Five Stitches!

After all the hiking and climbing and rocks and windy paths, we finally took a break and walked in a peaceful park in the middle of Christchurch. Beautiful flowers (daffodils in September!) and tulips and nice grassy knolls. And what do I do ... I find a PVC pipe hole in the grass and step right in it. Ouch!! I really dug quite the gash into the back of my ankle. I was leaving drops of my DNA all the way to the information booth where they had a first aid kit. It was deep enough that Robyn thought we should go to her family doctor. He just happened to be coming back from a house call and took one look at it and knew I would need stitches and a tetanus shot. Thirty minutes later the wonderfully kind, gentle doctor had me all stitched back up again with an injection to boot! The best was yet to come. New Zealand almost totally pays for goofy foreigners when they have accidents. I ended up paying a total of $28!!! Now I walk with quite a limp but I'm so thankful nothing was broken, twisted or torn ... except some skin. Here's a pic of me being sown up. :)