Despite the fact that there is probably a lot more to see around Christchurch than we have achieved it was time to move on. Christchurch is not that far from Wellington and we can always make a return visit , however the same cannot be said about Dunedin and the deep South.
After a cross country journey we eventually came out onto SH1 and the dead straight roads across the Canterbury plains. Get up to 90kph and switch on the cruise control and all you have to do is steer. The change over from Sheep farming to Dairy farming across Canterbury is certainly becoming very obvious as we passed dairy herds of cattle numbering in the hundreds but also the huge circular irrigation rigs to keep the pastures green. There has been a lot of money spent on all of this plus milking sheds and milk storage facilities. Is it all sustainable, I wonder?
Arriving in Ashburton we visited the local Countdown supermarket to top up provisions and then went in search of Village RV’s who are an importer of Autotrail motorhomes. We eventually found the yard a couple of kilometres south of town but despite the yard being open there was nobody in attendance. We will call back when we leave town.
Eventually arriving at the NZMCA POP site we were in for a surprise as the whole paddock is littered with old cars and parts, mainly American of the 1920’s era. The owner, a retired farmer has a passion for car restoration and he has all the heavy equipment with which to do it. He has 2 cars on the production line at present and reckons to turn out one car every 2 years. Apparently he is well known around the farming community and does a lot of repairs that others won’t touch like an old tractor that he has just repaired the front suspension.
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