A little problem.

...... And stopped in due course at a basic but reasonable campsite at Waiau.

It was a friendly little family-run campsite, with few occupants because it's rather out of the way and out of season, but it had all we needed apart from internet access, and we were made very welcome.

Being about 1,000 feet up in the hills, it was a bit colder than down on the coast, and the temperature dropped rapidly as night fell. We had a cosy enough night, but felt very sorry for the English couple who were camped in a very small tent nearby.

When we woke, even quite late at 08:45, there was still a hard frost and the thermometer was showing -2º C. It looked and felt like it:

During the evening, something seemed to have gone wrong with the plumbing in the motorhome, with the water pump running continuously, implying a leak. So we decided to allow ourselves the option of going on south via Christchurch (which we'd intended to avoid) in case it was a serious problem.

After a few phone calls to Wilderness, it was established that it probably was serious and that the easiest thing all round was to return to base, as we were relatively close anyway. After a bit of shopping, we got back to be welcomed by Robbie & Mike, who confirmed that it was a not easy to fix in a reasonable time.

So we were offered an identical vehicle, being freshly cleaned and prepared for us, and in due course, transferred all our gear from one vehicle to the other and set off again, delayed by a few hours, but compensated by having effectively a fresh start, complete with the welcome pack including the really nice wine. :-)

As we set off, we passed the pretty little church of St. Paul's, where Barbara had rung when we first arrived. It looked very nice in the autumnal afternoon sun so we stopped for a quick photo of it:

And then on for an hour or two on rather boring but good main roads before getting back into the hills with “interesting” roads and spectacular views of the snow covered Alps to our right. As it was getting dark, we pulled into Fairlie and found a good campsite with free WiFi (http://www.fairlietop10.co.nz/), a warm welcome and an even warmer log fire in the communal kitchen diner.

Tomorrow, Tekapo.

written by  Saros on May 3, 2009 from Waiau, New Zealand
from the travel blog: The Hairy Animal 2009 World Road Trip
Send a Compliment

comment on this...