With help from Gemma

 This blog is brought to you with help from Gemma.  She is excellent at holding the lap top bag in place while I'm tapping away.  And it makes such a good place to have a comfy snooze.

Gemma is a big help

Our four days in Christchurch seeing my son Michael had come to an end, so then it was time to hitch the caravan up to the car and travel slowly back up to Picton to catch the ferry again.  We had nearly a week to do this, so we planned several stops along the way.

One lunch stop was at the very royal sounding Balmoral Recreation Area.  No royals popped out to meet us, and then I remembered that they are having a family summer holiday in Edinburgh.  Such a lovely site, surrounded with pine trees, and  very peaceful indeed with just one other van in the grounds.  It would be great to stay here for a night or two on a future trip.  Gemma enjoyed some time outside on her lead.

Fed and watered, we got on our way again to our stop for the night at Waiau Tavern.  No charge to stay for the night, but there is an expectation that travelers would spend a little money in the bar, or have a meal.  Which is quite fair and reasonable, we think, when the parking is free.  Opening time rolled around so we went over for 4zees, just the owner and us in the tiny bar.  Plus a rather feisty ginger kitten who calls the tavern home.

The owner Lindsay told us about the 7.8 Hurinui-Kaikoura earthquake in November 2016.  The epicentre was located close to Waiau township and the fault ruptures ran for more than 180km along known and previously unrecognized faults.  The hotel was badly damaged, then while waiting for council permission to rebuild, was burnt to the ground by squatters.  This new tavern is much smaller but serves the community well. 

Leaving Wairau Tavern it was a short 52km  to our next stop, Conway Flat Ocean Edge.  The photos looked delightful, vans parked on the cliff overlooking the sea, room for large vehicles and pet friendly. We turned off SH1 at Hundalee and drove down to the coast, finally spotting several vans and motorhomes parked up in a large paddock.  This is the place.  Peeping over the cliff we could see the wavelets roll in.  This is a good area for fishing, we were told.    It was a lovely restful day indeed, and we were lulled to sleep with the soothing sounds at bedtime.  There was no show of catching the sun rise over the ocean the next morning, we slept so well that the sun was well up by the time we surfaced.  This is a wonderful place to stay and we certainly plan to return in a future South Island trip.

Our ocean view site for the night

After talking to another couple we mentioned that we travel with our cat.  Can we see her please?, they asked.  They own a Maine Coon but don't take it camping.  Gemma was not at all impressed with being picked up by a stranger, and I had to warn that she was not necessarily a friendly cat.  After that, she pointedly jumped on the bed, and turned her back on these people who dared to touch her!

Continuing on our way the next morning we saw glimpses of the snow capped Southern Alps again.  This is always such a pretty sight.

Snow capped mountain range

We were on our way to another camping site with an ocean view.  We turned off SH1 at the tiny village of Ward, and the first thing we saw was this happy Mama pig.  She wandered over to the fence to show me her very best side.  Shall I tell you a secret?  With a suburban upbringing, I've always rather liked pigs, for some reason.  And chickens too, or rather "chooks" as we tend to call them here.

What a gorgeous pig

We drove to the end of the unsealed road to the camping area.  There were a few other campers on site, and we found ourselves a spot overlooking the beach and settled down for the afternoon.    There is nothing nicer than being by the sea.

Another lovely place to stay overnight

Gemma had a fine time exploring the grassy sand bank just outside the caravan door, safely secured with her lead of course.  Goodness knows what she was tracking in the grass, probably little bugs and insects I expect.  This kept her so occupied for such a long time.   She has aspirations of being a great while hunter, but sadly for her, that is not going to happen.  Gemma was having such a wonderful time that she didn't have time for her usual afternoon snooze.  You know what cats are like, they generally sleep the day away.

Gemma had a wonderful afternoon stalking tiny critters

Painted rocks are very popular and there was quite a collection here, it has obviously grown and grown over time. 

Lots of painted rocks

So how has my knitting coming along then?  Rather slowly, I'm afraid.  I often knit while in the car, but not when we are traveling up and down hills and around sharp corners, that's too difficult for me.  Waiting time at the laundromat is also good knitting time, so as I tell myself, each row helps.  I'm knitting socks for my older granddaughter.  It is interesting how the two balls of yarn make different patterns on each sock.  And I've also spent some time knitting a beany for donation.

4ply socks for my granddaughter

Started knitting a beany

Our trip is winding down, and in a few days time we will board the ferry for our homeward journey.  It's been a great trip, and I'm so pleased we spent some time with my son Michael to share his 60th birthday with him.  Will you come down for my 70th? he wanted to know.  Probably not, sadly.