West Coast

I took David and Luke to the West Coast to see the Kauri trees and the Tasman Sea. I plugged in our destination into the GPS and off we went.  Steve does not like to rely too heavily on the GPS but I do. I knew the way but the GPS  wanted to take me a different way so I decided to follow it because it knew the shorter way. What the GPS doesn't know is what is gravel in New Zealand and what is not. What started out as a short cut took 30 more minutes due to several gravel roads it took me on. I could not believe it. We did get to the information center which was off a gravel road and the lady gave me directions to the Kauri trees. I was to go back out and turn left. Sounds simple. Well it is if you go back on the same road which I did not. I went on a different  road. All gravel roads look the same. This one, however, ended up being a logging road with deep ruts.  I said I don't remember this. My son said well you are on a different road mom.  He thought I wanted a different road. He told me he knew I had some directional issues but didn't know that it was that bad. Needless to say after that he questioned every road I took.  We did see everything we wanted to see. We stopped in a little tavern for lunch and had fish and chips. A couple of the people recognized that we were foreign and visited with us. They were very nice. It was a cozy play with a fireplace to which the owner's dog came in and laid down by.  I guess in New Zealand they don't have the same health codes.  We happened to drive by a rugby game and stopped to watch. I can not believe how rough of a game it is. Several guys got injured. One guy was laying on the field holding his hamstring. We assumed he must have pulled it. The trainer came over and looked at it. He had him stand up. He took a water bottle and just started squirting water all over the injured area. Then he had him shake his leg. He then told him he was fine so off the player went. David said it must be magic Maori water.  Who knows but it did make for an interesting day,