Driving at Harriet's speed

Our third day was spent mostly driving at Harriet's tortoise pace, as we crawled our way through the pouring rain from Akaroa on the coast, over flat agricultural land and finally up into the mountains. It stopped raining as we drove up in to the mountains and we ended up camping beside a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains and air filled with birdsong.

Harriet goes to sea - Akaroa

We spent our first night in a caravan park above the town of Akaroa and our second night parked by the beach, free camping with about 12 other vans near the middle of the town - on a peninsula south of Christchurch. Akaroa is actually in the crater of an extinct volcano. It too was effected by the earthquake. Its war memorial is fenced off and the post office is closed, but everything else looks fine. It is a lovely French influenced seaside town. A bit touristy but very friendly and relaxed and wet!

Harriet enjoyed her time on Tony's boat on his Coast up Close tour. 2 hours in the harbour and out to sea looking for wildlife.



Fluffy's job on board is to look for dolpins. She took her job very seriously.

We did eventually see 2 Hectors Dolpins, a quite a few seals, a couple of little blue penguins swimming out off shore, and birds including shags, aka cormorants, but the highlight for me was krill! There were swarms of them floating like red clouds in the water. I always thought they were tiny almost microscopic things but they aren't.

 Tony scooped some up for people to taste. I could not bring myself to eat them as they were alive. Apparently they are very salty but not like prawns.

Even if we had seen no wildlife, the spectacular coastline was worth the trip. Can you see the elephant? We saw several waterfalls.

And it did not rain while we were out on the boat! Amazing! As it started raining when we got off the boat at about 4.30 and did not stop all night and the next day we left Arakoa in the rain.

Christchurch

We four wandering women of a certain age, are having  a wonderful time so far in New Zealand. And it has rained every day! And there have been floods so it is unusually wet. But the rain has not been continual and not enough to really spoil our fun, but...This will the first in a series of posts...


CHRISTCHURCH

After picking up our motorhome - all 7 metres of it - we ventured in to the centre of the earthquaked city.

We walked through the botanic gardens to get to the city centre. Yes - it was a bit wet.

We rode the tram with commentary. The tram driver reckons they have had so many after shocks now that they don't get out of bed for anything less than a 4 on the ricktor scale. This is Regent Street which survived as the buildings are from the 1930s and were built with earthquakes in mind. Art deco and very pretty.

The centre of Christchurch lost around 70% of its buildings in the earthquakes. There are many city blocks that have been bull dozed and stand empty. This is what remains of the main cathedral. The church are having high court battles to get permission to demolish. At the moment it is a rather impressive ruin.

There are numerous empty multi story buildings which is quite strange, apocolyptic. And some very good street art on bare walls.

And  a small really cool, vibrant street of shops made from shipping containers. Michelle and I shared a delicious butter chicken pizza here.

Waiting

Waiting in a bookshop in Melbourne airport
Waiting to cross the ocean
Waiting to meet up with my fellow wanderers
Waiting to escape the mundane
to discover something extraordinary.

Watching the constant stream of people passing by, I can't help wondering - where are they all going and why? Some look tired and frazzled. Some look relaxed and happy. Some are dressed to the nines, tottering along on painfully high heels, others are so casual slopping along in thongs, they should be lying on a beach.

Every single time I am in an airport, there are announcements "Passengers Ling Ping Lee and Sam Low, please make your way immediately to gate 22. Your plane is ready to board." How can people be late when they have obviously already checked in for their flight? Aren't they keen to get on that plane? I know I am? I am here - early - waiting - not wanting to miss out on the promised adventures.

The pain of the ordinary - the promise of anything not.

"Masquerading as a normal person day after day is exhausting." unknown (read on a card in the bookshop)

Introducing Harriet

Harriet is a wise old lady who is well travelled, likes meeting people and seeing new places, and lives life at an unstressed, unhurried pace. She is a good example to us all. Harriet is going to be the tour guide for four middle aged women as we wander around New Zealand for 2 weeks. Our journey begins on Boxing Day!

As you can see, Harriet carries everything she needs on her back. She knows just what she requires to be happy and comfortable, and does not carry any extra unnecessary baggage. I hope we can learn from her as we all pack our backpacks for New Zealand.

You can read about Harriet's namesake here: https://www.australiazoo.com.au/our-animals/harriet/