Silver Down-Under:- Part 12
Bungees, Wine, & Vintage Cars.
Super sunny start to the day and I cooked our first pancake in NewZealand while Mary & Anne prepared for the Car Rally in Arrowtown this morning.
Quick Excessively-Pink picture, before we finally managed to get the Austin cranked into life, and they headed out, Mary in the Austin, and Anne cruising along on the Royal Enfield Bike.
Precious the cat seemed undeterred and stretched out in a patch of sun by the door waiting for their return.
Yet another successfully effortless cruise in the roller skate up to Arrowtown, where we met up with Mary & Anne in The. Provisions Coffee shop. We were also introduced to Shirley who apparently drove something called a “T”Bucket” whatever that is.
This coffee shop was legendary for it’s ridiculously delicious sticky buns, so of course we had to try them. .
The car Rally was in a school field about 1 kilometre away, so we walked up in the bright sunshine to be greeted with a huge display of metal.
Now I am obviously not an expert on cars, but I can say with certainty that there were some red ones, some blue ones, some multicoloured ones, some quick-looking ones, some with their engines poking out of their bonnets, and quite a few Motorbikes.
All of the above were very shiny and had people leaning over them muttering things like, “Oh yes! They have Turbo-Cranked the Grosset-Flange. . . I wouldn’t have done that!”
In the course of the next hour or so I learned that a “T-Bucket” was not in fact something that Head-Office could drink in any given morning, but was a flashy rickety open topped Hot-Rod involving exposed exhaust pipes and lots of red leather.
I also learned that some cars had air-bags instead of `hydraulic suspension, and that the air bags dont always work. I remember thinking that as we watched one flatulent-sounding monster set off ploughing some really interesting furrows through the school field.
After we had perused all of the vehicles on display, we walked back to the car-park where we had left the roller skate in a bay which said it was suitable for Motorhomes. Despite the fact that there were only 2 Motorhomes (and seven cars) parked in this section, we were genuinely afraid that we would return to find the Roller-Skate crushed, with an infringement notice for $1,000 stuck on top under the “Anti-Motor-Home-Respect Legislation of 1839”
I have always thought that if God had wanted us to Bungee, he would have made our legs out of Elastic.
This didn’t seem to deter the seemingly never-ending stream of people who were prepared to chuck themselves off the world’s first Permanent Bungee installation Run By A J Hackett on Kawarau Bridge.
The jumpers had the opportunity to dip their hands into the river if they wished, but the guy just before we left, went in nearly up to his waist. Might have been something to do with the fact that he was a short little fella, weighing well over 100 kilos. (He had showed me his weight written in felt pen on the back of his hand).
We decided that Wine tasting was more our cup of tea, so we called in to Peregrine Winery where we were suitably impressed with the quality of the wines, and bought a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc to have in the Hot-Tub at our next Air BnB.
Going off to the country in Earnscleugh tomorrow, so we collapse early to bed .
What a thoroughly boring holiday we are having so far!