“We found New Zealand not to be as we had expected; instead of a country full of old cars and sheep, we found new cars and empty paddocks. “There is the Golden Fleece at the hidden valley Orakai Korako” the stranger we bumped into told us. It is the best geothermal area; better than Rotorua. So like sheep, we made our way there. When we went to pay our entry fee for the boat trip across the river to the land that remained in the paleolithic era, we discovered we’d been fleeced. Yep, you guessed it; our advisor had picked more than our pockets but apart from feeling sheepish, we loved New Zealand.”
In response to Zoe’s prompt
sheep © irene waters 2017
sign to Golden fleece © irene waters 2017
© irene waters 2017 golden fleece
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About Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist
I began my working career as a reluctant potato peeler whilst waiting to commence my training as a student nurse. On completion I worked mainly in intensive care/coronary care; finishing my hospital career as clinical nurse educator in intensive care. A life changing period as a resort owner/manager on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu was followed by recovery time as a farmer at Bucca Wauka. Having discovered I was no farmer and vowing never again to own an animal bigger than myself I took on the Barrington General Store. Here we also ran a five star restaurant. Working the shop of a day 7am - 6pm followed by the restaurant until late was surprisingly more stressful than Tanna. On the sale we decided to retire and renovate our house with the help of a builder friend. Now believing we knew everything about building we set to constructing our own house. Just finished a coal mine decided to set up in our backyard. Definitely time to retire we moved to Queensland. I had been writing a manuscript for some time. In the desire to complete this I enrolled in a post grad certificate in creative Industries which I completed 2013. I followed this by doing a Master of Arts by research graduating in 2017. Now I live to write and write to live.
Reflections and Nightmares- Irene A Waters (writer and memoirist) 
New Zealand looks like a nice place to visit, Irene 🙂
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It is Irene. We have now been several times and it has the most scenic beauty of any country we have visited.
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Lovely post, Irene. We also found New Zealand to be very expensive when we were there last year.
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Thanks Robbie. My brother visited us from Switzerland in the middle of the year and said that we are more expensive than geneva (which is thought to be one of the most expensive places to live). I think we have caught up in Australia and N.Z.
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What was the cue word again? Lovely photos. Husband and I loved NZ and never felt fleeced but that was twenty-six years ago.
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We loved New Zealand as well. We didn’t feel fleeced either when we were there. The fleecing was pure fiction. By the way fleece is the word you’re after.
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New Zealand is at the top of the list of places I’d live if I didn’t live here. (Mostly because it looks on the maps like you’re never far from the oceans and it has mountains (which, while not as interesting as the ocean, if they’re nearby, then it’s clearly a win/win))
I smiled through your punny Six…
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Cool story, Irene. It made me smile and then cringe about the fleecing. Some of the tourist spots are so expensive we never go there. Sorry. We’ve only got about 30 million sheep these days, a lot harder to spot than dairy cows. 🙂
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I feel quite guilty about this story. It is predominantly fiction. I’ve been to New Zealand a number of times and have never felt fleeced. I love your country immensely. If it weren’t for my mother we may well have moved there. All tourist destinations are expensive the world over. Hobbiton on the North Island I guess is an example but we so loved our trip there you don’t mind paying when you feel you get value. I must admit we didn’t see as many sheep as I had expected to given the number of sheep jokes that get circulated.
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Don’t feel bad Irene. You know it’s only Australians who tell kiwi sheep jokes. Wonder what that’s about. :-))
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LOL. Has to be jealousy I imagine although most would probably say a good natured rivalry. The same occurs between Sydney and Melbourne.
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