Rangiora, Oxford and Rangiora

Before travelling to Rangiora from Christchurch, we did head south temporarily to Rakaia - I had ordered on line from Rural Co a down comforter as the duvet was becoming far too hot and the blankets were not warm enough. So much bedding change activity was taking place at night. And given David is doing the hot flush thing because of the Androgen Deprivation Therapy, it was getting a bit tedious for us both. 

The down comforter is great, not too hot, not too cool. In fact, we are like Goldilocks, because it is just right ...

Look what I managed to find while I was in Rural Co - Red Band jandals!! Yay!!! I don't need their gumboots which are world famous in NZ in the farming community, but my jandals were worn out and Red Bands seemed exactly the right ones for me. I love them, and think they may become my new going out shoes...

 

Well, it was a good thing we didn't have a long way to travel from Rolleston to Rangiora via Rakaia - I needed all of my wits about me and all of my strength of character on our arrival ...

What an adventure getting the motorhome down Gavin and Deb's driveway! I had been going to reverse down it but quickly abandoned that plan, due to it being very narrow and tree-lined, with the sun shining directly on the reversing camera and reducing visibility by about 90%.  So forwards it was, but first we had to go and get Gavin, as requested, so he could trim branches, hold others up with the broom, guide me past tree trunks hidden by greenery, point out the concrete post shielding the power and phone cable stand and into the safety of their section ... Phew! We did pick up a couple of baby apples on the way which decorated the front cab vent, just like green spherical earrings 😊.

Just lovely to see Gavin who I worked with on the Waiuta and Alex goldmine remediation projects - he was the Senior Ranger whose team would be in charge of maintaining the sites once remediated, so he had to agree and accept the deliverables, and he had to agree the maintenance schedule for both - regular water testing slightly downhill from the Waiuta site and in the stream near the Alexander Roaster, checking the Waiuta surface, and checking the soil nearby - all testing for arsenic which was what we cleaned up, removed, buried - encased in mullock, the rock excavated from the mine shaft as well as bidum cloth and GCL (a geo-clay layer).

When Deb arrived home from work, we all went out to dinner at a very nice Thai restaurant - fortunately they have a people-mover so all 6 of us (Deb, Gav, Friday, Louis, D & M) could fit - always a good look, I reckon. Deb's kids are lovely. Lots of laughter and catching up. The food was yummy and it has stopped being strange to me not to be drinking alcohol at every meal out.

 

The lovely Gavin and even lovelier Deb!

The famous Canterbury Northwesters were in force the next day so David and I decided biking was out of the question - our experience biking in the fierce wind in the Hawke's Bay told us that biking should be pleasurable, not a chore and certainly not a battle to stay upright!

So we walked into the town centre - David to go to the supermarket and I went to a physiotherapist for a second treatment on my sore back - to be honest, avoiding biking was partly to do with my lower spine too.

But the warm wind was ideal for getting the washing dry so we made use of G&D's washing machine and clothesline to get the sheets washed and some of the larger clothing clean as well. 

I did fail Washing Machine 101 twice: 

the first time when I thought Eco meant it would be quicker - nope: it makes it slower. It was in a phone call with the lovely Marta in Scotland, while catching up about the lovely grandsons, that she informed me that Eco meant better for the environment but not for the operator. Fortunately she told me how to sort it: go and stop the machine, turn it off and start again, this time selecting Quick ... Doh! Why didn't I know that?, 

the second time was when I set the machine up beautifully (using Quick) but didn't press Start for the next load ... Doh! Still, it meant I could not complain that David was taking too long to be ready to abandon sorting out the email rumpus, because the washing had to be waited for...

The walk into town was not that pleasant - the wind was warm but fierce. So bits of grit got into the face, the hair ... Rangiora is lovely but that wind being an annual feature for more than a day would put me off. I did ask Friday and Louis if they were enjoying Rangiora (having moved over from Greymouth in February) and they both said yes, that they liked the town, the schools, and the weather was better than the West Coast - a harsh but fair statement probably as the Coast does have a reputation for being a trifle damp ...

While the walk wasn't that pleasant, and I rescued two or three blown over wheelie bins (rubbish day), the supermarket trip was well executed and the physiotherapist visit was pretty helpful. 

Dinner of vegetarian lasagne (thanks, Deb) and large coleslaw (thanks, Marilyn) were great, with lots of laughter - and we had dessert too. And I drank a bit of wine - the last bottle in our store under the floor which was a rose. Nice but I don't need to do it again.

The next day we had to extricate ourselves from Gavin's driveway. It was a three person operation - me driving - in reverse using the camera and only one side mirror (the other had to be tucked in so it didn't get ripped off on the fence or trees)**, David and Gav holding branches etc out of the way, and Gavin guiding me past tree trunks - which hadn't removed themselves in the intervening two days, dammit! Thank heavens it wasn't raining so I could have the windows open and hear Gav's and David's instructions and none of us got wet, and, more importantly, the camera wasn't fogged up. 

