And so we bided our time, not doing a whole lot about Christchurch
although minor chores took us across and around the city, and a navigational
devise makes an interesting tourist guide albeit without the more interesting
commentary. We found an excellent Bunnings store at a “Mega” shopping centre
called Tower Junction, the Christchurch RV Centre for accessories at Sockburn
and a Kmart at the Riccarton Westfield Shopping centre. Most of our shopping
outings were all about research; I found my iPhone particularly helpful here,
it was soon full of photos of products and prices for later comparison. I had
my glasses repaired and Chris repaired the lock on the motorhome bathroom door
which decided to collapse just a day short of the final ownership change. But
mostly we were waiting for that call from Rob to say our new home-on-wheels was
ready for collection, a call that finally came on Thursday afternoon. We had
called into his yard earlier in the week expressing concern as to where and how
we were to make the changeover, given all our possessions are packed into a six
metre motorhome.
Punctual as always, we were there at the UCC yard for the handover, to
make payment of the balance and to be led through the eccentricities of the new
motorhome by Brian. For first timers, this might take several hours, but for us
having been on the road for some years, there were some matters to be glossed
over, as for instance, the maintenance and functionality of the cassette
toilet. I followed Chris back to Weedons, him driving the new automatic
Mercedes while Ifollowed in the manual Mitsubishi “truck”. Given that I have
been a reluctant user of my HT licence, that particular aspect of the exercise
went surprisingly smoothly.
We lunched, a packed lunch having been prepared in advance and then
started the transfer of our life, from one motorhome to the other, doors
strategically facing each other to ease the process. Alas, nothing could ease
the process. Within an hour, I threw my hands in the air and said to Chris, “I
have no idea what I am doing”. Worse still he responded by saying. ”Nor have
I”. This rock of mine, mein-husband
who has all the answers if I have none, was at an equal loss. At this point we
realised what a gem we were fare-welling, that while this old Winnebago might
drive like a truck and not appear as modern and bright as so many of the newer
models on the road, she had ten times as much storage as anything newer. While
I accept that may be a slight exaggeration, it did not seem so as we discarded
so many of our possessions in much the same way we had had to do just over a
year ago when we sold our caravan rig in Australia ready to return to New
Zealand. The plus was that we were attempting this exercise in our own time in
our own space, rather than the congested busy working sales and service yard of
UCC, however we had made a commitment to be back with the now traded vehicle
before the end of the day. At the rate we were progressing, we had to make the
call earlier than any sense suggested; we would be weeks or months sorting.
Soon after 3 pm we headed back to Islington, the Winnebago clean and stripped,
the Mercedes an absolute tip.
Back at Weedons, we tried the television, or rather the very fancy domed
satellite disc with no success, carried on tinkering away placing this item and
then that, dined on defrosted fare, drank a bottle of wine and lamented the
state of affairs. Fortunately our new home has two lounge areas and we had
managed to make a clearing to function in the kitchen, bathroom and Luton
bedroom. Tomorrow was another day; I messaged to my mother who reassured me
with her recently mastered iPhone, “Be patient, all will be well.” She is a
well-seasoned motorhomer, and becoming as text savvy as I, albeit in her mid-eighties!
This morning after enjoying an excellent night’s rest, we rose early,
breakfasted and got stuck in to finishing the packing away. By 10.30 am we were
sitting over a well-earned coffee satisfied that matters were at least
superficially dealt with, making a list of even more bits we would need to make
this home. From one perspective, this seemed ridiculous, after having discarded
several crates of possessions by leaving them across in the Clubrooms, free to
good homes, and here we were scheming to replenish the space. Such is life!
We drove up to Hornby, shopped for shelves and king size fitted sheets,
hooks and shower caddies. After lunch we drove south to Rolleston, a small
satellite town of Christchurch which has grown hugely since we called six years
or so ago, and shopped for provisions deliberately run low leading up to the changeover.
Back in the mid-2000s there was the original small collection of post office
and shops and a brand new New World. Now near the latter is a brand new
Countdown, The Warehouse and a collection of other franchise stores which means
that those who live in Rolleston don’t have to hit that busy main highway
running south of Christchurch quite so often.
Rolleston is the seat and largest town in the Selwyn District, in the Canterbury
region, about half a dozen kilometres south of our camp here at Weedons. Its population
is now about 10,600 which is quite astounding, however it is equally astounding
to read the towns growth trend: until 1990 it had little more than 1,000, by
2001, the population had risen to 1,974, by 2006 to 3,822, (and that would have
been about when we were last here) and then by the 2013 census it had reached
9,555.
The town started its life as a rural centre on the main southern rail, but
much of its growth can be attributed to the prison located just west of the
town, housing up to 260 minimum to medium security male prisoners and the fact
that it is an easy run into Christchurch or even south to Ashburton and Timaru
to the south. Traffic congestion is all relative, and if you have never lived
or faced traffic in Auckland, you would consider the busy traffic out on the
main road not far from here and north east up to the city and along Blenheim Road
as quite horrendous; probably quite an incentive to those to live south in
Rolleston.
Interestingly Rolleston was close to the epicentre of the Canterbury earthquake
experiencing twice the strength of that felt by Christchurch. Residents were
without power for up to forty eight hours after the quake, and were required to
boil water for weeks before full services were restored. However the damage
actually suffered was low in comparison. Due to the ground having underlying stones
and stable rock; the liquefaction suffered in Kaiapoi and the western suburbs
of Christchurch has not been an issue. Another reason for the rapid growth of
Rolleston is the fact that land stability and fast tracking of building
consents by the Selwyn District Council, something you could not say for those
councils to the immediate north.
And considering all these Rolleston matters has caused me to think of
issues beyond the inconvenience of changing motorhomes; a much appreciated exercise.
But in all fairness, we have had the opportunity to enjoy the space and
luxury of our beautiful new motorhome this afternoon; Chris cooked a lovely
dinner and I spent time cleaning up in the lovely and convenient kitchen. We
will away tomorrow for a Sunday drive rather than the weekend shakedown we had
planned. We want to be back at UCC’s yard on Monday morning to deal with a few
issues; some simply matters arising out of our own ignorance and some faults
which need to be remedied. And then away, away ….! I can hardly wait!
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