Author archive
17 April 2021
Yesterday, Kim had found a special offer for a cruise onboard TSS Earnslaw (an old steamship) to Walter Peak on the far side of Lake Wakatipu for afternoon tea and a farm tour. The special price was NZD55 per person, which was about half the normal rate. We walked down to the steamship for the […]
16 April 2021
We had a late start this morning and took a drive to Clyde to meet Jo’s friend Ash for brunch. After that, it was a relaxing day of driving around to enjoy the colours of autumn.
15 April 2021
Today, we flew down to Queenstown for another minibreak. We had standby flights for 1200 but managed to get on the 1115 instead. Jo had commercial tickets and joined down there on the 1200 flight. With 45 mins between our respective flight arrival times, we made sure it was time well spent. We collected the […]
5 April 2021
Above: My car, now sold. With daylight saving time still in our system, we woke early and Kim dropped me off at Christchurch airport about 0745. Despite being on standby, the kiosk issued me a boarding pass for the 0900 flight straight away. Landing at 1025, I collected my car and took it through the […]
4 April 2021
Daylight saving finished this morning while we were asleep, giving us an extra time in bed and a leisurely start. The drive to Christchurch is one we had done several times before. This time, we broke the journey in Geraldine where we had lunch at the Barker’s shop and café. When I told Kim about […]
3 April 2021
Holden heaven We learnt by accident some days ago that our time in Timaru coincided with the National Holden meet. After a hotel breakfast which we had pre-ordered last night, but didn’t need, we said our goodbyes to my cuz and left for the hall where the Holdens had assembled. Even though I don’t have […]
2 April 2021
Today we head from Hanmer to Timaru, a four-hour journey via Christchurch. We set off after some muesli, fruit and milk at the hostel. The drive was all good but as we approached Christchurch, we were shocked by the exodus of vehicles from the city. It made us so pleased that we had left the […]
1 April 2021
Honda NSX Despite being on holiday, we needed to be out of the house at 0800. Kim was helping a friend out with a pre-purchase inspection of a Honda NSX. We had to go to Belfast to meet a mechanic who then sent his apprentice to lead us to an old chicken farm in Rangiora […]
31 March 2021
At Christchurch, we picked up our rental car and drove to a friend’s place for a late/light lunch. We stopped at Copenhagen Bakery along the way to buy a few bits to bring along. Fortunately, we didn’t buy too much because our host was well prepared with food already. After a good catch-up, we continued […]
31 March 2021
We were meant to fly to Christchurch today as part of a roadtrip to Blenheim for the Omaka airshow. But the airshow got cancelled, not so much due to Covid-19 but the uncertainty and possibility of having a lockdown. And that’s despite New Zealand having hardly any community transmission for many months. Despite the airshow […]