GREAT SOUTHERN LAND

As I said we set sail for Christchurch. Up through the hills out of Picton & into the fog we wound our way up hill & down dale, chatting on the CB to some very friendly truckies along the way. We had us a lovely drive, & once we were down out of the fog & back into the sunshine, we started to relax & enjoy ourselves, marveling at the seemingly never ending vineyards that kept on rolling past. Sadly this part of the journey ended in a bit of a scare. As you come into Blenheim, you round a corner & come on to a nice wide 2 lane bridge over the river & into the town. All very pretty. That is, at least till the point when you, following another car, encounter a Fire Appliance at full song straddling the white line. The driver in front panics & slams on the brakes, & you have no option but to follow suit, being showered in a heap of luggage that slides forward. No damage was done except to pride & temper fortunately, but sorry guys, there was no need for you to be driving in that manner & sadly, you lot genuinely deserve the appellation “Trogs”

After soothing ruffled feathers & restowing luggage & doing a couple of other bits & pieces, we continued our merry way.

If ever a strech of coastline deserves to be called “stunning,” it is certainly the Kaikoura coast line. Sadly, the cloud was a bit low & we couldn’t see the Seaward Kaikoura mountains for the full effect, but the coastline more than compensated. Wild rocky coastline with ocean rollers crashing in always makes for dramatic scenery. Add to that the thrill of seeing our first wild seals & you had a perfect afternoon. We had a little scare there that drove home to me how frail Jude is getting & how much I love her. I convinced her to walk down a little rough track so that she could better see a colony of about 100 seals. She managed that OK, but on the way back to Sherman, she caught one foot in some long grass & fell, landing on her knees first & couldn’t get up again.

It was a scary few minutes until I managed to get her up again, all the while wondering what the hell I was going to do if I couldn’t. Truly, adrenaline is a wonderful gift. Turns out she could have safely stayed in the wagon, as a couple of Km’s down the road I was able to pull off to the side close to the fence & all she had to do was lean out the window, look straight down & there they were about 2 meters away.




We had to stop at “Nin’s Bin.” That’s the little blue caravan that sells the best cooked crayfish on the coast. While there, Paddington insisted on having his photo taken with a crayfish, even though it was very scary.

Once we got to Christchurch, our priority was a motel. We were both very tired & a little shaky., We followed the signs to the center of town & basically picked a motel at random, The Salerno. Lady luck smiled on us, as we couldn’t have picked a nicer place. Once I had made our requirements know, the manager showed us a lovely ground floor unit that had a full disability walk in bathroom. Although we didn’t go out for tea, Jeff came to see us & we had a lovely catch up. If you do stay there, & you order breakfast, bring your appetite. They serve bloody good feeds. As for Christchurch ? I would hate to try & find my way round there without my Navman. So endeth the first of the two consecutive longest legs of our journey.