Rhymes with Hanukkah

I write today from the small town of Wanaka. Rhymes with Hanukkah.

Did you know that Velcro is a New Zealand invention?

As clever as these kiwi's are, a few things puzzle me.

The bathroom is my favorite room in the Omarama house I call home. It has a small space heater on the wall, making it the warmest place to be if I don't want to crawl into bed. But the sink has two separate taps: one for hot water and one for cold. So to wash my face, I need to either fill up the basin or cup my hands under the cold tap, then under the hot tap until I get nice warm water. Spash. Repeat. This two-tap arrangement can be found even in the most modern bathrooms, so it must be tradition rather than plumbing leftover from the 1950's. I've asked around but they look at me like I have two heads.

The other mystery is window screens, or the lack thereof. I can't find a single window screen anywhere. The night of my arrival, the entire house was open. Not just unlocked, but doors and windows open. (It might have something to do with airing the place out after a large party my housemate threw prior to my arrival.) So the house was full of moths; dusty, disorganized fliers whose sole purpose in life is to ruin the serenity of reading in bed. I have developed an elaborate ritual of walking around in the dark, using the lights very sparingly, and keeping the door to my room shut, all in the name of keeping the moths at bay. I've asked around about window screen technology, but my inquiries have been met with blank stares.

That same first night, while I was trying to figure out the best method to get warm water on my face, the sink was draining slowly. The drain was plugged by a moth carcass. I am not making this up.

Today's photo is of the Red Tussock Conservation Area. As you can see, it is a wildly successful program to protect a certain type of reddish colored grass that grows in tufts. Looking west from that sign post, Red Tussocks cover the hills as far as the eye can see. I do not know why they need conserving. I've been asking around, but I don't have an answer yet.