NZ +4: Cemetery and Sulphur

Today we drove north out of Christchurch into Northern Canterbury...
(click the map for a better view)



...to a small village called Waikari.

We went there because David's dad grew up in the village and his grandparents are buried here. Their final resting place has an amazing view...



We also went to see his Dad's old school...



(notice map of NZ on playground)

...where we had a chat with the peripetetic drama and music teacher. She wasn't really rushed off her feet as the school only had 30 pupils with her, a principal and two other full-time teachers. And if you think that would be expensive to run, you are right. She was saying that a lot of the schools in villages such as Waikari had been closed down and children were bussed away to larger towns. Here though, the principal had obviously done her NPQH and worked out her vision of how to up pupil numbers...



Helen was the principal. We didn't see her. She was at the school house having lunch and, perhaps, taking calls.

We then drove further up Route 7 to Hanmer Springs, which is a lovely little resort village. They have strong smelling sulphorous hot springs which you can go and wallow in, if you feel inclined. I didn't. I had a hot chocolate instead. It was the absolute best hot chocolate ever - very silky and smooth, swirly chocolate syrup in the top and marshmallows - and it was served in something the size of a cereal bowl...



(Phone cameras are useful when you don't want to attract attention to the fact that you are trying to take a picture of your drink in case they cart you off to the funny farm.)

Hanmer nestles in the foothills of the Southern Alps, so there's a lot of scenery like this, which isn't really done justice by a photo.



You also have to cross this bridge to get to it...



...which, if we'd seen it from this angle before we did so, we might not have done. It is single track and has a rather pleading sign at each end asking for only one heavy vehicle to use it at once. Were we heavy? What if we weren't heavy, but someone following us was? The additional weight of someone bunjy jumping from the sides might have have left us starring in When Bridges Collapse on Channel 5.

As promised, here's the photo of the car and some scenery...