Lake Tekapo to Todd and Ros’s farm near Christchurch

On my way back to Haka House on Sunday night I bumped into Tanya O'Connell who was also travelling solo. After a short visit we decided to meet up in half an hour for a beer.  Well that turned into a very fun evening of story telling, g&ts at 25degrees burger bar, followed by a couple of spicy margaritas at the TLV Restaurant and Bar, and finally a couple of sips of Laphroaig at the Fish Tail Restaurant and Bar to cap off the night.  There we met Jim who is as a very accomplished, international award winning chef. Jim was just getting off shift from the Dark Sky Restaurant, on the water front.  






On arriving back to my dorm room I was surprised to meet my roomy on the bottom bunk, Graham who is a retired corporate attorney, originally from Oxford but has lived in New York for the past 40 years.  We stayed up visiting for quite a while before retiring to our bunks.  In the morning I was heading over to the hot springs for yoga so I gave Graham a ride to the Mt John trailhead which was right next door.  We then met for lunch (photo below) and Graham hopped on the bus to Queenstown and I headed north back to Todd and Ros’s place near Christchurch.  





Above photos are of the kitchen at Haka House.  

The drive to Christchurch was just over 3 hours w a couple of stops, one for a speeding ticket and one for a little shop and coffee at Barkers in Geraldine.  I highly recommend stopping at this town it has the nicest authentic NZ clothing store “Louk” featuring the SWAZI brand.
The drive was so stunning from the rugged Mackenzie High Country cattle and sheep stations all the way through the pass to the lowland Canterbury pastures.  Rakaia Gorge was one of the many highlights of this drive on the scenic route 72.
I arrived at Todd and Ros’s place at just after 4 and after unloading the car, decided to hop in the car again to meet up with Hafeeza and Abdullah for dinner at their Commodore Hotel in Christchurch.  The restaurant and lounge was perfect, with excellent food and service for our farewell dinner.  
Was so nice to see my travelling pals one last time before they headed back home first thing in the morning.

I was back at Todd and Ros’s at 8 pm for a very warm welcome, a few stories and a glass of wine before hitting the hay.  






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jan 5. Kaikoura to Abel Tasman Nat Park

Image
 We stayed last night at Peteka Campground in a little cabin to avoid the impending wind and  rain.  It appears that we are fair weather tenters.  They had a nice shower house and outdoor communal cooking area.  5 star. Hafeeza and Abdullah enjoying their fist meat pie.  For breakfast no less! This young man is our master of wifi and phone tech support.  He is relentless. Our day today was a long driving day of 4.5 hours- broken up by a wonderful tour of the Yealands winery, a world leader in sustainability.  Built by Peter Leland.  “Be bold but tread lightly”. And “never say it can’t be done” Peter Yealand started the practise of baling up the old vines as they were pulled out and burning them to generate energy for the winery.   Peter Yealand also initiated the practise of inter row planting legumes and pollinator species and then grazing with babydoll sheep.   This breed is shorter legged and cannot reach as high on the vine so d...
Read more

Camp to Aanascaul

Image
  Leaving Camp Juction B&B off to Annascaul. Day 2 on Dingle Way.   This stream early in the day was such a pretty spot and the video is pretty funny- she’s not that bossy normally lol. We came across the cutest pair of lambs here and I’m pretty sure this is the range of the farmer I was chatting to the night before.  Annie and Stetley will get a kick out of these two. We had a couple cheese and crackers here and barb cleaned her boots a bit inside and out lol.  Turns out she’s a sheep sh. magnet.   Over the main range w Inch Beach in the background. Beaches and grassers in the same photo- loved that and they seemed to take a liking to Barb.  We saw quite a few Holstein/Angus steers in this region that farmers utilize for their extra grass.   Tom Crean was serving in the Navy in New Zealand when he saw this ad. The fellows in the bar last night recommended the South Pole Inn as our base camp for this evening.  We stumbled in at 2 pm and enjoye...
Read more

New Zealand - Jan 4 Christchurch to Kaikoura

Image
  I arrived at Christchurch airport relatively unscathed except for the security at Auckland airport confiscating my tent pegs.  Hafeeza and Abdullah were there to greet me, we picked up our suv and let the adventure begin! First stop was 30 mins NE of Christchurch to visit Todd Barnes and fam.  Todd lived w us at Black Creek 26 years ago and we picked up like it was yesterday.  He and his wife Roz treated us just like family.  We had a great catch up, and they sent us on our way with a full bag of cherries, tent pegs a hammer and 2 bedrolls.   The photos below are a look around their 55 acre farm and I’ll take more photo when we return in 10 days time. Notice pasture chickens in background.  The sheep shed their wool so no shearing involved. Todd grows their cherries in this greenhouse and his girls pick and sell them at the end of their driveway.  His girls are both competitive rowers and are both tall and gorgeous.
Read more