We went away camping last night just 40 minutes north-west of the city to an
area known as Waimakariri. Try pronouncing that one then! After a very very
long straight road that seemed to go on forever we arrived in the small town
of
Oxford, which for some reason or other had won the "most attractive small
town of the year" - not quite sure why though bcos there really isn't much
to it! Had a good lunch at
Seagars Café -
apparently the owner, Jo Seagar, is a TV chef. Weird selection of things on
the menu, but all good, especially the chocolate fudge cake I had for
dessert.
A short drive from there got us to our camping ground, at
Ashley Gorge. A really beautiful spot with
barely anyone there, so great place to get away from the city to. Got our
bargain new tent set up (a mere $150 from Kathmandu's 50% off sale) and went
for a walk down to the river. Still in need of a longer walk, drove up to
Glentui. Took the track out to the waterfall then continued on an hour's
loop through the forest. The whole area here was recovering from a bush fire
last year, so made for a stunning contrast between the blackened tree trunks
and the bright green new growth underneath. Amazing how all this recovers so
well after the fires. Ferns, ferns everywhere, Mr Sloth loving them and
taking non-stop photos. For a short walk, this is definitely up there in my
top 10! Genius.
Back to the campsite for wine time with another bottle of
Tohu Sauv Blanc
that we'd got on special on the way out there.
Got the barbie on and enjoyed some steak, sausages and chicken kebabs with
Tohu's Pinot Noir (hadn't had that before. Black Cherries, smooth and no
tannins. Will be getting more). Alan popped in sooner or later and is still
with me now.
Had to get cracking and cancel our plans to climb one of the small mountains
in the area this morning as the weather had turned to ***. Got ourselves
back to ChCh and got our next couple of weekends away sorted (Marlborough
over new year and Kaikoura in Feb).
Expecting a call from Mumhead any moment with news of how hot it was at the
cricket yesterday.
Over and out