(** There is a Rangiora theme developing here - last time we were down here and stayed at Jack and Joy's I had to do the same thing of tucking in the mirror to save it from an ignominious end ...)

We headed a huge distance that day - about 40 kms I think, to Oxford on long straight roads across part of the Canterbury Plains - no wonder the wind comes whistling down from the mountains - there's no obstacles to get in its way!

We parked up at the Oxford Club and went in for a late lunch. Dean and Phaedra came to pick us up and took us back to their place for dinner. It was a lovely surprise to see that their son Liam is staying with them again. Dinner was delicious and needs to be replicated here chez McD - it was buddha bowls with brown rice, all sorts of salad bits each in their own space (i.e. not mixed together) with smoked salmon with a lovely thai dressing drizzled over the whole bowl. Just yummy!

Dean was the EnviroNZ contractor who managed the physical works for the remediations at Waiuta and Alex, so he and I worked closely together. He is a great person to work with - calm, considered, clear and extremely knowledgeable. At one point, when the Alex work was being done, Liam went to work there too, so I had got to know him as well.

It is always good to catch up with Dean and Phaedra, because they are lovely people, and also because I can remind Dean that I dandled him on my knee when he was a baby - his mum and my first husband are cousins. There is something so energising about rarking people up, don't you think? Although, to be fair, Dean has stopped blushing about it...

In the past when we have gone to Oxford, we have stayed at the Club or when just calling in, we have parked out on the road. But this time we realised we could have stayed on their section. I couldn't understand why we had thought we couldn't park there, until Phaedra told me that they have removed a triangle of garden and gravelled it - aha! next time we will be staying there!

And to be frank, it is a very easy drive in, turn around and drive out - I know, because we did it the next day when we called in to have cheese scones (freshly baked by me in the motorhome oven when I got up).

Their driveway is far easier than Gavin and Deb's one ...

We had another night in Rangiora as we were going to head down to start the Otago Rail Trail. This time we stayed at the Eco Holiday Park just out of Rangiora - it was a very different experience from the Top10s as it seems like quite a hippy community - a bit shabby and free-form. Lots of permanents and all the people we spoke to were friendly and helpful. We didn't go back to stay in G&D's driveway because I was emotionally scarred by traversing it... Not really, honest! We had planned a further physio appointment for me for the following day.

So we called in to see G&D and the kids that evening, and also met Gav's daughter Charlotte who was up visiting from Timaru. Another lovely young person. I had previously given Friday a hard time about being too tall. I apologised to Friday and transferred that hard time to Charlotte who is VERY tall - she had to stand on the step below me for a hug ...

Overnight, we decided we would not go down and do the Rail Trail - my back was not in good enough shape and I could feel every bump I went over on my coccyx and up my spine. Not a good way to start a 10 day bike ride - I know others do it in 3 or 4 days, but I am being realistic about my own ability and strength, and I know we wouldn't be biking every day! And in addition, and probably more importantly, we need to get back to the North Island to go and see a dear person who is very poorly.

So the physio appointment was cancelled and we headed north again to Kaikoura.

There was a lunar eclipse the night we were in Kaikoura and the sky was very clear. This is the beginning of it. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay awake for the whole thing. Maybe one day I'll be able to do so ...

What a wonderful place to be having breakfast, don't you think?

The mountains are the Seaward Kaikouras - a stunning view from the campground. And indeed from most parts of Kaikoura. I always find these views breathtaking.

There was a fair dose of nostalgia for me during breakfast (I did eat too, I didn't just feed David) at the Top10 in Kaikoura as there was a family who had been out fishing and were back washing the boat - I remember that task from when we were kids: after skiing or fishing, we had to wash the boat and the trailer because seawater is death to metal. Dad's only task was to teach us how and then we got left to it. These kids in Kaikoura were lucky because their dad was doing all the work ... I did thank them for raising a lovely memory for me.

For some reason getting a booking on the ferry was not possible for a week, so after the night in Kaikoura, we headed toward Stoke to stay with Ann and Salvi. 

We had thought we would spend a night en route in Blenheim and do the same biking adventure (mild, not exciting, but pleasurable before I hurt my bum) that we had done previously. but the wind was fierce there too, so on we came to Havelock. Lovely motorcamp! Definitely worth a return visit. Next door is a sportsfield with exercise equipment.

You are meant to pull those handles down towards you to strengthen some part of the body. Of course, it would help if I could reach them, don't you think?

Walking forwards to Christmas - with apologies to Spike Milligan ...