Wednesday, May 30

May 30, 2007

Josh and I woke up around 9:00 (even though we’d set the alarm for 8, I hit the snooze several times) to the sound that had not ended throughout most of the night…the constant, incessant, rolling thunder of heavy trucks blasting their way down the highway. I noticed on the back of the Ashley Motor Lodge business card that they are located on State Highway 1…why hadn’t I noticed that yesterday?!?! Bugger!

Josh and I got ready to depart and Josh read the paper which ran a headline on NCEA (education exams in NZ) and I made a last coffee to drink on the balcony over looking the “view” that had been part of the determining factor in staying at this motel over the flash motel.

We parked the car by the I-site and Speight’s Ale House and paid $1 for 2 hours of parking. We walked to the Subway where Josh bought a foot long Subway melt and I had the French toast and bacon. I have to admit that the Subway bacon is the BEST bacon in New Zealand because it is a) not fatty b) not actually HAM instead of bacon c) tastes crisp and cooked just like in the states.

We walked up and down the main shopping strip in town. The “mall” in Timaru is abysmal as it actually houses more agencies (like the YMCA and a real estate company) than shops. It was really sad. So, we continued our trek up the main street and back down. We found Josh his Allure cologne that he wore in the states but we didn’t buy it here even though the generic CK One I bought him his not my favorite. The Allure was over $120 here but I don’t know if we can find it anywhere else for less in New Zealand.

As we neared the car park it was actually good timing because the clock tower was chiming noon and we had only paid for two hours of parking. We quickly returned to the car that was still parking ticket free and we decided to do a little housekeeping with our bags and the car considering we would be staying with Rotarians tonight and didn’t want to cart all our luggage into their home.

I’m sure it made a funny sight as Josh and I had the two suitcases on the ground behind the car, shifting clothes about and packing an overnight bag into the backpack so that was all we would have to take into Ken and Fenn Leadley’s home. We got everything sorted and although the back seat of the car wasn’t 100% organized, it was better than it had been for most of our South Island trip.

We left Timaru, which I don’t ever plan to go back to (if you like the architecture just visit Dunedin), and were on our way to Ashburton. State Highway 1 along the east coast is so flat that Josh was just thrilled to be driving on it. Straight roads are a luxury not to be taken for granted in New Zealand. We reached Ashburton around 2 and we didn’t plan to meet up with the Leadley’s until 3 or 3:30.

Josh called Ken to tell him that we were in town and then Josh and I were off to look at the Ashburton Museum. It’s a highly forgettable museum but if you’re ever looking to kill time in Ashburton you should stop in because at least it’s free. The downstairs of the museum is about the history of Ashburton and the upstairs area is an art gallery where local artists sell their work. Nothing of consequence in the entirety of the place except to note that one artist’s depictions of skeletal cats standing on two legs and dressed as ballerinas or brides alluding to the actions of molestation and rape were VERY DISTURBING. See: http://www.ashburtonartgallery.org.nz/images/new-3.jpg

On that pleasant note, we took a walk in the gardens outside the museum before driving to McDonald’s where we split a two cheeseburger meal (and the lady couldn’t get our order straight…what’s so hard about meat and cheese only?...that we had an extra cheeseburger at $2 added onto the meal but whatever.

Food in our stomachs, it was now 3:30 so we dropped into the I-site to get a map of town and directions to the Leadley’s house. It wasn’t too far away from the city center. We parked on the street and went up to re-introduce ourselves to these people as we’d only met them once before at the GSE team presentation in Palmerston North.

We chatted with Fenn and Ken for awhile about what they do. They have previously been farmers, however, in the early 1980s they sold their property and moved into town. Ken now builds houses in town primarily by himself although he is 61. Fenn works in town part-time at a clothing shop. We also learned that their Rotary club meets at 6:30 so we had some time to chat before getting changed to visit the club.

Around 6, we left the house and drove the short distance into town to the hotel where the Ashburton Plains Rotary Club meets. This is the newer of the two Ashburton Rotary Clubs. We socialized and got the powerpoint set up before dinner was served. The meal was brought out by the waitstaff and consisted of chicken, mashed potatoes, other veggies. Dessert was brought out later (a fluffy orange/marshmellow tasting cheesecake) along with tea and coffee. I must admit, I am eating a lot more veggies here and I’ll tell the truth…they don’t taste that bad!

Next, Josh and I were up to speak and when the laptop went into hibernate mode and went black…Josh just kept rolling after getting his notes from the laptop case and looking over at me and saying, “FIX IT.” Everyone laughed and it was really funny. Luckily, the tech guy fixed the problem because I didn’t have a clue. Ultimately, the glitch was forgettable because Josh never stopped speaking and soon enough the images were back up on the screen. The club presented us with a gift of fresh fruits and some chocolates which was very thoughtful. I was, however, very tempted to eat the candy but Josh and I didn’t want to open the shrink wrap as we had to carry the package onto the plane the following day.

After the meeting, several people chatted us up and around 9:00 we returned to the Leadley’s house after having first stopped to check on the storage unit facility that they operate. Josh and I put our casual clothes back on and chatted with the Leadley’s until 11:00. By the time we crawled into bed, we were exhausted and we would have an early morning tomorrow because Ken and Fenn had to depart the house by 9 so that Ken could make a doctor’s appointment he had scheduled in Timaru at 10:30.

After setting the alarm clock for 7:30, we fell into bed and were fast asleep (although I did wake up around 3:30 to the dripping noise of the outdoor garden fountain!).