This must be what heaven is like.....

The moment I opened the drapes to our little "chalet" in the mountains north west of Christchurch,
saw the sky,

heard the sheep bah just across the field:

I thought: " this must be what heaven is like...."
At least my version of heaven....  We are only spending 2 night here in Grasmere lodge, but I could easily spend 2 weeks, 2 months...   eternity?

We spent a very lazy day- having "breakfast with a view":
And then took a ride with the owner to tour the farm that surrounds the lodge. 

Along the way, we drove through the "town" of Cass (year long residents: 1)  with it's famous train station.
There is one train a day from Christchurch on the East coast to Greymouth on the West (it's supposed to be really nice ride).  Until recently, you could actually flag down the train, but now, you have to make a reservation for it to stop at Cass.....

We drove to the top of the hill above Gramere lake just to see the view.  
And then we just spend the rest of the day taking easy hikes in the hills, admiring the views, enjoying the peace and communing with cows and sheep.....                                                

 Here are just a few images of what we saw along the way -brooks and ponds,

                                    

Grand vista's:











 Sheep and cows: these are the happiest and luckiest

 farm animals on earth: they live is this magnificent place  - they may not appreciate the beauty of it (then again, maybe they do), but they do certainly appreciate the freedom to roam around the lush fields.  The sheep are particularly lucky, because these are merino sheep, raised exclusively for their wool, so they will never become someone's dinner.  But I think that even the one that do end up as dinner still get to enjoy themselves a great deal till then.....

there are also just lovely little places to stop and go "ahhhh" - like this bench by the entrance:

or the pretty toad stool mushrooms, scattered all around.... they are poisonous, but they do give the impression that fairies (or maybe hobbits?) will show up any minute.....

If all of this is not enough to convince you that this is heaven, it  even has gates, to keep "bad things" away ....  these clouds were there all day - stuck on the other side of Arthur's pass, and probably drenching the east coast, but we enjoyed bright sun all day.....  heaven!

 And then again, there is the food (and wine) - which includes predinner drinks and capanes, and a 4 courses meal:

 We met lovely people from Australia  who taught me the acronym for what Joe and I are doing:  we are "SKIing"  it stands for "Spending the Kid's Inheritance"  I'm hoping this blog will convince them we are spending it well.....

 Corn and confit chicken soup.

 Berry sorbet

 Rack of lamb (local one  really good!), with onion puree and potato crisps.

Chocolat pot de creme











And then  at night (not tonight because the clouds eventually did make it, but last night) - the stars are just unbelievable  I've never seen anything that bright and beautiful and truly  TRULY - awesome!
Now, we are sitting by the fire in our chalet - life is very good!