2/2/23

Whanganui

The mistress sure knows how to get away from the terrible weather up north. A great day for a gnome because the sun shone, and the kind lady took me to all sorts of places. We missed the boat ride on the Waimarie. I'm becoming a famous fella on these boat rides, chatting up the staff, and to think that mistress was too slow at getting organized this morning meant I missed out. 😒

She did apologize so we set off for morning tea at a posh place called Mud Ducks. No sign of muddy ducks there. If we ventured down to the water which wasn't far away there may have been some there. Who wants to see that river anyway. Where I come from the rivers are clear and pretty not this yukky brown that we saw all day. It seems life revolves around this muddy river in Whanganui. Yuk. 

Me mates at home wouldn't swim in that color water. The mistress has the pool filled with perfect water for them to splash about. You can even see the fish in the water. I wonder if that fisherman has caught any yet. I'll have to wait till we get home to find out. The BBQ fellas would be ready to cook fresh out of the water too.

She took me to a Glassworks factory and shop. I hope she left her money in the motel because I could see her purring around these things. Mighty hot work for those fellas down there. She took a photo of a rabbit and it cost $6,000. Jeepers. Thankfully she left it on the shelf. 

So then, she crossed over this muddy water and took me to Durrie Hill underground elevator. OMG, she took me under the ground. Hey, doesn't she know us gnomes stay above ground only. It was a long walk in a tunnel and then she made me get in this very rattly elevator. It rattled and banged and when we got to above ground it made a dreadful thump. Now when is this mistress going to learn that we are accustomed to peace and quiet only? 

Then she announced that we were climbing the spiral stairs to the look out. Now surely, I am the first ever gnome, to go to such heights. Now I reckon I should be in the Guinness book of records.

I will look at my books and see how I go about this. That staircase had the mistress huffing and puffing and a bit giddy at the top. 

Oh, yukkkk that muddy water was not nice at all. She snapped some photos of the view and just as well we didn't stay long, because I'd had enough. She was a bit wobbly on returning to the ground, because I rocked and rolled in her backpack. I needed a lie down. Oh, and how do we get back to where we came. She announced that we get back in the elevator. What? It might break down and we would be stranded. They made this thing in the last century. 2 August 1919. That's older than the mistress. Blimey!!

All this was hard on my nerves and deserved a beer. I dropped a hint and Bingo. I reckon her nerves needed one too.! A beer was ordered, and lunch arrived, and all was well, until she faced me to that jolly muddy river.  I wasn't at all interested in it and sat back with some slurps of her low-calorie beer. I wasn't allowed 1 of my own! 

We had things to do this afternoon and needed a clear head.

So next was the winter gardens. Hey, doesn't she know its summer? It's 27 degrees today, and it's January not July. Now look here, she has just come back from looking outside and it's pouring rain. She is not at all impressed.

Birds, birds, and more birds. This huge cage had so many birds, and gee they can chirp. Such a commotion going on then she took me inside the cage. I had to duck down as they flew past at a great rate. All shapes, sizes, and colors. Some even bathed in the sand. What? Where's the water for them and she guided me to the waterfall and explained that they don't bathe in water. Great so birds and gnomes stay dirty.....great! Now I really feel at home. I hope she took notice of this. I didn't see any toothbrushes or combs either! 😂😂

We walked around in the fresh air and saw zillions of ducks, swimming in a lake and others sleeping on the side. They must have had a hard night!

The mistress found a winter garden hot house. She perched me in all sorts of places. I must say it was very colorful being amongst nature.

She was stunned at the sight of all this utter glory. Snapped lots of photos and a very happy mistress. 

Oh, it's been a busy day for a gnome and a mistress.

We are off to Levin for 2 nights tomorrow, and she says to chill out together. Now that would be nice, but we will see as she's sure to find something to see and do.