Timaru Visit

Nice cold morning when we got up, the others in our group are staying around Geraldine so we decided to take a visit t0 Timaru which is only 33km away.   We wandered around the shops for a little while and visited the i site for some info.
A very nice bronze outside of Captain Henry Cain, one of the early Timaru Settlers who on his return from sea opened a General Store and subsequent landing service.   He became a prominent businessman in the district.
He served as Mayor from 1870 to 1873.   Captain Cain died in 1886 after being poisoned by his son-in-law.
Off to Caroline Bay and down in the provided elevator to the Rose Garden and very novel War Memorial on the foreshore along with the Peace Face sculpture.

           Elevator Structure                             The Peace Face

Part of the War Memorial

From there we decided to go to a little Cafe/Restaurant/Craft store called The Shearing Quarters a quirky little place out along the country roads which boasts a mini putt course and farm animals for kids along with the food and coffee.

                    The Cafe                                   Inside the Store

After a bit of lunch we were off again to find the Richard Pearse Memorial via Pleasant Point, unfortunately the Railway Museum and running loco’s were not working today so we carried on to find the memorial out in the middle of nowhere.

Richard Pearse Aircraft Memorial

Richard Pearse was New Zealands Pioneer Aviator and is the memorial recognises the first heavier than air powered flight in New Zealand by a British Aviator on 31st March 1903.   This memorial marks the spot where the aircraft crashed.

Back to Geraldine and a visit to the Vintage Car and tractor museum, a very large collection of vehicles, tractors and farm equipment spread over 5 buildings

Some of the Vehicles                         John Brittens “Motorhome” restoration
Returning to the POP we joined some of the other visitors for 4ZZZZ’s in  the sunshine.   Tomorrow we move on from this excellent Park Over Property.

Geraldine

Just a short drive this morning as we are off to Geraldine, Why?, because it’s there and we haven’t been there before.   We arrived at the POP just outside Geraldine and what a great place this is.   It would have to be up there with the best of the POPs if not the best.   Our hosts David & Maureen couldn’t make us and the numerous other campers any more welcome.   The POP is set on beautifully manicured lawns and well kept grounds complete with it’s own dump point, shower and toilet.

Looking back at Geoff and Robin         Derek and Us

There is a laundry available and a small selection of jams and pickles for sale.

Once set up we drove back in to Geraldine, a really nice, tidy town.   We headed into Barkers of Geraldine (est 1969) for some jam, pickle, sauce and cordial tasting.   Barkers is well known and was originally set up as a family business.   It now mail orders product throughout New Zealand and supplies supermarkets and shops around the country.

 

         Barkers Retail Outlet                        Pauline with her Shopping

We couldn’t resist buying some cheese at Talbot Forest Cheese shop next door as well so we will be well fed for the next few days !

Tiki Touring Around

Off for a look around the district today and our first stop was the sleepy (only in summer) little ski village of Methven where we looked through the I Site shop before carrying on to the Rakaia Gorge.   A good view of the River from the road on the way.   The river was the usual mountain fed colour, a nice shade of turquoise.

Rakaia Gorge

Down into the gorge and out on to the gravel banks of the river for more photos.

              The Car Park                     Pauline Dot and Derek on the Riverbank

We headed off again for a ride along the country roads to a little place called Staveley.    The only thing of note here was the local Cafe which Jenny & Robin had seen mentioned in a magazine as having great sausage rolls, so naturally we all had to try them as an entree to our packed lunches.   A variety of flavours from Curry to Bacon and Cheese, Original etc.  Worth a stop if you are driving past.

                             Staveley With Cafe in Background
Off down the road to the Mt Somers Conservation Park where we thought we might look at the Sharplin Waterfall.   When we got there we found that it was a 45 min hike from the car park.   We decided to have lunch instead !

Fed and Watered !

Back to Ashburton through the dry farmland where we had a look around the shops before returning to our camp.

OOPS! Found some More Trains (More Big Boys Toys)

Rained heavily last night but has started to clear this morning although a little chilly.   This morning we are going to the Plains Pioneer Village and Vintage Railway located just outside Ashburton at Tinwald and which has been preserving the history of the Ashburton District since the 1970’s

The Museum has a large collection of vintage machinery, 3 operational steam locomotives, and a vintage railcar.    Todays loco was a beatifully restored Rogers K88 built in 1877, all fired up and waiting to go when we arrived.  Our mission was to take a train ride on the 2.5km former Tinwald branch line.  

Rogers K88 “Washington”

Alongside the railway is  a variety of other exhibits including traction engines, tractors and their associated machinery set in amongst the Pioneer Village.

We finished off the visit with a look inside the adjoining Lynn Museum of woodworking full of superbly crafted woodworks, ornamental turning and woodworking tools.

