Weekend with Karina +++

Saturday, 10th Feb
A delicious breakfast for the 3 of us served in our room, which is obviously extra work for Maree but they gain a room to rent out by not having a dining room. We're going on a jet boat ride on the Waiau River, so we drive the 9 kms downhill to the Amuri boats, a family run company. We meet a group of South Africans who moved over here 2 years ago, and also Max the dog who was very fond of Karina. I had hoped we would be on a boat with the South Africans as they were a lot of fun, but they went ahead of us in a boat for the 5 of them, and we were joined by 4 others in a bigger boat. What a difficult walk down a track to the boat. Good job we had sensible shoes on, unlike

some in crocs. We had to hold on to a rope handle in case we slipped. Apparently, the original track had been wrecked by the earthquake. So many earthquake related casualties!
Wearing our life jackets, our driver Chris prepared us for the 24km trip, and off we went at great speed. We did several Hamilton (360) turns, getting pretty wet in the process, and we roared down the shallow river with Chris whizzing by rocks at close proximity and under low branches. There were times that Tricia had her eyes tightly shut! It was great fun. Next came the hard bit - climbing back up the steep slope. The couple wearing crocs needed to be rescued by a quad bike as the slope was far too steep and they were slipping back out of their crocs. They probably just wanted a ride up!
Back in Hanmer we walked around what is a very cute looking Alpine village.

Jim decided to carry on to the top of Conical Hill to see the magnificent view. Karina and I opted out of that one. After a very light lunch we spend a very pleasant 90 minutes in the springs themselves. The hot and sometimes sulphuric water comes from natural sources, but the actual pools are man made and water ranges from 34 to 40 degrees. Also, there is a huge swimming pool which had cooler water and a lazy river which was quite fast and difficult to get out of, especially if you were the wrong side of a group of people. It was a sunny Saturday, and very busy.
Another jovial drinks' evening with some different guests, and then we went out for an excellent meal in Number 31 restaurant - the best in town, with prices to match. Len, the landlord, has set up the TV for Jim to watch the T20 cricket between England and Australia. Colin, another guest, joins us and the men play a game of snooker and we women have a good chat. They are from Newcastle - Julie and Karina knew some of the same people (Karina went to Newcastle Uni). A good day and great evening.

Sunday, 11th February
We wake up to an overcast, rainy morning but, as we will be spending most of the day in the car, it doesn't really matter. Tonight Jim and I don't know where we are sleeping. It is a surprise! Karina and Luke have organised somewhere rather quirky we feel, judging by Maree saying "I know where you are staying if you are going to Little River. It will be different!" Luke's parents, Steve and Anita are also joining us for this little adventure.
We stopped at Pegasus Winery at Waipara where we did a little wine tasting, bought a couple of bottles and had a cup of coffee in front of the log fire. Yes, everyone, it was cold enough to need a log fire. Weather changes constantly here - you can wake up and it is cool but by the end of the day when the sun goes down it can be 26. Crazy!
We stopped for lunch at an odd pub in Tai Tapu. Being Sunday lunch time there were several groups of mostly men in the bar and a live singer came along to entertain everyone. But people didn't really listen, even though she was good, and we surprised everyone by clapping her.
We continued our journey in the mist and rain until we came to Little River, on the road to Akaroa. What do we see - SILOS, galvanised steel silos. What a fun thing to book us all into. We had a silo per couple - all self-contained, very comfortable and very quirky. See photos. There's even a Tesla charging point as Elon Musk was a possible sponsor of this innovative idea.
When Luke & parents arrived we all had a cup of tea and catch up in our silo

- it was bigger because Karina had booked us the disabled/family one. Very good idea (also, our toilet was not down a winding steel staircase).
In 2 cars, we drove out for supper, up and up through mist and cloud, so we couldn't see very much at all. In fact, near the restaurant we saw a small, white camper van that had gone off the road and rolled down the hill - obviously a bit earlier as it had been seen to. It looked nasty. The restaurant was called Hill Top and, normally, would have had fab views over the bay of Banks Peninsula, but we saw very little. Another quirky restaurant but we ate excellent pizzas.
Back in our silos we settled down with our glasses of wine and played games - Heads Up (using your phone and hilarious) and Cranium. We now feel we know Luke's parents much better, and get on well with them.

Monday, 12th February
Would you believe it, after the miserable weather yesterday, we wake up to brilliant sunshine. We have breakfast in the adjacent cafe - Jim and Karina had bowls of the most amazing porridge - and then drive on to Akaroa. The road to Akaroa, on the Banks Peninsula, has the most incredible scenery. We're so lucky it is a clear day with blue sky. We took the scenic route which was long and windy - well driven Karina. Jim kept noticing things to look out but he would have to add "but you can't look Karina, keep your eyes on the road".
With the port of Lyttleton out of action since the earthquake, Akaroa is now host to cruise ships and there were 2 in the bay with hundreds of tourists being brought into town by tender. Great for the businesses of Akaroa but very crowded compared to when we stayed there in 2013. It was hot, very

hot, and hats were definitely needed. We found a great cafe in the shade with a table big enough for us all, and had a much needed coffee. We explored a bit more, went onto the pier, which is now dedicated to the cruise ships, and then headed off. We went our separate ways - Luke with his parents went to Christchurch to collect a motorbike they had rented for 5 days, whilst we and Karina headed home at a more gentle pace, buying cheese and fruit along the way.
We've had a very different weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it.