Well it was time to make another foray to the inland of the South Island. Todays destination was Lewis pass and then Hanmer Springs. Lewis Pass is the most direct route from Christchurch to the West Coast. The country side was the usual. Grazing land, wide valleys with wide, shallow, fast flowing rivers and always with a magnificent mountain backdrop. Probably sounds as if I'm bored by it, but far from it. Enroute I picked up a couple of elderly hitchhikers. A husband and wife, who live in Christchurch, but were heading out on a 3 day walk along the Rough Walk Track. They had left their car at the finishing point and were hitching to the starting point. Apparently they do this quite a lot. It meant I had to drive a little further than I had originally intended but I was glad I did as the scenery and the rain forest we drove through was quite spectacular. There is nothing at Lewis Pass, it is simply a pass through the mountain range, but the country side and the views are worth it. Having now driven through it twice I made tracks for Hanmer Springs. The main attraction here, you guessed it, is thermal springs. First of all though I hiked to the top of Conical Hill which provided a great place to have lunch and admire the view across the town and the valley. The town is a really pretty place and a magnet for daytrippers and holiday makers alike. The centre piece is the thermal springs complex. Pools of various temperatures, soome as hot as 42 degrees, natural chemicals and themes are spread throughout the complex. It was quite relaxing to move from pool to pool and just soak. I actually felt quite rejuvenated.

This is probably bordering on blasphemy but I find Good Friday to be one of the dullest days of the year. Nothing happens. Luckily for me I had a 450km drive to Cromwell, so that I could attend the "Warbirds over Wanaka" airshow the following day. I won't bore you with the details but suffice to say I drove through some wonderful countryside again. Lunch by the shores of Lake Tekapo, followed by a view of snow capped Mt Cook a little further down the road reminded me of where I was. My host for the night was the brother of my Christchurch friend. Cromwell is an interesting town. Situated in a major wine and fruit producing area it sits on the shores of Lake Dunstan. The lake was created as part of a hydro electric scheme and in doing so much of the old part of Cromwell ended up on the lake floor. So the town has an "old" section, which was above the high water mark, and a very new section. As the name of the airshow suggests it was all about war planes - and in particular World War 2 heritage war planes. Everything from Spitfires, Mustangs, Messerschmitts, Yaks and Harvards. The displays they put on were fantastic, although the show did get off to a rocky start when one the Yaks, upon landing, hit a cherry picker that was parked next to the runway. Fortunately the pilot was unhurt but it did throw the schedule out to some extent. No doubt the highlight for most people was the appearance of a US airforce F16 fighter jet and a C17 Globemaster. To say they are impressive in their own unique way is an understatement. I managed to take around 1100 photos for the day - but fast moving objects mean the success rate is generally low. And so it was - I ended up with about 250 photos that I considered worthy of keeping. But it was a great day. Sunday was going to be a long drive hoome via Dunedin to meet my next housesitting hosts. But I did have company for part of the way. I have come to realise that hitchhiking in NZ is quite common, particularly with backpackers. On the way out of Cromwell I picked up a young German girl who was desperately trying to get to the Ed Sheeran concert in Dunedin that night. She was very pleased to hear that's where I was headed and even more pleased when she found out I had his music on my phone. She has been in NZ for 11 months and other than 4 months whilst she owned a car has virtually travelled all over the country by hitchhiking. My hosts in Dunedin are a delightful young couple and the house looks very comfortable. The quick look I had at the town gave me a feeling that I will enjoy my time there. But for now I still have a little under 2 weeks to enjoy the last of what Christchurch has to offer.

PS - I can only imagine what it has been like in Australia but I can tell you that the Kiwis are having a field day with the ball tampering furore that the Aussie cricket team has got themselves involved in. Almost daily editorials, cartoons, opinion pieces you name it. Whilst they haven't mentioned it you can tell that the "underarm" incident still lies just under the surface. They are revelling in our predicament. And on top of that they have just defeated England in a Test series for the first time since 1999. As they say "winners are grinners"