Turnbull Family Pacific Tour 2015

I have to admit we haven't done too much since we arrived in Nelson New Zealand, on the northern end of the south island. We're staying in a really nice place on top of a ridge with a great view of the ocean. I find when we are at a particularly nice place, I feel like staying close to home base and just relaxing. So without many recent activities to describe, here's a list of random things I've learned about New Zealand since we arrived on the South Island. 1. What a beautiful place. Everywhere you go the views and vistas are amazing. 2. Driving on the left is tricky. I keep walking to the car to get into the driver's seat on the wrong side, and I still think the turn signal should be where the windshield wiper controls are. Then there are the ever present round-abouts - ugh. I attempted parallel parking once with some success, but I kept shoulder checking over the rght shoulder. It's confusing. 3. There really are more sheep than people here. Something like...

I don't want to spend a lot of time talking about washrooms, but I do want to mention one I visited this morning in Nelson Park on our last morning in Vancouver. The facility opened a metal door that seemed to belong on a sci-fi movie set, and greeted me with a one person bathroom that had gone though some kind of wash cycle from floor to ceiling. Even the sink was automated as it provided my hands a soap, water and a dryer sequence like they were travelling through a car wash. You can't make this stuff up. So as we land in Tokyo and make our way to our hotel in the Shinjuku district through brightly lit neighbourhoods, I wonder what we'll experience abroad over the coming months. I don't know, but I'm sure it will be a hoot.