Smith Adventures: Mt. Cook and Geraldine?

Mt. Cook, New Zealand

We are a little out of sequence here but I thought we'd send this blog out early since it has so much in common with our home town.

She asks, "Shouldn't we be in parkas?"

On our way from Te Anau to Christchurch we had chosen a relatively direct route,and one that based on New Zealand road standards would take more than 1 day to drive. So we needed an overnight spot and 2 towns were in the running Fairlie and Geraldine. Geraldine won out. But we weren't expecting any great scenery today as some of it was driving back over ground already covered and some unknown. Well no one told us about Mt. Cook, a centerpiece in a range of mountains that rival the Rockies in beauty.

Then after finding a suitable motel we were advised that the town had it's children's Santa parade tonight at 6:30 pm. So we thought why not? And we were not disappointed. A mother and grandmother took us under their wing, explained the origin of Geraldine, and information about how the Santa parade got started. Then they shared the story of their 4 yr. old walking in the door today and saying "Hey mom, you should see we pimped up the old tractor for the parade".

Pimped out Tractors

She said later she would have a talk with the father about the use of certain words around 4 yr olds.

After having supper and watching the parade we stopped to get ice cream and were joined at our table by a pr of grandparents who had come up from Dunedin to Geraldine to see their grandson and daughter. We sat for the next 20-25 mins talking and learning from them about many of the events that surrounded New Zealand becoming a country. It was quite the evening, and reminded us of how many people have let us in to their towns and involved us with their stories. Travel is marvelous.