Day #3: NZ Date: 19th of February, Friday. US Date: February 18th, Thursday.

We were SO wiped out from our long flight(s), we just slept in till about 12 noon (3pm US time). Don’t think I’ve ever slept so much at once in my life!

The night before, due to the flight, my feet and legs had swelled really bad, but looked SO much better today! Could actually see the shape in my ankles again, yay! and it just felt easier to get around in general.

Had a nice hot shower and fresh change of clothes and a hearty breakfast of eggs, yogurt and a glass of milk.

We had slept in a separate section of the house that had been turned into a Flat/Apartment a few years back when Johnny’s oldest brother, Daniel, and his wife got married.

We spent the first part of the day just relaxing around the house with the family, chit-chatting, catching up on some local news.

Since my camera batteries had all died, Johnny found an adapter for me to plug in my american battery charger into one of their new zealand outlets (seriously strange looking things, need to get a pic of just those to add in here later). Once charged, I got to go out on my own around the house and get some photos of the kittens, their mom, and the pile of fire wood the boys had cut up.

About 4:30, we decided to go for a walk. Johnny wanted to show me around the farm a little bit. So we walked out around the house, got a photo of the small hill they had in their front viewing area…

And walked a small path going up a small-ish hill. Along this path, Johnny pointed out a tree that he had loved to climb as a child. And a large plant Johnny said was considered just a weed, but had some pretty berries and flowers I had to get a photo:

 

Also had a great view of some of their property, the rolling hills beyond, and (if the clouds would’ve parted) we could’ve gotten a great view of the Mt. Ruapehu. 

We continued to walk, when Johnny decided to hop a nearby fence. Since it was just a wire fence, he pulled the wire’s apart enough for me to fit through. on the other side of this fence, was where his older brother Daniel and his family lived. We walked up towards their house staying along fence line.

We met their pretty little pup (who refused to sit still more than 1/2 a millisecond!), a couple wild goats that the boys had caught and given to Daniel’s wife Sarah (yes, there are now 2 Sarah Donaldson’s in this family), and we saw Sarah’s  Nubian/New Zealand Ferrell goat crosses. Sister-in-Law Jenny came along on the walk with us, and she sure had fun with the pup.

We then went ot the house and visited with Sarah and her lovely children. Johnny gave me a tour of the house, which had originally been built by his Dad when he’d first got married, and then built up as their family had grown. and Now Daniel and his wife were staying in it and working on ways to remodel it and make the place for efficient.

We had tea and toast while we were there, Sarah had made a jam for the toast that was absolutely amazing! If I thought Customs would let me, I would love to smuggle some back to the states! The BEST jam I’ve ever tasted.

When Daniel got home from work, we were invited to stay for dinner, which of course we accepted.

After dinner we played Cranium, which was a blast! Lots of laughs. Daniel then drove us all back to the Donaldson’s place, and we all headed right to bed as it was quite late.