D woke early, got up & made breakfast for the kids, then L, once she'd risen. Started to pack, and on the first trip to load the car, D walked straight into an army exercise! Chatted to the soldiers briefly, but on the second trip, J accompanied, so ended up spending 20 mins chatting & taking photos. J was invited up onto their armoured vehicle, & was also allowed to hold a gun! Once packed, said goodbye to the staff, & followed the coast roa...

Decided to stay put, so a leisurely start to the day - were ready to leave by 10.30, which was the opening time of the Forrester Gallery, next door, in which there was a Steampunk exhibition. The centrepiece was a beautiful chrome & bronze motorbike, but D liked the machine for collecting samples from alternate time-line Earths, & L the "Aethernet" communications device. Some great ideas on display, brilliantly executed. A glorious day, as we wander...

Slowly dragged ourselves away from the campsite, eventually leaving at ~10.30. Popped into the supermarket to get a couple of thankyou bottles of wine for Ash & dropped them back at the campsite office. Said farewell to the mountains & fantastic view, & headed south east, towards the coast. Brief stop in Timaru to refuel the car, then an hour on the main road, south, before crossing the Waitaki River, and turning inland, towards Duntroon, & Vani...

Woke to blue skies, sunshine, & fantastic views of the snow capped mountains in the distance - definitely whiter than the day before! But with a really wintery chill to the air, when the wind blew. Made good time getting morning stuff done, & were leaving the campsite by 9am. Stopped a few km out of Fairlie for a quick photo session (kids + mountains in the background), then drove on to Lake Tekapo. Another quick stop for scenic photos, then to the C...

Day Off! Grey, overcast & rainy day, as predicted. Plan for the day: do nothing! Kids played for a while after breakfast, D waited for AA man to arrive, to break into car (took all of a minute!) to retrieve keys! Then we walked into Fairlie for a wander around the shops, for kids to play on town play area, and a coffee / hot choc & cakes. Back to campsite for kids to play, while L did washing & D shopped for food supplies. Asked kids what hey wan...