Last day in Qtown

May 3

Last night we went out for a Thai dinner and sat next to a family who it turned out is from Grants Pass!!! David Selinger grew up in Grants Pass and knew many people we knew. He is younger than Mark and David and has a very successful e-commerce  business. He now lives in San Francisco.

Today we had a very relaxing day. After breakfast we walked to town and got some bakery items for tomorrow’s breakfast. We leave early for a flight to Auckland. We visited the town council to see if we could buy one of their way cool valve covers that have a great graphic on them to add to Ron’s manhole cover collection. Alas it wasn’t possible. Then we walked around town, seeing the wharf with its coal fired steamer which puffs black smoke. Oy, what an environmental affront. Then we walked through the QTown Gardens which were lovely with massive trees and a rose garden still blooming away. We visited a design shop with wonderful gifty/arty stuff then headed back up the hill for lunch at the hostel.

After lunch we visited with a man who is staying at the hostel who is from Vancouver BC. He has been traveling for two years. Ron and I took an hour long scenic ride along the lake to a Glenorchy. We were stopping within five minutes to take photos. The awesome scenery never stops here. On the way back to our hostel we rode up to Bob’s Peak, 450 meters on a gondola. There we got a 360 degree view of the area. After having a rainy cold day yesterday we had a sunny afternoon and it was dry all day. The temperature was warmer today as well. We ended the day by doing our last laundry before heading home. We will have a seafood dinner on the wharf tonight.  Tomorrow we fly to Auckland for two nights and three days before ending this most wonderful of adventures.