We drove to the ferry dock & met Kinsie & Louisa. I watched two trains being loaded onto the ferry on the lower level, cars in the middle, & people on the top. We sat way on top, outside. Frank talked to me about his life in Holland. His parents were part of the resistance during WWII & hid Jewish families. This was a few years before Frank was born. He's a very interesting person. We had a picnic lunch of crackers, cheese, & biscuits (cookies). The ride was pretty smooth. At one time though, I went below to find the girls & could feel the floor beneath me slant one way & then the other.
After landing, we gathered all our suitcases while Frank & Nina took off to find a couple rental cars. We heard an announcement that a wallet was found & to please come to the office to claim it. Tansy asked everyone if they had their wallets. All of us had. Found out later that it was Franks. He wasn't there when we heard the announcement.
Kinsie & Louisa took off in their rented, black, sports car. I took their picture in front of it. We agreed to meet down in Dunedin near Christmas. We took off for Nelson. Nelson is a lovely town. I think it is my favorite so far.
We met Alison at her work & then she drove us up to the "Mud Hut". It's a house on a hill that's made of mud bricks. It has 5 bedrooms, a huge living room, dining room, nice size kitchen, lovely furniture, 1 1/2 baths & a garage with a pool table. This house has lots of windows & 10 doors to the outside. It sits on top a hill.
We took a walk down the driveway & past a couple paddocks onto another hill & I got this tremendous want to sing, "The Hills are Alive, with the Sound of Music...” And I started to but felt too embarrassed. I would've if my crazy sisters were there doing it too. The view was fantastic. Rolling green hills, some trees, & the bay. We passed goats in a paddock nearby that came over to us expecting food. I didn't pet them because of the electric fence. Tansy didn't mind & spent some time with them while we went back to the house. Her hand smelled horrible of male goat when she got back.
Tansy & I played pool late into the night.
I got to sleep on a nice mattress on the floor in the office. It's very relaxing here.
***My sister, Gini, asked if they lock their doors at night at the mud hut. No, they don't, nor their cars. It's pretty isolated on that hill & quite a drive up to it.
