Doubts (Wednesday's Message)

Hi,
Well, we just finished our last day in New Zealand. What a gas. Today, Carolyn drove us across the country to The Bay of Plenty. On the way, we encountered mountains, lakes, and lots of areas with native plant life. When we went to Raglan Beach, we were at the Tasman Sea. Today we were at the Pacific Ocean. The bay is not at the most eastern part of the north island, but it was 'east coast'. The whole beach was different. There were sea gulls, kelp, and white sand. The exact opposite of Raglan. We walked on the beach and, once again, collected shells. There was an amazing thing that occurred. We were walking along and suddenly we came upon a huge cache of shells. (I'll post a pic) My explanation is that a mermaid was clearing a spot and dumped the shells on the beach. Oh well, just my imagination.
So, you knew the Motels and "Only The Lonely." Cool song. Let's go back a little farther. "Baby used to stay out all night long, she made me cry, she done me wrong. She hurt my eyes open.....because I used to love her, but __ __ __ __" Hint: Rock 'n Roll from the '60s. One might say it was a painful breakup.
The Maori are the first people of NZ. Their culture is embedded in the life of New Zealand. Where we are, most of the street signs are in Maori and the university is on their land. I won't go into a lesson now, but I did learn a lot. The color black is significant in Maori culture and is the color worn at all ceremonies. The name of the national rugby team is 'The All Blacks'. The men's basketball team is 'Tall Blacks', the hockey team is 'Black Sticks' and the cricket team is 'Black Caps'. Then there's the soccer team, 'All Whites', and the women's netball team, 'The Silver Ferns'. A cup of black coffee is a 'Long Black' and coffee with milk is a 'Flat White'. When you order food to go, you order to 'take away'. Finally, did you know that ranches are not ranches, they're 'Stations'. In fact, the term 'Station Wagon' originated down here.
As I said yesterday, we saw so much in the time we were here, that it's hard to remember everything. Once I get the photos uploaded, you'll get more of a sequence of events and a little more detail.
We will probably be flying over ocean at the time when I'd send Thursday's message, so you may not get anything until Friday. That's just the way it goes.
Have a Wacky Wednesday.

Peace,
Danny

"Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the
good we might win, by fearing to attempt."
[Measure For Measure]
~William Shakespeare

Gettin' Funky, Thai Style

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