Bob on a mission!!!!

We set off for Mount Cook not too hopeful as the weather forecast for the West Coast and Southern Alps was not looking good (again!!!).

The nearer we got to Mount Cook, the more our hearts sank as the clouds came down and any glimpse of the sun was overtaken by the rain starting to fall. Undeterred we made the 50k detour to the Mount Cook Reserve at the end of Lake Pukaki. By the time we got there the mountains were well and truly obscured and the temperature had fallen considerably.

We decided to sit it out for a while and went in to the local cafe (where there was a roaring fire!!!) and tucked into a bowl of hot soup!!! The sun tried its best to break through and we eventually got a partial glimpse of about half of the mountain!!!

At this point, Bob lost the plot!!!! I think all this driving round to see potentially beautiful views (according to Bob and Bonnie's photos we had viewed before leaving home) only to be thwarted by the clouds and rain had got to him at last!!! He was a man possessed with a mission to get to the next stopping point as quickly as possible (and the next and the next .....!!!!) and in that day we actually covered 484km!!!! During this time we flashed past Lake Pukaki, Lake Tekapo , various other lakes and the townships of Fairlie and Geraldine, before he eventually ran out of steam in Ashburton!!!

Ashburton proved to be a lovely place and the motel we stayed in was great!!! The owners, seeing we arrived in a somewhat fraught and tired state, immediately rushed to the Expresso Machine and made us a welcome cup of coffee!! As this was on the East Coast, the sun was actually shining brightly, which helped calm the nerves!!!

The next day we woke up to a beautiful clear sky and sunshine and had a more leisurely drive to Akaroa and then on to Christchurch, where we checked in for two nights. We even had enough time for a trip down the River Avon on a punt and a tram ride around the city. The lady who punted us down the river was Hayley and the name of the punt was Grace - a coincidence as Bob used to work with Hayley at ALT and her sister is Grace!!!

Continuing with our attempts at relaxation, and given that amazingly we had a second day of sunshine, we decided to have a day by the coast and travelled a short distance to the suburb of Sumner. Here we were amazed to see thousands of mussels growing on the rocks all along the beach.

We then travelled northwards to New Brighton and had a walk along its pier, watching the surfers in action and admiring the sand art.