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Published: January 26th 2007
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Cows!
Beats being woken up by a cockeral, I suppose! Waking up this morning we were amused to find ourselves surrounded by a small hard of cattle happily munching away on the grass around the camping area. They were quickly rounded up though and went back to their daily business of eating elsewhere. Before setting off again, Glynn and I took another stroll on the beach and watched a group of local kids playing beach volleyball while a couple of the more adventurous one were out surfing or kayaking in the sea.
We followed the river upstream for a while and watched tiny crabs scurrying around on the riverbed through the icy clear water. It was so clear that we could even make out some miniscule fish fighting the current to keep away from the sea. The tide was coming in this morning and it was a bizarre sight to see the sea flowing in while the river was desperately trying to flow out at the same time. We watched a man zipping around the beach with a couple of dogs on the back of his quad bike and then went to explore around the brightly coloured flowers and huge pine trees growing at the edge of the beach.
Morning View
Glynn takes a morning stroll on Le Bons Beach. Travelling back over the mountains, we decided to take the scenic route (it was actually called a scenic route too!) across the peninsular. The clouds had lifted a bit and every so often we were treated to some really stunning views - something I'll never get bored of even though South Island seems to be crammed full of amazing scenery. We took a break at a fruit and veg shop near to the Birdlings Flat where the land literally is flat as a pancake once the mountains of the Banks Peninsular fall away. In the shop we got chatting to the owner, Charlie, a British ex-pat who was huffed to bits to learn that Glynn and I are seriously thinking of Christchurch for our new home. When we came to pay for our cherries, nectarines and apples, she popped a bunch of bananas and a few bulbs of garlic in our bag free of charge and gave us her phone number for when we return to Christchurch. Cool!
Back on the road again, we endured the general tedium of the ever so flat Canturbury Plains on our way to our next location, the Rakaia Gorge. Glynn had spotted on
Beach Flowers
Some of the pretty flowers growing on the beach at Le Bons. the map that a bit of a detour would take us across New Zealand's longest bridge. It sounded exciting but really was nothing more than a bit of road over a wide bit of river! Ah well, you can't win them all.
The journey took us through several sleepy towns where the sheep undoubtedly outnumber the people population but one place in particular caught my eye - Chertsey. Now this will mean nothing to almost everyone who knows me but Chertsey in Surrey, England is the place where I grew up. I lived there from aged 5 to 13 so I couldn't resist the urge to see what the Kiwi version of the town would be like. Just as I was taking a photo of the Chertsey Tavern (established 1877 making it pretty old by NZ standards), possibly the only landmark in the whole town, the landlady came out to talk to us. She was an older lady who regaled us with stories of her visits to Great Britain and also gave us loads of info about her little town including the local population count of 150 residents! The only exciting things to happen in Chertsey recently was a
Goodbye Hills
Check out the gorgeous views as we left the Banks Peninsular. The Canterbury Plains were just flat, flat, flat. freight train derailment in 1996 and being cut off for 3 weeks in the heavy snowfall last year.
We next stopped in the slightly more happening town of Methven to get fuel and top up our LPG camping stove before driving on to the Rakaia Gorge. It had been a long drive for Glynn (I'm too nervous to drive the van yet) so we were a bit dismayed to find that the official campsite we had earmarked for our first night on a proper campsite was fully booked. The closest campsite was a good 15km away at the foot of Mount Hutt so this is where we headed to. This time there was room at the inn and the friendly owner offered us our choice of almost every pitch on the site as there was hardly anyone else there. We enjoyed our first showers since leaving Christchurch and made full use of the kitchen to cook a slightly more creative dinner than is possible with just one cooking ring. If it hadn't been for the rain that join us later in the evening and all the vicious black bugs that insisted on biting our feet and ankles, it would
A Bridge Too Far
New Zealand's longest bridge. Dull, isn't it? have been a lovely place to stay!
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