Socialising down south

Our last few days in the South Island were spent in the company of friends, by and large.

We stayed a couple of nights at Rangiora Leigh Campgrounds which are closer to Loburn than Rangiora. It used to be a Christian camp and the old cabins certainly reflect that – they have double glass doors and the only other windows are high up on the front wall. Must be depressing in overcast weather, and not much better in the sunshine …

However the camp itself is great – relaxed, friendly, well equipped. The permanent residents we met were very hospitable and chatty which is nice. Sometimes it can feel a bit daunting to arrive at a place where the residents are a bit standoffish, understandable, but daunting.

The pleasure we had there though was mostly around connecting again with friends made when I was working for Dept of Conservation on the West Coast. Dean had texted asking if he and Phaedra could stay with us in Waikanae the following week, so I phoned him. It turned out that Loburn is only 20 minutes from where he and Phaedra live, so we arranged for them to come to dinner the next night. I then called Gavin who has recently moved from Greymouth DOC to Rangiora DOC, and asked him to join us. Thai Chicken Noodle Salad and Jack’s carrot salad, plus yummy dessert (lemon curd and cream with blueberries – very very yummy indeed) made by Phaedra. It was wonderful to catch up with them all. Strangely, we took no photos ...

Earlier that day we had been out to lunch at the Thai Aroma restaurant in Rangiora with Jack and Joy who we stayed with on our way south a couple of weeks earlier. Lovely food and a very nice oaky chardonnay as provided by Jack. The restaurant was ideally situated in that there was plenty of room to park a motorhome nearby if any over-imbibing has occurred. Not necessary for us that day, given I had dinner to prepare for Dean, Phaedra and Gavin.

Joy with David

Jack in his very attractive short purchased in the Islands and made in Fiji - I checked the label...

More friends catch up was to follow, as we made our way in to Christchurch to see Lucy and Rob and their son James. We couldn’t fit in their driveway without hanging out over the footpath, so I reversed out on to the road and we parked there, with the ramps under kerbside wheels to make us level. Surprisingly it was very quiet – strange, as we were very close to both a supermarket and a service station, and right next door to a childcare centre/kindergarten – although that didn’t start business until about 8am.

We spent a fabulous evening catching up with Rob and Lucy – we met them about 30-odd years ago, Rob and his then-sidekick Ron did some of the first renovation work on Cherswud, our 1919 Johnsonville home, but we lost touch sometime after they moved south. Facebook is a big help when trying to find people, and that proved to be the case with them. I had reconnected with them early last year when I was staying in Christchurch for work, and they came for lunch over the New Year when they were having a few days in Wellington. Funny how with some people the reconnection is instant and the years between just fall away.

And then it was northwards, as we were homeward bound. We had planned on stopping somewhere in the mountain range between the east coast and Murchison, but the fire hazard was extreme as there has been no rain in the South Island for months and the place is tinder dry. So rather than stopping somewhere on the way, we slogged on to reach Murchison NZMCA camp – a well-placed area that, at $3 each a night is pretty much free.

A fairly long drive again the next day to get to Nelson to visit WOW, the World of Wearable Art Museum. On display were the place-getters in the 2018 competition. Some amazingly creative garments that took many hours to construct.

 

The Kakapo Queen - description below

A castle, constructed of wood etc

WOW Tools of the Trade - description below

 There is an ongoing display which I think gets changed each year - not sure about that, but I am sure you can find out on their website if you are keen. The exhibition is called Bizarre Bras ...

Bizarre Brass and description below

Not sure this needs any explanation ... but isn't it cool?

Now which man would brave these sets of teeth?

Clever, some of these artists ...

The breast cancer awareness bra - very classy!

Then it was back to Stoke to park outside Chris and Ann’s place (we reconnected with them on our South Island trip late last year), followed by food and wine and laughter. We organized to catch up again with Salvi and Ange who are in Europe at the moment – they are going to come and join us on the narrowboat before they come home for the first NZ superannuation payment that is due on 1 August … And I remember when Salvi was just a very young man in his early 20s, and the rest of us were significantly older at 25, 26, 27 ;-)

And then our last friend stop was to stay in Richmond (about 15 minutes’ drive this time) at a motorcamp about a mile from Jack and Sarah’s place. More laughter and good food (nachos and roasted stone fruit with cream) and wine (sparkling rose) and then a walk back to the camp.

As our ferry check in was mid morning, we overnighted at Koromiko in a field that is open to NZMCA members at a cost of $5 per van. A beaut place to stay before and after the ferry.

We had a beautiful crossing back to Wellington – I sat in the sun at the lounge in the bow. Bliss.

Leaving Picton

David says I look like I'm steering, but no! I'd be at the stern and would never be able to see the bow of this huge thing.

I think this is when we were heading out of Tory Channel

 

The panorama shot. Tim did ask why they put a sticker on the window that spoils the view. Good question, but it wasn't in my sight-line.

Hills to the south of Wellington.

Cape Palliser Lighthouse and the rocks on the Eastbourne side of the entrance to Wellington Harbour - a time for the crew to concentrate hard, as there are rocks on the Seatoun side too ...

A cruise ship berthed in Wellington - not a very big one as they don't fit in our harbour.

For the sake of comparison, you can see a Picton ferry on the right of the picture - so the cruise ship isn't huge, but it is a damn sight bigger than the ferries are ... We berthed beside the other ferry. One disadvantage of taking a vehicle on the ferry is that you have to go down to your vehicle while the berthing is taking place, so you don't get to see any of it.

A lovely drive home to Waikanae, and the very barest necessities of unpacking - mostly the dirty laundry so the washing machine was going flat out for a few hours...