BTDU

At 9am this morning we said farewell to Kaikōura and set our compasses to head for the Kara Tawhiti ( Ta-fee-tee) Conservation Area.

This is located in the middle of South Island in the northern part of the Southern Alps.

Morven is a passionate rock climber and bouldering exponent so, as a recognised world centre for these activities, this was always a “must see” on our itinerary 😎

En route, as the landscape changed gradually to more Alpine like, we noticed how every river bed we crossed was virtually dried up…not sure if this is the seasonal “norm” or more evidence of climate change🤔

As we made our way along the State Highway, cruising along at c.70 mph/112kph, we suddenly became aware of a police car behind that was flashing us to stop….

“What do you think the speed limit is on this highway” the officer asked….

“115kph?” we replied tentatively…

“No, it’s actually 100 kph and I’ve just recorded you at 111.7 kph.. I’ll go and check the paperwork”:

Assuming we were about to get a warning, we were shocked when he declared: “You’re booked, that’ll cost you $80!”

He made it worse when, trying to break the tension, he said: “I bet when you left Scotland you never expected to be fined by an English cop, eh?”

You can imagine how well that went down!😡

Undeterred, but now keeping a close eye on the speedo, we made our way to our destination, which, on arrival, literally had Morven jumping for joy😉

And we all found this remarkable place pretty breathtaking too..

A few kilometres down the road the village of Castle Hill is a popular base for ski-ing during the winter months..if you can afford the accommodation!

A 90 mins drive to Christchurch was the next stage …and, allegedly, one of us had over exerted themself😉

Upon entering this city the damage caused by the 2016 earthquake is clearly visible, but huge inroads have been made in replacing the buildings affected.

Well done Christchurch 😊

Upon registration at our hotel we were pleased to find we had been booked on the 10th floor, so got some excellent views😊

Duly replete we headed back to our home for the next 3 nights, excited at the prospect of meeting up with my cousin Gail and her husband Ian the next day, who had especially flown down from Hamilton that evening so they could meet C&M😊

So ended another fabulous day … except for the speeding ticket😉