Leaving Masterton today

So we're leaving Masterton today. We've spent the last two days exploring the downtown area: shops and restaurants. Thursday morning we met Barry at the Mauri meeting house where he introduced us to his friend, one of the elders in the local tribe. We were shown around the house and the ground it sits on. I have pictures I'll put up later. Thursday night we went to a literary reading, two pretty famous New Zealand authors. It was really nice...we listened to them read from their books and then talk about their writing processes [appropriate for a writing class, don't you think?]. Last night we went to a one man theater production. It was called All the World's a Stage and was an interpretation of a number of Shakespeare plays. It was very good. Apparently the actor is one of the top theater actors in the country. We are now preparing to head off to Castle Point with a trip to the local farmers market and grocery store. Castle Point is a resort on the coast where we will be spending a lot of time outdoors and finishing our writing assignments. I'm looking forward to the views!