Lorenzo Motor Lodge Christchurch

We arrived in Christchurch at 3 in the afternoon. We are now 13 hours ahead of you guys! We wondered round the airport for yonks trying to find backpackers campervans and were finally pointed out where it was, right in front of us but under a different companys name!! A van came to pick us up and take us to the campervans, we were given a short dvd of how to work the van then given the keys!! Oh and we had ...

... 8217;re welcome Mom J ), we opted for some tame souvenir shopping. That evening, we hiked up to Bob’s Peak and the three of us took in a cultural show of song and dance by New Zealand’s Maori people. It was fascinating…we saw a Kiwi Haka, which was the traditional dance the Maori people did to welcome (or intimidate) strangers. If you’ve ever seen the All Blacks (NZ’s national rugby team) before a big match, you’d have seen one of ...

After another top recommendation from the lady at the B&B I drove out of Christchurch via Baldwin Street – officially the steepest street in the world although apparently there is a street in Pittsburgh which may be a challenger! I drove both up and down the street just for fun before heading out on the old road North which has much ...

... he resembled a frozen skeleton in clothes when he came back inside. I heard snippets of conversation from the folk around me ...”Suspended reality. You feel like you are in the middle of nowhere”...”That's how clear it is”...”Are we
coming to Arthur's Pass”...”Amazing how those trees grow up there.” “Pity they couldn't bring some of that gravel to Auckland, our roads need it!”
One very attractive girl in a thick ...

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We were picked up for our wine tour by an old ex-pat from Croydon, who proceeded to tell us interesting stories about the region while being our driver for the day. We were the only two people on the full day tour and visited three wineries before lunch, the pick of them being Lawson's Dry Hills, which had great Pinot Noir, Rose and Gewürtz (the case is on its ...

... we woke the next morning. Later that day, we met up with them near Franz Josef, where they mey Herr Laurie in person and WasherWoman let them off the hook. Poor Herr Laurie assured them that the panels on their wagon were safe, but they still had an aprehensive look in their eyes behind those wide smiles. Bjorn exclaimed that I'd got him a good one. I decided to keep an eye on him and my tyre valves just in case. We crossed paths again in Queenstown. They might be stalkers, but they ...

... had an enourmous external frame pack and then was carrying a small daypack over his belly. I don't know what he was thinking but he was struggling when we passed him... So when he showed up with no Kristen I got very worried and rushed off back down the track... Luckily Kristen was only about a hundred yards behind...having gotten lost and gone up a sidetrack on her own... I let her lead part of the way down to make sure ...

Yesterday, we traveled from Queenstown to Christchurch with the main stop at Mt. Cook, nation's tallest peak. The backbone of the country are the southern alps which ar largely granite and make for constant viewing opps. Other than the Alps, the rest of the island is largely made of schist which remind me (Ray) of Uncle Bo when he went back to teaching geology and of his romanticized view of schist. Acutally I think Unlce Bo just liked saying the word ...

... autocaravana, trouxemos as coisas que tinhamos comprado enquanto na Austrália, mais alguma da comida que nos tinha sobrado, numa caixa de cartão... esta levantou algumas suspeitas durante os controlos atrás referidos, pelo que tivémos que explicar o conteúdo da caixa (latas de atum, um frasco de alcaparras, café, um aquecedor eléctrico, um tapete, entre muitos outros items interessantes), quase nos desmanchámos a rir mas os agentes não pareceram nada ...

... to be an on going situation. Further towards Christchurch people have started growig vines, soon NZ will probably have more vines growing than any other country - but perhaps something like Olives would suit the climate in Cantervury better. We stopped off in place called Cheviot on the way which is like an oasis and had a fabulous cup of coffee and Josh had a drink and Chocolate Brownie in a place called the Paddock - dont stop anyhere else its great ...