Road trip: The Beginning...

    In her ongoing effort to see every square inch of New Zealand before she returns to Spain, Elena took Friday and Monday off and we went on a 4-day road trip from Lower Hutt to New Plymouth.
    There were adventures along the way, some cool things to see and, oh yeah, a certain amount of pain when she convinced me to go on a woodland hike to see a waterfall... in the never-ending wrestling match between my ego and my common sense my common sense always seems to wind up with its shoulders pinned to the mat.
    When I start to feel sorry for myself after doing something like that, I take comfort in the wise words of my old drill sergeant at Fort Benning who used to say "Pain is only weakness leaving the body..." He was lying, of course: Pain is, well, pain... Still, I made it and I guess that's something.
    We started off early Friday - not Zero Dark Thirty early, but before noon anyway. Our first stop was in Shannon, which is kind of a small place but which has a beautiful park right in the center of town. Elena, Josep and his cousin Elena got something to drink while I wandered around a little taking pictures. Back in the car we went next to Feilding (I swear, that's how they spell it here in the Land Down Under and Over a Bit.) Feilding has been named New Zealand's prettiest town 14 times - including this year. It's got wide streets and wide sidewalks and it reminded me a lot of places I've been in Nebraska and Iowa. Definitely a Midwest vibe going on there. The weekly Farmers' Market is also - surprise - the best in the country according to whoever judges farmers' markets. I have to admit that it was pretty cool. We had these weird french fries on a stick with something called "chicken salt" that were pretty tasty and I bought a bottle of garlic oil that should liven up a few meals. We had lunch there and then clamored back into the car for the next leg of our journey.

Shannon is a rural community and this was BIG news.

I can't believe I actually did this...

The clock tower in the center of town in Feilding. The tower not only tells the time, it broadcasts old songs as well, which is kinda cool when you stop to think about it.

Very cool old car in Feilding, which has been voted New Zealand's prettiest town 14 times, including this year.