Not the bargain I'd hoped for after all! The 'budget' motel in Hanmer Springs turned-out to have the beginnings of a building site located right behind my upstairs bedroom window. Which is great, of course, if you need an early morning wake-up call at 6:15am ... which I didn't! Here's the view that my co-guest Dominik (Austrian) and I had from our shared veranda at breakfast time.
I should have noticed all this before checking into the joint on Sunday .. but the site looked all quiet and benign at that time, of course. Silly me for not thinking it all through properly. A lesson learned.
So around 11:00am I set-off on the 1½ - 2 hr journey towards Christchurch, which is located about 130 km (81 miles) south of Hanmer Springs. Apart from the initial 30 km (17 miles) section that completes the lead out of the Lewis Pass, the ride down is quite unmemorable, until crossing over the bridge at the mouth of the Waimakariri River on SH1. I look over the bridge and decide that it's time for me to get in some more off-road gravel riding practice done.
Gravel is one thing .. but loose stone and pebble is a whole different ballgame though. It's VERY dodgy stuff to negotiate. But we manage to stay upright throughout .. :o)
Entering Christchurch via the alternative (to SH1) Marshland Road, I straightaway head for Cathedral Square in the City's centre ..
.. and arrange a Gondola ride to the summit of the crater rim of Christchurch's famous extinct volcano. I shall do this tomorrow afternoon, Thu-08-Mar, as the weather forecast looks quite perfect for such an activity then. I should, therefore, capture some good pictures.
Then I head-on out west to the outskirts of town, the International Airport area in particular, and check out the Antarctic Centre ..
.. complete with its resident penquin population ...
.. before returning towards the City, where by around 5:45pm I call-in and take-up a very kind and pre-arranged invitation to stopover for a night or two with friends, Richard and Tanya (et Luke and Rebecca), in their huge 5-bedroom executive home, complete with privately-imported (from the UK) and immaculately well maintained Jaguar XJR.It's all such perfect and peaceful domestic bliss, which is very well received by me, especially after the experiences of the last three days and nights at one of the alleged utopian recuperation capitals of the world .. aka Hanmer Springs!
