1. Christmas in Kurow

On Thursday morning we packed, cleaned the house because we had friends using it while we were away, and zoomed to Wellington with just enough time for a gourmet lunch before checking in at the airport. Once again Salvi of Fish Fins did us proud.

We landed at Christchurch airport mid-afternoon, picked up our zippy Hyundai Getz and paid a family visit before doing some essential supermarketing and hittting the road to Methven.

Methven meant a pizza and a ski lodge and an early start the next morning as we took the road to Geraldine, Fairlie, Tekapo and, eventually, Omarama. The road had very little traffic on it, the weather improved as we drove and the scenery was at times gorgeous.

Richard had an important appointment at Omarama Airport, and we needed to arrive as early as we could. After checking in, we had time for an early lunch at the Wrinkly Ram and a visit to the stunning Clay Cliffs before Richard had to board his plane for a two hour glide fest over the Southern Alps.

I accompanied Richard and his instructor to the end of the runway, watched them clamber aboard and be towed into the sky. Two hours later Richard returned more or less intact for a hot chocolate before our lemon-coloured Hyundai took us down the Waitaki Valley in search of the cabin we’d booked at the Kurow Motor Camp.

After exploring the motor camp and exploring dinner, we ambled down the main road to explore the rest of Kurow. We listened to some live country music at one of the local pubs and returned to our cabin ready for a good night’s sleep. We got it too – the camp has so far been fairly quiet.

Christmas Day dawned fine and warm. Eventually we packed a lunch and headed back up the Waitaki Valley to visit the lakes formed by three of New Zealand’s biggest dams. We walked some distance into Deep Stream on a narrow snaking trail which was lovely if at times edged by a precipitous drop.

Our Christmas lunch of tomato sandwiches was enjoyed on the banks of Lake Aviemore, after which we visited Benmore Hydro and poked around some side roads in the vain hope of finding fruit for sale on Christmas Day. Eventually we tired of the game and returned to base and tortillas for Christmas tea.

This blog post brings our Christmas Day to an end. The weather is looking increasingly threatening this evening; Boxing Day may be wet in the Waitaki District.