"Kind of alternative"

We had dinner at a pizza/pasta place in Arrowtown (former gold-mining town, beautifully preserved) the other night. A 4-year-old Kiwi girl at a neighboring table ditched her parents and asked if she could sit with us. We obliged, and she proceded to entertain us for the next 45 minutes. Or maybe it was we who were entertaining her. The whole time, not even a look in our direction from the parents -- they clearly weren't too concerned about their daughter talking to strangers.

So then, as her parents were getting up to leave -- they were sitting right behind us -- we naturally expected them to give a smile and nod in our direction, if not a word of thanks for giving them a break from looking after their little kid. But they just got up and left. Walked right by us and didn't even look over or say a word.

After they left I asked the barman what he thought of this behaviour. (At one point earlier in the evening he'd come by our table and asked if we were annoyed by the little girl -- we said no). "Oh, they seemed kind of alternative to me, like they live on a commune and encourage their children to roam around a bit."

I guess that might explain the 45-minute visit. But does it explain the cold shoulder we got? Hmm.

Yesterday was a big travel day -- we drove from Queenstown out through Glenorchy and the beautiful pastures of Mt Aspiring National Park. Got caught in a sheep traffic jam -- several hundred of them. Forded several dozen streams & dirtied up the rental car right good.

Public enemy #1 along the coast is the sand fly. These are ruthless little twerps, smaller than mosquitos. When you open the car door for 2 seconds, 2,000 of them get in. Then you spend the next two hours killing them one by one and wishing you had bug spray. We're both covered in itchy little bites.

We're going for a hike on Fox Glacier this afternoon.

-Dave