After getting the fridge fixed we made our way out of Christchurch and headed south firstly to Ashburton and then on to Tekapo. A compulsory stop along the way was to Fairlie, to the famous bakery cum pie shop there. Following our friend Dianne’s recommendation, we did not get a pie, but Bruce could not resist the cream doughnut. He enjoyed every bite.
And this was the result
Tekapo was in fine form when we got here, and we spent the remainder of the afternoon exploring the lake edge. There was some snow on the mountains, and the autumn colours are gorgeous.
The expected temperature for tonight was -3 degrees and on dusk it was starting to get a bit cool, so we turned the heater on – no result. Bruce tried all the fixes he could think of (bar the angle grinder) to no avail. It was clear our gas pressure was down, and by the time we decided we were not going to be able to fix it ourselves it was heading towards midnight, and there was no chance of a powered campsite at this stage. We dressed the boys up and snuggled them down.
Then we did the same for ourselves, and snuggled up for a long cold night. Fortunately the -3 degrees did not happen, it was a balmy 2 degrees, so we survived the night.
Bruce made the decision that he wanted our expert repairman to look at the problem so he was on the phone to him first thing the next morning, then we up anchored and headed back to Christchurch. This time we pre-booked a powered site in a Christchurch motor camp so we could at least have a warm night tonight.
The next morning Martynn the repairman came back and fixed the gas regulator and everything was back working again. However, this was when I made one of the worst decisions of my life – I decided to get my hip seen to. Bruce dropped me off at a 24 hour medical centre at around 11am, and I was finally free just before 7pm. Xrays confirmed that there was no bony damage in my hip, so time and drugs are the cure. However, what a long day. At one stage I had sent Bruce a text saying he should go on to Tekapo without me, that I thought I was in for life. He very nicely said that he would stand by with the angle grinder to cut of my ankle bracelet when they finally released me.
We got the van ready to roll again the next morning and decided to head back to Tekapo, stopping at Burke’s Pass for a look. It really has a lot of character, and a lot of history.
We arrived back in Tekapo in time to give the boys a good run around the dog park and an explore of the lake edge. There was great excitement whenever rabbits were spotted and it was lucky I had a tight hold of Hunter’s leash because he would have gone otherwise.
However, Tekapo is still not without its problems. The TV satellite dish will not go up now, and Bruce can’t fix this either. Not sure what we will do about it, but I suspect not a lot. Oh well, a few early nights in bed with a book coming up
Away From Home NZ 