(a continuation of the list from A Separate Life here …)
… calm lakes with graceful black swans, geothermal steam emerging straight from the hill where I’m driving, flax plants with red flowers lining the road, myna birds everywhere, mountain forests and plants (so different from the subtropical native bush further north), huge ancient rimu, a red metal viaduct, a World Heritage national park, volcanoes still with a few patches of snow at the top, and fish and chips for dinner because it’s a Monday, and nothing else is open.