Thursday, April 16, 2009

The tranzscenic train going from Christchurch to Picton

More good views along the way from the open air viewing car

Me in the viewing car with no view at all thanks to my wonderful photographer

Kaikoura with the snow capped mountains meeting the ocean

The travels are done. It’s been a bit over 2 months and we’ve been to pretty much most of NZ. Done both islands, seeing both sides of each, plus some good stuff in the middle. The trip has been amazing and I’ll miss traveling around in the van. I’ve got to get back to civilization, taking showers not in the ocean and sleeping in a bed once again.

On Easter, I took the train from Christchurch up to Picton where I then took a ferry to Wellington. The train was definitely the highlight of the day, starting at 7am with the sunrise through the fog and out along the coast, past seal colonies, snow capped mountains, vineyards and salt flats. Pretty much you get to see a lot of types of NZ landscapes all on a 5 hour trip, in the cushiness of a train. There was a open viewing car, where you could go and get some fresh train air with no windows to mess up your photos. Pretty sweet stuff.

Now I’m back in Wellington, and back working at Midnight Espresso. Things are golden as always. It’s good to be back in town, seeing a bunch of friends in the first few days and staying with some up on a hill over the city. I’ve got myself a nice walk into the city for this week, before moving in next week to a townhouse I’ll be house sitting for. So this week, I’m close to the city and able to get around quite easily.

Work is sweet as, as the Kiwis would say. Cooking and doing some baking shifts as well. Baked some wicked peanut butter chocolate cookies yesterday that got rave reviews as did my caramel slice. It’s been fun to mess around and try new recipes, things that are typical in NZ. Baked some Anzac Biscuits today, sugary coconut cookies that are named after the Australia New Zealand Armed Corp. They’ve been baked since WWI.

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