+Tomato ketchup has a clove taste to it.
+New Zealanders seem to have adopted the British love of Indian food. Lots of Indian restaurants. Not many Mexican restaurants.
+Found a wonderful kiosk selling sausages, run by an East German guy who didn't speak a word of English when he came to New Zealand. Is now running his own business.
+The earthquake in Samoa resulted in a small tsunami on the beaches of Christchurch (only 1 meter high).
+Many restaurants seem cold. Several I've kept my jacket on while eating!
+Found a trinket box to add to my collection: made of coconut and contains a maori-inspired pendant (I suspect it's made in China, but oh well, what isn't these days!).
+Caught the bus to Lyttleton, which as the name implies was "lyttle".
+Enjoyed an eccles cake in Lyttleton!!
+Lyttleton is the home of Joe Bennett, newspaper columnist Joe Bennett, who wrote Land of Two Halves in which he hitchhiked round NZ. I read the book as "research" before coming here. Like Bill Bryson, only not as good.
+Caught the TranzAlpine train from Christchurch to Greymouth. Described as one of the greatest train journeys in the world.
+Train journey went via snow-capped mountains, alpine foothills, Canterbury Plains, the Waimakariri Gorge,up to ARthur's Pass (737 meters high), through the Otira Tunnel, then through rainforests of the west coast.
+Train trip was 231 km, included 19 tunnels and took 4 1/2 hours.
+Enjoyed a free Devonshire Cream Tea on the train.
+From the train, I rode the bus for four hours to Franz Josef, home of Franz Josef Glacier.
+It rains in Franz Josef 180 days a year. Today is one of those days.
+Enjoyed a lovely dinner of roast pork and apple sauce with crackling!
+In Nepal, it's called trekking, in the US and England, it's called hiking, in New Zealand, it's called tramping. +Hope to visit the glacier today.
