Advertisement
Published: March 24th 2007
Edit Blog Post
Ian... We headed back out of the Alps towards Christchurch without really having a specific destination in mind, just a desire not to be wet anymore. Once clear of the mountains’ influence, the weather went back to being glorious so we were very content. We pootled along through the Canterbury plains, stopping at every sign that mentioned a campsite until we eventually found ourselves slap bang in the middle of farming country that could have been lifted directly from the prettiest parts of England. There were horses in the fields, small streams glinting in the sunlight, rolling green hills, the smell of freshly cut grass - it would have been a wonderful subject for a painting by Constable. We decided to stop at a place called Glentunnel - named so because there had been a coalmine in the area of Glen, but in order to get the coal out, the workers had to pass through fields owned by a local farmer, and he charged them every time they crossed his land. So, they built a tunnel under it to avoid paying which is still there today, although closed to the public for reasons of safety. We spent 2 nights
Ian on a very very long straight road in Canterbury
I think this road was about 10km long and didn't bend once! at this very quiet campsite and went for a long walk through the farmland to a little village called Hororata, past a really twee little church that had a stone seat commemorating the 50th anniversary of the crowning of Queen Liz. Nice to see them keeping the old patriotism thing going. We ended up at a little pub that served very tasty chicken and leak pies and then headed back after also having a little liquid refreshment. It was just one of those slow and easy days that seem to last forever and we both felt very relaxed and refreshed after it. I think it would have been very easy for us to have stayed there for the rest of our time with the campervan, but, we both seem to suffer from wanderlust, so, we headed out to the Banks peninsular to visit Akaroa once more and to spend our final two nights with the campervan there.
On the way, Rachael developed a craving to have salmon for that evening’s meal, so we made a stop at a little place called Methven to see if we could get any at the local supermarket. While Rach went in search of a
The only salmon in town
Was a great big plastic one shop, I sat and read our guidebook and noticed that we were no more than 20km from “The Salmon Capital of New Zealand” - Rakaia. Seeing this, I leapt from the van and caught Rach queuing with her salmon at a checkout counter. I managed to convince her that it would be far better to select our salmon from the range that would surely be on offer in “The Salmon Capital of New Zealand” - Rakaia. She, reluctantly, agreed and off we went to find “The Salmon Capital of New Zealand” - Rakaia. We could tell instantly when we arrived there as there was this great big fibreglass salmon leaping like it had just been gaffed right in the centre of town - a good sign that the guidebook had been right we thought. We parked the van and went in search of our tasty salmon treat! After about an hour of wandering, we came to the conclusion that we must be looking in the wrong place for the salmon emporia as we had not managed to find a single one. There were two supermarkets in the town, but we obviously wanted to avoid using them as we had just
driven 20km to “The Salmon Capital of New Zealand” - Rakaia to buy fresh salmon, not salmon that we could have had in Methven. We eventually stopped at the gift shop next to the fibreglass salmon and enquired with them where we might be able to purchase some fresh salmon. “Hmmm… salmon…salmon … just a mo…” and he went off to ask the other shop assistant if she knew where any might be had. After a great deal of thought - as though they had never heard such a strange request before in “The Salmon Capital of New Zealand” - Rakaia, she came over to us and said “Have you asked at the restaurant, they might have some spare that they can sell you”. Disheartened and bewildered, we decided to go to the supermarket closest to the van and just purchase a packet of smoked salmon there. Nope, not one packet to be had. Ok… we tried the other supermarket. Again, not sight nor smell of anything remotely resembling salmon - and looks of mystification from the shop keepers when we enquired after it. On relating this little saga to some Kiwis that we met subsequently, they seemed to think
that it was obvious that “The Salmon Capital of New Zealand” - Rakaia would not have any salmon and were a bit surprised that we thought that they would have. Now, it’s surely not just us that thinks this is all a bit strange is it?
Akaroa was as beautiful as the first time we visited it and we had two contented and relaxed days just sitting outside cafes reading books, eating cakes and drinking coffee. Then came the day to return the campervan - I must admit to a little pang as I said goodbye to what had been our home for the last 5 or so weeks. What a thoroughly enjoyable experience South Island had been for us, and 6 weeks seems to have been almost exactly the right amount of time to be able to appreciate what it had to offer in a leisurely fashion.
We spent one last night back at Helen and Lawson’s B&B in Christchurch before boarding the plane to Auckland in the North Island…
Advertisement
Tot: 0.107s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 7; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0686s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
KathandRay
non-member comment
Sad at leaving
We're a bit sad that you are leaving the South Island, we enjoyed the trip! - what are we going to do now?