Beached as bro

We've not long returned from a holiday in New Zealand, visiting my brother and his girl! It was a very lovely week, lots of relaxed afternoons and evenings, brunches, lunches, swims, walks and wandering. And a few unexpected things.

A perfect balance between taking in some tourist-y "points of interest" and having a local, insiders' nouse. Bro takes great delight in being the perfect tour guide, so in addition to the standard activities, we went a little off the beaten track too. These pics dont really do it justice, he is a great photographer however, and I keep pestering him to put together a book.

steam ship ride across the lake to Walter Peak, and then lots of flowers and some sheep

 

 

 

 

Walking along a river track, our friendly guide (my brother, of course!) said "hey...shhh...hear that?" It was the low background sound of these seed pods (from Broom, probably an invasive weed by now) slowly popping one by one in the heat!

 

 more flowers, and remnants of a New Years party (I guess?) in someones' backyard.

 

 that's a pickled walnut in there...on the plate below, not in the backyard.

breakkie at a place which only does variations on their rolls - I love it when people find a winner and stick to it!
 

A cute little cinema tucked away in Arrowtown, called Dorothy Browns. We saw Sherlock Holmes 2, loved it!
  http://www.arrowtown.com/

Our most favourite unexpected thing was taking daily dips in Lake Wakatipu, water so clear...that's us in the distance!

hitting the road for an overnight trip to Curio Bay, the Catlins, down in the southern most area of south island.
 

A very quirky place, the Lost Gypsy Gallery, roadside at Paptowai
 http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g1773668-d1966818-r115617531-The_Lost_Gypsy_Gallery-Papatowai_The_Catlins_South_Island.html

 

 I was not leaving without a swim! And then a very warm shower.

The week left us rested, and relaxed and nicely re-acquianted with those adventurous guys that we only see once every year or two. We also had a severe case of wanderlust...not so much to continue wandering infintely but to wander as far as Arrowtown at least, and find a nice little cottage to do up. I found myself wondering how others do it, if you really could sell up, pack up and just lob into a new place and start a new page.
Does the grass always look greener?

Are we too set in our ways and our routine?

Would you make it work if you just jumped in?

And if you could do it, would you do it to the others around you, drag them along?
Do you need to consider the ripple effect if you make a move?

If I had previously wondered about the ripple effect, then the look on my mums' face (a kind of unspoken, restrained panic) when we mentioned it was pretty telling.
 And I just started a new job, right?
XNarelle