55. Christchurch – New Brighton

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Graham’s
Friday, March 29: Sunny & warm the whole day, a few clouds in the evening
Old beach, new pier, New Brighton.

Old beach, new pier, New Brighton.

The processing of the sunset series was finished this morning, so the pictures were clipped and reduced in size and rendered into a shortish film that was produced with Windows Movie Maker. This took a little getting used to, but in the course of the morning the film took shape. Graham had left rather early this morning, and Joe left for a climbing trip later in the morning. Continue reading →

54. Christchurch

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Graham’s
Thursday, March 28: Sunny for most of the day, clouding over in the evening

Not a day for very much. Graham was not a morning person (he spends most of the night on the net and the phone with the UK where he is an inheritance sleuth – real, and not Nigerian) & Joe had already left for work (as an intern in a hospital in town) when I got up, but I got the tip that breakfast was self-service and that there was toast in the freezer and helped myself to some coffee and two slices of wholemeal with vegemite. Continue reading →

53. Akaroa – Tourist Drive – Little Akaroa – Christchurch

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Graham S., Main South Rd, Riccarton, via airbnb
Wednesday, March 27: Cloudy at first, with fog in the hills, clearing during the afternoon

Not much left for breakfast this morning, so zipped across to the 4square and cornered a lukewarm egg & bacon pie to eat with the fruit juice and the coffee (pie could at least be subject to the microwave). Guy at the backpackers suggested taking the high road to Little River, which I did, as I had quite a bit of time on my hands. Continue reading →

52. Akaroa Skyline

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Bon Accord
Tuesday, March 26: A little cloudy at first, becoming sunny with a bit of a cool breeze
GPS Tour
Akaroa from the Skyline Track

Akaroa from the Skyline Track

Went down to the i-SITE to get a brochure on a walk for today and stopped by at the library to download the podcasts as the 50 MB limit in the hostel would have been quickly used up. Bought some sandwiches (ham & mustard; corned beef & piccalilly) from the supermarket for lunch and then set off up the hill. Continue reading →

51. Methven – Akaroa

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Bon Accord Backpackers, 57 Rue Lavaud, Akaroa, Tel.: (03) 304 7782, $49 double (cabin) as single
Monday, March 25: Sunny throughout, warm, a few clouds in the afternoon
Bumblebee in the garden of Bon Accord

Bumblebee in the garden of Bon Accord

Was about the last to leave this morning around 10:00 – everyone else had to go to work. Checked the net and decided to head directly for Akaroa; with only a stop at a petrol station to check oil and air pressure in Methven and then to refuel in Tai Tapu. Fuel tank showed full but can’t have been absolutely topped up because that would mean that I’d done the last 500 km @ less than 5 L/100 km; and in any case the fuel level dropped significantly as I drove towards Akaroa. Stopped for a bit of a stroll just inside of town past the cricket ground and found my lodgings at around 12:30. Continue reading →

50. Rakaia – Rakaia Gorge

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Redwood Lodge
Sunday, March 24: Overcast the whole day, with a drop or two of rain

Still feeling a bit under the weather so this morning was dedicated to piecing together the Mt Cook panoramas. Got all of them done, as well as the brackets of the waterfall from yesterday. Went out to buy a pie from the supermarket for lunch, then decided I would at least have a look at the Rakaia Gorge. Continue reading →

49. Mt Somers – Sharplin Falls

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Redwood Lodge
Saturday, March 23: Sunny at first, later clouding the western half of the sky
GPS Tour

Not up so early this morning and had a bit of a frog in my throat and about half a cold. Was out of here just after 10 to attempt the mountain, but was feeling so poorly that I could only see how far I could get. Continue reading →

48. Twizel – Fairlie – Geraldine – Methven

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Redwood Lodge, 3 Wayne Place, Methven. $45 for twin as single
Friday, March 22: Sunny throughout and quite warm with one or two clouds

No hurry to leave this morning, but had everything packed away well before 10 and set off into town for some petrol & to check the tyre pressures. Consumption is slowly, but surely, creeping up. Was given a token to vote for a local charity & gave my vote to the local lifesavers. Stopped in Fairlie for some internet, and then lunch, which was in a rather central park. Tried picking up some of the last cash, but first forgot the PIN and had to go back and retrieve it. Then it was on to Geraldine, which also appeared to be quite a nice place. Can’t recognise anywhere that I travelled along in 2009, but the whole route may have been new. Continue reading →

47. Twizel – Mt Cook

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Ruataniwha Holiday Park
Thursday, March 21: Some dewfall at night, sunny with few clouds during the day
GPS Tour
Mt Sefton Panorama

Mt Sefton Panorama

Was up at 7:00 to try to get a longer walk done today. Breakfast was a little complicated by having to use the hiking crockery & cutlery and having to wash and dry it. However, that dealt with and lunch packed away I took off for the mountain and could see it most of the way along the SH 80. Continue reading →

46. Oamaru – Twizel

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Ruataniwha Holiday Park, Max Smith Drive, Twizel. Double cabin as single for $45/night
Wednesday, March 20: Very sunny in the morning, with a couple of clouds in the mountains

For the late bedtime I was up relatively early at around 7:00 and had breakfast in the upper lounge, packed my stuff into the car, unhung and folded the laundry that had been left overnight on the line and was now dry in the rising sun. Had attempted some full front photos of the District Council Offices trying to minimise perspective distortion, and then took off down to the library after taking leave of Fanny. Not much by the way of mail or facebook, except that the wordpress-facebook plugin has distinguished itself by not working (again). Continue reading →