So here we are holed up in the Sudima Hotel a few hundred metres from Christchurch airport, all ready for an early start – make that a before-crack-of-dawn-start – we have to check-in by 4.10 am. As Dave says – Bleurrrrgh! T5 is safely bedded down together with the ute at Swannanoa, the homesit where… Read more

This is probably the last-but-one blog before we take off for new adventures in Australia. Our plane seats are booked – at last! – so there’s no turning back now. Since returning from Hanmer laden with blackberries, we haven’t done a great deal. A couple of family things, luncheons, etc. We did make a trip… Read more

We’ve spent the last 10 days in indolent laziness (!?) looking after Robyn’s home in Blenheim and her darling little 16 year old Burmese cat Kassia. Last time we were there Kassia was rather wary of Penny but this time they simply ignored each other which meant a more harmonious household altogether with all of… Read more

Finally we were off again, heading for Blenheim and another homesit for Robyn and her adorable little cat Kassia. We were delighted to find the Domett Station cafe open, it has been closed the last two times we’ve been past and we feared permanent closure, but the same wonderful chef is still there. Note to… Read more

We stayed at Peski’s for four  days, making sorties into Geraldine when the weather wasn’t too bad. We regretfully gave the 1882 Cafe a miss (“next time”) but did go to view an amazing recreation of the Bayeux Tapestry. Made from million tiny pieces of spring steel, the teeth of patterning discs from an industrial… Read more

We decided to return to Geraldine via the coast road through the Catlins rather than through Balclutha, not stopping until we were nearing Invercargill and spotted a sign saying Lignite Pit Cafe. What?! It turned out to be a cafe/camping ground/gardens complex built on the site of an old lignite open-cut mine. Although the cafe… Read more