Day 53 – Oh Dear a Hostile Domain, what’s in a name

We got up, went back to sleep. What was the rush? All we had to do was drive a couple of hundred kilometres, pack everything to go and clean the Sandd Van. If we were lucky we would get some kind of adventure in on the way.

You couldn’t write it

We were just about to move off the site and a stampede of cattle came hurtling through the campsite followed by a collie rounding them up and a few farmers on trucks and quad bikes. We had decided that we would find somewhere more picturesque to clean the van. We do have certain standards we need to meet.

Holy cow

Breast is not best

We arrived at Lakeside Domain Campsite at Te Waihora Lake. Here you can do nearly anything when it comes to being on the water, except the one thing you might want to do, swim. No reasons for not being able to, but definitely no front crawl, doggy paddle or breaststroke. You can fish, jet ski, kayak or do loads more, just not have a dip. Especially as the sun had come out finally, suddenly the temperature had shot up from 8⁰C to 26⁰C in a very short time. Oh well, we were in a prime location so it was time to put on the marigolds and get scrubbing. The van itself was already clean, but it was going to be returned spotless. Our packing was done in the morning except swimming gear. We might as well have packed that as well. We used the facilities, made our last hot drinks and headed off to Christchurch. We also finally got a photo of a bird of prey. We have seen so many kestrels, harriers and falcons but they have avoided us whilst trying to catch them through the lens.

Back where it all began

We had to have the van back at the hostel by 17:00. We weren’t running late but cutting it close. This was particularly true as Australasia’s biggest festival Electric Avenue was in town for the weekend. With 40,000 people attending, town would be a little busier than normal. Mega bands like Basement Jaxx, Kesha, Dom Dolla and a load more international and local artists. With all this going on we made it back to LyLo at 16:45. We had seven hours to kill before we walked the kilometre to the airport.

Dear Ben

We had the last of the meat from the farm tonight. The most beautiful venison steaks finely diced and cooked into a succulent stir fry with egg fried rice and beans. Many of our gap year companions commented on how good it smelt and looked as well as how much they missed real food. The steaks have been in the freezer waiting for this night. A plate of protein to see us through the seven hours until we get to the airport then it’s back to our wraps and snacks.