other two hosts were very helpful in giving us info on local nuances, lingo, events, and places to see. They even let us stay at their parents’ bach (a “bach” is what they call a cabin in NZ, though I would argue that in the case of this particular cabin it was like calling the Ritz a “motel”…) on the West Coast near the town of Hokitika. We truly felt welcome and while it was occasionally inconvenient (anyone who has stayed with their child in a house where no children have yet lived will know exactly what I am talking about…), we enjoyed our stay in the Darfield house very much.
