Curling and The road least travelled to Christchurch

Day 16
With an early start and some lovely country cooked breakfast it’s down to the local Curling rink “ The only one in the Southern Hemisphere “ for a lesson and game of curling - a brief of the game - Is to swing the stone (heavy object 20kg) that slides down the ice and the closest to the circles wins - your partner has a broom and if the stone looks like it’s not going to make the distance they brush

vigorously in front of the stone to allow it to travel further - easy you think? Well as it happens the girls are experts in the broom department leaving the boys in their dust! The game requires touch very similar to lawn bowls - as we team up it’s battle of the sexes as the girls take on the boys for the winner takes all - whatever that is ! Anyways it’s a tough contest but the boys surge to a 12 and zero win after 6 ends - the only causality was Melissa’s cold hands and feet and the pride of the girls in defeat. With a lot fun we then begin our drive to Christchurch and being ever present looking for a short cut we take the road through Danseys Pass - as we follow the road which soon turns to gravel and dirt we are in two minds, do we continue or turn back? With the consensus of the team we continue on with the drive being a comfortable roll through the hills and spectacular river views once part of the old gold prospecting era - we pass a recumbent bike up ahead as we approach and chat, he too is headed over the pass with a stop off at a lodge on the way, as we bid farewell and venture further the road narrows and steepens, it’s too far to turn back now and the local signs say “road not suitable for camper vans, caravans and trucks” and there is mild panic in the backseat, for me “bring on the adventure” -
Ross our trusty captain and driver with full concentration proceeds and traverses
the bends, the roads are rutted and hard to navigate we keep clear of

the edges that would have as rolling down the escarpment to the rocky stream below - its near treacherous and the tension in the car is palpable. We all agree passing another car would be disastrous - well low and behold a car towing a caravan rounds the bend and it’s panic stations, fortunately we are at a cattle grate and there is room for us to tuck right to the edge as the car and caravan pass with the obligatory wave - it’s catch our breath and move on - the one consolation is that the grassy mountainous valleys are a sight to behold shrouded in cloud and the land is dotted with sheep and the occasional cattle, the drop offs to the stream below breathtaking. Proceding along the road which winds its way up and around the range, and out of the blue comes a fire engine around the bend un sighted until it was on us there is a death curdling scream from the rear seats as the girls in unison are frightened to within an inch of their lives - Ross in full adrenaline swerves as we balance the edge of the road and the massive red truck - a seriously close call - you can’t

make this stuff up! - with our hearts in our mouths, we process this with shock horror and disbelief and precariously drive on, there is still miles of gravel road to cover as we descend off the range, we cover 51km of the tension filled gravel journey and find the firm tarmac as the road widens and flattens.
The rest of our journey is smooth cruising up the main highway along the Canterbury Plains, We stop at a roadside cafe for lunch and the drive to Christchurch is trouble free - we book into our hotel, take a stroll downtown for dinner at a terrific Spanish Tapas Restaurant - the food superb!
An eventful day as we head north in our NZ travels.