Some more from Grandma Ritzman's 1914 diary:
May 11, 1914 - Monday, done washing, planted beans, peas, radishes, lettice, onions and parsnip seed in the garden.
May 12, 1914 - Tuesday, ironed, mended.
May 13, 1914 - Wednesday, mended, was over home. (we think that over home meant her parents home on Pickle Rd.)
May 14, 1914 - Thursday, cleaned house for mother.
May 15, 1914 - Friday, done sweeping and dusting, baked six loaves of bread and fourteen pies, went down to Sams on an errand, set two hens.
May 16, 1914 - Saturday, done saturdays work, baked a cake, hoed in garden, Paul and I washed the surrey. (Paul was my uncle and dad's older brother)
Continuing with our New Zealand trip -
On May 8th we drove from Te Anau up to Queenstown, a relatively short drive of around 170 km. The Milford Sound boat trip was very nice once again. The weather cooperated and the sun came out for the trip on the Sound. The bus squeeze through the one lane tunnel is always interesting as the exit of the tunnel is not visible from the entry so you never know if you're going to meet another vehicle. There are two passing spots in the tunnel but with the huge bus that Real Journeys uses you wouldn't think it was possible. We met a car coming through and at first it looked like a standoff but eventually they squeezed by each other.
Some of the couples drove up to Arrowtown north of Queenstown where they were having a fall festival. Arrowtown's history is of gold mining and quite a quaint little town. Myself, Joan, and our adopted son Richard walked around Queenstown a while and then got ready for dinner on Bob's Mountain. Some of the team went up the gondola ride early to ride the luge ride above the restaurant. We all partook of the buffet dinner and went back to the motor homes full and happy. Joan and I were a little disapointed with the meal but overall it was good. The view down from the mountain after dark with all the lights on in Queenstown was spectactular as usual.
On May 9th we drove up to Wanaka and picking up Highway 6 which is reputed to have the best scenery of all the routes in New Zealand. I lived up to it's reputation on this day. Highway 6 goes over the Haast Pass which is the lowest point to get over the Southern Alps in the south. The drive truly made it understandable why the Maori named New Zealand Aoteroa translated "Land of the Long White Cloud". I believe it was the explorer Abel Tasman that gave the English name of New Zealand to the country. The clouds and mountains were spectactular with the long thin clouds at about half of the height of the mountains. Almost impossible to capture with the camera.
The trivia contest for the day was to answer the question - how many one lane bridges do you pass over from Queenstown to Fox Glacier. We made Richard the official counter and judge and he counted 27. We try to do a trivia contest everyday to encourage the team members to pay attention to the surroundings while they are travelling. Winners usually get a post card to send home. The trivia prize is trivial also.
On the way to Fox we stopped at Haast Beach and Joan fed the ponies apples. This was the fifth time that we have done this I think. We spent some time admiring the Tasman Sea and then went on up to Fox Glacier.
Left click pic's to enlarge.
Richard at Kiwi House, Bob's Mountain
Hackett Bungy Jump at Kawarau River
We stopped at this fruit stand and bought some New Zealand gala apples. They are great right from the orchard.
An example of the "Land of the Long White Cloud"
Biking and camping - tough in the Southern Alps
Feeding the ponies at Haast Beach
Joan and I at Haast Beach with the Tasman Sea in background.
Life is Good -
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