Day 70 - Mon 28 May - Ashburton to Weedons There was the sound of rain on the roof overnight with gusty wind. We decided to do a grocery topup in Ashburton instead of when we get to Christchurch. That was a good decision as it rained most of the way up to Weedons and it was freezing cold when we got there. There was a lot of new roading near Rolleston so we had difficulty finding our turnoff so had to backtrack a bit. After lunch we hunkered down and kept ou...

Day 69 - Sun 27 May - Ashburton Today we went for a tiki tour out to the mouth of the Hakatere/Ashburton River. There was a collection of colourful fishing huts there and a large number of birds clustered at the river mouth. On the way out we had stopped in at Lake Hood development. It was strange to see a canal development with no access to the sea as we have in the Coromandel.

Day 68 - Sat 26 May - Timaru to Ashburton It was another crisp start to the day so we didn't head off straight away. It was an uneventful run up to Ashburton with the mountains clear and white. Our POP stop at Donegal Downs is on a small lifestyle property with miniature ponies, chooks and a very friendly black cat. The owners, Jo and Darrell, made us very welcome and shared some of their fresh eggs with us. Later in the afternoon we went along to Ashfords w...

Day 66 - Thu 24 May - Timaru This morning we headed for Timaru's scrapbooking shop where Ros spent some time perusing the goodies. Apparently about 70 people are coming to Timaru this weekend for scrapbooking workshops being held at the store. Ros found some bits and pieces to take home for her scrapbooking/cardmaking. In the afternoon we went to visit cousin Aileen and husband Alan at their new home. They are well settled - but still boxes to sort throug...

Day 65 - Wed 23 May - Waimate to Timaru There was a slight frost this morning so we waited for the van to dry off before leaving. There was new snow on the Alps overnight making them very white. We passed paddocks of potatoes being harvested and also the Makihikihi factory where Instant Mashed Potatoes come from. We parked in behind the Timaru RSA which is handy to town and after lunch went off to do our laundry and some shopping. There is one other rig in t...