New Zealand Road Trip

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Day 19 - Tuesday 8th May

Nice to be back at Sarah's...had a lie in - great not to have to pack up and move on for a day or two!! Hoorah!! Sarah G went off to work for the morning and we had planned to go to Hanmer Springs in the afternoon/evening as a girly treat for my bday 9th May!! How exciting indeed! We managed to book a hostel in Hanmer for the night and Nikki rang and booked a half hour massage at the spa...yeah baby!! Also booked our train journey for the Tranzcoastal trip from Rangiora - Kaikoura + from Kaikoura to Picton (the ferry port)!

We waited for Sarah G to return from work at 3pm and then set off on our journey to Hanmer which was about a 2 hour drive. The scenery on the way there was quite similar to parts of our train journey back to Christchurch...it was quite beautiful, especially at sunset!:-)

Arrived in Hanmer around 5pm and checked into our hostel where we had a room share for just the 4 of us! It was ace having no huge bags to lug about with us, just an overnight bag...yay!! We headed over to the springs and Nikki checked in for her massage. We all changed into practically nothing and it was a little chilly walking outside to say the least!!! Once in the hot springs tho...ooohhhh...aarrrrggghhh!!!! Only thing tho- "egg sarnie anyone?!"...the hotter pools of 41 deg C contained sulphur and smelt of rotten eggs!! The atmosphere at the springs was spectacular...the dark starry sky, the steam from all the hot pools and the chill in the air all combined to create a certain ambience darling!!lol! Nik's massage was very very relaxing and definately needed...nearly fell into the hot pool on the way out of the spa I was that relaxed!!;-)

We decided to have a meal out as a treat too, so found one of the only grills open at that time -8.30pm not really that late and booked some grub - YUM YUM!! Not thinking of food again Nik!! The meal was really great...quite cheap on price and enough for an army! Just as well...that will be us! We had a few glasses of wine, played bed wars with our beds on wheels, had a girly giggle + finally crashed out :-)

Day 20 - Weds 9th May

Yipee...it's Nikki's bday! 24 wow I'm getting old!!:-( lol!! Woke up fairly early and drove back from Hanmer Springs after a bakery bfast accompanied by a cuppa tea - the women in the bakery were the happiest women in the world....NOT! Oh well, you win some you loose some! Nothing like service with a smile! We hoped we didn't konk out on the way home as Sarah G was running quite low on fuel....fingers crossed everyone!

We stopped by the house quickly on our return to pick up a few bits and then headed into Rangiora to sort out some stuff and change some money - VERY IMPORTANT JOB!! We walked around a lot, looking in shops + chatting, was very nice but definatelty tiring towards the afternoon - "can we stop now?!". We stopped off in an Italian style cafe for lunch and Gem + Sar treated me to lunch...they are soooo naughty but it was a lovely treat + lunch was tasty!YUM YUM!:-) We bought some presents for our hosts...2 gorgeous plants for Jas's parents + grandparents and a collection of lush tablemats for their new house. We then trekked back to Sarah G's, about a 25 /30 min walk...luckily we didn't get lost!!hehehe!

Back at the house Nik had a shower + then got locked in her room by the naughty girls until we left, not knowing what little antics they were up to in the kitchen!! We went over to Chris + Gordon's ( Jas's parents) for dinner...a 3 course meal, well 4 course if you include the cake too....my god, we were all so stuffed but it was gorgeous....so yummy!! Girls had decorated a scrummy choccy cake + bought some of the candles that go out and then re-light all the time...."blow nik...blow...come on you got lots of air!!" That was extremely funny :-) Also Gem + Sar had made me a pretty blue pearl, stone + bead necklace...in about 10 mins...the time I had been locked in my room at Sarah G's! They are such little munchkins!!lol! Nik rang home when we got back to have a bday cheer from family :-) Thanks guys xx

Day 21 - Thursday 10th May

Today was organising day...not the most exciting but necessary! We booked our ferry crossing from Picton-Wellington for Sunday 13th May, booked a hostel for Kaikoura + also the whale watching trip - YAY!!

After lunch took the bus into Christchurch to have wander around the shops and look for sleeping bags for Gem + Sar. Nik got some bite cream for her nasty sandfly bites which were driving her CRAZY!!

Back at the house....when we eventually got home after the bus...where we nearly missed our stop...ooops...Sarah G cooked chicken friend rice! YUM! Aaron + Kate came over to see us and we chilled before going to bed!

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