Where in the World is Saura

We are finally off on our road trip around the south island.  We were put off our schedule a bit on Sunday when we went to an outdoor concert at the university, but it was worth it.  As all the Ashevillians will understand, dreadlocks and the smell of cloves really made me feel at home.  It was a beautiful day without a cloud in the sky, and with all the great music, we really could have been in WNC at a show.  I guess that style translates well here.  Anyway, now we are set to go.  Alan is packing up the van, I’m seasoning our new little dutch oven, and we’ll soon be on our way.

First we are heading inland to Lake Coleridge, then we’ll make our way down to the coast to Timaru, then we’ll head back inland to Mt Cook.  Our grand scheme is to go down the east coast, around the southern tip, then up the west coast in a month before Alan has to be back for the poker championships.  We just found out that the Australian who won the World Series is playing at the event, as well as a few other big name pros.  So this will be a great experience for Al.  Well, we must be going, kia ora mates!

Al wanted to get some pics of our trip to Lake Coleridge up before we leave for Wellington tomorrow, so here’s another update.  Over Valentine’s Day we decided to go on a short camping trip to test out the van and use our new camping equipment.  Lake Coleridge is about a hour and a half out of Christchurch.  On our route there, we drove over a mountain pass and rode about 20 km or more down a bumpy gravel road through the hills to get to the lake.  It turns out there is a much easier way to get there, which we took on the way back.  The campsite there is very remote, but they had drinking water and composting toilets, which was very nice.  It was only $5 and there were many sites where people pay annual fees and just leave their caravans.  It is on a 37,000 merino sheep farm, and yes, we did see many sheep.  There was even a herd that grazed around our campsite.  Here I had Alan rock out in front of the herd after we settled in.

The lake was a stunning blue, and the water was very choppy as the winds where gusting almost the entire time.  During the night, we were awoken about every hour to gusts of winds that screamed all around us and shook the tent.  Saura also kept hearing little critters outside and tried to jump though the screen door on one occasion.  When I woke up in the morning the views were just beatiful.  It was cool and crisp and the clouds were spectacular against the rugged landscape.  I also ran into that herd of sheep again.

We only stayed one night, but we’re going to come back through this area on our trip.  There are some nice hikes that go up and around the mountains that are supposed to offer some terrific scenery.  I hope everyone enjoyed their Valentine’s Day and we’ll be back with you soon.