I woke to the delightful sound of bellbirds
this morning, something one would expect to hear near native bush rather than an orchard full of
chestnut trees. Once breakfast was over and we were ready to leave at the drop
of a hat if required, Chris applied himself to the list of dentist’s telephone
numbers, striking gold with the first. He secured an appointment for the end of
the day and so we then set about organising the time in between.
We headed north to Kaiapoi, about ten
kilometres to the north, calling first into the laundry. relocated since we
called six years or so, now in a temporary building adjacent to the river. The
laundry was in a poor state of cleanliness, a fact that was later explained and
forgiven, however we proceeded with operations, now almost automatic after all
these years of using public facilities.
Plan A had allowed for us to stay on at the
Mousehole, and hang wet washed laundry on lines between the chestnuts, but the secured
appointment for the same day had put paid to that. We now realised we would
have to use the dryers and these were also in an unacceptable state however
once I dug the centimetres of lint and dirt from the filters, we were under
way. But on attempting to start the dryers on a third cycle, I lost several $2
coins into the insatiable machines, insatiable and immobile.
We rang the
telephone number on the door and waited, and waited, and waited some more.
Finally the proprietress arrived and explained the temperamental nature of the particular
dryer, refunded some of the lost coins and proceeded to recount her life’s woes
which explained so much but dried the washing no quicker than it would have had
we returned to the orchard and allowed it to dry in the hot breezes of the day.
Finally we got away, with laundry dry enough
to finish airing on the bed, and decided to head for the boat ramp on the Kaiapoi
River rather than head to the supermarket. We reminded each other of the rule:
Never shop on an empty stomach. We lunched watching fishermen return from
fruitless outings and others venture out on the less busy waters; less busy
than yesterday. The streets followed to arrive at the boat ramp were incredibly
uneven and all through Red Zoned areas of the town, decimated by the earthquake
and the resulting liquefaction. Sections now cleared of dwellings, surrounded
by high security fencing, but left with garden plantings and the rehabilitating
weeds and red poppies, the latter a rather poignant symbol of the disaster,
gave evidence of the extensive nature of the disaster in this part of the city,
albeit a northern satellite town of Christchurch.
Back near the town centre, we called first at
the Information Centre and spent some time chatting with helpful Gwen who was
keen to book us on tours we inquired about. Alas, all seemed too expensive for
perpetual travellers such as ourselves, and most were fully booked for the next
few months which is all good news for Christchurch and the local economy.
I had been intrigued by the fact that the New
World which was relatively new when we were last here about six years ago,
seemed unscathed by the earthquake. The reality is that it was indeed affected
but at the time of the worst of the quakes, work on extensions was being
carried out, and since workmen were already on the job, and obviously insurance
matters were in hand, the damage was quickly remedied and all local staff were reemployed
with little economic pain. The pain is now with the consumer who seems to pay
above the odds for the produce within. Our list was a long one and we should
have left most of it for a Pak’n Save or Countdown elsewhere, but we did not,
in some misdirected concern and sympathy for this community which has suffered
so; we filled our trolley and paid the price.
We called at the local Challenge Station
sporting an invitation to refill LPG cylinders but were turned away; the proprietor
said it was too hot for safe refilling. This baffled us no end because we had
gas cylinders refilled in far hotter temperatures in Australia.
We continued on, led by our Tomtom to suss out
the location of the dental clinic, then came on to this RSA Club which welcomes
self-contained NZMCA financial members. We decided that one could easily walk
from one location to the other and settled into camp, paying the requested fee.
This we like, a set fee for camping; we are left with no obligation to
patronise the club which invariably leads one to spend far more than one would
if one were to stay at a commercial camping ground; it defeats the purpose
entirely.
At the appointed hour we walked the kilometre
or so up in the hot sunshine to the clinic where Chris had his tooth repaired
and the pain transferred from the tooth to the credit card. We then decided
that the Thai Restaurant at the entrance to the club needed patronising, so
took ourselves there once Chris changed his shorts for jeans and I, my walking
sandals for high heels. Our meal was delightful and we returned to our camp
well fed, mellow and satisfied we now had only to pursue pleasurable activities
here in Christchurch.
No comments:
Post a Comment