December
14th December 2003
Marisa bought some art deco chairs from the "Buy and Sell" (pronounced 'buy an sull' here). They are chocolate brown with the arms with the little flat area at the front of the arm rests where you can rest your coffee. I love them. They match the art deco fireplace.
--Brook
17th December 2003
We went to Akaroa today. Marisa fell in love again. Akaroa was France's only colony here in New Zealand. They made a treaty with the local Maori then sailed away for a boat load of settlers.
By the time they got back the British had signed the Treaty of Waitangi and effectively controlled all of New Zealand.
The British did deploy for battle but the the French just said Cest La Vie ("bugger it") and sailed away again. The street names (Rue de Remarks etc) still testify to the French heritage.
--Brook
19th December 2003
We drove to Dunedin to see the "The Pre-Raphaelite Dream" exhibition. The drive is actually a bit boring for the first half. The Canterbury Plain is fairly flat and uninteresting once you lose the mountains. Otago starts to get interesting with more hills and eventually the road comes back to the coast.
We stopped for Dinner in Timaru. I'd love to spend more time here. We had the best fish dinner in a little pub there that I have ever had.
From Timaru to Dunedin the landscape starts to look very Hobbiton like.
It took us some time to get to Dunedin because a mist rolled in and reduced driving visibility to about 10 metres. We got to our cabin just in time and settled in for the night.
--Brook
20th December 2003
We went to see the exhibition. It was marvelous. Marisa finds this stuff inspirational. I have been told I have a Pre Raphaelite nose so I looked very carefully at all the noses. I don't see it.
The very centre of Dunedin looks much older and more sophisticated than any Australian city I have been in. We wandered around, went for a walk aound the University and went for tea down by Port Chalmers.
In the evening we went to see Return of the King. It was the perfect end to the day.
--Brook
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