Friends From New Zealand

Day 257: Friends from New Zealand are staying with me. Two of them will start the journey home on Monday, but these two will be joining my family. The one on the left is a Kakapo, a nocturnal parrot which cannot fly. In nature, they are critically endangered, and the few remaining birds are confined to predator-free islands. The one on the right is the iconic Fantail, a hoppy, happy, chirpy New Zealand native. Oh, the other two? You want to know about the other two? That would be Rob and his dad! Rob and I have been internet friends for something like 15 years, and this is the first time we've met in person. They've been on a 'round-the-world whirl, and this is their last stop before catching a flight out of Los Angeles. Even though they've been travelling for almost a month, they have not seen the one thing they most wanted to see: the stars of the northern hemisphere. With any luck, we'll have clear skies Saturday or Sunday night, and if the clouds disappear, they may even be able to see the elusive Mountain.

Jaffas

Day 74: "A Kiwi icon, whether you roll them or bounce them, the delicious Jaffas must be the most fun orange chocolate ball ever!" Waitaminit...say WHAT? There must be an ad explaining that description, but to be honest, I had never heard of Jaffas until a conversation with a Kiwi friend migrated around to chocolates. He bought a bag for me, intending to send them as a gift for a previous Christmas, but then the pandemic hit, and mail service was suspended. At long last, I received them this year and just sampled my first one. Our good ol' American M&Ms can't hold a candle to these little jewels of dark chocolate encased in a crisp orange-flavoured shell. Allowing the shell to melt on your tongue only enhances the experience. That said, somebody is going to have to explain the "roll or bounce" part to me in greater detail. I'm genuinely curious.

Distant Civilizations

Day 100: Forget mathematical formulae, recordings of whale voices and models of the hydrogen atom. Open the avenue for communication with a bar of chocolate! This scrumptious morsel (all 250 grams of it) came to me from the alien world of New Zealand in the hands of one of my Park colleagues. She brought back a selection and allowed members of the staff to take their pick. With a goodly supply of dark choccie in my larder, I went for macadamia over mint. You can bank on one thing: it'll be gone at warp speed!