taking ut easy

we have an evening and two days of walking ahead of us, so today's plan is to take it easy. as if...

okay, we do sleep in, late enough that breakfast in town is at ten o'clock. at the Lime Caffeteria. i wonder if the double-f is deliberate. i have a yearning for muesli, Deb has bacon and eggs. good food.

it's a small, modern cafe with several people meeting for "business". one man at the next table is clearly a salesman: once he starts talking he never stops, everything is good, lots of positive figures on various printouts. a man to be mistrusted.

from there we drive to government gardens, lots of parked cars but very few people. pleasant views across sulphur lake, relaxing strolls round lawns and gardens.

we look for -- and find -- our first geocaches for this holiday! Deb spots fellow cachers, we stop and chat. at least, they talk enthusiastically about caching, we put in the occasional word. nice people, interesting chat.

there's a sculpture park, we are impressed. well, confused. interesting works but we have no idea how the names relate to the sculptures. typical art.

there's an "art village" building -- studios and small galleries -- so we stop to rest, with coffee and cake. the waitress suits the theme, all tattoos and modern hippie outfit. a very pleasant place to sit and relax.

there's a display of twenty or more paintings by the one artist. it's called something like, consider death. inspired by the death of her mother. the first painting is pale blue paint poured onto canvas to form two big blobs, then a line drawn across it. all the rest are the same... except that some have two lines. hmmmm.

the gardens area also has two historic buildings. the blue spa is an indoor swimming pool, we can't go in without paying so we don't. a very fancy Elizabethen / tudor building used to be a spa, now a museum. closed for renovation thank goodness.

we drove to another park, kuirau. an amazing park! lots of the usual grass and trees -- interspersed with "thermal areas", bubbling water and mud, steaming vents, danger signs and wooden fences. all on the edge of the city. amazing :-)

there are two nearby caches. one is inside a primary school, not a good place to search during school hours. another is 800m away, we get halfway, realise it's across a busy road, turn back.

it's mid afternoon, too soon to register for the walks... we go anyway. park in the area, Deb rests, i go for a walk. i walk 300m to within metres of a cache, have no idea where to look, walk back. i walk to a public toilet, it's locked, i walk back.

we are early but not the first to register. so we register, pick up bags and maps. shirts will be later, they have not yet arrived at the registration area.

now we are relaxing. dinner soon. then we will head out for the night walk.

Nick Lethbridge  /  consulting dexitroboper
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"The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take it away from you." … B.B. King
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