Day 343: Nelson — Final Evening at Edenhouse — Goodbye BeePaw Jim
Hard to believe our 35 days in New Zealand end on this, our final full day here in the country. Even harder to believe is that we’re not heading home to the US with Beeps tomorrow. That we’re flying to freaking Japan for two weeks. That this trip is….still….going!!!!
We had our final indulgent berry bonanza breakfast, and savored every second. Willa and James took turns after breakfast playing chess with Beeps.
Willa was thrilled to learn that all the kids in her class wrote her a letter in anticipation of her return. How cute is that?
By 11 we were on the road to Nelson, about an hour away. We didn’t have much of an agenda except to see the local market and take a look around town. On the way there we listened to the Elizabeth Warren candidate interview on The Daily.
At the Nelson Saturday market the kids bought some crystals with their own allowance at a booth — and they were SO excited about them. James in particular bought a sphere of strong magnetic Hematite, and spent the rest of the day sticking it to any piece of metal he could find.
I got new sunglasses at a hunting store. My sixth pair this year. In my defense, the last pair lasted me ever since France — that was five months ago!! RIP, pairs 1-5.
Meanwhile…James got a haircut!! I’ve been against a haircut all year but the shag in his eyes was getting to be super annoying. I researched “long, straight” boys hairstyles and saw that it can be done. Also researched barbers and found Stormy’s Man Cave. The owner of the barber shop, btw, was an American who left the US to move to a country that “cares about the environment.” He offered Teddy a beer and James read comic books.
I’m so happy with the result — it’s like a feathered, layered early 80s cut, parted in the middle.
There’s this insanely cool antique shop in town called Eclectic, which features heaps of vintage stuff, all very carefully organized and curated. A place like this in the NYC would be absurdly expensive, but this stuff was cheap! I wanted to buy everything in here.
I found Willa a sweet 70s dress and I also found…..a citrus squeezer!! I have wanted a heavy metal squeezer since Colombia, and not been able to find one. I got a really cool one at this store.
We ate lunch — oysters and some light bites — at Urban Oyster Bar & Eatery. Then rolled outta town to spend the last afternoon in heaven aka Edenhouse.
But first we decided to solve a mystery. On our first day in town, we’d passed an old farm house with a shingle out front: Dollhouse & Miniatures.
Dollhouses and miniatures are two of my all-time favorite things — and of course Beepaw built us a replica dollhouse of our house growing up that is still one of my favorite treasures. I dream of either refurbishing that one or doing my own.
Peter from Edenhouse said he’d seen the sign but had no idea who it was. So on our last day, we decided to go check it out.
We pulled in to the drive and a kid and mom came out. Turns out, she’s a Swedish-Brit named Kim who makes dollhouse furniture! She showed us her little garage showroom and her workspace. I ended up buying a little kitchen work table with spaghetti and meatballs in the making, a Thanksgiving turkey, and a tiny bottle of Jameson. All for a non-existent dollhouse.
Not what I got but similar
There were three adorable dogs at the house, too.
Finally back at Edenhouse we luxuriated in the golden hour and our final indulgent cocktail hour and meal on the patio.
Taken by Beeps 
Because everyone at the table put Edenhouse as their number one in the “top three” game of the past week, we had to create a special “top three at Edenhouse,” edition. James said “chess” was among his, Willa had “making perfume” in hers (she’s been concocting a fresh lavender potion in an old water bottle on our porch). I included the farm walk. But the rest of us all had Chilli, our hosts, the food. Sigh.
We toasted to a hugely successful visit with Beeps — and also cursed my mom for not saying yes to this one. We missed her and she missed out!
We stayed up just a little later than usual, taking in the last of the light while the kids read their kindles inside on the sofas.
Eventually we headed back to take a pic with James’s latest crush Molly, sign the guestbook and get some final QT with Beeps before bedtime.
Good night Beeps and good night New Zealand!!
