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Hokitika is a lovely seaside town on the west coast with some great jade shops. It is a quiet homely place that we immediately felt at home in. Time was short and after the redemption meal with David and Hilary we headed for Arthur's Pass. It is a great drive across the pass with mountains and rugged hills looming on either side. The pass itself is unspectacular but the countryside around is wonderful. We stopped for coffee at Arthur's Pass. I am not sure how we keep finding these places but once again it was inhabited by a strange selection of mankind( I mean in addition to us). I would not want to visit this place on a dark night- the scene from An American Werewolf in London came to mind, you know, where the strangers enter the pub in the middle of the Dales and the pub goes suspiciously quiet, came to mind.
Otiro Gorge is something else! Absolutely stunning place with sharp climbs and sheer drops. To add to the fun they were digging up the road every few hundred metres. At one particularly exciting spot where the drop was the most sheer and the corner blind we met a very large construction digger type vehicle( one that is used to rip up long sections of road) It REVERSED up a very steep slope at 1 mile an hour while the traffic tried to follow in 1st gear. The road was extremely narrow and it had a clearance of a few inches either side. The other side of the road had already been dug up( one way system but not as you would know it). New Zealander's have a quirky sense of humour- because the traffic control man decided to let traffic come down the hill to meet us! At the steepest point of the climb we had grid lock! Some how, I am not sure how, the road was cleared and we continued our journey( Sandy thought that the whole thing was a great joke and laughed all the way through, but then she was not driving and could not see what I could see a few inches to my righttttt....
The journey after that was uneventful and we arrived at Alison's house with only one small deviation from our intended route. For those who do not know, Alison taught at Oare School a few years ago and made a lasting impression on all who met her.Alison and George made us extremely welcome. We had a guided tour of the village and a delicious meal before catching up on all the news.
Unfortunately we could only stay that night and for the following morning,but we did pack a lot into that time. George runs a hot air balloon company- we were due to fly with him the next morning,but unfortunately the weather was against us. Instead he took us on a tour of his son's farm, stopping to look at the wide variety of crops grown there. New Zealand farmers are very resourceful and when they identify a demand for a crop they grow it. Amongst the crops we saw clover, corriander, mustard, borrage, flax, chichory,canary seed....as well as sheep and cows. In addition he gave us a potted history of the area and showed us the various complex irrigation systems that are in place.
We visited Alison at the school she was teaching in - a warm friendly place with no security entry systems and children walkng freely and happily about the place. The playground had a multitude of adventurous equipment and lots of space for the children to play. In England the place would be considered a giant health and safety hazard. In New Zealand it is the norm and children stay safe! I think that England could learn a lot from this approach to teaching! Sandy went into the infant class and I talked to the Head and to the assistant teachers. They were all extremely welcoming. We followed Alison down the road as she took her class to the local out door swimming pool. Then sadly we had to say goodbye. We wished that we had been able to stay longer but promised that we would return some day. Both George and Alison made us extremely welcome.
We headed back to Christchurch to get ourselves organised for the flight to Australia the following day. True to form we struggled to find accommodation and only after dashing backwards and forwards across the city did we find anything- pure chance as someone had just cancelled.
We loved New Zealand. We met so many nice people and saw such diverse countryside. we will return there some day.
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