Sunday, July 21, 2013

Scratching the surface


It was a road trip disguised as a car hunt. I've been dying to get out and explore but Jason, the ever practical one, thinks weekends are for finding cars and other lame stuff like that. There was one he wanted to see but it was like an hour away, the owner said they would drive it into town but I insisted we take a road trip.  I thought the kids would be so excited, but instead they cried.  Like real tears. Like, that's kind of emberassing to be crying about riding in a car for an hour, tears. But then I remeber when we moved to Georgia. I could care less that we were surrounded by forests of beautiful trees draped in kudzo, or that we had stepped foot in a land so rich with history. All I cared about was if my "Snellville GA 85298" Beverly Hills 90210 spin off t-shirt was cool or not (it was not). Or if I had to eat lunch alone at my new school (I did. in a bathroom stall, nonetheless). So even if they don't appreciate all the beauty in nature now, one of these days they will. I promised them it would be worth it and kept my fingers crossed as we headed out.  We passed sheep pasture after cow pasture after horse pasture and I was getting worried.  We drove through some dreamy fog and finally got to the quaint little town.  While Jason checked out the car, I took a walk with the kids to the bakery.  We ate donuts and hokey pokey bars under the trees of an adorable little church.  Phew, I breathed a sigh of relief.  Sugar and trees, way better than sitting at home. 






As we headed out Jason said the owner had casually recommended a more scenic route home. Like one would casually recommend the chicken pot pie at the Chuck-a-Rama. What she should have said was that this route will blow your mind wide open. We (okay, me) oohed and awed at the majestic Mt. Hutt
 

we ho-hummed about how lovely the grazing sheep were.  For about the 327th time.


And then, SCREEEECH!!! Back that thang up! Was that what I thought it was? A river in the prettiest shade of blue that I vowed right then and there to paint my entire house that exact color. Okay, maybe just one room. Or one wall. We had to pull over and investigate.






The sun was already setting so these low light photos aren't the best, but these tree roots were amazing.  You could climb way up in them and since there are allegedly no poisonous bugs or snakes in NZ, then I didn't think twice about letting the kids explore.  They also had these cliffs with pitch black caves that the kids couldn't get enough of. I can't wait to come back and camp here, this definately isn't the last these waters have seen of us. So all along the kids thought we were so mean to make them drive an hour to just look at a car when in the end this was our favorite day here. I'm stowing this one away as a valuable lesson to always trust your mom and using it as ammunition one of these days.  And you know what? That insecure 11 year old red headed freckle faced girl who hand stitched a Guess patch onto her Jordache jeans just to try and fit in, ended up spending the best years of her life in Georgia and accidentally fell hard for those rolling green hills and summer night thunderstorms.  I have a feeling the same thing is just about to happen to my kids here.  And we've only just begun to scratch the surface.





6 comments:

Just me said...

Oh Jamie - you splendid thing! You splendid story teller, splendid photographer and splendid mum!

You and your husband are giving your kids the best - so much of what you write reminds me of how we lived out our childhood. All the best bits were outdoors - and that totally shapes what brings me joy now.

I do wish I could knock on your door and we could sneak out to a bakery for a good NZ milky coffee and hokey pokey bar or something.

There seems to be something in our writing that echoes "like each other despite your different lives" across these miles! So glad you bumped into my blog so I could bump into yours! (PS I put my email address in my "about" in case it ends up an easier way to communicate.)

Kyoo said...

Their rivers and lakes blew me away too! They just pop out of any landscape. We were driving thru Central Otago region and it was brown and dry then suddenly TURQUOISE out of nowhere. I can picture exactly what you saw, though your pics do an excellent job. So glad you're getting time to explore now!

Janessa said...

Wow, I can't believe the color of that river. Unreal! I'm so glad fate smiled upon you and you could say I told you so at the end of your outing. I'm sure your kids will look back on these next two years with the fondest of memories and gratitude for their amazing parents that drug them to the other side of the world to find such beauty in nature as well as inside of themselves. There's something about stepping outside of your comfort zone that helps you find out who you really are and what you're made of. Ya'll are amazing!!!

Jodee said...

Amazing! I have never seen such color in a river. I love that your kids cried at the thought of a road trip. So funny. Glad it all turned out better than expected :)

Chelsea said...

Am I dreaming? I can't believe how pretty. Like really truly, you must be giddy at times like these. Gorgeous pictures.

did you end up with the car? I really always have a question (or two or ten) at the end of each post. Lets facetime, please. Miss you.

Marcee Foster said...

I didn't think it was possible but NZ just got even more unbelievably beautiful! How?? Why?? That blue!! I'm starting to think two years may not be long enough for such a dreamy place!