We woke this morning to the most
beautiful day outside. The sun was
shining and there was not a cloud in the sky. There was frost on our car.
The view from our room was unbelievable and something that we had not
seen since we had arrived there due to the low cloud cover. The mountains surrounded us and ranged from a
lovely green to the snow capped mountains a little further away. I was sorry that we didn’t have just one more
day there so that we could maybe go up to the snow fields and play again but I
suppose there would always be ‘just one more day’ that we needed to do
something else so I will be grateful for the fantastic time we have had and the
wonderful celebration of 25 years of being married to my bestest friend.
Frost on the car in Hanmer Springs
We got some breakfast from the
local bakery and hit the road. The drive
to Christchurch was uneventful and when we got here, we went to the outlet mall
called Dress Smart. We did some final
shopping there before going across the road The Hub where we got some sushi for
lunch and then headed for the airport.
Got here and were just about to get out the car when Al remembered that
we hadn’t filled up the car so off we headed again to do that before coming
back, heading to the toilets to take our thermals off and then check in.
We were lucky enough to get exit
row seats again (and, given it was probably the same plane only on the leg
going the other way, I still wasn’t completely convinced that we had the payoff
of extra leg room for the responsibility we agreed to take on.
We have just been through duty
free where we bought 2 bottles of Amarula (the one we bought on the way out
didn’t last as long as I thought it would !!!) and some charms for my Pandora
bracelet to celebrate the amazing holiday we have had and the great friendship
that we share.
To anyone who has the chance to
visit the south island of NZ – take it and enjoy ! This country is so beautiful and scenic and
no matter where we have been, the people have been friendly and helpful. We couldn’t have asked for a better place to
go on holiday and see all that we have seen and do all that we have done and go
home knowing that we took all the opportunities that we could to do and see
what was there.
K was waiting at the airport for us – I think we were probably more
pleased to see her than she was to see us !!!
We stopped off to say hullo to the old people on our way home and chat
for a little while. It was so good to
see them – Dad was looking well and seems to have recovered really well from
the last lot of radiation treatment that he had. Mom is Mom – the only difference seemed to be
she seemed to have shrunk some more !
Alfie and Rosie went berserk when we walked in – they were both pleased
to see us – certainly the unconditional love that people say you get from pets
was noticeable – I think the welcome we got was more exuberant than when we are
only gone for the day !
We have now been home just over a week and it feels like forever since
we were there. I am so glad that I
documented our holiday because I have had so much fun re-reading it this
morning. Now to go and post it all and
add the photos ! I am trying really hard
to get out of my comfort zone in a wide range of things so this holiday we went
over with only our first night’s accommodation, the time share and our lunch at
Fleurs booked. It was a little
challenging at times, not knowing where we were going to be staying that night
but I managed it fine and it was great because it allowed us the flexibility to
do everything that we wanted to do without being tied down to pre-booked
arrangements. It was hard but I managed
which is the main thing.
I hope that you have enjoyed reading this and I was suitably able to
describe some of the adventures we had.