22/3/2015
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| Bungee girl |
From the
cold and wet Christchurch, we headed up to Hanmer Springs, intent on a warm Spa
Bath! On the first bridge on the turn
off to Hanmer Springs, we came across a young lady about to bungee jump . We
drove on to a look out point, which was about ½ mile away, and too far away to
see……. But not too far to hear her screaming as she enjoyed her 10 seconds of
terror! Enough to confirm our view point that bridges are made for driving
over, … and not jumping off!!
The town
itself is primarily a winter ski resort, offering river adventure sports, and
spa baths in summer. It is quite attractive, in an Alpine style, and we decided
to stay in a cabin with TV, rather than pitch the tent…. Besides, RSA were
playing NZ!
Well, that
did not go too well, with rain once again getting in our hair, and F… worth and
Clueless, setting the targets! To be honest…... we had enough runs, but our key
bowlers let us down. Were Dale and Vernon fit?
The next
morning dawned even colder, so we bailed out of the Spa bath option. The
thought of dropping one’s rods in subzero temperatures, with a streaming cold,
and jumping into a hot tub at R180 each for 15 minutes, and then having to get
out and dressed again….. just did not appeal! We promised ourselves a luxury
spa bath all to ourselves, at some later stage!
Instead, we
drove up the Lewis pass, and took in some lovely scenery, returning in time for
a cheese and wine lunch and a nap.
The next
morning we drove down to Kaikoura, the crayfish capital and whale watching
centre of NZ, determined to sample their “crays”. As luck would have it, the
season was closed, and we felt we had seen enough whales in our lives not to
have to pay yet again!
When we saw
the cray prices at R350 a pop, we were not too sad to have missed out…
especially when we remembered our Hout bay pig outs!
From Kaikoura,
we headed north to Blenheim, and Sauvignon Blanc HQ. The viticulture techniques
were quite different, and entirely geared towards mechanised grape picking. The
vineyards were all very neatly laid out.
Perhaps the
most memorable visit was to Peter Jackson’s Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre,
which houses the world’s best collection of WW1 aircraft and replicas, brought
to life, with a series of dioramas depicting dramatic wartime scenes, such as
the death of Baron Von Richthoven ( Red Baron).
Picture can
tell the story better than words!
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| Death of the Red Baron and the looting that occurred |
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| The stolen boots have subsequently been recovered |
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| Blue Max |
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