And Finally, Kiwi Diet, Tails and Baked Chicken

At The Wobbly Kea Cafe in the tiny village town of Arthur's Pass along state highway 73:

"His is Long Black", me referring to hubby, "mine is Flat White, please... and hers is Pearl Gray...

ooops... I mean Earl Gray"

You can't order plain simple coffee or tea at these places, you've got to tell exactly how you like them. With some imagination, it does sound like you're describing yourselves... sheeesh

"Would you like anything else, sandwiches, fish and chips?" asked the barristo, upselling.

"Oh... do you have any scones?"

"Yes, we have diet scones..."

"DIET scones? That's interesting... does that mean you forego the cream?"

"Cream? We serve them with butter and jam"

It was then that the penny dropped.

"Aaah, you meant DATE scones! I thought you said DIET scones", me laughing

"DATES, yes DATES...I'm sorry... I have this accent...." she laughing and her supervisor, too

Feeling smug about out permaisuri English, we sat by the window to enjoy our date-inundated scones with our afternoon tea and coffee.

Sated and warmed up, we put on our rain-gear and took a walk up a mountainside to take a closer look at the Punchbowl Falls.

The waterfall in the distance

Some steps to be tackled...

The Punchbowl Falls

On the way back we were treated to a magnificent display of the southern skies at sunset.

The next day, checking-in at out last pit-stop in Christchurch:

"We booked 2 singles originally, but can we have 1 triple room instead?", hubby requested.

"Yes, we have 1 triple available" said the lady manager.

She gave us some forms to fill and sign, while she processed the payment.

"Here are your keys. Please take your choice of milk from the refrigerator over there, thank you..." pointing to the fridge by the wall "...while I get you your tails"

In New Zealand, the motels provide you with a bottle of fresh milk, either full-cream or low-fat, which you get upon checking-in.

But "tails" whatever they may be, are a first for us. Could be cookies...

A few minutes later she knocked on our door. It was to be our second lesson in Kiwi pronunciation.

"Here you go... here are your tails"

And she handed us a set of fluffy blue.... T.O.W.E.L.S!

Tails? I could have grown one while laughing MAO...

We had less than 24 hrs in Christchurch as we had to leave the motel at 4.30 a.m the next morning for the airport.

We had to see the Pacific Ocean. It was sunny but windy and invigorating.

Killed some time at the Botanic Gardens before shopping for souvenirs downtown. Malaysian sales-girl Fei-fei from Shah Alam gave us an extra 5% discount for letting her practise her bahasa melayu.

At 5.00 am, after dropping off the car-keys at the unattended Budget booth in the airport, we were having our tickets processed at the Jetstar counter when the airline staff asked,

"Do you want your bake chicken?"

Are they serving baked chicken onboard, I wondered...

"I beg your pardon?"

"Do you want your BAG CHECKED IN?" she said, more clearly this time...

Sheeesh, these Kiwis... they should come to Malaysia to learn English pronunciation.

And that, kiddoes, was how our motoring trip to New Zealand ended.