Wednesday 13 May So lovely waking up and popping out to see the Silverstream Clydesdales in the morning - Lottie was straight over for her scritches & a smooch then mum Emily came to see what she was missing out on! We watched some of Eurovision (first semi final from Austria, reported on by Rylan and Angela Scanlan for the BBC - saving Graham Norton for the big final on the weekend!) while we packed up & then left at 10ish as there were new visitors showing up around noon.

Tuesday 12 May It was a reasonably chilly night with clear starry skies above - see Louis’ GoPro pics in a separate post. I’d been googling things to see & do in the area, and despite the nearest town being called Cave, apparently the titular caves are all on private land and therefore not easily (or at all) accessible. Instead we set off on our bikes along a section of the Central Southern cycle trail for a couple of Kms then turned off the main road up into the hills and o

Monday 11 May Cold but clear and golden morning at PharLap - I went off wandering in my PJs & gumboots so that I could catch the morning light before the sun was high in the sky. Gorgeous golden light bathed the grandstand, the old stables (?), the entranceway and the beautiful galloping PharLap statue. I love this tribute to the most legendary Kiwi racehorse, who sadly had such a tragic ending. A while later today’s racehorses hit the track for their daily exercise and I tr

Sunday 10 May Happy Mother's Day report! As we are of no fixed abode, Louis gave me a card & a choccie heart to mark the day on behalf of our two girls ❤️ We had a lovely breakfast of creamy mushrooms then Louis had a swim while I filled my trolley with Pak’n’Save goodies as they are so much cheaper than the small town Four Square prices inland. Quick visit to SPCA op shop in search of more merino or a sweatshirt (no luck) then back to Banjo for a bit of fridge Tetris! Shou

Saturday 9 May The rain had passed overnight and we awoke to a cloudy but golden sunrise at PharLap with the horses out exercising on the race track - the horse just cantered out of shot on the second photo below! Abby suggested we visit the Saturday market in town which seemed like a great idea; so we spent the morning wandering, admiring, chatting and occasionally making a purchase from some of the many crafts & produce stalls. First stop was coffee from Bliss, where you g

Friday 8 May After some amazing weeks of autumn sunshine, it had to end eventually… we awoke to blue skies in Kimbell at the Silverstream Hotel POP, but rain was in the forecast and it caught up with us in Timaru. It's clearly not always sunny in Kimbell - judging by the funky moss growth on the Motel sign and the dampness underfoot in the Hotel carpark where we stayed overnight - but it was while we were there. We worked on some blogging and videos in the morning then packed

Thursday 7 May After a chilly but not freezing night, we had a quiet day planned - easy morning then a short trip to Kimbell, around 45km down the road. The NZMCA was still super empty - four vans down our end and four more down the other end, three of them were Urbans! I braved the glowering clouds and took a walk around the lake to visit the iconic Church of the Good Shepherd. The lake waters are very low at present and literally hundreds of Canada geese have made themselv

Wednesday 6 May With our power reserves falling as our solar was failing to keep up due the short number of sunshine hours and the low angle of the sun, we packed up a couple of days earlier than planned and set off south down the edge of Lake Pukaki and east to Tekapo for the NZMCA park where we could top up with a generator. There were hints of blue overhead as we packed up Banjo (after scrambled eggs for breakfast) but not enough for the solar panels to be happy. I talked

Tuesday 5 May The moon was still visible above the mountains as I grabbed my trainers and pulled on some extra layers at 7.20am and set off up to Kea Point, ostensibly to watch the sunrise. Turned out I was a little late as the rosy glow of sunrise crept over the peak of Mt Sefton as I climbed the path to the lookout - and by the time I got there, it had morphed to a golden glow then pure white snow against a blue sky. I sat at one with nature for a while, shared my view with

Monday 4 May The most glorious peachy pink tones over Ruataniwha & the Southern Alps, softened by morning mist as we awoke at 7.30am - in negative temperatures again! Packed up and wandered down to Kay & Gavin’s Australis to say good bye as they were also off, heading down the Waitaki Valley; we were Aoraki bound, using our DOC pass to stay at the White Horse Hill site up there. Loved the headless tree monster we passed along the way! Did a few chores in Twizel then hit the r

