The Sniff Test

After a delightful month of sailing, traveling, eating, and fixing the boat, my in-laws have bid us goodbye.  And while I know they will miss us, there is one thing I know they won’t miss.   

And that is stinky feet.

After the forestay failed, we settled Papillon in Whangarei , rented a car and hit the open road.  First stop: Rotorua and the hot springs at Waiotapu.

Steamy and sulphurous.

We walked around all day.  It rained a little, so the kids (inevitably) jumped in some puddles.  We got back to the car, and the girls peeled off their wet shoes.

A cloud of toxic stench filled the car.  “Put your shoes back on!  Put your shoes back on!”  We rolled down the windows, gasping and coughing.  When we reached the hotel that evening, we left the shoes outside the door in the open air, in the vain hope that the situation would improve.

I’d only packed the girls one pair of socks each, so something had to be done.  Erik eyed the plastic bag that held the offending articles.  “I’m going downstairs,” he announced, and he was gone.

So it was up to me.  A mom’s life is a glamourous one, after all.  I boiled some water in the kettle, decanted the socks into the bathroom sink, added shampoo, and stirred the mixture until the water turned black.  Drain and repeat.  Here is a photo of sink #3.

There's nothing I like more than stirring a sink full of stinkwater.

Yep.  It was still that brown.  And when I was done - four washes and two rinses later - I had to clean the plastic bag, because it had taken on the offensive odor.

The next day dawned, rainy and cool.  And what was the first thing that Indy did when we went outside?  Jump in a puddle, of course.

“Indy!” I cried.  “Why did you do that?  You are going to have wet stinky feet again.”

She blinked at me.  “But I wanted to splash in the puddle.”

Well, what can you say to that?

Over the next few days, we saw the sights, from waterfalls to volcanoes to hot spring beaches.

Gollum's Pool (Gollum not included)

 

The most New Zealand-y landscape ever.

Dig, dammit!  Dig for your lives!

Ahhh, sitting in burning-hot water makes all that digging worthwhile.

And the shoes never got better.  Hopefully the marina washing machine can sort them out, because they aren't welcome aboard in their current state.