Inside the Lynn Woodworking Museum

Away to Ashburton

Off again this time moving further down the island to Ashburton just 60km away, a leisurely drive down a long straight road across the longest bridge in New Zealand and a short comfort stop at Rakaia.

Rakaia’s Fish !

Carrying on until almost in Ashburton, we all met up for lunch in a rest area just before Ashburton.   We were pleased to have a view of Aoraki/Mt Cook on the horizon.   Our camp for the next day or two is a lifestyle block (and NZMCA POP) just out of town.   Could be an interesting place as it is full of old cars and farm equipment as the owner, Rob restores cars for himself and others.   We will get to see the collection over the next day or so.

Off to See the Trains

Next stop on the days events was a visit to brother-in-law No 2 to let the others have a look at Bill’s model railway layout which I mentioned in an earlier blog.

Bill’s On30 layout

When we finally extracted Derek from the train room we all headed on our separate way to carry on the sightseeing.   Pauline and I took a drive into Cashel Street to see the container shopping mall.

 

 

What a great idea, and full of interesting shops.

We’ve had a great week here in Christchurch and tomorrow we leave for Ashburton,

Aeroplanes and Trains (Big Boys Toys)

Off this morning to the Air Force Museum at the former RNZAF base at Wigram where we are to meet up with in brother-in-law Mark who works there on the restoration projects  who had arranged a backstage tour for us through the restoration hangers.

A4 Skyhawk in the entrance Hall

Pauline and I certainly had a few memories brought back on the way back to the hangers not the least being the old block 7 of which I was a resident back in 1970.   When I look at where I used to reside compared to a prisoner currently in custody it makes you wonder !   The rooms were astonishingly small but we were happy.

                       Block 7                                    my former room

The restoration hangers were really interesting to tour and these guys must have the patience of Job to toil away on such painstaking work, sometimes with little detail to work from.   We were suprised to find one of Pauline’s old bosses from our time serving at Wigram.   Charlie used to be a driver just like Pauline and now works on aircraft  restoration.   He gave us an interesting talk on the Wildebeest restoration he was assisting with.

                Charlie                                           Wildebeest Restoration

On into the next hanger which was full of mostly complete aircraft which had seen service with the RNZAF or had been flown by RNZAF pilots, ther were some interesting aircraft types on show.

Pauline, Mark  and self at the Andover door

Back to the main exhibition rooms of the museum for a good wander through there, again lots of interesting stuff to see and the museum is a must see if ever in the Christchurch area.

Stained glass memorial window                No 42 Sqn VIP Dakota   
An enjoyable visit appreciated by all of us and finished off with a coffee at the Museum Cafe.

Sightseeing in Akaroa

Rained heavily overnight and we woke to a grey miserable drizzly morning for our excursion to Akaroa.   We set off at about 9:30 pm in convoy for the 70km journey.
As we travelled along past Lake Ellesmere and in towards Little River the weather started clearing and by the time we arrived at Little River it was getting quite good.
First stop on the way was the old Little River Railway Station which even on our last visit nearly 35 years ago was full of interesting craft and  nick nacks for sale.

Little River Station

We set off again after purchasing a couple of souvenirs and wound our way up the hills towards Akaroa.   There are magnificent views on the way and plenty of photo stops.

Overlooking Akaroa Harbour

We arrived finally at the french orientated harbour town of Akaroa, a really picturesque little town with a distinctive french flavour.   The township was established in 1840 by early french settlers and keeps the character and names of the narrow streets such as Rue Lavaud, the main street.   Many of the original cottages still stand where they were built.

We had a look at lovely old  St Patricks Church and its, lovely stained glass window before wandering off to explore the specialty shops along the main street.

St Patricks Church

Lunch was a sausage sizzle cooked on the Cobb BBQ on the foreshore which was a nice change from buying sandwiches etc.  After lunch Jenny went off to see the giants house garden  while the rest of us admired the other scenic attractions on offer

Entrance to The Giants House Gardens

            The Jetty             and                War Memorial

A short walk took us to the former Akaroa Headland lighthouse which has been beatifully restored and relocated to the point at the end of the village

We all met up at our lunch spot and set off in convoy again for the trip back to our base. We decided to go via Gebbes Pass Road and Governors Bay to Lyttelton to have a look at some of the earthquake damage it is hard to fathom the stress caused to it,s residents and all the missing shops etc. We were even unable to see where the former time ball used to be located. It certainly wasn’t the Lyttelton we remember.
One thing we have noticed since arriving here was the driving. We were used to courteous drivers in Christchurch and this is certainly not the case now. The driving is fast, aggressive and impatient and our Christchurch resident relatives reckon this has occurred since the earthquakes as people can’t travel home by their normal routes and are frustrated by the traffic delays.
Tomorrow we will have a look at the damage in the City Centre before moving on on Saturday. A couple of aftershocks today but because we were walking around the caravan both times we didn’t notice as it shakes anyway !