Moving Around and Stitching Time

Where have we been since we last chatted?  Moving on from Christchurch we traveled south to Ashburton, a nice straight drive down SH1, and we drove over the longest bridge in New Zealand at 1.7km over the Rakaia River, another braided river.  What is a braided river, you may be wondering? A braided river consists of a network of multiple shallow channels that diverge and rejoin around  braid bars.  This gives the river a resemblance to the interweaved strands of a braid.  This part of New Zealand, Canterbury,  contains 60% of the braided  river habitat in New Zealand.

Driving over NZs longest bridge

Just over the bridge is the Rakaia Salmon statue on the side of the road, the icon of the small town. The  giant salmon statue stands 12m high and symbolizes  the good fishing in the Rakaia River.

The giant salmon of Rakaia

While in Ashburton we decided to go on an adventure, and explore the Rakai Gorge.  We made a picnic lunch, filled the thermos, and made sure we took along the sun screen and insect repellant too.

Ready for a picnic

Originally we had thought we hadn't been this way, but when the scenery started to look familiar we remembered we had done this trip way back in 2012.   Stopping at the lookout gave us wonderful views of the river, and since we were last here, a beautifully carved Maori Pou had been erected.  This tells the story of the Taniwha of Raikaia.  According to Maori legend a taniwha river monster lives in the Rakaia Gorge.  His efforts to block the north west wind led to the narrowing of the river, when he brought down huge stones and boulders to halt the progress of the north west demon and imprison him

Maori Pou

Then we returned to the Rakaia River for lunch, driving down onto the river bank to enjoy the wonderful views and people watch.  Some were frollicking in the river on their boards, others were walking along, still more were putting their boats in the river and departing with a hiss and a roar.  The bank across the river had rows of  different colours laid down,  always interesting to consider how these occurred. 

In the Rakaia Gorge

On the way back we stopped off at Methven for a look around and an ice-cream.  This is an interesting place as it is on the edge of the Mount Hutt Ski Field, so in the winter this is very busy indeed.  It was such a hot day we had to eat our ice-creams quickly to beat the melt efect!

Stopping for an ice-cream

Then we moved on to Geraldine, to the  Peski Pop (park over property) which is a favourite of ours.  We had been in contact the previous day to ensure there was room for us, asked for a non power site, and had been given a site number.  And there it was, with our name, an envelope for the fees, and an information sheet.  The grounds are beautiful in this Pop, graceful sweeping lawns, flower gardens and mature trees full of happy tweeting birds.  And best of all, there is a washing machine available, so I certainly made good use of that.

Staying at Geraldine

It was so nice sitting out under the shady awing, in the late afternoon and early evening. relaxing with a cool drink to hand, while finishing off another of my small Noah’s Ark stitcheries.  All the while the many birds were chirping away in the trees. 

Finished the Kangaroos

No visit to Geraldine is complete without stopping at Barkers, which is a big part of this small town.  Starting off as sheep farmers, for over 50 years the Barker family went on to process fruit  into an array of jams, preserves and drinks.  But the shop wasn’t where we remembered.  Several years previously, the company purchased the former St Mary’s Church Vicarage on the main Geraldine road, a category two listed heritage building, and transformed into boutique accommodation.  And adjacent to this is the Barker’s new Foodstore and Eatery.  First we went to the store, had a few tastings and purchased several items to take away.  Then we sat in the lovely airy café and had a drink each, a milkshake for him, and a coffee for me.  Believe it or not, it was so hot and muggy we really didn't feel like eating anything!

Barkers of Geraldine

I also visited the cheese shop and after sampling a few tastings, came away with several delicious fancy cheeses.  These will be nice with some crackers for afternoon tea.  Next was a visit to the local Quilt Shop, the Pin Tin.  Such a lovely shop, full to the brim with fabrics, knitting wool, and a large selection of panels.  I was after some new stitchery designs, but sadly the owner didn't seem to stock any of these, so I came away empty handed.  A shame really, as I do like to support quilt shops when I travel, but didn't want to buy something I didn't really need, just because I feel guilty.

The Pin Tin of Geraldine