Pupu Springs Area

Last Friday was an easy day, and we stayed in the area of our guesthouse. Our first walk was a grove that was thick with jungle vegetation and featured some of the limestone rocks that are found only in this area and in Italy.

Our second walk was in Pupu Springs (yes, pronounced "poo poo"), which supposedly has the clearest freshwater in the world.

We also visited Greg, one of Lynn and Jay's many friends in the area. Greg is a "reclusive science guy" in a beautifully isolated home with its own laboratory. He had been working for a biofuel company, but has lately been more involved with building elaborate rat traps. He told us that most of the local dinner conversation revolves around trying to get rid of rats and possums. A surprisingly high number of the people we've met in the area are originally from Europe or North America (the US in this case), and a well-worn passport seems to be almost a prerequisite of living here.

We rewarded ourselves that afternoon with some tea and scones (and feijoa macaroons) and were back in time for the local news. We love the New Zealand news. Some of the big stories of the night:

• Ukeleles are replacing the recorder as the instrument of choice for school children (cut to dramatic shot of recorders being thrown into a dusty closet)
• Redheads brace themselves for "Hug a Ginga Day" (New Zealand seems to have inherited the weird British dislike of redheads). This was the day for everyone to "hug a ginga" to make up for being mean to them the rest of the year. We were pretty remote, so Nissa missed her chance to be hugged by strangers
• Rugby racial slur controversy. 40% of the news seems to be about rugby
• A nice looking local man had his "baby blue" Jeep stolen, and now he can't get home because his house is so remote