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Published: March 8th 2010
Cool old house
Riccarton BushTuesday, March 2nd
Yesterday's cloudy weather was nowhere to be seen today. The sun was out in full force and we spent our quiet time sitting in our new camp chairs, enjoying the sun and the quiet. We had another great jog followed by some tea in the morning sun.
In an email mom Mariana pointed out that she never saw a picture of the newly restored red phone booth at the holiday park in Karamea. Well, there's a good reason for that; it not red yet. The last we saw of it, it had a couple white under-coats on but no red. Talita took it hard because it had been her baby from the start, but there wasn't much we could do about it. Who knows, things move so slowly in Karamea that we might end up painting it red in a year or two.
After lunch we drove into town for some baking ingredients and to buy more miles for the Boesman. If you own a diesel in NZ you pay for every kilometer you drive. According to our calculation it still works out cheaper than driving a petrol vehicle.
Back at home we baked Blueberry
muffins. The first set was a bit of a disaster cause we tried to take them out while they were still hot which caused them to come apart. We didn't mind. It was a good excuse to munch on the broken ones. The second batch worked great and when they were done we went and sat by the estuary with a bottle of South African red wine and enjoyed the sunset over the water.
For dinner we made delicious tortilla wraps, then sat on the lawn surfing the internet for a bit. Back in the van we spent a bit of time reading before calling it a night.
Today's highlights:
1. Blueberry muffins.
2. South African red wine while enjoying the sunset.
Thought for the day:
We shouldn't be so timid and scared of missing God's will for our lives. He is all powerful and if we truly seek His will we will not be disappointed. Wednesday, March 3rd
We had our morning jog, showered, loaded Birdsy on the roof, and then set off for Fendalton, a suburb of Christchurch. Here we met Sally and her boyfriend Ryan. They were visiting from Aussie for a wedding
and Talita was very keen to see her cousin again. After the reunion and introductions we strolled to a quant little cafe where we had a great brunch while Talita and Sally caught up and we got to know Ryan a bit better. After brunch we went walking around the Riccarton Bush area. This is a small predator free sanctuary containing the tallest tree and the oldest house in the Canterbury area. On more than one occasion while walking through the bush the Fantails came and played around us. These little guys have become our favorite NZ bird because of their fearless and playful nature (we're not sure if they are truly indigenous, because so few creatures in NZ are).
It was great to spend some time, however brief, with Sally and Ryan. They were flying back to OZ this afternoon and we promised to come visit them if we ever find ourselves on that great dry continent. After saying goodbye we checked into a very expensive and crowded campsite in Christchurch city. Looking back we don't really know why we did it. Maybe we needed to see how the other half of campers camp. We always try to
avoid the "popular" spots and it was a bit of a shock. The place reminded us of an airport, with drive through check-in, marble counter tops and every possible spot filled with mammoth rental campers. Not our scene at all!
We were feeling very tired, so after a bit of a read we had a nap. Then it was time to go meet another of Talita's cousins, Lisa. We also met Bethany (6), Katy (4) and Julia (1), Lisa and husband Tim's gorgeous and intelligent little girls. Apie, their cute and surprisingly patient cat, also came by to say hi.
Lisa prepared a beautiful curry dinner and we had fun eating with this lovely family. The girls are well behaved and the atmosphere was busy but relaxed. When the girls finally finished their dinner Beth and Katy gave everyone foam stickers for finishing their food. Before we knew it all of us had a flower shaped sticker stuck to the tips of their noses. We had yummy fruit, ice-cream and jelly desert while Beth sat with Ferdi and Katy ran around dispensing more stickers.
It was past their bed time, but Beth and Katy first read a
few story books aloud as part of their homework before it was off to bed with the beautiful little ladies. We spent a few more hours chatting with Tim and Lisa before saying good night. They were going to visit Hanmer Springs this weekend and we decided to meet them there and spend some more time together.
When we got back to the camp there was even more campervans than when we'd left. We would be sleeping amongst white giants tonight. We had a giggle when we realized that we were "the black kid in an all-white meeting".
Today's highlights:
1. Meeting Sally and Ryan.
2. Great brunch.
3. Meeting Lisa, Tim, Bethany, Katy and Julia.
4. Great dinner with the Mitchell family.
Thursday, March 4th
We beat an early retreat from the horrors of that sparkling 5-star tourist trap camp. Our first stop was a print shop where we had some forms and guides printed, then we set a course for Kaiapoi, a pretty little river-town 30mins north of Christchurch.
We hadn't expected it to be as modern as it was and drove through an area that reminded us a lot of the inside of
an affluent SA security village (minus of course the armed guards, access control, fingerprint scanning, and high fences surrounding said village). We drove to a holiday park a few kilometers from town, checked in, and made ourselves at home.
After lunch we drove a few kilometers south-west to the Waimakariri River and found a spot from where to launch Birdsy. We paddled across the river then turned up-stream, keeping to the shallows where the current was weak. We spotted one huge Trout and lots of smaller ones scattered as we floated by. The water is a beautiful turquoise, but the rowing up-stream soon had us exhausted. We pulled over and walked into the strong river current, being careful not to get swept away. It's not a swimming friendly river. We tried to go upstream a bit more, but didn't make much headway, so we turned around a floated back to the van. That's more like it; floating along, only making the occasional course correction.
Back at camp Birdsy got a wash and so did our clothes. The sun was ferocious and because we left the door open the sink got so hot that it melted a hole in
our dishwashing liquid bottle! Of course we didn’t notice until much later when the liquid had pooled in the bottom of the sink. Talita had a shower and while she was away a couple of old guys came by to chat to Ferdi about Birdsy. Turns out the one guy has a brother-in-law in Karamea and we’d met him (he’s the local “Sparky” with the beard that wraps around his waist). Small world! Later we drove into town where Talita had an appointment so Ferdi explored the main town area while she was busy. On the way back to camp we got some beers and a bottle of Scotch. It has been many moons since last we had whiskey, so we treated ourselves with a bottle. At more than double the price we're used to paying in SA it really is a treat, and explains why we haven't bought whiskey in NZ before.
We sat enjoying the late afternoon sunshine with a few beers. Another old guy came by and we had a nice chat about this and that. Birdsy is a great conversation-starter. We had a picnic dinner followed by some chocolate snacks from a vending machine in
the kitchen. We ended up feeling a little queasy and initially we suspected the beer, but then remembered that the chocolate appeared a little dated. Luckily we didn't feel too bad and we finished the evening with a movie in bed
Today’s highlights:
1. Visiting Kaiapoi.
2. Taking Birdsy for another outing.
3. Beers and a picnic dinner.
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