Tuscana Motor Lodge Christchurch

... is not compulsory in NZ but does seem to come under the heading of a Good Idea.

The odyssey begins on Friday with the first stop Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula, two twisty hours from Christchurch. We relinquish the palatial accommodation at Foley Towers with some regret but we can't take it with us, and we know that even six month is going to disappear with so much to see.

Here's to smooth roads and good weather!

lots of love
Helen and Andy

... we played car games and riddles, but the real adventure came when we were about 40 kilometers from Milford Sound. I’m pretty sure that none of us expected to be risking our lives that day, but for some reason I feel like we get into these situations quite a lot while on New Zealand road trips. We ended up traveling through an avalanche zone, where an avalanche had occurred less than a week ago. I knew we were truly in danger when the sides of the roads had 15 feet of snow on ...

... br>Had a walk down town at rush hour (9AM) and had a look at the beach. Had to get a rego card holder for the car since the one in it was pretty tired looking. Walked down the main street, and back up again all in about 10 mins, very small town, seems like it would be very seasonal but Im not sure how busy it might get in Summer.
Anyhow I left wonderful Kaikoura behind me at 9:45AM this morning, bound for Christchurch. Drove out of town, took a while to 'get in the saddle ...

... exercised superhero strengths to abstain from emptying their purses on the exquisite jade jewelry on display. I rewarded them with a feed from the local fish 'n chippery and we took off south to find a nice spot to act like seagulls. We were rewarded for the decision to turn left onto Shanghai Road about 6km south of Hokitika. A tree & fern shrouded dirt road leads quickly to the shores of beautiful Lake Mahinapua. A magic place to enjoy our great feed of endangered sea ...

... on local radio, but with a unique NZ twist: "Use your money to payoff credit cards, to buy that new car or to pick up some more sheep for the farm...."
~Taking a cold shower at the shelter at Mt Cook NP and loving it - afterwards - finally clean after 3 days of camping and hiking!
~Seeing many pickup trucks on the highways driving slowly with bays/beds in the back with sheep dogs inside being transported to areas where sheep were needed to be herded

... until they're able to take a look at the van, for us, the next morning. so, we're stood there waiting for the almighty bill for the tow when they ask us only for $15 for the site, and a donation to the royal flying doctors service for their towing and next day's work. well, we can hardly complain with that, can we! so, after the best showers ever, we take a wander into the roadhouse diner to drop a $50 donation into the red umbrella and for a quick tea, in appreciation of all that ...

... I think that one of the people who writes it has connections in Canada. We thought that it was really cool to find stories about Canada, half way around the world, in a little newsletter in a tiny town. I really enjoyed driving around in the bus and getting to see more of the city than we would if we were walking and hearing the stories about the people and buildings. Our bus tour ended in Cathedral Square and from there we hopped ...

And so ends the sisters' road trip. Just as we left Kaikoura the dolphins put on a show for us as a final farewell. It was a great trip around the South Island. I know that there is still so much more to see and do in New Zealand so I guess I'll just have to come back some day!!!

... Christ's College, adjacent to the Botanic Gardens, is awe-inspiring! Historical buildings stand in military precision around an emerald green square and beneath azure skies. Awesome! And to think it is still an active centre of learning... Christchurch is rich in architectural places of interest as we stopped off at the Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings and Our City O-Tautahi.

So it was off to another country, one with hopefully less flies. The filight was easy and Melbourne airoprt really slick BUT Mac was annoyed when he had to pay for a cup of tea on the plane. Mable was also less than impressed and was already composing a letter in her head to BA. Got picked up by the car hire company at the airport. Mac had managed to hire the smallest, oldest hire car in the known universe, it ...