New Zealanders are the Nicest People!

We have been so fortunate to meet some really nice people over the past two and a half weeks. Of course, like I've mentioned before, the people at Brad's clinic always seem to have something new (and interesting, at times) to send home with him. Case in point, the items in the picture to the right. These are tamarillos, a type of fruit grown here in New Zealand.  Now, I'm not sure how to explain them exactly...Brad likened them to a flavorless peach.  At least they are the consistency of a peach, but with a lot of seeds, similar to a pomegranate. Needless to say, they weren't the tastiest fruit I've ever had, but it's always fun to try something new.  These along with all of the kiwis and oranges have been much appreciated here in our household.

Then, the other day we were at the laundromat drying some laundry (they don't use dryers here, and our clothes line is on the south side of our house...imagine trying to dry your laundry on the north side of your house, in the shade, during winter, let's just say, our laundry doesn't get dry, even if it's outside first thing in the morning and stays there until it gets dark).  So anyway, I digress, we were at the laundromat and a man was there doing his laundry, and when we left he went out to his car and brought back a bottle of wine for us.  He said he worked at one of the local wineries and wanted to know if we would be interested in trying their Sauvignon Blanc, so of course we said "yes".  Not to bad for a trip to the laundromat!

And finally, this past Tuesday we went swimming at an indoor pool here in town.  We were getting ready to leave, when a woman came in with her daughter.  She started to get her daughter, who looked to be about four years old, into a wetsuit.  Since we had been toying with the idea of getting the boys wetsuits, Brad went up to her and asked where she got hers.  The lady then reached into her bag and pulled out another wetsuit, "Here," she said, "take this one, we don't use it anymore, and I was going to give it away, anyways."  We couldn't believe our luck.  So, if you've heard in the past that New Zealanders are a kind and generous people, we are here to tell you this is nothing but the truth.