WANAKA III: I WAS BORN 365 DAYS AGO

Something very extraordinary was happening today. In the morning daddy took mum and me up the mountain where he works. At first I met the TC cat, got a ride on the magic carpet and played in snow (I completely forgot how freezing this strange white stuff was – brrrr!). Going up on the chairlift (which we didn´t have to pay for because dad is the boss of the mountain I think) was good fun as well. But by far the best was the “fluffy” in the café, which I could spread all over my face, and the yummy scone (I don´t envy the person who is in charge of vacuuming the kid´s room).

On the way back home we stopped to have a delicious gelato on the lakefront. Mum even allowed me to eat her chocolate and salted caramel one with my own plastic spoon! Everything was so great that I rather went to have a nap. Just in case it all was just a dream – I wanted it to last a bit longer.

And it did. When I woke up, our friend Susan arrived and suddenly there was a great-looking cake and a mountain of presents and all of them - books, gumboots, a skirt, puzzles… - were for me only! I was deeply moved and that in combination with the fact I tripped over and hit my nose pretty badly resulted in another short sleep. After that I felt much better and I was ready to blow the numerous candles and eat my cake. Yummy yummy.

Now you may think I am kind of a lazybones or something because I am going to bed again. But try to draw your very first picture on a doorstep with brand new pencils, catch a frog and a duck with your new dip-net, do a lot of walking in your new fancy shoes and finally read through all your new books. Then tell me how much energy you have left. I feel old today, looks like I also have more wrinkles than yesterday… maybe even some grey hair?! Good night.

Your Annie

P. S. It´s been two weeks since I arrived back home to New Zealand. I have my own, all-in-one-room tiny house with Donald the dog, two cats, two ponies and a lot of sheep around. I already went for a bike ride twice and I am getting pretty good at horse riding. But the best improvement of my life is definitely the place where I get to go a few times a week: there are a lot of little people around, a huge sandpit and a hose turned on most of the time. Why do mummy and daddy always have to come to get me so early :-(?

Some facts

When: 12. 9. 2017 Where: Sydney (Australia) - Queenstown - Wanaka (New Zealand) How: plane + car

How long: 3 hr. 15 min. + 1 hr = 4 hr. 15 min. How far: 1940 + 62 = 2 002 km