Our holiday in New Zealand is just over half way through and today we had a Lovely cruise/coach/cruise trip to Doubtful sound. It began with a cruise across lake Manapouri which was very calm, picturesque and beautiful. That was followed by a coach ride over the top of a mountain and down to the mouth of Doubtful sound. Now I don’t do coach rides, while I’m sure they would be fine if I was sat in the driving seat, coaches just make me feel sick but the trip across the mountain was very slow and I managed to keep breakfast down. We were then taken aboard another boat to cruise the sound which is one of many fjords in the area. It was a good size boat, there were about 130 of us passengers and on the whole it was very smooth. Just as well really as we had left the ginger biscuits on the table in our accommodation. Thankfully we had the ginger beer to fall back on and used it! After cruising the length of the sound we approached the Tasman sea and it became quite choppy but not too bad so one shared bottle of ginger beer did the trick. On the way back the skipper took us firstly to a waterfall and suggested we went out onto the open bow area as he inched closer to the spray. It was an amazing sight looking straight up from virtually under the waterfall, the spray wasn’t too bad so it made for some amazing photos. We then went to a place on the sound where he cuts the engines of the boat, asked everyone to go on deck and be quiet and listen to what he called the sound of silence. It was truly beautiful and even a bit eerie but in all honesty we experience it every time we go to the block at Nannup, there is an amazing quietness there with just the sounds of the birds to break the silence.
New Zealand has up to now been quite a rush to get from one place to the next but we now have some time to relax in some lovely places. Our accommodation has in general been good, particularly where we are at the moment, a very quaint old house, very homely and everything we need. The bed is comfortable, the shower is good and the cooking facilities excellent. We overlook lake Te Anou and there are plenty of places to walk.
Sadly this is where the frustration comes in, unfortunately I am unable to walk far because I am in too much pain to do so. I love walking and there are so many tracks and paths around here that it would be wonderful but it only makes the swelling worse so pointless doing it. On the bright side it is a good excuse to relax and enjoy the place even if it is by car.
This brings me to the final point of my post tonight. Tonight I lay in the lovely corner spa bath (lovely in every way except its avocado colour that is?) soaking in a solution of Epsom salts contemplating my seemingly hopeless drift towards another round of surgery. As I lay there I thought about how blessed I am to be having conversations, albeit by email, with two of the wonderful angels who look after me. Also to have the love of long suffering Denise who must be wondering what she did to deserve having to look after me especially when I am down. I will get through this and get back on track because of these people and I know how lucky I am!