Scampering again

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You know I write far too much...that´s why I´m here in Chile writing about New Zealand.....you´d think I´d be better at this by now but no......ok I´ve 3 months to improve. So Nelson lakes are nice but what was even more impressive was the lovely hostel we stayed in that was nearby in the middle of nowhere in a place called Glenhope. We had the house to ourselves....it was a beautiful farmhouse. The only pity was it was an overnight stop so we arrived late & were moving on the next morning. It was bliss while it lasted!

From Nelson Lakes we went to Hanmer Springs. We really liked it there the first & it meant we were nice & close to Christchurch for the following day airport drop-off. We met the same lovely Dutch girls that were working there...it´s usually nice to catch up with people you met before because usually you don´t expect to meet them again......sometimes that´s a good thing but in this case it was a nice surprise. So once again I had my hair-cut with my travelling hair-dresser.....ok don´t think I need to reinvent myself anymore....have satisfied my curiosity & won´t be getting it cut any shorter....or else I´ll be looking like a skin-head before long! We went horse riding that afternoon. It´s been years since I´ve been riding & on the few occasions that she let us trot, it was great fun. I know my horse was rearing for a proper run around but it wasn´t to be.......wasn´t going to go head-to-head with the matron-like head of the stables!

There´s a lovely place called the Alpine Inn. The food is great & the chocolate fudge cake comes highly recommended. May add pounds but it´s worth every one.

The following morning we high-tailed it to Christchurch with John-Ross & then back up to the very north of the island to Picton to get the ferry to the North Island-Wellington. I must say that we found Kiwis very courteous drivers (please exclude Aucklanders from that generalisation-terribly rude & dangerous)....they nearly always pull in & let you pass cause the roads are crap for overtaking a lot of the time. We ended up passing the post lorry twice & he recognised us when we stopped for petrol in Picton & said hello. He said that we were very nice girls cause we had thanked him for letting us by......wasn´t that sweet. What goes around comes around! All smiles.

It was amazing the amount of space we had in the car after JR left...we sent home a good lot of stuff with him, including him....he takes up a lot of space too..... for which I´m grateful......how I still have a rucksack that is busting at all angles is beyond me. One of life´s mysteries I suppose.

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Photos

Roaming the hills
Hanmer Springs in a horse´s world

Old friends in Hanmer Springs
Us & Marsha & Manom....my hair-dresser

New hair-do
Look happy there...but never getting it cut that short again...

Ready for the RDS now
Only complaint.....didn´t go fast enough

Nelson´s Lake
We drove to the look-out....time!

Rearing to go
Oh to be up front.....Paddy last!