Whippet Snippets

Double Take

Boy loves his critters, whether they be his own (hi Ribsy) or rescued from a New Zealand cattle stop (hi lamb). It's no wonder that Boy was fascinated with sheep throughout the whole trip. Would you agree that there's more than a passing similarity?

On the Lam in New Zealand

Guest blogger Girl writes:

For anyone that's interested, I've uploaded the photos from our trip to New Zealand.

Here are a few of my faves. They all have one thing in common: they all involve Boy and sheep.

Boy feeding a lamb its daily milk at a farm in Murchison. 

Boy feeling the belly of the woolly beast.

This is my absolute favorite photo from the trip. While bumping along a gravel road to a campsite on the shores of Lake Hawea, we saw half a lamb on the road ahead of us, not moving - its legs had plunged into a cattle stop. Boy jumped out of the camper and lifted the frightened lamb out of the stop and into his reassuring arms. At first, his legs were pronged and tense with fear, but after a few seconds he started to relax and curiously sniffed Boy. The lamb was certainly no whippet but he did kind of remind us of Ribsy for some reason.

See more photos from the trip. 

Now back to your regular whippet programming.

Home to the Hounds

They came back! They came back early!

"Just for us," Mirabel thought smugly.

Ribsy wasn't so sure about that. Sneaking his paws quickly through the Girl's hundreds of vacation photos he was slightly perturbed to find some foreign houndin' going on, including evidence of:

Many greyhounds:

"They're racing at Addington Raceway in Christchurch," explained Girl. "Can you believe NZ still races greyhounds?"

A fetching Pharaoh:

 
"The only one in New Zealand," said Girl. "She really is a beauty."

And - gasp - other whippets! Eight of them, in fact.

"All eight of them live together. Here's Sophie giving comforting licks to Mary."

 
And this is Luke...

 
Josh...

Alice...

Abby...

Billie...

...and last but not least, Chelsea.

But not to worry. There's room for only two very special whippets in the hearts of Boy and Girl.

Ribsy and Mirabel, you two are no doubt the best part about coming home!

The Amazing Haze

Guest blogger Girl writes:

Just finished driving to Milford Sound and back. Too much rain and mist to see anything really stunning - we figure it must be nice about 3 days of the year. Checking our email and waiting out the rain here in Te Anau. Ate the most lovely, sumptious, heavenly meat pie ever, from a takeaway shop called Miles Better Pies. The steak, mushroom and bacon pie went down fast and I am now contemplating a second pie - maybe satay or curry chicken?

Yesterday we finished our tour of the wild, windswept Catlins. Took lots of photos of rugged cliffs, crashing waves and the occasional glimpse of wildlife: Boy saw two sea lions flirting with each other on the beach, we were treated to bovine humping while driving along the Southern Scenic Route, and were trying to contain our excitement as tiny blue penguins waddled past us, merely a foot away, to return to their nests after a day's foraging for food in the seas around the Otago Peninsula outside Dunedin.

Heading over to Queenstown later tonight, then to wonderful Wanaka after that.

The Amazing Pace

Guest blogger Girl writes:
Just three minutes time left on the computer so this entry will have to be whippet quick. No sightings of our favorite hounds just yet, but we still have some time left to go on this trip so all hope is not lost.
Currently we are in Dunedin, a Scottish city on the southern tip of New Zealand. Today is our three-year wedding anniversary.
We just checked into our campsite, and ended up parking RIGHT NEXT TO the exact campervan we rented in three years ago! We knew this because the company we rented from, names their vans unique monikers such as APOLLO and NOMAD. Ours was named SABER and there she was, right in the campsite next to ours.
Oh boy, 30 seconds left.
Tonight we're off to dinner at the Speights Ale House and then two days of camping in the Caitlins.
Bye for now!

The Amazing Place

Guest blogger Girl writes:

Day three in New Zealand and we're loving it - it's well worth the 24 hours of flying to get here. Our series of flights included a bonus pit stop in Vancouver where we got to meet up with family and friends for a few hours, so that helped to make the journey more pleasant.

So far, we've only really been to two places, but that's the whole point of this time out in New Zealand. Less driving, more relaxing. We're sticking solely to the South Island, where we both find we left our hearts the last time around. We're both quite surprised at the changes we've noticed in the three short years since we've been gone. Christchurch, the main city on the South Island, has become a lot more cosmopolitan, with cool cafes, shops and dwellings.

And even Lake Tekapo, where we are now (and where we got married), has emerged from a somewhat sleepy village to a holiday destination, with resort-style vacation properties, a hot springs complex, and an outdoor ice rink - which to my delight is a roller rink right now! Now I'm super glad I brought my roller skates with me. And, for anyone that knows Boy, you know that he's tickled pink that he gets to dip his toes into yet another bunch of hot pools. He's also rather pink from the hike that we took today to the summit of Mt. John, despite wearing SPF60 sunscreen. Yes, the weather has been fantastic.

But of course many things haven't changed - the plethora of sheep, the abundance of cheap local wine, the timeless beauty of the Church of the Good Shepherd, and the friendly Kiwis - which I'm sure will have us yearning for yet another visit.

Tonight we dined on fresh alpine salmon and are headed for a late soak in the pools before heading out tomorrow to the coast. Off to see strange boulders and an agricultural fair to pet cute animals before we stake out itsy bitsy blue penguins outside Dunedin.

Welcome to the doghouse

Would you sleep in a doghouse?

The Dog Bark Park Inn in Cottonwood, Idaho, made it on Trip Advisor's top 10 list of weird hotels.

It sure is weird, agreed Ribsy. It's a beagle, not a whippet.

People wouldn't have room to turn around if it was a whippet, Girl replied, only half-sarcastically.

There are actually two beagles, Mirabel smartly pointed out, sticking her tongue out at Ribsy.

God, whatever. He shot a dirty look at his pesky sister. He turned around twice and flopped on the bed in disgust, looking away from her smarmy face.

Well, there may be two beagles, but guests stay in the big beagle. You get the whole dog to yourself. There's a queen bed in the belly and room for two more in the dog's head, er, loft.  Pick up a chainsaw carving of a pooch, pee in a fire hydrant, and enjoy the dog-shaped biscuits left on your pillow. The world's biggest beagle is a one-of-a-kind slice of Americana pie. And naturally it's dog-friendly.

Hrrrmph. I wouldn't be caught dead in a beagle, muttered Ribsy.

Home Sweet Home

Girl went on a quick trip home to Vancouver, and had a fabulous time amidst family, fine food, and fresh air.

And her visit was made extra sweet when her friend surprised her with a box of chocolates...whippet chocolates!

Slightly battered but still deliciously intact after surviving a flight to the Hammer.

Okay, they're officially greyhound bon bons, but when they come in a 'vodka and candied grapefruit peel in dark chocolate ganache in dark chocolate' variety, it doesn't really matter, does it?

These luxurious hand-crafted delectables are available exclusively from Mink Chocolates. If you're in downtown Vancouver, you can visit their cafe and try their fondue bar experience.

Meet Crunchie

Crunchie is an eight-year-old rescue whippet searching for her forever home in Australia. Currently she is staying in her fourth foster home, being looked after by a very kind couple.

Last week Crunchie was hit by a car. She suffered numerous injuries to her leg, cheek and eye. The rescue organization is run by a retired couple who have to rely on their own credit cards for situations like this. Can you help them out? Any amount will make a big difference.

Whipped up photo frenzy

Hurry (but please - no need to run). Girl's finally put all the semi-decent Hungary-Slovenia-Croatia vacation photos together.