Sunday 3 May Yahoo suggested the overnight low would be 4*C but we didn’t quite believe that so we had emptied our water pipes and switched off the water pump overnight - fortunately, as our thermometer recorded -4*C at around 7am and there was a heavy frost all around. The moon was still up in a pastel sky, and everything around was crispy & sparkly. Finally the sun broached the mountains and trees around the Ruataniwha Freedom Camp and we layered up and hopped on the bikes

Saturday 2 May Peaked out the window when I woke around 7.15am and was rewarded with a stunning blast of colour from behind the willows. I hopped up, grabbed several layers and my Uggs and ventured out into the frosty morning - and wow, did Ranginui put on a show for me? The skies around the Lindis Pass Hotel oscillated through a rainbow of colours - golds, pinks, purples, red and firey oranges before settling into a slightly cloudy insipid grey blue - as if all the energy ha

Friday 1 May After three fabulous nights at Como Villa Estate it was time to move on as we head slowly back to Ōtautahi Christchurch for the end of the month. Jonny kindly took a farewell photo of us with wine & Jimmy in hand; and we shared a Como Villa Estate selfie 🤳 with the man himself - Jonny Chapman - owner, custodian, historical explorer, host and all round good guy! After our last cuddles with Jimmy the dog and copious thanks & farewells to Jonny, we hitched up and

Thursday 30 April It was a fristy frosty morning at Como Villa Estate - another chance to capture a few lovely sunrise images, this time with added icy sparkle. The old weighing scales were a subtle reminder that I should probably get back on my keto diet?! Probably need to lose about a stone! Loved the colour of Jonny's iconic poplar in the morning sunshine. Jimmy came to say good morning a wee while later and about 10ish we set off on the bikes along the Clutha River Track

Wednesday 29 April It was the most glorious morning when I woke up so I threw on my sweatshirt & Uggs and went wandering around the Como Villa Estate - marvelling at the golden sunrise 🌅 Around ten we hopped in ELLAMY and set off on a wee adventure, following the Hawksburn Road up into the hills and over to Bannockburn. It’s another 4WD route, like the Nevis but much shorter & tamer! The road was predominantly sandy but climbed extremely steeply so within 8 minutes we were

Tuesday 28 April Missed saying farewell to Jonny as he was off to school bright and early, but we spent the morning packing up, doing a bit of extra laundry, and generally trying to take 4 days worth of belongings back to Banjo before saying thank you & goodbye to Debs and heading out the gate around lunchtime. Looking forward to returning and checking out the enormous garage once it's finished!! We might even commandeer a wee corner to store our seasonal swap-out items! I d

Monday 27 April After our big and rather expensive day out (entry tix, cafe food and diesel costs) it was time for a quiet ANZAC Monday with the Websters. Started with a golden sunrise over the ridge and turned into a gently cloudy but bright day.Popped into Alexandra for a quick shop (we’re on dinner duty) and so Louis could have a swim, then back to base for a leftovers lunch. We all hopped in the car early afternoon and whizzed down to Alex again for a lovely autumnal walk

Sunday 26 April Several people we’d met on our travels had raved about Hayes Engineering, and we were as close as we were going to be for the foreseeable future so we bit the fuel price bullet and set off for Oturehua in the Ida Valley. A quick stop at Muddy Creek in Omakau for a ginger crunch then off the beaten track and into the Ida Valley. Historic Hayes Engineering is a phenomenal experience - Ernest Hayes arrived here from England in 1884 was the original Kiwi innovator

Saturday 25 April Our alarm went off at 5.30am and we silently got up & dressed into MANY layers and snuck off to Clyde for the ANZAC Dawn Ceremony. The mist lay low over the river and the dam, then lifted slowly and settled over the surrounding hilltops. A lone piper stood between two soldiers standing to, playing haunting renditions of Amazing Grace and the Skye Boat Song. The ceremony was short and emotional - a prayer, a tribute, the Last Post, a minute’s silence, the Rev

Friday 24 April Another cold night but not as frosty as the day before - I had my morning chat with the menagerie and picked some frosty strawberries for breakfast. This morning 2-3 blck swans had joined the ducks, geese and shags hanging out on the lake - so elegant. We took our time packing up then had long farewells with the birdies & beasties before popping in to see Yvonne & Will’s amazing home-built motorhome parked next to us, which even has its own wood burner 🔥 Fro