Having left our lovely beach house, we now head back to Christchurch to swap our juicy car for a 'Spaceship' - euphemism for a tin can on wheels with makeshift camping bed hanging out of the hatchback. This switch turns out to be truest 'sublime to the ridiculous' we have ever experienced.
The mountains of the west coast deliver us the strongest antarctic winds they can manage, so we try to huddle behind any bits of tundra scrub we can find. In our tin can existence, these conditions are combined with "er indoors' " need to be hermetically sealed, and my preference for some oxygen, however frozen. Some lively evening debates ensued, punctuated by excursions to the great howling outdoors - "I may be gone for sometime........"
Anyway Mt Cook is just amazing, play-ground of the young Sir Edmund Hillary and destination for thousands of teeming Jap tourists today. We walked and walked before we could lose them.
Moved on to the lakes at Wanaka.
2nd January 2010
Irene has been worrying because of receiving several texts from family and not being able to make contact. Today at last she has managed to phone home to receive the shock and cruel news that Betty, Irene's dear old Mum, died suddenly from an unexpected heart attack yesterday. We are dumbfounded and will suspend this trivial diary until we can arrange our return.
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