Sussex, Hanmer Springs and a change of plan 25 Feb

Another long day in the car beckoned as we reluctantly left our lovely accommodation in Tekapo and headed for Hanmer Springs, although we were looking forward to meeting up with Karen again en-route. At times on the journey we wondered if we had somehow gone back home as we passed through places called Arundel, Amberley and Mayfield. However, the long straight empty roads and stunning gorges soon reminded us we were still in NZ, much to our relief!

We managed to locate Karen's house in North Loburn, just outside of Rangiora. Of course, when I say 'just outside' I do of course mean many miles, but that's just the NZ scale of things again. It was great to see where Karen, Mike and Ellie have spent the last ten years of their lives living, it reminded me a little of when my family lived up on Denne Hill when I was a boy.

We didn't feel any need to take any photos of where we stayed the night at Hanmer Springs, it was a budget campground and our 'chalet' belonged back at Butlins in the 70's. We had to go out to eat so that we could get WiFi to change our North Island plans a little and my burger meal could have fed three people!

So, our change of plans. We were booked to do the all-day hike of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing on 3 March but Nicky's Achilles tendon started playing up a few days ago so we thought it wise to very reluctantly cancel that and make different arrangements. Luckily we managed to book a motel at Lake Taupo for three nights and cancelled our existing one-night YHA stay there. The thought of staying somewhere for three nights is very welcome as all the driving is proving quite tiring.