288847kms, 6°C with a bit of sun and a bit of cloud around, 10:10 am and off on a sad trip to attend Scott Broad's (Wendy and Nev Sellwood's 21 year old son) funeral in Methven which is to be held tomorrow. 288872kms - at Cromwell for 22.35L of diesel and a pie! Snow in places (not on the road) through the Lindis Pass, and only 4°C - nothing unusual about that, except that it's not even May yet!!!!!
Bought sashimi for lunch at High Country Salmon and ate most of it at Lake Wardell (just past Twizel - lovely picnic area). Checked out the road to Paterson's Ponds (along the canal by Tekapo) but because it's the canal with the leak in it, the road is closed. We're not sure if you can get there or not - we didn't want to carry on any further because you go through a gate with a padlock on it - which means you could get locked in. But found a "new" power station which we'd never seen - Tekapo A.Got to Staveley at 15:20 and caught up with Wendy & Nev and then drove on to go and stay at Taylor's Stream. But it's a complete bog (apparently it's been raining heaps for days now, and it's obvious here!) so not an option - we wouldn't get out in the morning! Checked out 2 low-cost parking areas mentioned in the Travel Directory - one was yuck (in a yard beside a barn - no thanks!) and the other had a "cab-opener" bit of metal across their driveway - obviously don't like mobile homes that are too high. So only one option left at this stage - book into the camp ground and hope they'll take Roxie!
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| View from Maggie at Abisko |
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| Not keen to park on the grass - too wet! |
20 April 2011
Up at 07:15 - foggy and 8°C. Had a coffee and by the time we'd had that, it had started to drizzle. Still, took Roxie for a walk and all got thoroughly soaked - more so that if it had just been rain, we reckon. Dried Roxie off and Mike cooked breakfast (bacon, eggs and mushies) while Marielle had a shower, who then did the dishes while Mike had a shower. Now 10:09 and off to the service. 11:45 - on our way. The service was very, very sad, but still beautiful, if such a thing can ever be said about the funeral service for someone so young.
Filled up with 53L (289289kms) in Ashburton, after deciding to come home this way so we could make use of the cheaper prices at the truckstop. Doesn't really make any difference time wise, we don't think. It's still grey, drizzly and cold - only 9°C. Had fish and chips in Geraldine, from the fish and chip shop that Mike has raved about since they stopped there last year on their jet-boating trip. Well, something's changed since last time, because it was just crap. We had chips which were undercooked, fish that was dry but greasy as hell, gooey, undercooked dough on the scallops and a crab stick that was ok. Definitely not as good as Mike remembered! The weather is starting to clear though, and at 14:38 we popped over Burke's Pass and sure enough - blue skies and glorious on the other side. Not a cloud, sunny and getting warmer all the time. YAY - we really needed some sun after what has been a gloomy trip up to now.
15:20 - at Lake Wardell, where we initially stopped for a stretch but then realised that we don't actually HAVE to be home tonight - as long as we are home for Mike to start work at midday tomorrow, it doesn't matter, so we decided to stay. It's 14°C and just so nice, peaceful, pretty and relaxing that it would be a shame to carry on. It's only 2 hours to home from here, so we'll have plenty of time in the morning. Had a lovely rest of the afternoon playing outside in the sun with Roxie (who just goes mad over autumn leaves - this is the only time she barks likes this (thankfully!)!)
21 April 2011
Up at 07:20 - had a coffee, did the dishes and rolling by 07:56. Oh, it got warmer during the night: 4.5°C when we got up, probably due to the light cloud cover. But it's obviously been a cold night - got down to minus 2°C as we were driving through the Lindis Pass - brrrr! Stopped in Cromwell to do some grocery shopping and home at 10:25 - 289653kms (806kms for this trip).
