Whanganui...where dreams come true - Part 1

After Waitomo, we journeyed to Whanganui as a stopping point on our way to Wellington. When we arrived at the couch surfing host home, we really had no idea what to expect. The host, David, came out of his house and asked to get in our car so he could show us the place we would be staying. A bit confused, we continued down the long driveway. We had figured we would be staying with him, but instead he brought us to the five-bedroom farmhouse that he had grown up in. Apparently, when he is in between tenants, he uses it as a place to put up travelers and couch surfers for the night. He leaves it set up to be lived in...beds, linens, dishes, appliances. It was wonderful. It was so peaceful and quiet as we were probably about a kilometer from the closest road which was hardly ever used anyways.

Our first night, I cooked dinner for David and Don and we spent the evening talking with David and exchanging stories about our lives and experiences. From just a few minutes talking with him, it was clear that David was one of the most kind and hospitable people we had ever met. He was a Hospice Chaplin and you could tell that he cared about people so much. We made arrangements to meet him in town the next morning so he could tell us more of the history of the community. Before dinner, the neighbors (also tenants of David) came over and invited us to come over later that evening, which we took them up on. They were also wonderful people: Linda and Kane Todd and their children Caleb, 10, and Alesha, 9. First, Kane asked us to show the kids where Rhode Island was on Google Earth. They even wanted a street view of our respective homes! Kane had all sorts of questions about the United States, mostly stemming from what he had seen on TV about the USA and Americans.

So, for this part of the post, you may think I'm a little ridiculous because I might get gushy. Let me just tell you, and Don will vouch for this, during our travels driving through the rolling hills filled with cows and sheep and lambs, I had mentioned that one of my goals during this trip was to hug a lamb...little did I know that in Whanganui, I would get to hug, feed, hold, and fall in love with a 12-day old lamb named Dinner. A hour or so into our time with the Todd's, an adorable little lamb comes running in the room from outside, and I almost started to cry! I was having a Kristen Bell/Sloth moment like the clip from Ellen. If you haven't seen it, here you go. Watch it and you'll know how I felt when I saw the lamb.

They asked me if I wanted to hold and feed the lamb and of course I said yes! Don captured a few moments of glee...I could have cried the whole time I hugged and held the adorable fuzzy sweetheart lamb. 

My look of pure delight when Dinner 'baaaaah'-ed in my arms 

I love you, sweet lamb who has captured my heart. I hope you stay little forever. I wish I could fit you in my bag and carry you with me everywhere.

So yeah. That was one of the highlights of the trip so far for me. I fell in love with a lamb. 

Over a few (large) glasses of delicious white wine, we stayed up till midnight chatting with Linda and Kane after the kids (and the lamb) went to bed. It was a great night and ended with them inviting us over for a BBQ the next night. We went to bed that first night happy, content, and excited for whatever else Whanganui might have in store for us.