A change is as good as a rest....

So, our last emotion filled days in Osalamon Van Laden... what do you do with them? You go and stay on a campsite with its own mini zoo of course. And you unknowingly to him, book your husband into a 9am "feed the animals" tour. Animals we fed include: golden possums, wallabies, a red deer, a white donkey, many ducks and chickens, a peahen with two chicks, an emu with two babies, comedy shorn alpacas, and our favourite, Gobbo the geriatric tusked pig.

Great stuff. We love the Kiwi attitude to animals. The couple who owned the place were one minute telling us how half the animals were from the area and had been brought to them by hunters who had accidentally shot or wounded them or their mothers, then in the next minute telling us how each Christmas they kill a lamb or two for a big BBQ for the guests... kind of love mixed with deep practicality...

So, our last nights in the van were spent at this beautiful rural setting, going to sleep to the sound of various animal noises (you have never heard the sound of distress until you have heard a donkey who thought it's dinner was late).

Then on to the raging metropolis of Christchurch (population: not many. The whole island only has 1million...) to drop the van off. Having been out of a big city for a while to find traffic jams, coffee shops with crap service and binge drinking rugby fans was a pleasant surprise...

So we are with Alison and Tony again. Well, they are in a 4star hotel and we are in a hostel! Yesterday we met up with an old colleague of Tony's and her family. Great fun and nice to have some "British" chat.

Today Martin enjoyed driving the Toyota 4x4 Tony has hired (Martin would like to point out this was afree upgrade. His dad would never intentionally hire a 4x4). We've been up to the hills south of Christchurch, seen amazing views across the Canterbury Plains to the Southern Alps, looked out over the Banks Peninsula and across the sea towards Chile... we also managed to get in a pie, a creamed tea, and then an ice cream by the beach. It's great to have parents!